Field Guide: From our Education & Community Programs department, an evolving guidebook navigating the expanded terrain of art and creative life.
At the end of every year, high school seniors sign one another’s yearbooks and watch cheesy slide shows recapping their senior year memories. Fortunately for this year’s Walker Art Center Teen Arts Council (WACTAC), the Minneapolis Television Network (MTN) created a nice segment reviewing their experience (minus the tear jerking “friends forever” soundtrack). [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f2bgghVQkqI[/youtube]
At the end of every year, high school seniors sign one another’s yearbooks and watch cheesy slide shows recapping their senior year memories. Fortunately for this year’s Walker Art Center Teen Arts Council (WACTAC), the Minneapolis Television Network (MTN) created a nice segment reviewing their experience (minus the tear jerking “friends forever” soundtrack).
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f2bgghVQkqI[/youtube]
I know my kid, and I know the Walker collection pretty well, so I should be able to predict what’s going to appeal to him. I don’t always get it right. Here are a few surprise favorites: What I Thought Would be Fun: Claes Oldenburg’s bright yellow, giant-sized Geometric Mouse on the terrace outside Gallery [...]
I know my kid, and I know the Walker collection pretty well, so I should be able to predict what’s going to appeal to him. I don’t always get it right. Here are a few surprise favorites:
What I Thought Would be Fun: Claes Oldenburg’s bright yellow, giant-sized Geometric Mouse on the terrace outside Gallery 8.
What Really was Fun: Sol Lewitt’s room-size paintings of geometric shapes that cover the walls inside the café.
Why? O. liked the mouse, but wasn’t wowed by it. He was learning his shapes at school, so circles, squares, and triangles were a big deal in his world. It was exciting for him to see the shapes writ large and to realize that a grown-up artist liked them as much as he did.
What I Thought Would be Fun: Sigmar Polke’s fairy-tale painting of falling snow, Mrs. Autumn and Her Two Daughters.
What Really was Fun: Julie Mehretu’s super-detailed painting, Babel Unleashed.
Why? Like many kids, O. loves maps and aerial views and is crazy about airports and construction sites. While it looks unfamiliar and chaotic from a distance, up close, Mehretu’s painting is packed with details that O. finds fascinating. It was like a super-sized seek-and-find puzzle.
What I Thought Would be Fun: Dolphin Oracle II, the interactive talking dolphin by Piotr Szyhalski and Richard Shelton.
What Really was Fun: Dolphin Oracle II, the interactive talking dolphin by Piotr Szyhalski and Richard Shelton.
Why? It’s an interactive talking dolphin.
I am five years and two kids into being an artist and a parent, and I still wonder if it is really possible – or advisable – to pursue an art career. Considering the demands on my attention and time, should I really be spending much of either on my art? I was curious about [...]
I am five years and two kids into being an artist and a parent, and I still wonder if it is really possible – or advisable – to pursue an art career. Considering the demands on my attention and time, should I really be spending much of either on my art? I was curious about how other mom/artists I know navigate the often-conflicting demands of domestic and artistic life.
Images by Beth Dow (L) and Jessica Rath (R)
I emailed questions about the art/life puzzle to two friends: Jessica Rath, a mother-to-be and LA-based artist with an upcoming exhibition at the Torrance Art Museum, and Beth Dow, parent of a twelve-year-old and a fourteen-year old, who recently had a solo exhibition at Franklin Art Works in Minneapolis. Here are some excerpts from our conversations.
Margaret (MPG) Jessica, what are you thinking – will it be possible to combine art & motherhood?
Jessica (JR): I never thought I would have children. I decided in my 20s that first I wanted to make art, then it would be nice to find a partner and then, only if the partner was mature enough and ready to do 50% of child care, would I even consider children. Frankly through my 20s, this seemed like an impossibility. I would say this is very much a team effort between myself and Joe, my husband, who has a low maintenance day job and runs our household. We discuss and adjust our time schedules to make as much room for my studio practice as possible, while I hold down two part time jobs. It will be possible, but I will have to continue to make it a priority and will need reassurance from my partner that this road is something he supports.
Every June we get over 50 applications for a limited number of spots on the Walker Art Center Teen Arts Council (WACTAC). Sifting through all of the applications and deciding upon a new council can be really difficult. Really, how much information can you get out of a written application? In Blue Delliquanti‘s case, the [...]
Every June we get over 50 applications for a limited number of spots on the Walker Art Center Teen Arts Council (WACTAC). Sifting through all of the applications and deciding upon a new council can be really difficult. Really, how much information can you get out of a written application?
In Blue Delliquanti‘s case, the decision was a no brainer. Check out her amazing application and you’ll find out why. If you are interested in seeing more of Blue’s artwork, be sure look at her illustrated interview with Sara Varon.
Our congratulations go out to development associate Dan and his wife Laura, who are expecting their first child soon. The development and membership department celebrated with a baby shower last Friday, where we played games, opened gifts, and ate cake. We take our cake and savory treats seriously in our department. We wanted a knockout [...]
