Another Perfect Evening for an Art Stroll Through Downtown Duluth

Mosaic at the top of the stairs above Pineapple Arts
just outside Tight Squeek Press

Last night the weather was again perfect for art lovers to do a Downtown Duluth Walkabout. Not too hot, not too cool, not windy, and blue skies. What's not to like? And a lot of great things to see. In addition to artists showing their work there were quite a number of artists making the rounds. Most of the galleries and art studios were open from 5 till 8, though PROVE had a later shift (7-10) and some of the drinking establishments featuring artists on their walls -- Lee Zimmerman's work at the Rathskellar, for example -- had much longer hours. Dubh Linn's Irish Pub is new this month and the Nordic Center held art walkers captive with music by Rachael Kilgour, who also showed up at Peace Church today for the Woman-Made Arts & Crafts Fair.

I didn't try to get everywhere, but did see quite a bit, beginning over by in the middle of the block by Pineapple Arts, taking in Alison Aune's studio space (which is a museum in and of itself) as well as Jon Hinkel's Tight Squeek Press and Joellyn Rock's space (Rockingchair Studio), where I learned the backstory regarding how some of these UMD art profs had studios downtown.

Kite-like folding forms by Warren Rosser

The Joseph Nease Gallery was having an opening reception for a show called Transitions featuring work by Warren Rosser, though the major retrospective for James Brinsfield continues to fill much of the gallery still.

Carla Hamilton's solo show -- Minnesota Nice -- at the PROVE is quite exceptional, a bit edgy and thought provoking. The show's aim is to create a bit of discomfort as we look at some of the issues that create and perpetuate human rifts as well as the difficulties involved in forging connections across and between boundaries created by stereotypes, biases, racism and sexism. MN Nice will be on display through September 12. (The gallery is open from 4-7 p.m. on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays.

Carla Hamilton's wall of faces as part of Minnesota Nice.

I took far too many pictures and will share more tomorrow. There was more to see than there was time, so next month I will begin either at AICHO or Washington Studios Gallery. We'll have to wait and see where the Force leads.

Love, love, love Joellyn Rock's designs.

A John Hinkel print... I see a story here.

John Hinkel's workspace above Pineapple Arts.

Lee Zimmerman has been painting on silk. Sone of his drawings are and paintings
can be found in the Rathskellar, deep beneath the former City Hall.

Ryan Tischer is still featuring his Ten Days in Iceland photography. Lizzards is featuring Shawna Gilmore and Terry Millikan right now, though all the usual suspects have their work here as well. 

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

17 Thoughts In Response to Kathryn Bigelow's Detroit

1967 Detroit riots. Photo Credit: Public Domain/http://j.mp/1SPGCl0

It's an axiom of great photographers to focus the lens on a micro view that serves as a mirror of the big picture. For example, a closeup of a mother weeping over her shrapnel-damaged infant son as a means of showing the side effects of carpet bombing and the meaning of that impersonal euphemism, "collateral damage."

This, it would seem, is what Katheryn Bigelow was attempting to do in her 2017 focus on what occurred at the Algiers Motel in the movie Detroit, a purportedly fact-based film set against the backdrop of the Detroit riots of 1967.

My initial title for this review was going to be Detroit Starts Fine But Veers Into Horror for Horror's Sake.

My blog response was initially going to read... Recommended: Read the Reviews and Skip the Film. Or maybe, Recommended: Don't watch this if you're depressed.

I would have skipped it altogether (a public response) but then found myself dwelling on certain aspects of the story and decided to make a list of thoughts about the film, partly in an effort to purge myself of some things that were stirred by watching it.

1. "the city routinely declined to promote black patrolmen, and the police had a reputation for exhibiting 'crude racism' and ignoring the needs of the black community. The police were perceived as unwilling to enforce the law and slow to respond in black communities, and police harassment of African Americans was the norm. Subsequently, African Americans... tended to strongly distrust the police. There had also been several incidents of brutality committed by the police... which worsened the tension between the police and the city's African American citizens."

The above paragraph is taken from a Wikipedia entry not about Detroit, but about riots in a section of Cleveland in the mid-Sixties. It could have been Chicago, L.A., Newark, Louisville, Kanas City, Baltimore or a multitude of other places, including Detroit.

2. The incident at the Algiers Motel in Detroit served not as a microcosm of the problems in Detroit, but of a pervasive issue throughout the nation.

Newark riots. Photo Credit: Tabitha C. Wang, Public Domain

3. My family living in New Jersey at this time. After the Newark riots, a neighbor of mine stated that there were cops in Newark who welcomed the riots. It gave them an opportunity "to shoot a n***** and get away with it." His uncle, a cop, had said this. Being an impressionable teen it depressed me to hear this.

