Local Art Seen: Minerva at the PRØVE

Friday evening the PROVE Collective hosted the 3rd Annual Zine Party at its gallery in Downtown Duluth. The event started at five and from the start the place was filling up with people who came out to celebrate the zine, hear music and listen to poetry.

Laura Gapske, cofounder of the zine, stated in her opening remarks that the aim of the publication is "women empowering other women." There is no censorship. Not all Minerva writers are feminists, but we "want to give voice to women."

There followed a series of women who read their work to a densely packed audience filling more than half the gallery. AF Bat opened with a challenging essay about labels which she titled "That's Not My Name."

"Take a brief moment to think about what we're called.... what we're called vs. what we call ourselves."

"Labels are how we connect to the people around us. Some we have control over, some we don’t. That’s the same for people who like us, and hate us. The people that want to identify and connect with us, and the ones that want to discard our chosen identities and overwrite our words with theirs, and twist our identity into something we don’t recognize, like the face of an angry friend."

"I am here tonight to discard a label. One that I don’t need, and never needed. I’m here to say that I am not a feminist."

She cited Sandra Day O'Connor's work in making legislation gender equal instead of favoring men. O'Connor did much for women but did not call herself by that label.

Ava (AF Bat) talked at length about a group of women trappers from Canada who live in the bush, doing what many consider men's jobs, one of them the leader of their group. After listening to their stories a being with them awhile she made some observations.

"Four themes resonated through their stories: equality, sustainability, partnership and accountability. In their culture, everyone is an equal until they stop producing an equal amount. There are no skills out in the bush that are labeled as gender specific. It was expected that each person was to pull his or her weight to accomplish a greater goal while leveraging their individual talents."

"The group rattled off adjectives to describe themselves: trapper, partner, other half, daughter, mother, Canadian. One referred to herself as ‘bushbunny’ (Her online avatar in trapping communities is a bunny on snowshoes, as she is speedy at cutting trails on snowshoes, and that is her talent on the trapline, as her husband has slowed down at his age.)

"After noticing that no one had used the word “feminist’ I asked if that was a word that they could identify with. One responded with “Never really thought of the word feminist. I mean there is a textbook definition. But I always just see equality. Because in the bush we are equals. “ Another responded with, “Why the need for a label? It's only a word not an identifier…You are you. That is your label!” One of the trappers, who hadn’t said a lot up until that point chimed in that she had never identified that way, and found that when other women used that label and corrected her, it made her feel as though her feelings on the matter were not important and they were taking away her right to describe herself. She made it abundantly clear that she was a trapper, first and foremost, who just so happened to be a woman, but an equal on the trapline and in her community."

* * * *

I noticed that many of the readers had nicknames, which were their pseudonyms in the zine. Red Flannel Hash, Cleta Rose, 2 Grass -- the names reminded me of the alter egos reflected in the names our local Roller Dames wore.

Jill Woman (Jeanne Jewell) presented next, opening with a provocative set of questions, and a painfully pointed observation: "What would like look like if you had never been abused? What if your mother had never been abused? What if your grandmother had never been abused? It would be different."

In another piece, Jill Woman shared how things went when her man left. "I did not try to find someone to take his place.... Instead, I found a woman's community."

Another observation she made hit home: "There's more to life than to just stay alive."

In a poem about abuse this couplet summed up another painful sentiment:

I guess we're the talk
all over town.
Why doesn't he see
he's only bringing himself down.

The walls were decorated with original pages from the zine, clipped like laundry on clotheslines the length of the wall. Artwork and thought-provoking ideas expressing, sometimes quietly and other times forcefully, a younger generation's "voice for women."

The fact that so many were present for the event said something. The ideas expressed did not have universal agreement, but here was a forum for women to speak and be heard. Are we going listen.

Local Art Seen: Second Anniversary Minerva Zine Party at the PRØVE

Illustration by Kris Simonson

Friday evening I found myself able to attend the Second Anniversary Minerva Zine Party at the PRØVE in Downtown Duluth. The event included art, music (by The Social Disaster) and poetry, in addition to great social energy.

Minerva is the resurrection of a zine that began seven or so years ago as a college project. Though the first iteration was eventually abandoned, two years ago Laura Gapske and Lindsey Graskey revisited the idea and Minerva returned. This is not a slick high end production. It's printed on a copy machine, like my first booklets of poetry many years ago. The zine addresses women's issues in a direct and often irreverent manner. It's in your face, but exceedingly creative.

Over the past two years the zine attracted other contributions from women including JeAnne JeWell, Cleta Rose, Amy Swanoski, A.F. Bat, PalaBrazo, and Anna Kelley among others.

The prose is often comprised of pithy advice like Be Grounded, Not Weighted Down. Be A Warrior, Not A Worrier. Or Be Fearless, Not Risky.

The talented Social Disaster may have been a major draw for this predominantly younger crowd, though peppered throughout there were a few Boomers, X-ers and Y-ers taking it in, grooving on the vibe. Karen Sunderman of the PlayList was present as was UMD rhetoric professor David Beard (though he and I crept out for much of the music, as it was also loud.) We both returned for the poetry.