Our congratulations go out to development associate Dan and his wife Laura, who are expecting their first child soon. The development and membership department celebrated with a baby shower last Friday, where we played games, opened gifts, and ate cake. We take our cake and savory treats seriously in our department. We wanted a knockout cake to celebrate the proud parents-to-be and during a baby shower brainstorming session, someone came up with the “Spoonbridge and baby” cake idea.
Wuollet made a beautiful and delicious cake for the occasion. Dad-to-be Dan ate the cake slice with the baby on it.
We visited the Minneapolis Institute of Arts this afternoon. The museum was full of fun activities for kids, but the thing that caught the five-year-old’s eye was an exhibition of Ed Rusha’s Stains (1969), a collection of 75 sheets of white paper, each stained with a different substance, from apple juice to vaseline to bleach. [...]
We visited the Minneapolis Institute of Arts this afternoon. The museum was full of fun activities for kids, but the thing that caught the five-year-old’s eye was an exhibition of Ed Rusha’s Stains (1969), a collection of 75 sheets of white paper, each stained with a different substance, from apple juice to vaseline to bleach.
I like Ed Ruscha’s work, but didn’t expect rows of mostly-white pieces of paper to be a real crowd-pleaser. I underestimated the depth of a five-year-old’s fascination with the messy and the accidental.
At home we’re always tidying things up. Accidents happen — glasses of juice tip over, popsicles drip down a shirt, milk splashes out of the cereal bowl – and we grab a napkin or a sponge or a roll of paper towels. But here was a whole gallery of spills that didn’t get cleaned up: egg yolks, urine, sulfuric acid that actually burned the paper. He was fascinated and asked his dad to read what made each one of the stains. At bedtime, O talked about stains/Stains again. What about chocolate, daddy? What about melted chocolate?
I’m curious. Museums often create small displays or set up special activities just for kids. Some exhibitions are obviously kid magnets. But what exhibits or artworks have your kids loved that you never would have expected?
By the way, don’t squeeze the juice box. After twenty-plus years, the apple juice stain turned a nasty dark brown.
Mike Hoyt and his Norae Shanty seem to be attracted to Minnesota’s extremes. The last time I was singing karaoke in the Norae Shanty (when I met the Zoll family) it was sitting on inches of frozen ice, the weather was below zero, and I was wearing at least five layers of clothing. Tomorrow the [...]
Mike Hoyt and his Norae Shanty seem to be attracted to Minnesota’s extremes. The last time I was singing karaoke in the Norae Shanty (when I met the Zoll family) it was sitting on inches of frozen ice, the weather was below zero, and I was wearing at least five layers of clothing. Tomorrow the shanty will be perched on the green grass of the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden in the 90-degree heat waiting for families to fill it with sound at the Walker’s Free First Saturday. Karaoke isn’t the only fun happening at this City Pages A-Listed event. You and your family can create an art project and installation inspired by Frank Gehry’s Standing Glass Fish, see a performance by local ska band Umbrella Bed, and take a tour of the sculpture garden together.
The Norae Shanty is based on Korean karaoke rooms called “ Norae bangs” (song rooms). The Norae bang (pronounced “ nō–rāy–bŏng”) is essentially a scaled down version of a karaoke bar, a small room with karaoke equipment and comfortable seating that groups of people rent by the hour. These bangs provide participants with simultaneous visual, audible, and emotional experiences. Yet unlike the sometimes competitive and embarrassing nature of the karaoke bar experience, the norae bang provides up to a dozen participants a cheerful and supportive environment for a more comfortable exchange. Ice fishing and ice house culture is similar to the bang phenomenon in Asian urban centers. Bangs, like ice houses, serve as a retreat, a small and isolated space for groups to participate in a shared activity away from the stress of everyday life. The Norae Shanty was developed to provide new and intersecting populations with the opportunity for soulful exchange.
To preview a list of tunes you can sing and to learn even more about his Norae Shanty check out Mike’s website.
We began last night’s book club discussion of Louise Erdrich’s The Painted Drum by focusing on the drum itself: its metaphysical qualities, its unique history, its cultural significance, and its power as a literary symbol. We then talked about the author’s conscious decision to employ a multi-voiced narrative technique, and generally agreed that this strategy [...]
We began last night’s book club discussion of Louise Erdrich’s The Painted Drum by focusing on the drum itself: its metaphysical qualities, its unique history, its cultural significance, and its power as a literary symbol.
We then talked about the author’s conscious decision to employ a multi-voiced narrative technique, and generally agreed that this strategy served the novel well.
One member of the group then made an interesting connection to the exhibition Picasso and American Art, which we had toured earlier under the guidance of the amazingly enthusiastic Gary White (his passion for the art is surpassed only by his encyclopedic knowledge).
Our fellow reader likened Erdrich’s use of multiple narrative perspectives to Picasso’s cubist approach to multiple visual planes.
I’d never thought of that, and was once again humbled by the wide range of insights provided by the participants of our group. I realized that’s part of what makes viewing art and discussing literature as a group such an incredible social experience: you just never know what’s going to pop up next.
Speaking of popping up next, during August’s edition of The Artist’s Bookshelf we will read and discuss Kiran Desai’s Booker Prize-winning novel, The Inheritance of Loss.