4. Will Poulter played one of the most evil characters I've ever seen in film, but this character was not really a character. Compare Poulter to Javier Bardem in No Country For Old Men. Bardem was scary bad, but interesting. Daniel Day-Lewis in There Will Be Blood was another evil man, but we saw a fully developed character, a human being with motivations, albeit bent.

5. Speaking of motivations, none of the characters appeared to be really developed. The five Motown singers were given a few minutes to let us know they were young folks with dreams. Characters have motivations. Characters must each have a quest, something they want. We only got that from one person in the film, a singer who had talent and a dream.

6. To quote from one of the reviewers, the film became "an over-indulgent orgy of violence" that failed to address the historical context in which the riots arose.

7. There are a lot of films that deal with tension, violence and the like, but the best films give the viewer some relief, places to catch one's breath. Maybe that is the point that Ms. Bigelow was making. "If you think an hour or two of unrelenting torture is bad, well imagine how these kids felt after eight hours of this, and worse." O.K., but I didn't sign up for that. And whatever happened to the maxim, "Less is more"?

There are dozens of films that effectively deal with injustice without putting this whole horror directly in your face. Even Tarantino's violence is interspersed with comic relief.

8. The deeper, long-term causes of the riots barely appear in the film. According to Encyclopedia Britannica, "The deeper causes of the riot were high levels of frustration, resentment, and anger that had been created among African Americans by unemployment and underemployment, persistent and extreme poverty, racism and racial segregation, police brutality, and lack of economic and educational opportunities."

9. The crazy guy who fired the fake gun and initiated this whole crazy sequence events was killed right at the start. Why didn't anyone explain what happened? I dunno.

10. O.K., maybe I do sort of understand this. One time, in my hippie youth, I was beaten up by a couple tough guys from outside the neighborhood. The police talked to the assailants first and afterwards hassled me in such a way that I, like the victimized young people in the film, kept my mouth shut. I could tell the police had no interest in my side of the story. I suppose it is possible the young people were too terrified to speak and believed any attempt to say anything would be considered insolence. Power can be intimidating.

11. Getting back to Will Poulter... How do actors feel after playing a role like that? I mean. at the end of each day, where is your head at?

12. In some communities, like Duluth, there have been improvements. Here is an example involving an artist, Carla Hamilton, who was profiled, singled out and interrogated improperly. Her response was to go to Chief Tuskan and turn this into a learning moment for the police by having them hear how they mishandled the situation. The follow up was an art exhibition at the Duluth Art Institute the following winter.

This would not have happened 50 years ago. The dialogue with Chief Tuscan led to a broader dialogue, ultimately with the community.

13. Improvement does not mean that race issues have disappeared. There is much work yet to be done.

14. The animated re-telling of the story of how blacks migrated North for jobs in the rust belt and the "white flight" that occurred in the inner cities after the Civil Rights Act of 1964 that permitted blacks to leave the ghettos, this was well done and got my hopes up for the film. Handled with a light touch, yet informative. The scenes that followed raised more questions than they answered.

15. There are many ways to tell a story. I can imagine that many people watching on DVDs quit watching before it reaches any kind of conclusion. I think here of 12 Angry Men, which deals with an injustice without hanging it in front of your face.

16. One reviewer at imdb.com  wrote, "Too bad the writing didn't create a more coherent picture of the time period. Statistics of unemployment, arrests of African Americans, a rising black prison population, would have helped create the setting in which the riots occurred." Well, that is the kind of material you can bring to the fore in a documentary.

17. The next comment from the reviews falls into the same category, info that could be better shared in a documentary. "The film fails to show how the riots were a watershed moment in the history of Detroit, how everything afterward became worse economically for the city and where that left the city today. Near the end of the film, Detroit goes from civil rights drama to procedural drama and completely loses its way. Certainly, presenting what happened to the three white officers charged with murder was worthwhile, but that could have been done in a paragraph as an epilogue."

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The history of race in America is depressing to think about, but it cannot be ignored.

Related Links
imdb.com User Reviews
DAI Exhibit Targets Tensions, Solutions

Meantime, life goes on all around you. Make a difference.

The Death of Emmett Till -- Dylan Places Spotlight on American Shame

Tomorrow evening there will be a community forum gathered to discuss Carla Hamilton’s current art exhibit at the Duluth Art Institute. The show is titled Gezielt (Targeted). It addresses issues of race and community policing. The discussion will be led by the DAI Artist Services Director, Amber White. Panelists will include Hamilton; the City of Duluth Human Rights Officer Carl Crawford; Chief of Police Mike Tusken; and the president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP)-Duluth, Stephan Witherspoon.

