Items of Note: Two Calls for Art Plus the Free Range Film Festival

Zeitgeist Seek Artists for Public Art

The Zeitgeist is looking for contributions from local artists to decorate a new Parklet that will be installed next year. They are seeking to display up to 18 submissions from artists of all levels, beginners to veterans. The concept you submit will be a draft, not finished pieces. They will select artists and then give plywood to all those selected for completing their ideas. Drafts can be submitted on paper in person at the Zeitgeist Arts Cafe: 222 East Superior Street, or can be scanned and emailed to sarahlueck@zeitgeistarts.com.  For more information visit the Zeitgeist Arts Parklet Arts page.

City Pages Call for Comix Artists
City Pages in the Twin Cities is looking for talented artists to submit work for their annual City Pages Comix Issue. This year's theme: Summer Jobs. Cartoonists must submit work that flows as true sequential art that tells a full story while adhering to our designated image dimensions, but there are no restrictions on the number of panels or how you use them. Guidelines and full details HERE.

Free Range Film Festival
NOTES FROM ANNIE DUGAN

The harvest is in for the Free Range Film Festival and 29 films have been deemed chemical free and fresh for viewing. 2018 marks the 15th year for the Festival. A cult favorite since it started screening films in 2003, the festival provides a forum for filmmakers, film lovers, as well as barn enthusiasts and country living aficionados. With an earlier date for the barn screenings, festival organizers are eager to share the schedule with consumers.

This year’s crop of films includes a documentary about semi-aquatic beaverlike rodents with giant orange teeth that live in Louisiana, a virtual reality music video from the duo “Maple & Beach”, the story of local artist hero Chris Monroe’s last window exhibition for Treehouse Records, and a lot of movies that include exclamation points in the title.

“I’m particularly excited about our Saturday afternoon block of programming this year” says one of the festival organizers Annie Dugan. “We have a ton of filmmakers who will be in attendance that afternoon with great opportunity for Q&A and discussion. Plus, this is the first year that our Saturday afternoon screenings are completely rated G!”. Dugan continues that even if the films might not suit a particular audience, “there is something about watching movies in a big old barn that give people permission to relax and try something new. If they don’t like something, they can look up at the rafters and daydream. Its just such a beautiful space.”

The diversity in directors and subject matter is also of note in the 2018 schedule. Dugan points out that “One of the things we continue to be proud of in our programming is that over half of the directors are female, something you don’t usually see on the festival circuit”.

For a full schedule and more information on the Free Range Film festival: The harvest is in for the Free Range Film Festival and 29 films have been deemed chemical free and fresh for viewing. 2018 marks the 15th year for the Festival. A cult favorite since it started screening films in 2003, the festival provides a forum for filmmakers, film lovers, as well as barn enthusiasts and country living aficionados. With an earlier date for the barn screenings, festival organizers are eager to share the schedule with consumers.

For a full schedule and more information on the Free Range Film festival, visit www.freerangefilm.com

* * * * 

Special Message from Ennyman

It's never too early to introduce your kids to the arts.

My parents enrolled me in a ten-week program here at the

Cleveland Institute of Art when I was five. It changed my life.

Cleveland Institute of Art

It's Never Too Late to Start Making Art

You can find all kinds of art classes here in the Twin Ports, from Zentangle Designs with Esther Piszczek to all the assorted activities at The Duluth Art Institute, Pineapple Arts and Art on the Rocks, just to name a few. Learn something new. Expand your horizons. Creativity is in your DNA. Wake up your Inner You.

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

Free Range Film Festival's 2017 Playlist Announced

There will be no whales saved in Wrenshall this weekend. There will be no terrifying accidents on a giant roller coaster that shoots people through the air. There will be no ocean expeditions, nor crash landings by Martian explorers (we hope). Rather, there will be laughs and sighs and other surprises, because the 2017 Free Range Film Festival (FRFF) is back.

If you've never been the the Free Range Film Barn, then you might want to go just because of the nostalgic sense of going back in time that it gives. (I think here of Uncle Harry and Aunt Isabel's spread in West Virginia. They had a bull and we were told not to get too near. That's no bull.)

The Free Range Film Festival has developed something of a cult-like following since it began in 2003 in that Wrenshall barn. The FRFF will be screening 35 films from around the world this year. The event provides a forum for filmmakers, film lovers, as well as barn enthusiasts and country living aficionados.