I can hardly wait.
Community Programs manager Megan Leafblad conducted the following interview, a version of which appears in the July/August issue of WALKER magazine. A karaoke hut on a frozen lake is not necessarily the first thing that comes to mind when you are looking to interview a family about the Walker. But as luck would have it, [...]
Community Programs manager Megan Leafblad conducted the following interview, a version of which appears in the July/August issue of WALKER magazine.
A karaoke hut on a frozen lake is not necessarily the first thing that comes to mind when you are looking to interview a family about the Walker. But as luck would have it, this is where I first met the Zoll family. This past winter a group of friends and I participated in the Art Shanty Projects, in which artists build structures inspired by the tradition of ice fishing during Minnesota winters. On one of my many trips to sing karaoke at the Norae Shanty, I was blown away by a father/son duo who sang “Fulsom Prison” by Johnny Cash. Sitting out in the cold listening to Cash come back to life I thought to myself: This family rocks, I want to know them. At the time I was absorbed by having to follow their performance up with my own rendition of “Ice, Ice Baby.” Luckily for me I ran into the Zoll family in the Walker galleries at a recent Free First Saturday and was able to have a more in-depth conversation with Forrest (age 10) and Ingrid (age 7) about art and growing up with a dad who lulls you to sleep with Johnny Cash tunes.
Megan Leafblad: If you could only use one word to describe Raushchenberg’s Trophy II (for Teeny and Marcel Duchamp) what word would you pick?
Forrest Zoll: Creative!
Ingrid Zoll: Funny.
ML: Why did you pick that word?
FZ: It is really creative that he put in objects.
IZ: I think it is funny because I don’t know why people would put things like glasses and spoons and clothes in art, and it seems very strange to me.
ML: What is the funniest piece you have seen on view at the Walker?
FZ: The Dolphin [Oracle II]. It says funny stuff and I’ve talked to it before.
IZ: I can’t decide between the everyday object and the Dolphin. It’s so hard to choose.
ML: What is your favorite experience coming to the Walker?
FZ: I like walking through the sculpture garden when the weather is warm.
IZ: I like seeing the cherry.
ML: What is your favorite piece of artwork in the collection?
FZ: Well, right now I just found the Flags one. It’s pretty cool, and I think that might be my favorite.
IZ: My favorite piece so far today is the Dolphin.
ML: What did you and the Dolphin talk about?
IZ: I asked if we were friends, and then she said, “ Are we friends? Am I a friend?” Then I let someone else talk and that person said, “ Yes, you are.”
ML: Do you make art?
FZ: Yeah, I make art. Right now I am doing a video project on this street artist called 27, who does a lot of street art. And I’ve interviewed a person who owns a warehouse that got graffitied.
ML: How did you find out about this artist?
FZ: Well, I first saw one of his artworks and I loved it. So I searched online and found out more about him. His street art is around town, and one I liked said 27 on it, and I found some more of his art that said 27 on it. He has some stuff in an art store that I like; it’s called Robot Love. He has a poster there and he doesn’t let anybody know his name, not even the people in the store. So, I wrote a letter to him and asked if they could send it for me and it said, “ Can I interview you? I think you are one of my favorite street artists.”
ML: What do you think makes art good art or bad art? Why were you attracted to 27′s work?
FZ: Most other graffiti artists tag their names, and he made pictures. I had an idea of how I wanted to draw, and he was basically doing that. I think anything can be good art, if you really look at it.
If you recover quickly enough from Independence Day revelry, be sure to join us Thursday for our discussion of Louise Erdrich’s The Painted Drum. As usual, we gather at 7 pm in the Art Lab, immediately following our 6 pm gallery tour. Though this novel plunges deeply and directly into stories of unimaginable loss and [...]
If you recover quickly enough from Independence Day revelry, be sure to join us Thursday for our discussion of Louise Erdrich’s The Painted Drum. As usual, we gather at 7 pm in the Art Lab, immediately following our 6 pm gallery tour.
Though this novel plunges deeply and directly into stories of unimaginable loss and grief, a strong sense of hope and redemption seems to run just below the surface, as the various stories intersect in unexpected ways.
We supply the following questions merely as pre-discussion fodder. As with celebratory fireworks, use a long fuse, and place on ground before igniting.
1) The title provides a particularly strong central image for the novel. What are some of the symbolic or metaphoric ramifications of the drum? What are some of its metaphysical properties?
2) The author uses three distinct voices to narrate the four sections of the novel. Why does she employ this multiple voiced technique? What is gained from this approach?
3) What is the significance of Faye’s ancestry? Could the novel have worked as well without it?
4) How are animals portrayed in the novel? What is their significance to the telling of the various tales? How do they help lend a “mythical” quality to the novel?
5) How is the use of alcohol portrayed in the novel? What are its cultural ramifications?
6) What does the novel seem to suggest about the importance of stories or legends to any given community of people?
7) Why does Faye take the drum? How does she justify her actions? Are the moral, ethical and legal issues of this act ever resolved?
All of this and more.
Have a safe a happy holiday! And remember, if you stand too close to the firecrackers, you might not hear the drum