The rewards of any artistic engagement, from poetry to music to the visual arts, are directly related to the personal investment of time and reflection we put into it. Carla Hamilton's Gezielt, therefore, becomes an opportunity to reflect once more on race relations in America. Hamilton's exhibit serves to help us simultaneously think about how far we've come and how much progress is still needed.

Initially, when she told me about her experience last year it struck me like a poke in the eye. But then, her response was not only creative, but also revealing. We really have made progress.

In January, I reflected again on Dylan's early protest songs about race relations in the Deep South. Songs like The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carrol and Only A Pawn In Their Game have always remained riveting reminders of systemic injustice. Another very early song Dylan recorded, but never released was a grimly disturbing The Death of Emmett Till.

This past week I discovered an audio version of a book written fifty years after this 1955 incident titled The Blood of Emmett Till, by Timothy B. Tyson. A unique feature of Tyson's book is this: Carolyn Bryant, the white woman in whose name Emmett was lynched for having somehow having violated, gave her first interview in her life and told a different story than the one she initially told.

Anyone familiar with Duluth's lynching of three Negros in 1919 can't help but hear echoes of our own experience. "They're selling postcards of the hanging..." Audacity.

Emmett Till grew up in Chicago, but had come down to Mississippi for the summer with two other boys. One day the kids got into a car and drove into town to go to the store. Carolyn Bryant worked at this little drifter store and after some of the boys had been inside they told Emmett she was pretty and he should also fetch a look. Emmett and another went inside. His friend went outside again and for about a minute he was alone in the store with her. What she claimed happened next resulted in his death.

In The Blood of Emmett Till Timothy Tyson spends five chapters laying the groundwork for "the incident." Bryant's response may have seemed as insignificant as a spitball thrown over the edge of a cliff, but once events are set in motion there's not much one can do to stop it. The power of an avalanche can be devastating.

In the Jim Crow South there were two kinds of laws, the spoken and the unspoken. Perhaps this is true in most cultures, but in the South violating an unspoken law was a matter of life a death. In Emmett Till's case, the latter.

Some people would say that growing up in Chicago he didn't know any better. They speculated that it's is possible, for example, that when he paid her (if that occurred) he touched her palm when he put the money in her hand, not realizing he should have put it on the counter.

But even Chicago had its unwritten rules and the blacks knew their place there, too. Years ago I purchased and read Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Carl Sandburg's book about the Chicago race riots of 1919 which was triggered by an incident involving a black boy crossing an imaginary line from a black swimming area into a white swimming area in Lake Michigan. Whites essentially stoned him to death, setting in motion a riot that resulted in 38 deaths and more than a hundred injuries. In other words, each race was to know its place.

Tyson uses the first five chapters of the book to set up the context before telling the incident in chapter 6. What happened next is what led to the young Bob Dylan producing a song about it.

Dylan wrote The Death of Emmett Till in 1962, performing it but once, on July 2. He was barely 20 years and forty days old. A recording of this performance was released on the 1972 album Broadside Ballads, Vol. 6: Broadside Reunion, under the artist name Blind Boy Grunt. Dylan did a studio recording the song as well, which was finally released in 2010 on The Bootleg Series, Volume 9: The Witmark Demos.

The song is not a feel-good. Nor is the book, which ends on the note that although lynchings are no longer the threat that they once were racism in America is still alive and well.

The Death of Emmett Till

’Twas down in Mississippi not so long ago
When a young boy from Chicago town stepped through a Southern door
This boy’s dreadful tragedy I can still remember well
The color of his skin was black and his name was Emmett Till

Some men they dragged him to a barn and there they beat him up
They said they had a reason, but I can’t remember what
They tortured him and did some things too evil to repeat
There were screaming sounds inside the barn, there was laughing sounds
out on the street

Then they rolled his body down a gulf amidst a bloody red rain
And they threw him in the waters wide to cease his screaming pain
The reason that they killed him there, and I’m sure it ain’t no lie
Was just for the fun of killin’ him and to watch him slowly die

And then to stop the United States of yelling for a trial
Two brothers they confessed that they had killed poor Emmett Till
But on the jury there were men who helped the brothers commit this
awful crime
And so this trial was a mockery, but nobody seemed to mind

I saw the morning papers but I could not bear to see
The smiling brothers walkin’ down the courthouse stairs
For the jury found them innocent and the brothers they went free
While Emmett’s body floats the foam of a Jim Crow southern sea

If you can’t speak out against this kind of thing, a crime that’s so unjust
Your eyes are filled with dead men’s dirt, your mind is filled with dust
Your arms and legs they must be in shackles and chains, and your blood
it must refuse to flow
For you let this human race fall down so God-awful low!