“That overused phrase ‘there is something for everyone’ really does apply here” says organizer Annie Dugan. “We screen short films, documentaries, animated films, and fiction. I think we try and strike a balance between work that is going to capture as well as challenge our audiences. I think there is something about watching movies in a big old barn that give people permission to relax and try something new. If they don’t like something, they can look up at the rafters and daydream. Its just such a beautiful space.”

EdNote: It really is a cool space.

This year’s lineup features local treasures along with nationally recognized films. In fact, “Hello Stranger” was featured on the Tonight Show after it was secured for the festival. The diversity in directors and subject matter is also noteworthy this year. Dugan states that “One of the cool things that we realized after we programmed the festival is that almost half of the directors are women, something you don’t usually see in filmmaking.”


www.freerangefilm.com

Free Range Film Festival
909 County Road 4, Wrenshall, MN 55797
To get there, head South out of Carlton and take County 1 when you get to the fork.
That will bring you to an intersection with County Road 4. Make a right and you can't miss it.
If you get lost, call 218-310-4703

Friday, July 28th 7pm – 11pm
Saturday, July 29th, 2pm – 5:30pm and 7pm – 11pm

For more information contact Anne Dugan
annesdugan gmail.com

* * * *
THE SCHEDULE

FRIDAY EVENING 7pm
CATHERINE (12m)
Cat ownership can be difficult. Directed by Britt Raes.
*THE LEGEND OF CYRIL (3m)
Cat ownership can be beautiful. Directed by Beth Peloff.
SCIENCE TODAY: THE TRUMP PARTICLE (3m)
Trump stumped scientists… until now. Directed by John Akre.
*DEMOLITION DREAMING (52m)
The Minneapolis Gateway District according to the girl in the walls. Directed by John Akre.
HI STRANGER (3m)
Hi stranger. It’s been a while. I’ve missed you. Directed by Kirsten Lepore.
IT SHOULD BE EASY (2m)
Computer ownership can be dangerous. Directed by Ben Meinhardt.
*ON THE WALL, OFF THE CHAIN (7m)
Artist Adam Turman is also a gentleman cyclist. Directed by Greg Carlson
ALL THE PRESIDENTS’ HEADS (9m)
All of our presidents are cement heads. Directed by Adam Roffman.
PERFECTLY NORMAL (13m)
We are all normal in some way. Directed by Joris Debeij.
***** BREAK with music ****

FRIDAY EVENING 9:30pm

Balcony with a View

BIRDLIME (11m)
The exotic bird industry in heartbreaking stop-motion. Directed by Evan DeRushie.
FRY DAY (16m)
An adolescent girl comes of age thanks to Polaroid photography and the execution of Ted Bundy. Directed by Laura Moss.
LITTLE POTATO (14m)
Imagine growing up gay in the Soviet Union with limited television options. Directed by Wes Hurley.
TOUGH (5m)
Some cultural misunderstanding can only be understood with maturity. Directed by Jennifer Zheng.
ELECTION NIGHT (8m)
The 2016 election takes a turn for the worse at a London pub. Directed by Ryan Scafuro.
REFUGE (20m)
Captivating interviews with refugees arriving in Greece. Directed by Matthew Firpo.
SATURDAY AFTERNOON 2pm
CONDITIONER (5m)
Auditions for a conditioner TV spot get wonky. Directed by Shane Bream.
UNTAMED WORLD: DESERTS (4m)
An intimate look at desert fauna. Directed by Kelsey Juddo.
GUT HACK (13m)
This guy eats poop to feel better. Directed by Laura Heberton.
LINGUA ABSENTIA (10m)
This is difficult to watch because it involves animation of severed tongues. But it is worth it. Directed by Kate Raney & Jeremy Bessoff.
LIFE AT A SNAIL’S PACE (23m)
Snails are surprisingly fascinating creatures, and pretty too. Directed by Alexandra Gaulupeau
THE SEVENTH STAGE OF GRIEF (14m)
These guys think climate change is real! Directed by Jacob Rosdail.
*MANLIFE (94m)
The secret to a healthy life? Eat raw vegetables, abolish income tax, and go to airshows. Directed by Ryan Sarnowski.
SATURDAY EVENING 7pm
BLOOP’S BIRTHDAY (4m)
What did you get Bloop for her birthday? Directed by Julian Glander.
*WALK IN DREAMS (5m)
Edgar Allen Poe says “All that we see or seem is but a dream within a dream.” Directed by Jonathan Thunder.
BACK TO ABSTRACTION (10m)
Stacy Elaine Dacheux travels back to the future to explore abstraction. Directed by Matthew Quezada.
AMEN (10m)
Adam is 11 and he is a messenger from God. Directed by Marie-Helene Viens and Philippe Lupien.
PENELOPE (13m)
A couple rescues a chicken from an Orthodox Jewish ceremony in Brooklyn. Directed by Duncan Skiles.
IMAGINE KOLLE 37 (8m)
Two carefree young girls laugh in the face of danger. Directed by Michele Meek.
*IN THE SKIP DISTANCE (9m)
A young girl alone in the wilderness finds some analog technology. Directed by Emily McNeill
TOMMY AND DAVID (5m)
Michelangelo’s David does not feel inadequate. Directed by Sara Joe Wolansky.
THE COLLECTION (12m)
Two friends find the holy grail of movie memorabilia in the unlikeliest of places. Directed by Adam Roffman.
THE SCARLET WHALE (15m)
A whale hunter becomes what he hunts. Directed by Jimmy Cho.
ARKABUTLA (14m)
There are certain moments in our lives where we make memories for life. Directed by Katori Hall.
*** BREAK with music by Portrait of a Drowned Man ***

