Local Artists Make Roundabout Art Tour A Happening

Toledo, Spain by Ken Hanson

Last night Cloquet/Carlton had an opening reception for what they called The Roundabout Art Tour. Eight locations collaborated to assemble this three hour tour of art venues. I dropped by three locations and am impressed, as always, by the variety as well as the discovery of new artists. You can read more about the who, what and where here on Facebook. These photos here were taken in the hour before dark last night.

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The Pine Knot was my first stop with a display curated by Ann Markuson who gave a nod to Annie Dugan for her assistance in making this a great art space as well as work space. It fabulous stone walls gives it a historical feel, embellished by lots of art. For this occasion they had a series of paintings by Ken Hanson that had an almost Escher-esque vibe. There was also a large canvas that was transformed into a Pollinator Paint-by-Number community project. This was something new to me and a very clever idea. 

In other parts of the tour there was pottery, photography, crafts, portrait paintings and more. Here's some of what I saw.

Avignon, France

Rome, Italy

Adam Swanson? Very nice.

"Taj Mahal" -- Bill Wise watercolor
(See more at williamwiseart.com)

Chairs and more... down on the corner, on display 24/7

Kris Nelson's Theater seats for Psycho.

In the pop-up space on the corner.

Artist Margie Helstrom adds color to the Pollinator Paint-by-Number.
I added a few details to the body of the bee.

Kudos to everyone involved who made this event happen. 
Special shout-out to all art teachers and Kris Nelson.

Ars longa, vita brevis. 

Don't let your creative urges whither on the vine.

Chance Preview: Kathy McTavish @ the Tweed

This past week I finally got a sneak preview of the latest project Kathy McTavish has been working on, an installation titled Chance. Here are the opening paragraphs of her promotional statement, along with a handful of images I captured of the work in progress.

Chance is a synergetic installation that combines code, image, and sound to create a cross-sensory, polyphonic experience. A landscape of painted walls and multi-channel sound encloses the viewer. Choreographed by code, a circle of machine quartets investigate chance, emergence, friction, resonance and change ::: a cloud orchestration. 

Chance opens October 19, 2017. The year-long exhibit will be a living, evolving space ::: a residency / habitation / research lab / performance space. Printed artifacts will be left in the space to give the feel of blueprints / notes ::: a score. The Sax gallery at the Tweed is a luminous space. Its many skylights filter shifting seasons and variable weather patterns ::: a photosynthetic recitation. It provides a sanctuary ::: a place for rest and reflection

The room that houses the exhibit is itself is an architectural wonder. 

Installation art to some extent is a relatively new phenomenon, though one could easily point to the Sistine Chapel, Taj Mahal and other architectural wonders to support the counter-argument that installations are nothing new. What's happened in the past half century is simply a new iteration.

Kathy McTavish has a strong following here in the Northland art scene. Her works are continuously evocative and original, thought-provoking and surprising. And when October 19 rolls around, I hope to see you there so we can talk about it.

Meantime, art goes on all around you. What have you seen recently that moved you?