This song is just a reminder to remind your fellow man
That this kind of thing still lives today in that ghost-robed Ku Klux Klan
But if all of us folks that thinks alike, if we gave all we could give
We could make this great land of ours a greater place to live

Copyright © 1963, 1968 by Warner Bros. Inc.; renewed 1991, 1996 by Special Rider Music

* * * *
Both the song and the story can make us uncomfortable. Nevertheless, becoming uncomfortable is a first stage of personal growth, laying the foundation for community growth. Tomorrow evening's Community Forum at the Underground may have some uncomfortable moments. Addressing issues of race and injustice can seldom be characterized as "fun" but it can give us an opportunity to learn more about who we are, what we believe and what we want our future to look like.

Meantime, life goes on all around you...

Carla Hamilton's Gezielt (Targeted) Creatively Makes Us Think and Gives Us Something To Talk About

When Carla Hamilton told me about the concept she was working on for the Duluth Art Institute show that's now installed I could hardly wait to see what she'd create. I had high expectations, having written about her previous shows at Washington Gallery and the Red Mug, but exactly what form the imagery would take was impossible to guess. It shouldn't have surprised me that she exceeded my expectations on all counts.

Christa Lawler's article in Thursday's DNT sufficiently captures the trigger event that led to this show, titled Gezielt (Targeted). What you'll learn if you read the story is that Hamilton had an unexpected encounter with police while out with friends last year.

Reflecting on that night.

Perhaps most striking are the unexpected juxtapositions. Though Josh Williams's two large photos of Duluth Police Chief Mike Tusken capture a cheerful playfulness, but the overall show is serious in intent. In two places we see displays of a set of hangman's nooses that link directly to the historic shame that occurred earlier in Duluth history. Her paintings and collages bear titles such as "Fear Equals Hate" and "Walking While Black" (which is the "crime" she committed.)

The quote she borrows from Mr. Rogers is about sharing responsibility. "We live in a world in which we need to share responsibility. It's easy to say, 'It's not my child, not my community, not my world, not my problem.' Then there are those who see the need and respond. I consider those people my heroes."

For me what is striking is how through a creative response to her eight-minute injustice (the length of time Hamilton was stopped by police and absurdly accused of bothering two white women, her friends whom she was out on the town with) a series of dialogues emerged. Though only a brief encounter with the police, the aftermath left her shaken. One picture is a life-sized image based on the camera footage she obtained from police as she was interrogated. After processing the experience she requested and received, from Chief Tusken, a roundtable meeting with the police department in which the officers came away with new perspectives.

The artist with Chief Tusken, an outing in the park. 

Mixed media piece with baby shoes.

But it's not just the police who have learned things through this encounter. One of the handouts in the exhibit is a publication of the National Black Police Assn. Inc. titled, "What To Do When Stopped By The Police." In addition to how to respond when stopped in your car or on the street, there are a dozen other DO's and DON'T's plus what to do when police knock at your door. As the saying goes, "Know your rights."

The overall tone is pitch perfect. The seriousness of the issues has not been obfuscated by the playfulness of some of the images. Hamilton acknowledges that she had a "full-blown panic attack" after the encounter. The trauma was real, but as the saying goes, "It's not what happens to you that matters as much as how you respond to it." She responded creatively, atypically.

The subject matter is not all fun and games.

In addition to the exhibition, located in the Steffl Gallery on the fourth floor balcony of the Depot, there will be an artist talk and community forum at 5:30 p.m. March 8 at The Underground. The panelists include Hamilton, Tusken, human rights officer Carl Crawford and Stephan Witherspoon of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

The show will be on display at the Duluth Art Institute through April 9.

For further reading: The Lynchings In Duluth by Michael Fedo. 

Local Art Seen: Hamilton and Kuth Deliver the Goods. Plus, Emerging Photographers and Closing for the Member Show at the DAI

I've been in love with the work of Carla Hamilton and Elizabeth Kuth from the first time I encountered it. Their current exhibitions at the Duluth Art Institute Depot Galleries only confirms this impression. For sheer boldness, Carla Hamilton's Gezielt (Targeted) is unlike anything I have ever seen. The juxtapositions of the various images and eclectic mix of styles left me stirred and the opposite of speechless. I found myself talking with everyone I could about what was there, perhaps in an effort to get a handle on it or process it.

Elizabeth Kuth's show in the Morrison Gallery, Rooted Expression, clearly reflects her maturity as an abstract painter -- powerful, exploratory, evocative, engaging. The pieces are darker, deep and at home here in this space. And the space is large enough that one is able to stand back far enough to take it in.