SATURDAY EVENING 9:30pm
OH WHAT A WONDERFUL FEELING (15m)
Stars, hide your fires; let not light see my black and deep desires. Nor any truck. Directed by Francois Jaros.
*WHAT CHILDREN DO (87m)
Two estranged sisters are forced to repair their feral relationship. Directed by Dean Peterson.

Meantime, life outside goes on all around you. Get into it.

Free Range Film Festival Celebrates 13th Season This Weekend

When Richard Hansen brought the DuSu Film Festival to the the Twin Ports several years back he wasn't the first game in town for alternative film. The Free Range Film Festival is now in its 13th year out there in the Wrenshall boondocks. "The Barn" is turning 100 this year so it will be an extra special time to show your face, settle in and enjoy out of the mainstream programming.

Nearly all of us have grown up on cinema and a large percentage of us will admit privately that more often than not the films Hollywood has been producing are all too often less than satisfying. For this reason Indie films and off-the-beaten-path film festivals have become so popular among film buffs.

This particular film festival has been dubbed “a farm fresh alternative to stale cinema” since it started screening films in 2003. To celebrate the barn’s important anniversary the festival has expanded the number of films it is screening to almost 40 as well as presenting a live improvised score with the Band “Portrait of a Drowned Man”. (I'm not sure what that means, but it sounds interesting.)

Annie Dugan, director of the Duluth Art Institute, is also the force behind this event, its chief organizer and advocate. “This year’s crop of films is particularly peculiar and delightful” says Dugan. “We have such a mix with lots of shorts so there's always going to be something that will capture as well as challenge our audiences. I feel like that is what watching movies together should be about.” This year’s lineup features a mix of animated shorts, narrative shorts and plenty of documentaries including a 10 minute short about a 90-year-old woman who tries bacon for the first time.

One thing that has happened after a baker's dozen festivals is that the event has gained a reputation as being fun and quirky. As a result, Dugan notes, they have been able to leverage this to acquire some really amazing work. “This year we were able to secure a film that made a big splash at Sundance called ‘Nuts!’ It tells the story of John Brinkley who tried to cure impotence with goat testicle implants and ended up inventing modern radio along the way. And a lot of it is done in animation!”

The festival features local filmmakers alongside national headliners. Brian Barber is returning to screen work that he and Paul Lundgreen from Perfect Duluth Day directed together: “Honeycomb Hideout” interviews Duluthian Rob Berry whose collection of cereal boxes is truly tremendous.