Gapske discusses a page from the zine.

Laura Gapske, Ava Francesca Battocchio (A F Bat in the zine) and Lindsey Graskey (who signs her artwork 2Grass) were the poets who shared.

Their poetry and the 3 minute readings at St. David's the following night were a study in contrasts. Sunday I reflected on how all the arts has undergone a transformation as it were during the past century. Now, there are no rules. Or so it seems. Anything is possible, and the artist or poet can take any form or theme or direction.

Gapske's poems became personal windows to a portion of her soul and life experience. Graskey gave her life perspective some punctuation. Battocchio's lengthy reading was called The Great Disconnect, an appeal to this generation growing up wired. Here's an excerpt:

Millennials (cringe) are a spoiled generation. As the technological revolution has provided us more options we have grown more accustomed to customization. App-thingy’s and The Facebook have altered the way we express emotion, connect and date. Finding love and forging relationships has become just as fine-tuned as everything else in our lives.
Don’t like the music on our Spotify station? Thumb it down, cut it out. Don’t like our data plan, adjust it. Don’t like how much money we make? Take out another credit card. Annoyed by the people on our Facebook feed? Hide them and then delete them.
We can pick the sex of our offspring, upgrade our tits, customize our cars, watch our movies on demand. How could we not expect our relationships to be the same?

Then comes the bomb:
The problem lies in that we are more focused on crafting the world around us to suit our desires than we are on crafting the world within us to create opportunities to manifest those desires.

Another statement by Simonson.

Time does not permit me to delve into much more here, but by the end I felt re-assured that these young people we see living in our brave new world of screens and wires has it's brain engaged, that there are deep questions they are asking about it all and they're not oblivious to the challenges of being human.

And in the case of Minerva, the challenge of being a woman at a time such as this.

In the artwork of Kris Simonson I saw this especially displayed. Witty, original, and a prod to run the race, as a woman, neither held down or held back.

Keep going, Minerva. Find your voice and let it ring.

Twin Ports Gigs and Happenings As We March Toward Spring

Fiber Art by Erika Mock

Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. ~Hebrews 11:1

Here it is the last day of February. Thirty below on my thermometer yesterday. Minus nineteen at the moment. I was about to say that based on these thermometer readings there's no evidence of spring approaching. Such a conclusion is untrue, however. Jack Frost is just doing a little magic using a bit of misdirection. If we focus too hard on the temperatures we might fail to notice that the days are getting longer. Spring really is around the corner.

Here's my "short list" of events to make note of.

Minerva Zine Party at PROVE
The Second Annual Minerva Zine Party will be tonight at the PROVE Gallery in downtown Duluth. According to their Facebook invitation the event begins at 7:00 p.m. this evening and continues till 11:00 p.m. tomorrow. Minerva is a local feminist zine co-founded by Laura Gapske. The happening will include zine art, live readings of zine poetry, a library of zines for review and music by The Social Disaster starting at 8.

Perspectives and Parallels at the Tweed
Next Tuesday the Tweed Museum is hosting a symposium and reception for Perspectives and Parallels, from 4:00-8:00 p.m. Jill Doefler, professor of American Indian Studies at UMD, will moderate the discussion featuring guest-curators and writers who have curated past Tweed exhibitions  including Mni Sota (Dyani White Hawk), Encoded (John Hitchcock), Blood Memoirs (Amber-Dawn Bear Robe), and writers Amy Lonetree and Joanna Bigfeather. Topics such as Native American Identity, voice, and historical representation will be examined. (There will be no Tweevenings in March)

Ed Newman Book Signing at the Superior Library

If you miss my book signing because you attended Perspectives and Parallels, you are excused. I would be there myself if I weren't already slated here. In 2011 TJ Lind and I formed a publishing company of sorts called N&L Publishing. We published four eBooks at Amazon.com, three volumes of short stories and my Young Adult novel The Red Scorpion. Due to our inability to get newspapers to review my eBooks and other experiences, we decided to bring these four books into print. Unremembered Histories is the first of these.

TJ will be flying back to the midwest today from his Rhode Island college and will be on hand as we make a short presentation about my writing experiences and our mutual publishing experiences. We will then be donating two books to the Superior Library. There's a surprise coming, but I can't tell you about it right now. Why? Because then it wouldn't be a surprise.

Open Fridays @ Erika Mock's Studio 

Erika Mock is opening her studio every Friday in February and March from noon till 7:00.  Mock is a textile and fiber artist whose studio is up in the far back of the Red Mug building, which houses a number of other artists including the Mud Sisters and Terry Millikan. Today is a "No Snow" day so there will be more parking available than the past few weeks. Grab a bite to eat at the Red Mug, or fresh bread at the bakery. Or find any other excuse you can to drop in and say hi. Special of the Day: 10% off wings and pulse warmers.