The Emerging Photographers show in the Corridor Gallery makes for a great dessert--or appetizer if you came up through the elevator there. I regret not having more time, but had fun meeting some of the students whose work comprised this show.

Jeffrey Larson's Pheasants 

There was a very brief introduction of the artists at one point and a reminder of upcoming artist talks. Though it was also the closing night for the member show, the Great Hall was muted by all the excitement generated upstairs. One thing I did notice, however, was that there seemed to be a few more political statements this year than in years past. No doubt a sign of the times.

I'll be sharing more from in the days ahead.

@PantsOnFire by Patricia Lenz

The Killing Chair by Kris Nelson

Parisian Portraitist by Matt Kania

There's plenty more to say. This is just a taste. Be sure to read the backstory about Carla Hamilton's show which appeared in yesterday's DNT.

And don't miss next week's show at Trepanier Hall featuring Ugandan artist Steveboyyi Makubaya. March 4 at 6:30 p.m.

Meantime, art goes on all around you. Engage it. 

Throwback Thursday: DAI Member Show Exceptional As Always

TONIGHT is the Closing Reception for the Duluth Art Institute Member Show and the opening for three new shows--Gezielt (Carla Hamilton), Rooted Expression (Elizabeth Kuth) and Emerging Photographers 2017. 5:00-7:00 p.m. at the Depot. Join us. 

Meantime, for Throwback Thursday here's a blog post about the opening reception for the 2010 Member show seven years ago. 

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It's an awesome thing to be a young artist in the vicinity of New York or San Francisco or other flourishing cultural centers, nourished by the variety of aesthetic experiences exploding there. Truth is, wherever you go across the land, by whatever ribbon of highway you travel, you will discover pockets of creative energy displayed. There are artists everywhere doing some very cool things.

Last week, the Duluth Art Institute Membership Show opened here, filling the Great Hall of the Depot with a wide array of works by local artists. During my lunch hour yesterday I had a chance to check it out, having missed the Opening Reception the previous week because I was in L.A. The show consists of a single entry by any member desirous to contribute, and one readily sees there are a lot of people making some very interesting things. I saw that someone else has been painting Dylan, and I saw one of Adam Swanson's bicycles.

“Even though the work is un-juried, this show is a testament to the incredible array and quality of visual art in the Arrowhead region,” said Samantha Gibb Roff, DAI executive director.

Here's the mission of the DAI, according to their website: The Duluth Art Institute enriches daily life with dynamic, innovative arts programming that upholds excellence and promotes active community participation. From talking with the executive director and others, I have come to understand that the last phrase is probably the DAI's most important feature, promoting community participation. Through a range of programs the organization nurtures an interest in the arts among young people, and helps closet artists expose their creative passions to wider audiences. The DAI also has workshops to help professionals find more venues and to develop their careers in the arts.

In short, it is a small but energetic non-profit organization that is dedicated full time to community enrichment and appreciation of the arts. At the very least, check out their show at The Depot. And when you have a few minutes, check out their website as well.

Art appreciation isn't just for stodgy old folks with money. It's for everyone.

PICTURED here are scenes from the current show in The Depot's Great Hall. My own entry, A Postmodern Man, is in the lower portion of the photo at the top right.

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"If you hear a voice within you say 'you cannot paint,' then by all means paint, and that voice will be silenced." --Vincent Van Gogh

Twin Ports Arts Happenings: Highlights for the Next Four Weeks

"Why fit in when you were born to stand out?" -Dr. Seuss

* * * *
There's plenty happening in the Twin Ports arts scene, both above and below the treetops. If you have a visual arts or spoken word event coming up soon and you don't see it listed here, feel free to add it in the Comments so we can all learn about it.

* * * *

Tonight is Spoken Word Open Mic @ Beaners. Linda LeGarde Grover is the featured poet this month. The even begins at 7:00 p.m.

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Submit a Living Lab project proposal
You are invited to transform an unused space on the UMD campus into your own sustainable laboratory by submitting a Living Lab project proposal. Campus grounds and buildings are not only a backdrop of campus life, but can be used as a medium for innovation, testing, demonstration, and learning. Selected proposals will receive campus space and assistance with the facilitation of an approved project. Application Deadline: March 20.  Details Here.

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Anishinaabe Kwe @ the Holden Fine Arts Center at UWS

Here's an opening to look forward to. Local Native artists Sarah Agaton Howes, Ivy Vainio and Leah Yellowbird will have their work on display March 1 - 31 at the Kruk Gallery, Holden Fine Arts Center, UW-Superior. (1805 Catlin Avenue) This oft-overlooked space has had numerous really excellent shows and this one will be equally stimulating. Looking forward to it. The Opening Reception is slated for Tuesday, February 28, 5-7pm. Will I see you there?