Showtimes
Friday, July 29th 7pm – 11pm
Saturday, July 30th, 2pm – 5:30pm and 7pm – 11pm

The two-day event is held in the barn at 909 County Road 4 just outside of Wrenshall, MN. You'll find the full schedule, driving directions and more at the Free Range Film festival website:
www.freerangefilm.com

Wordless Wednesday: The Barn and the Kissing Booth

Upcoming Happenings: Twin Ports & Twin Cities

There's a lot happening this weekend and to catch it all will be impossible if you do not have a clone. Let's start with Superior this time. The two-year renovation of Tower Avenue south of Belknap has been completed and a celebration of this event is planned for this weekend, beginning tomorrow. During this Grand Reopening Phantom Galleries Superior will feature two new artists, Susan Loonsk and Jennifer A. Murphy.

Loonsk, a Professor Emerita of Art, Art Therapy, Ecopsychology Art & Meditation at UWS, has titled her exhibit "Mostly Birds." Her mixed media paintings are post-modern in style and use elements of autobiography and narrative to interpret, discover and explore the diverse realities of our world.

Jennifer Murphy's show is titled "Of Tidal Pools." Murphy creates work that lures one in with its curious appearance, and then captivates attention as it is viewed from every angle. The specimens have life, that they appear as if they are about to speak. Whatever they say is left entirely up to the imagination. The two artists can be found in the New York Building 1410 Tower courtesy the Blaine Business Group and Phantom Galleries, Superior.

This weekend is Carlton Daze in Carlton. You can find the calendar of events here. If you need discs for the Disc Golf Tournament, you can find them at Carlton Bike Rental. Check out the art while you're there and say hi to Joelene.

In Duluth, there's another great art show in store for you at Trepanier Hall at 202 West Second Street in Duluth. Northern Women - Below Zero Windchill Creations is the amusing title. The art show will feature work by Wendy Savage, Karen Savage, Joyce LaPorte, Roberta Marie, Laurel Sanders, Carolyn Sue Olson and Ellen Sandbeck. Door Prizes, Food and Music....another event that can't be missed! Opening reception: 5:30 - 7:30.

Wrenshall, MN is the home of the Free Range Film Festival, now in its eleventh year. Since 2004, this barn has drawn thousands of film buffs and curiosity seekers, eager to watch independent cinema. You can find it at the junctions of County Roads 1 and 4 just one mile south of Wrenshall. Selected films are shown in their massive hayloft on a 14’x 24’ screen with surround sound. While there is officially no charge for admission, the organizers do ask audience members for a $10 donation to help pay for barn maintenance.

In the Twin Cities Even Break Gallery is hosting an all day carnival and fundraiser with live music and open stage - webstream live telethon for The Lonesome Kid who is going to Mississippi in August. Donations get prizes! Details here.

Monday at Town Green Maple Grove, MN (Acoustic) Legends are putting on a free night of exquisitely performed music by five of Minnesota's most gifted artists. Outside. Under the stars. Under clear skies. Under cloudy skies. Over the proverbial top. In one of the metro's premiere facilities. Lonnie Knight, Dakota Dave Hull, Tim Sparks, Tom Lieberman and Dale Menten. It will be a memorable evening to be sure.

At the same location there will be another Salute to the Music of Bob Dylan concert August 6 from 6:30 - 9:30 p.m. This year, Scarlet Rivera will be part of the team along with returning artists including the core band members Matt Fink, Lonnie Knight, Stan Kipper, Mark Chico Perez, Ralph Dacut, Gary Lopac, Jim Steinworth and Billy Hallquist. Special guests include Patty Peterson, Barbara Meyer, Gene LaFond, James Loney, Barry Thomas Goldberg, Steve Grossman, Kenny Krona, Aaron Ollswang and Mark Lamoine along with Master of Ceremonies "Magic" Marc Percansky. This event also serves as a benefit to raise awareness and funds to support the ongoing efforts of Guitars For Vets.

And finally, publisher of our local free weekly rag The Reader Bob Boone is giving away free tickets to tomorrow night's Huskies home game in Wade Stadium. It's The Reader's 16th birthday. Last week the coupon to get you in free was on page 55. Pick up a Reader (this week's should start showing up around town today) and find that coupon. Check out the facilities. Our city council has been discussing it, too. The weather's supposed to be nice.

Meantime, life goes on all around you. Be part of it.


Top photos here were borrowed from their respective announcement pages on Facebook and temporarily used without permission.