Book Launch Features Artist Joan Henrik's AMSOIL Arena Terrazzo Floor & Mosaic Design

To their credit, when the architects behind AMSOIL Arena planned a new building to accompany the Duluth Entertainment and Convention Center (DECC) down on the waterfront, they didn't just look at functionality. They dug deep, reached high and produced a facility as aesthetically satisfying as the natural beauty our region' has become famous for. The result was an arena that shortly after made the Wall Street Journal's Top Ten places to see college hockey in North America. It's a superlative work of art, especially within.

If you're not into hockey, AMSOIL Arena has also been a home to national acts like Cher and Cirque Du Soleil, with plenty more on its event horizon. And when you visit, do make an effort to look full on to the singular terrazzo floor in the front lobby at the North end. It's a spectacle.

Holy Cow! Press has announced that this Sunday afternoon near the ticket office at the DECC, from 2 - 4 p.m., there will be a book release event for Joan Henrik's Winds & Currents: Native Stories, Retold and Illustrated. Henrik is the artist whose floor design was selected in 2011 by the National Terrazzo and Mosaic Association as one of the best terrazzo floors in the United States.

There will be presentations and readings, and books available for purchase. The event is free and open to the public; with refreshments to be served.

* * * *

Joan Henrik began her graphic design career here in Duluth where she attended the University of Minnesota. She has worked more than fifty years in advertising, including over twenty-five years with the Westmorland, Larson, and Hill agency.

Henrik's work was featured on an episode of The Playlist, which you can watch here:

Henrik created fourteen animal icons for the terrazzo floor design now inlaid in the AMSOIL sports arena complex. Her award-winning "Winds & Currents" was selected by the Duluth Public Arts Commission in an open competition. The book features  stories that show lessons we can learn from the natural world with origins in tribal culture throughout North America. After the floor completion, the stories were collected in this volume. Based on these iconic images, Henrik has included fourteen of her "ready to color" line drawings by which readers can interact and create their own interpretations of the visual art.

For more information, contact Holy Cow! Press at www.holycowpress.org, or holycow@holycowpress.org.

* * * *
Meantime, art goes on all around you. Get into it!