* * * *
Steve Boyyi @ the AICHO Galleries 
The first week of March Ugandan artist Steve Boyyi will be showing his work at the AICHO Galleries in Trepanier Hall in Duluth. Here's a story on this remarkable young man. More details coming soon.

* * * *

Christie Eliason @ The Red Mug
I owe the Dr. Seuss quote at the beginning of this blog post to Christie Eliason, who is having her painting displayed in her first public exhibition next month at the Red Mug in Superior. She has a great spirit in my recent correspondence with her and I look forward to sharing her work here in the next few days. The show is titled Inside A Raven Conspiracy, and there's plenty to see and like. The opening reception will be March 11, a Saturday, from 2:00-4:00 p.m.

* * * *

Adam Swanson @ Pizza Luce
Next time you get a chance, grab a lunch or libation at Pizza Luce and check out this month's featured artist, Adam Swanson. Swanson's paintings give any room a lift, which is my you may want to own one of your own someday. You won't have to wait till your next show to enjoy it. You can get that pick-me-up every time you come home after a rough day, for the rest of your life.

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Book Club at Tweed Museum of Art 
There's a new book club formed, meeting once a month at the Tweed. I can't imagine a better location for an art-themed book club. But the books aren't what you'd expect, so if you're looking for a new book club, this one has some lively fans of the written world. Next Tuesday Claire Kirch is the moderator and the book they are discussing is an art sleuth novel about Abstract Expressionists and the drama of World War II. Free and open to the public. The book is The Muralist by Barbara Shapiro. Here are the details about when and where they're meeting.

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CALL FOR ART
Seeking artists to contribute to a Dylan-themed art show during Dylan Fest 2017 in May. Here is the original announcement... with more details coming soon. We have secured a location for this year's Duluth Dylan Fest art show: the Zeitgeist Atrium.

ALSO, we're looking for artists to do more paintings for some of the windows at The Armory. Would you like to paint a panel or two for public display. Next time you drive by (down on London Road across from Valentini's) check it out... Then reach out to me via PM on Facebook of ennyman3 AT gmail DOT com.

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DAI Opening Reception for two exciting artists, Carla Hamilton and Elizabeth Kuth is Next Thursday, Feb. 23. This will also be the closing reception for the Member Show. ARTISTS: Don't forget to pick up your work the following day.

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EdNote: If your event is not listed and you want others to hear about it, share your details here in the Comments.

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EdNote: I now have links to all my books listed in one place. Check out Eds-Books.com

Opening Reception for Three Exhibits, February 23 at the DAI and More

The opening reception for the triple exhibition of Carla Hamilton, Elizabeth Kuth and UMD Student Photography is rapidly moving into view. Just over two weeks from today this is a show I've very much been looking forward to. Here are some notes to get you motivated.

“Gezielt (Targeted)”
Feb. 23 – April 9, 2017

"Ghost Fathers" from her show Durch Wasser rennen.

If I remember correctly, DAI director Annie Dugan lives in Wrenshall, as does popular local author Lucie Amundson. Carla Hamilton grew up there in the small rural community and then left the region to spend nearly 18 years in Germany, where she studied classic art techniques at the Freie Kunstschule. Hence the German titles of her shows and much of her work.

Hamilton returned to Minnesota in 2012 and turned from traditional painting techniques to mixed media, employing repurposed objects in her work. This current series comes from an “experience of walking while black.” In spring 2015 she was stopped by a cop and accused of bothering her two white friends. She states: “My fear from the incident spurred me to request mediation and body camera footage. The mediation process was a great exchange—the officers saw me as more of a person and I saw them as people, too. This work comes from processing both the original experience as well as the productive aftermath. We can’t ignore the things that happen and in order to move forward we have to talk.”

Her initiative fostered learning opportunities. The dialogue proved helpful not only for Hamilton but also for the officers as well. Bringing her art to the Duluth Art Institute is another step toward bringing understanding as regards police/community relations. "You don't have to do anything wrong to get arrested," Carla told me last summer. "I get stereotyped all the time." Her life in Germany taught her that what's happening here in the Northland could be better.


“Rooted Expression” 
Feb. 16 – April 9, 2017

There's much anticipation to see the new paintings by Elizabeth Kuth. I myself love her painterliness and the ways she uses paint to evoke subconscious, childlike forms. Her textures and surfaces can dramatic. Kuth’s work conveys her search for meaning and purpose.

