Art For Earth Day is a Rich Twin Ports Tradition

Water Is Life. Gail Rosenquist @ Lizzards

Without tradition, art is a flock of sheep without a shepherd. Without innovation, it is a corpse.
--Winston Churchill

Today is the 26th anniversary of our annual Art for Earth Day Gallery Hop in the Twin Ports. The forecast for aesthetic enrichment is: Excellent. The weather forecast is: Uplifting. A light breeze, warm temps and sunshine to accompany us through the morning as we spring into the season.

The Earth Day Gallery Hop is the most tangible step that we're heading into the fullness of a new season of arts activities in the Northland. In just one week the Duluth Homegrown Music Festival will kick off (April 28-May 5). In a month Duluth Dylan Fest--with music, art, poetry and more--will arrive (May 18-26). On the heels of Dylan Fest is the DuSu Film Festival (May 29-June2).

Here are some items of note for Twin Ports Arts followers. Special thanks to Esther Piszczek for her work assembling all the useful info for our local arts community. Visit the Twin Ports Art blog that she manages for more more. Meanwhile, Get out and make a day of it today.

The ubiquitous Karin Kraemer

Saturday, April 20, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.
Art for Earth Day Gallery Hop
"The 29th annual Gallery Hop features a free bus tour to galleries all over the Twin Ports. Tour local galleries, visit with artists and watch demonstrations. Free parking will be available at DeWitt-Seitz Marketplace, the lot west of the Depot and lot G at UMD."

Participating entities: Art Dock; Duluth Art Institute; Duluth Pottery; Joseph Nease Gallery; Lake Superior Art Glass; Lizzards Art Gallery and Framing; Dr. Robert Powless Cultural Center; Siiviis; Tischer Photographic Gallery; Tweed Museum of Art; UMD Department of Art and Design; Waters of Superior. MORE DETAILS HERE

Saturday, April 20, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. 
EarthDAI Market, Duluth Art Institute's Lincoln Park Building, 2229 W. Second Street "The EarthDAI Market will feature handmade works of art from the Duluth Art Institute Ceramics Studio and many local artists. Live music, food, and beverages will create the perfect ambiance for loving the Earth. Art demonstrations and activities celebrating our beloved mother earth, reminding us to do our part as a community. Please, join us in the festivities and celebrations. The EarthDAI Market is happening in conjunction with the Art for Earth Day Gallery Hop."

Saturday, April 20, 1-3 p.m.
Earth Day Gallery Hop: Beadwork Exhibit, Nordic Center, 23 N. Lake Avenue

Saturday, April 20, 1-3 p.m.
Family Day/Art Education Open Studio, Tweed Museum of Art, Sax Brothers Gallery Space, 1201 Ordean Court "Dr. Alison Aune, Art Education Professor in the School of Fine Arts at the Unversity of Minnesota Duluth, and her Art Education students are offering this community event in conjunction with the celebration of Earth Day. Participants are invited to make and take a beautiful Finnish Himmeli mobile to hang at home. The event is free and open to the public. Light refreshments will be served."

Edges by Karen Owsley Nease @ Lizzard's

Saturday, April 20, 4-6 p.m. 
Opening Receptions, Lizzard's Art Gallery and Framing, 11 West Superior Street
Edges: an Exhibition of New Oil Paintings by Karen Owsley Nease
"Karen's oil paintings explore the edges created when two colors meet. Based on her observations of Lake Superior, they present two distinct styles of painting: that of minimalist color fields of distant horizons, along with dramatic, naturally depicted waves coming ashore."

Water Vessels: Water is Life, Handcrafted Pottery by Gail Rosenquist
"Gail is in awe of, and humbled by the water and waves she has been blessed to spend time watching by Lake Superior and on the island of Hawaii. She is painfully aware of threats worldwide to this irreplaceable resource. This earth day project is her celebration of this amazing giver of life."
On view: April 20 - May 25

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As you move forth into this celebration of Art for Earth Day

may your lungs be filled with fresh breezes, and your souls as well.

Ars longa, vita brevis.

