Wednesday, April 2, 2014

Upcoming Twin Ports Arts Events Not To Be MIssed

Hard to believe it's already April. Actually it's this weather that's hard to believe. 6500 homes were without power in our section of Duluth's outskirts, and more than a few were concerned about how long that outage was going to last. At least we didn't have the tornado that some people had near Saint Leon in Southwest Minnesota.

The weather forecast does not look promising for some of this week's happenings. Nevertheless, here are a few items to place on your calendar.

Kenneth Marunowski Art Opening: The Brewhouse Drawings 
Art Opening with Live Music, April 3, 6-9 p.m.
Beaners Central

Marunowski is becoming one of the premiere plein air painters of our region, and his newest collection of work, "The Brewhouse Drawings", will be displayed at Beaners for the month of April. Many of the pictures are abstract depictions of Low, Charlie Parr, and The Boomchucks during past performances at Fitgers Brewhouse. The kickoff event includes performances by The Boomchucks, and  Alan Sparhawk Gossamer Road (poetry/music duo of Tina Marie Higgins & Gaelynn Lea Music)


Ellen Sandbeck: "Rock, Paper, Scissors"
Artist Reception, April 4, 5-7 p.m.
The Red Mug Coffeehouse 

At one time, Ellen Sandbeck was making paper cutout stencils for Dover Books. Then she expanded her world. She has prolific amounts of creative energy which she pours into writing books, making art, worm composting and organic landscaping. You can more about Ellen's career here at the official event invitation.


Hero/Villain/Savior/Scoundrel: Portraits of Jim Carlson & Don Ness
Art Opening: April 10, 7-9 p.m.
Zeitgeist Atrium

In January Annie Dugan, Interim Director at the Duluth Art Institute, asked if I would be interested in doing a painting for a special art event featuring portraits of Mayor Don Ness and Jim Carlson, proprietor of the controversial head shop Last Place On Earth. Sounded fun to me and I was in. Next week is the big day for the opening. Contributing artists include a host of familiar names including, but not limited to, Adam Swanson, Bridget Riversmith, Joe Klander, Dann Matthews, Whitney Saurer, Tyler Scouton, Jack Bratrud and myself.

The opening for this show will be in the Zeitgeist Atrium, but if you can't be there, the exhibit will be on display from April 5-May 10. More information here.

the ørigin of birds 
Opening Reception Friday April 11th, 7-11 pm 
The PROVE Gallery

Kathy McTavish continues to produce astonishing work. What follows are some of her notes about the show to whet your imagination's appetite in preparation for this show.  There will also be live music from the Cosmic Pit Orchestra. See you there!

artist notes

The ”origin of birds” exhibit at the Prøve includes a multimedia installation and interactive web site created by a film generator that I call the “graffiti angel.” The origin of birds mixes image, sound, data, text and a live twitter stream to create a video collage / a multi-sensory torrent. The installation includes multiple projections, live performance, and QR code “portals” into an interactive web environment for viewers with mobile devices.

The Saturday workshop / discussion will take a look at creative transmedia / storytelling across boundaries. I will share examples of artists / writers working in this emerging form. We will talk about the confluence of technology and art - drilling into some of the tools used to create the exhibit including html5, css3, javascript and Adobe Creative Cloud editing software. The workshop will be accessible to everyone.

The background story - the origin of birds:

According to an ancient Greek story, the god Chaos was the first to emerge at the creation of the universe. Soon after her came Gaia (Earth), Tartaros (the Underworld) and Eros (Love). In many versions, Chaos then gave birth to the Birds. From the primordial depths of time, from Chaos herself came these winged first beings. This wild birthing created migrations and flight.

In more recent times, soon after Darwin published his book, On the Origin of the Species, scientists began a heated debate about the origin of birds. Most scientists today believe that birds are one of the few remaining descendants of the dinosaurs.

In our own brief Anthropocene era, we are witnessing a rapid increase in the rate of extinction. We are in a geologic epoch marked indelibly by a human-created, asteroid-scale period of rapid loss of life as we know it on the planet. This planetary devastation is entering a very fast-moving era, and soon birds quite possibly will be swallowed back into some primordial chaos.

The origin of birds project is funded by the Jerome Foundation. This activity is also funded by the Arrowhead Regional Arts Council through the arts and cultural heritage fund as appropriated by the Minnesota State Legislature with money from the Legacy Amendment vote of the people of Minnesota on November 4, 2008. Thank you Minnesota!

There's more happening in April than I have time to express, and right now it's time for me to hit the road.

Art goes on all around you. Engage it.

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