Local Art Seen: First Spark and Goin' Postal

Dusty Keliin

There's more to show than say here, so I will keep words to a minimum. Tonight is the 2014 Goin' Postal Spring Art Show and I thought I'd show some of what I saw last night as Andy Perfetti and friends were re-arranging the walls and halls and setting up. There's plenty of new work to see again as well as some new artists in the mix including AJ Atwater, Lee Englund, Jeff Peabody and Nicole Sippola.

The usual circle of Jeredt Runions, Becky Buchanan, Dusty Keliin, Eric Horn, Tara Stone, Chelsey Miller, Tal Lindblad, Sharon Rogers, John Heino, myself and others all have new things on display. Weather permitting this will be another great night of toasting the arts, eating well, and enjoying good music.

There will also be surprises. Ask me when you see me tonight. 816 Tower Avenue just across the tracks. 6 p.m. till whenever.

John Heino

Lee Englund

AJ Atwater

Nicole Sippola

In the event you missed the closing for First Spark, here are some images from that show which was on display in the Steffl Gallery at the Duluth Art Institue in the Depot through last weekend. The show featured work by students from area schools, K-12. It was inspiring.

Forecast for the weekend: Saturday will be the nice day weather-wise in the Twin Ports. The Gallery Hop will be a good excuse to get out. Save your chores till next weekend.

Enjoy the shows. On both sides of the bridge.

Local Arts and a Little Marx

In Europe it is essential for people to have an understanding of Marx. So let's start this blog with a handful of Marx quotes.

• "Man does not control his own fate. The women in his life do that for him."

• "Outside of a dog, a book is a man's best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read."

• "The secret of life is honesty and fair dealing. If you can fake that, you've got it made."

• "Alimony is like buying hay for a dead horse."

• "Well, Art is Art, isn't it? Still, on the other hand, water is water. And east is east and west is west and if you take cranberries and stew them like applesauce they taste much more like prunes than rhubarb does. Now you tell me what you know."

So, if you're wondering what those Groucho Marx quotes are all about, read on. We're talking about upcoming events in the Twin Ports and you'll get it in a minute.

Gallery Celebration: The Space Around You & First Spark
Weather permitting, and at this moment in time the snow appears to be slacking off, from 5-7 pm the Duluth Art Institute will be celebrating two exhibitions: The Space Around You featuring photographs by Kristen Pless & First Spark, the annual K-12 art show featuring the work of regional students. Here's a good place to go for details.

Adam Swanson portrait of Jim C

If you haven't been to the Zeitgeist yet, the Hero/Villain exhibit with images by local artists featuring Mayor Ness and Jim Carlson will be up for a while. It's worth going out of your way for. In fact, you may wish to do the DAI and then jump over to Zeitgeist briefly before dropping in across the street to grab a cocktaiil at Blackwater for the Maxi Childs Trio with John Heino on keyboards. (I'm not trying to push ya, but it's a suggestion.)

Duluth Cracked Walnut Festival Reading 2014
Cracked Walnut is happy to return to Prove Gallery in Duluth for another reading for the 2014 Literary Festival. Featuring Duluth and Twin Cities writers, and a singer.  Ryan Vine, Felicia Schneiderhan, Azure Jayaraj (singer), Satish Jayaraj, Jim Johnson, David Stein, Mary Stein, Peter Stein. Once the Steins are finished, be sure to ask for a re-fill.

OK, time for another Groucho quote: "I intend to live forever, or die trying."

AND THE REASON FOR ALL THESE MARX QUOTES is that Saturday the Rubber Chicken Theater is continuing their popular Live Read Series in which the group performs staged readings of classic movie scripts. Next up is the Marx Brothers classic "A Night at the Opera."

Not familiar with the Marx Brothers?  Hmmm. "I have a mind to join a club and beat you over the head with it."

LOOKING AHEAD

Next weekend there is going to be a flurry of art activities kicking off Friday night the 25th with the Goin' Postal 2014 Spring Art Show, followed Saturday by the annual Art for Earth Day Gallery Hop. There will not be trolleys or shuttles this year, but then again the last couple years I didn't see many people on the buses anyways. Be sure to go out of your way to visit the Tweed Student Show.

For more lists of happenings, check out Thursday's WAVE in the Trib, the arts and events section of The Reader and whatever else you can get your hands on. The bulletin boards at Beaners and Pizza Luce are always a big help, especially for the music scene. And BE SURE TO GRAB A HOMEGROWN PROGRAM. They're out there now, and this year's festival promises more than 200 bands plus other events. Drop in to a few, to see what condition your condition is in.

Meantime, life goes on all around you. Listen to the music.

Local Art Seen: First Spark at the Duluth Art Institute

"Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep." ~Scott Adams

One of the highlights of our Red Interactive Phantom Galleries Superior show in 2011 was the wall of artwork created by children from China. There is something fresh and inspiring in the imaginative work children produce. Perhaps it is the transparency of their vision. One so readily sees how the wheels turn inside the minds of this inventive experiments in line, color, shape, design and form.

In my business travels its seems that numerous airports now have sections where they display artwork from their local arts scene, and many times (as in my flight out of Allentown last year and through Minneapolis on a regular basis) it is the artworks created by local schoolchildren that we encounter.

From February 20 to April 20 the Duluth Art Institute is making public a show titled First Spark in the Steffl Gallery. First Spark shows the range of talent being developed in our local and regional public schools. It's a fairly extensive display, with art by children of all ages, K-12.

There are other exhibitions on display at this time as well. Through March 27 the Emerging Photographers exhibit can be seen in the east end of the Steffl Gallery. In the Morrison Gallery  you will find a striking presentation of photography by Kristen Pless call The Space Around You. And don't neglect the hallway space outside the DAI offices. Some very cool stuff there again this month.

Why is making art with children so valuable? There's plenty of research out there demonstrating the benefits. This article at A Place Of Our Own offers a pretty concise summary of the variety of ways art making plays a role in a child's development, from motor skills to cognitive skills to social skills and more. You don't have to be a major in art history to get an uplift from these early blossoms of creative expression.

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

For what it's worth: Next Saturday the DAI Art Move Series is kicking off again at the Zeitgeist. The first film will be F Is For Fake, narrated by Orson Welles. Here's an outline of what is slated for the weeks ahead as we march into spring.

PS: Daylight Savings Time kicks in tonight. Spring forward.