Art is long, life short. --Hippocrates

Local Art Seen: Studio 101 on Art for Earth Day and a Noteworthy New Idea for Art Buyers

THE WEATHER could not have been nicer for yesterday's 28th annual Gallery Hop here in the Twin Ports. Though there were fewer participating galleries this year, the red carpets were rolled out all around and it was a perfect day to leisurely make the rounds. A dozen galleries welcomed friends of the arts with open arms, or rather, doors. And treats. And warmth. 

STUDIO 101

A number of people whom I spoke with yesterday did not know about Studio 101, so I thought it would make a good starting point here. The is derived from its location on Bob Dylan Way (Michigan Street at the bottom of First Avenue East). This loose  collective of veteran painters has been renting this space for eight years. Their work was featured last year at the Duluth Art Institute where they invited other artists to join on Wednesdays to paint a live model in the Steffl Gallery.

The location of the space has a couple of nice features, one of them being large plate glass windows that allow for a generous amount of light to illuminate the out rooms. Because the group does figure painting on Wednesdays, there are interior spaces for more privacy. 

The painters here include Dorothea Diver, Goran Hellekant, Mosswren (Constance Johnson), Cot LaFond, Dale Lucas and Larry Turbes. Lee Englund, who also paints with the group, spent the winter in Arizona and will be returning soon.

* * * *

While visiting Studio 101 yesterday several artists were in a discussion about art buying when all of a sudden a new idea emerged. It was like a revelation, an Aha!

Here is some backstory. I have many times over the years attempted to encourage people to buy paintings or pieces, in part because I want to see artists receive the financial remuneration they need to survive. My argument would go like this: "You can enjoy this painting today for a few minutes, or you can take it home and enjoy it for the rest of your life." I follow up by stating that on several occasions I've here people lament not having purchased a painting they saw when they were in Seattle or Albuquerque, wishing they had today what they briefly enjoyed in a gallery.

HERE'S THE NEW IDEA (Capitalized to underscore its importance). Sometimes price is the barrier that keeps people from making a purchase, so What If two or three friends went in together to buy a painting they all loved and then they time-shared the painting. Perhaps it is a $900 painting and three people want it. They can all pay $300, sign an agreement to each have it for four months of the year. Or perhaps it is a $4000 Leah Yellowbird painting and four people each pay a thousand dollars for the privilege of having it in their homes three months each year.

What do you think?

For what it's worth, here are some additional images from Studio 101.

Next Friday, April 27

Three More Great Art Events

Here's the Lineup

The Inimitable Leah Yellowbird

SAME EVENING

* * * *

MARK YOUR MAY CALENDAR 

SPRING INTO THE TWIN PORTS MUSIC AND ART SCENE 

WITH ALL THESE GREAT EVENTS

PLUS HOMEGROWN.

Full Schedule Here

Local Art Seen: Earth Day Weekend Gallery Hop

Today in the Twin Ports is the Art for Earth Day Gallery Hop, which includes a shuttle for those desirous to avoid parking hassles. I was able to make it to several locations last night and desired to share some of what I saw in order to encourage others to get out today to experience it first hand.

My first stop was Phantom Galleries Superior, where Maria Sippola and Adetomiwa Gbadebo shared the space John Heino and I filled in our 2011 Red Interactive show.  The pop-up gallery is housed in the New York Building on the 1400 block of Tower Avenue in Superior. If you should visit today (10:00 a.m. - 5: p.m.) you will be greeted by an immense energy. Gbadebo's dynamic color explosions fill the wall spaces, with fascinating ceramic and sculptural works by Sippola standing on pedestals throughout the hall.

Sippola has been an art student at UWS. "A Modest Assortment of Interjections" is her Graduate Exhibit.

Yoruba artist Adetomiwa Gbadebo hails from Nigeria and lives both in the Twin Cities and Africa. I asked about his influences, seeing similarities to Basquiat in his work. He stated that Julian Schnabel has been an influence, especially as regards the scale of his pieces. The artist told me that one of his paintings is 52 feet long, but was not on display here.