In December she exhibited work from 2014-2016 at the new Studio 3 West Gallery where she also talked about her paintings. Kuth, who said she paints from the gut, explained, "I learn about myself as I paint," noting that it's a very determined process for finding out more about yourself.


UMD Student Photography
The Corrdior Gallery at the DAI will exhibit photography by University of Minnesota-Duluth students. This annual exhibit showcases their learning in photo theory as well as digital, analog and hybrid techniques mastered by the region’s post-secondary students. This year’s photographers are Katie Bertucci, Keegan Burckhard, Liz Huninghake, Wilson Johnson, Sammie Lundberg, Kaitie Sauer, Eric Soderberg and Emily Theisen. This exhibit, which will be on the walls outside the DAI office and board room, is curated by the DAI Artist Services Director, Amber White.

The reception is free and open to all, with live music by Emanuel Eisele.

* * * *
There are a number of programs taking place in March that relate to thes exhibits. One of these is a Wiki Edit-a-Thon for Arts & Equality, March 5 at the Lincoln Center DAI. There will also be a forum addressing art, race and community policing (with panelists including Hamilton, City of Duluth Human Rights Officer Carl Crawford; Chief of Police Mike Tusken; and local NAACP president Stephan Witherspoon). And Studio 3 West is hosting a feminist art opening in March called Wtf. It's apparent that the DAI is expanding its Duluth footprint.

February 23 is the first date of note, though. Will we see you there?
 
Meantime, art goes on all around you. Engage it.

Catching Up with Artist Carla Hamilton

This month Carla Hamilton's work has been on display at The Red Mug in Superior. Her next show will be at the Duluth Art Institute in February. It seemed like a good time to catch up and see what else is happening in her world.

Sunday afternoon we met for a bit at Beaners in West Duluth. She began with a re-cap of her summer. "I was in Detroit this summer and fell in love with Detroit. There was art everywhere. We did AirBnB.... Madison, Ann Arbor, Detroit and the U.P. ... It was beautiful everywhere," she said, describing some of what she experienced including some spectacular murals. From here I got a preview of her upcoming DAI show.

"My next show is at the DAI in February, a collection of episodes that started when I was profiled last spring by the Duluth police," Hamilton explained. "I got stopped for 'walking while black' on Superior Street. This show reflects my feelings about what happened."

The aim of this show is not to bash the police, she said. "My goal of this show is not to bash the police. My goal is to create uncomfortable conversations and create dialogue. We can't change things if we don't talk about it." True dialogue, however, makes us uncomfortable.

What I found especially intriguing is that Carla did not just accept what happened. She took action to make this into a learning opportunity for the police. "I have since had mediation and good open dialogue. I felt heard. Most of the police involved were open to critique."

Two of the piece that are currently on display at her Red Mug exhibition reflect the new direction she is taking with her art. Carla Hamilton had been living in the Washing Studios initially when she returned to the U.S. from Germany, but now lives in a house in the East Hillside area. "I have a house now but don't have the space (for making art). I'm working in my garage." When I ask what she's currently working on, she replies, "I currently have some old maps. I'm doing a lot of prep and organizing things. I have 600 slides from one source and am using these for ideas. I don't know what I'm going to do yet but am letting them percolate.

"Making frames and stretching canvas... Getting bloody knuckles." Laughs, shows me her hands.

Her theme at this time is, Hate Equals Fear, Fear Equals Hate.

"You don't have to do anything wrong to get arrested," she said. "I get stereotyped all the time."

"How are you addressing this in your art?" I ask.

"I'm hoping to create a dialogue. Maybe it will offend you or maybe not, but I'm going to put it on the table."

She's hoping to throw a little humor into it, which will "hopefully make it easier to approach or discuss it. Topics included prohibition, opioids, the stereotypes we have with each other. These assumptions we have... disadvantaged or successful.... assumptions about people that are all wrong."

"How did living in Germany change how you see America?" I ask.

"That's a loaded question. It made me see that a lot of Americans live in a bubble," Hamilton replied. "A lot of Americans feel really self-righteous and entitled."

Her upcoming show came about like this. "I approached Annie Dugan when the Gorilla Girls were here. I had a piece in the Great Hall and we talked... and I wrote a small proposal and now we're here."

The racism she has experienced is not readily observed. "I grew up in Wrenshall and we had to be friends or you didn't have friends. The racism here resulted in getting beat up... I would get spit on with parents around. Even as bad as I was treated it was nothing compared to what I saw with Native Americans and how they were treated." Can we fix it?

"We can start to. You can be yourself and work on yourself and hopefully that will work out. I try to model it for my son, and am willing to say, 'That was wrong.' It's hard to be hated." She followed this with stories told about being typecast, about stereotyping... "Everyone wants to put you in a drawer. I don't like being defined this way."