Playlist Growing for the Salute to the Music of Bob Dylan

Magic Marc Percansky and John Bushey of KUMD's Highway 61 Revisited will be the honorary MCs for this event. The house band looks to be all aces, consisting of Billy Hallquist, Gary Lopac, Matt Fink, Stan Kipper, Chico Perez, Lonnie Knight, Ralph Dacut. Confirmed guest artists include: Barry Thomas Goldberg, Gene LaFond, James Loney, Paul Metsa, Courtney Yasmineh and, yes, Scarlet Rivera once again. Several others are in the wings as we await confirmations.

Mark your calendar for Saturday May 17. Tickets are on sale now for this Armory Arts and Music Center fund raiser spectacular.

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

Laura Gapske, Minerva and the Roller Dames

Laura Gapske is co-founder of the local feminist zine titled Minerva. Minerva is striking for its in-your-face approach and creative imagery, hence my interest in learning more about its creators. Gapske shared openly and without reservation.

EN: What’s the story behind Minerva? How did it begin? How long has it been in publication?
Laura Gapske: I researched zines for months via ordering independent publications from a Chicago comic store distributor. I also had an author/ professor from UWS share with me her collection of local feminist zines which were printed in the late 90’s. I realized the majority of fringe publishers were exiguous which gave them a laudable quality. This generated motivation to start my own after being inspired by stories and the heroine-like quality writing I consumed.

In 2007, I proposed an independent study course to create Minerva zine, to publish, curate, and organize student submissions for content. We published almost monthly the spring and fall semesters of 2008. I had more than ten student contributors and anonymous writers. Minerva had an academic focus from 2007-2008 with a university calendar of events and student polling on feminist issues.

After college, my friend and local artist, Lindsey Graskey and I decided to continue publishing Minerva. We printed two zines independently with three contributors. Unfortunately, I became preoccupied with life events and my career. I diverged as a single mother and it became a frivolous expense for my household. The zine was a project we both had a veneration to continue but lacked resources.

Lindsey and I were moxie to find the time and financial support to print Minerva again. Last year, with the help of Andy Perfetti at Goin’ Postal, we were able to afford to print small quantities of the zine again. We have consistently produced a zine every two or three months since establishing this relationship. Minerva had its first annual Minerva Zine Party with music by Christine Hoberg at Ochre Ghost Gallery in December. The party turned out a huge success and brought eminence to the zine. The show displayed a range of constituent art by new and old zine contributors. Last month, I published our fourteenth zine which is a manifestation of the longevity and triumph of Minerva.

EN: What is the mission of Minerva?
LG: The mission of Minerva is to empower women, educate others, and encourage consciousness-raising on issues relevant to us by the use of art, collage, images and words. If anyone is interested in more information about the zine or want to submit their work for publication, please check out www.minervazine.com.

EN: Do you consider yourself a writer first or an activist?
LG: I consider myself a writer and an activist due to the nature of works I publish. Typically, I write articles focused on social injustice against women and the criminal justice system or other feminist academic topics. I have contributed prose/collage pieces about relationships and my childhood experience with violence. This is where I find the zine the most advantageous in my personal life; it’s an open and accepting forum to tell one’s story. Numerous times throughout printing Minerva, I’ve been approached by readers who share they relate to the contributor’s writings. It’s a way to create a kinship with readers especially for women in our community. The zine material provokes empowering perspectives. I strongly believe our contributors mutually benefit from hearing readers are encouraged by them to speak up and become involved.

In her role as Killah Cletah

EN: How did you get involved in Roller Derby? That’s not a typical avocation.
LG: I found out about our local roller derby league through a mutual friend. She encouraged me to attend a Wednesday practice at the World of Wheels. I did. I used rental skates and borrowed equipment to do laps around the rink while I watched fierce women duke it out playing Queen of the Rink. I was instantly infused by their feminine wiles and tenacious personalities so I knew I had to come back. The next week, I had already purchased my own gear and had ordered skates. I figured out quickly I’m quite fast on roller skates. I have been roistered as a jammer and blocker for the Harbor City Roller Dames (HCRD) since that time. It’s been an incredible journey playing roller derby. I boldly claim that the women on our team are the most beautiful, talented, and intelligent group of women in town.

EN: Do the Derby girls receive any payment for the entertainment they bring?
LG: The Harbor City Roller Dames do not receive payment for playing roller derby. We pay out of pocket to play which includes skater’s dues for rental fees, equipment, jerseys, WFTDA insurance, and travel expenses. The league’s major expense is bout production at the DECC, where we host our visiting teams from around the Mid-West. HCRD’s have a Board of Directors which vote on business decisions and includes a sponsorship chair who actively seeks local sponsors to assist us with the expenses of operating a small business. I have served on the board for two years and am proud of the financial decisions we have made to augment our league’s financial situation. Our league’s mission is not only about playing roller derby, we also organize skater’s to volunteer their time at local charity events and donate proceeds from our bouts to local charities such as the Center Against Sexual and Domestic Abuse, Habitat for Humanity, Polar Bear Plunge, Damiano Center’s Kid’s Café, and other agencies which benefit women and children. For more information about the Harbor City Roller Dames go to www.harborcityrollerdames.com