On his website he describes himself in this manner:

Born Prince Adetomiwa A. Gbadebo in Abeokuta, Nigeria; Prince Gbadebo uses his Yoruba heritage and experiences to create his pieces based on emotions and the journey that life stitches; as well as embody a spiritual trance while he creates. As multiple beginning ideas develop in his conscious and unconscious mind, they tend to evolve into much more with the guidance of his Yoruba ancestors, Orisha’s and Philosophies. He also pushes to teach humanity to truly see what they are choosing not to, question all conscious solutions given; while selflessly aiming for positive progression for all alike and different. Yoruba spirituality and cultural music as well as activist and Afrobeat founder/musician Fela Anikulapo Kuti also has a huge influence on why he creates fierce and strong works of art today.

Prince Gbadebo states “I create art for my future, my family’s future, my ethnic future, Nigeria’s future and for those around the world; who need inspiration and hope to deal with humanities prosperities and discords. I create to challenge peoples’ previously unquestioned intellect. I want my people as well as those foreign to my existence, be reminded of where they have come from (their existence as human beings) and where they need to go, for a sustained equilibrium of life”.

Humbly he states, “I am just a Yoruba man and mortal; a vessel sharing his philosophies and journeys with others, for a better enlightened future for humanity; socially, morally, economically and spiritually”.

Phantom Galleries will also be open Sunday as well, from Noon till 3:00 p.m.

Across the bridge it was good to connect again with Linda Powless whose work is on display in the Gimaajii-Mino-Bimaadizimin Gallery at Trepanier Hall. The title of her show is "Journey" and the variety of pieces were assembled to display the lessons she has learned along the way in her life experience.

From here I slid over to PROVE Gallery for the whimsical Homegrown Illustration Show in which regional artists were assigned (or selected?) local bands and persona to paint or draw. The presentation was fun, with decorative "frames" painted on the wall around each piece.  (These I will share in a separate post later this weekend)

A new show at Lizzard's Gallery has been installed, titled Feathered and Aquatic Creatures Abound. In addition to the new work you will find works by a variety of local favorites including Patricia Canelake, Adam Swanson, Aaron Kloss and Scott Murphy.

For a list of galleries open today for the gallery hop visit their Facebook Page.  Now in its 25th year.

Lizzard's

Adam Swanson

Patricia Canelake

Linda Powless shares her Journey

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

Local Art Seen: Another Rewarding Weekend

Mark Anderson @ Goin' Postal

Where does one begin? This was an exceptional weekend for experiencing art. Yesterday I share images of student art. It seemed a few other highlights were in order from the Fourth Annual Spring Art Show at Goin' Postal to the other things seen about town on Art for Earth Day.

The highlight was Friday night's Goin' Postal Show which attracted continuous traffic throughout the evening. Like most people who guess crowd sizes I may be off by 25% one way or the other but I estimated at least 200 people passed through the doors there to see what was going on. The walls were filled with plenty of new work, in all media. The artists stayed busy sharing themselves with friends. The renovated underground studio held its own as a new venue in town, a private party open to the public.

Most impressive to me is the caliber of people involved with and attending the show, from a retired judge and business executives to people walking by on the street stopping in to see what's happening.

Revelation by Brokke

Mark Anderson played a soothing jazz guitar in the background while people mingled about the space that is by day Andrew Perfetti's shipping store. New work and old intermixed, just like the crowd.

On Saturday I commenced with the Phantom Galleries -- Superior, first stopping at Adam McCauley's and Sarah Brokke's exhibits in the New York Building. Brokke's show, on the left side of the pop-up gallery, was titled Shift. She's a painter's painter and does wonderful canvases. McCauley's loose grid shapes reminded me a bit of Mondrian, not in the colors per se but in the collection of squares and rectangular shapes. Both painters have a love of color, and a distinctive evolving style.

Sarah Brokke

Galleries in the Canal Park area include Art Dock, Siiviis and Waters of Superior. The latter has an upscale feel and always wonderful examples from some of our better known artists and photographers. It is the "home gallery" of Craig Blacklock, I believe.

Siiviis featured the work of Marian Lasky and Rick Allen of Kenspeckle Press, as well as their usual assortment of works. Adam Swanson was present with his uplifting hot air balloon and windmill-themed paintings.

From there I went to UMD and eventually home to work on projects, but "Oh the Things You'll See" if you visit our galleries. Here are some pictures I took this weekend.

Meantime, art goes on all around you. Need to step in out of the weather somewhere, choose an art gallery!

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.