Local Art Seen: Gary Nelson's "Working Through"

The North End Arts Gallery is located in the historic Trade and Commerce Marketplace at the corner of Hammond and Broadway here in Superior. For Duluthians who don't know their way around on the other side of the river, here are your instructions. When you cross the High Bridge, go straight about eight blocks or so. This is Hammond. When you cross the tracks and reach the traffic light, look to your left. There it is!

Trivia: Arnold Schwartzeneggar used to have his girl friend Maria Shriver stay at the Hammond Inn (which you passed a few blocks earlier at the foot of the bridge) when she visited him here while he was in college at UWS. 

The building really has a lot of history, and like many cities Superior is in the midst of renovating and re-purposing some of its historic buildings, this being one of the first, which is now home to art studios, the Red Mug Coffeehouse, a bakery and more. 

The North End Arts Gallery is located upstairs the second floor. Gary Nelson's well-attended opening was Friday evening.

One big difference between an art opening and a gallery is that you can meet and talk with the artists themselves at their openings. If you want to know more about his or her motivations, techniques or personal history, this is the place to do it.

Gary Nelson is from  Maple, Wisconsin, one of many small communities scattered along the South Shore between here and Bayfield. Though the population is only 677 as of the 2000 census, I have met several artists from Maple. Must be something in the water there.

When I spoke with Nelson I discovered a man not unlike myself, and probably many others from all walks of life. Though an art major in college, Nelson had spent 25 years in the Douglas County Human Services department and had been making art. After retiring he returned to his passion for making pictures and has become very productive this past year, working primarily in pastels, pencil and craypas. His subject matter is "the human condition."

The pictures are brightly colored and graphically intense. Some are somewhat disturbing and others simply bring you to a different place.

Several of the pieces had Native American words in the title and I asked about that. He said his wife's family is from the Fond Du Lac tribe. It was nice meeting her as well and especially nice to see the strong turnout for this show.

Special thanks to the Superior Council for the Arts for assembling and hosting the artist reception and other events like these. Working Through can be viewed from 11-5 T, TH, F, SA until November 2. There will also be another special opening the evening of October 11 during the Twin Ports Gallery Hop. Mark you calendars and prepare to get your walking shoes on.

The North End Arts Gallery has become a very special place.

Working Through: Art That Addresses the Problem of Domestic Violence

Domestic violence against women is a serious problem in our nation. For this reason, the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence (NCADV) lobbied congress to create a national hotline for victims of abuse. To help bring increased awareness to the problem, October was declared Domestic Violence Awareness Month.

In conjunction with these efforts, the NACDV maintains a website where women who have been killed by the men with whom they were in an intimate relationship. The project is called Remember My Name. Much like the Viet Name War Memorial, the simple process of listing the names makes an impact, producing a deepened sense of the breadth of this tragic issue.

On a local level there are a number of groups working to bring awareness to the problem of domestic violence. Many of these groups intersect with the arts community.

In two weeks there will be an art opening for a new exhibition titled Working Through featuring new 2-D mixed media artworks by Gary Nelson of Maple, WI at the Superior Council for the Arts North End Arts Gallery. For the uninitiated, the gallery is located on the second floor of the Trade and Commerce Marketplace at the corner of Broadway and Hammond.

Nelson has spent 25 years working in the Douglas County Human Services department. In retirement he has returned to making art depicting aspects of the human experience and conditions utilizing pastels, pencil, and craypas. This show will display the new body of work to which he has focused his energies.

Here is what a friend of the artist wrote in conjunction with this show:

Working Through

I was asked to write about this exhibit—actually I volunteered and jumped at the opportunity—as someone who knows the artist and his work. Personally, I believe everything is a process—life, death, work, play, problem solving, celebrating joy and grieving loss, raising a family and sustaining relationships. This artist’s creativity is less about producing a product but very definitely more about working through the creative process. There is urgency to his creative process. It is as necessary as breathing, eating, moving and sleeping. The artist’s work is less about the message, more about working through the expression of that message. And since creative expression is sometimes an outlet for us as we work through our own personal struggles, certainly the artist as social worker also witnessed the struggles of individuals and families and the myriad situations that we can all find ourselves in as we work through our own life processes. The viewer will no doubt see themes of relationships, family systems and personal struggle in the artist’s work uniquely expressed in a style that often makes use of primitive, organic, elemental and spiritual motifs. The artist’s vivid use of color and abstract composition draws the viewer in and invites them to work through the images and find what is meaningful to them.

The opening will be September 27, 5-7 p.m., but will be available for viewing throughout the month of October. If you have never been to the North End Arts Gallery space, I do recommend making it a regular stop now and then. While there check out the latest works on display at The Red Mug downstairs and have a cup of soup... or a brew.

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