* * * *
I, for one, am looking forward to Carla Hamilton's upcoming show at the Duluth Art Institute. If you are here in the Twin Ports, Carla's work current work is on display at Red Mug in Superior. I would encourage you to take a lunch there sometime this week and enjoy the great salads, sandwiches, wraps and soups. Special thanks to Suzanne for her support of the arts.

Meantime, art goes on all around you. Engage it.

Local Art Seen: Kandy at Benchmark Tattoo & Gallery

Carla Hamilton

I arrived at Benchmark Tattoo around 8:45 Friday eve. There were a dozen young people out front sitting, standing, talking, laughing. A dog lay near the door, in the way of the door actually, and one could see inside that there were people getting tattoo work on a couple of the beds, or stations (whatever they are called.) It was my seventh art opening of the young night, and I not yet beginning to tire of seeing the new work by so many interesting people.

The show here was titled Kandy and it featured work by Carla Hamilton and Cully Williams, the son of a close friend of hers. Hamilton, who lived in Germany for 19 years, had a stash of artwork that did not come back to the States when she first returned. Since that time she went back and retrieved a portion of it so that I looked forward to seeing some new pieces. Four of these were in the June Goin' Postal Show, but I anticipated more, plus some other new work. 

"Separate" by Cully Williams

Cully Williams presented a number of smaller pieces, some with edgy content. He also had a very large piece into which he had clearly invested himself, an immense line drawing on what appears to be brown butcher block paper. The drawing is essentially a vortex creating the illusion of lines converging in the center of the paper at infinity. Because of the nature of the lines it could also be seen as folded paper depending on the angle one looked at it. 

Williams also took special care in building a unique frame for the piece using glass, wire and turnbuckles. His meticulous attention to detail and tedious execution of the concept served to produce a mesmerizing effect.

Hamilton's new work likewise has features that entice including her ongoing fascination with color. The surface textures on her mixed media paintings are especially interesting. One gets the feel that she has poured a thin layer of glass over some of the pieces, like a glaze, and like raku pottery the crackling produces effects both unexpected and unique.  

Cully Williams with his line drawing.

From Hamilton's "Mädchen" series

Detail of Hamilton's effects

"Presents" by Williams

"Zerbrechlich wie Starke" by Hamilton

If you're taking a meal at Sarah's Table sometime in July, take a stroll across the intersection and check out this new show by Hamilton and Williams. You'll find it intriguing.

Meantime, art goes on all around you. Especially here in the Twin Ports. Enjoy it.

Local Art Seen: Second Friday Art Crawl, Part One

Things didn't go as planned on last week's Second Friday Art Crawl. I saw a lot of interesting work but my camera ran out of juice when I was at the Superior's North End Arts Gallery, so I can't share here all that I saw.

Right after work that evening I slid over to the Red Mug on Hammond. Carla Hamilton is this month featured artist. Here work has color and movement. Her innovative use of materials producing some striking effects. Recommended: take a lunch hour to grab some soup or a wrap and for dessert enjoy Carla's paintings. Or take a break after hours and grab a sup at the new Spirit Room upstairs, and then tour the walls of the Red Mug.

One flight up from the Spirit Room is a new exhibition at the North End Arts Gallery featuring Judie Phillips & Friends & Friends. By friends I believe she means both her friends who are showing with her -- Karin Kraemer and Kathleen Pattison -- as well as her animal friends which appear in her work, chickens and sled dogs. I first enountered Phillips' work at a Phantom Galleries group exhibition in the New York Building on Tower Avenue a couple years ago.

Members of the Superior Council for the Arts and Phantom Galleries Superior were present at the opening, as well Wisconsin State Senator Janet Brewley with whom I had an enjoyable conversation. The show, titled Animals in Dynamic Color: Paintings and Ceramics, will be on display from April 10 thru June 13. Gallery hours are Thursday thru Saturday, noon till 6:00 p.m.

Meanwhile, that same evening in another part of the country, Dylan was kicking off a new leg of his Never Ending Tour. Here is a review of that Atlantic City show.

Chickens by Judie Phillips

Last month I joined a Pinterest with board featuring faces in ink, interesting art by others, my Giclee reproductions that are available for purchase, abstract art that I like, a section devoted to Dylan themed art and photos and a board with pins of my current and upcoming books. If you have a favorite board, I'd be interested in hearing about it.

Detail from a Carla Hamilton piece

Angry fish vase by Karin Kraemer

And an Angry Rooster

This musher and his dogs reminded me of when I was an extra in Iron Will.

Several pieces by Kathleen Pattison.

Meantime, art goes on all around you. Engage it.