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Walker Art Center

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Molly Nemer in the Director’s Chair

by MeganK at 6:14 pm 2008-02-26
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Last weekend the Academy Awards honored some of Minnesota's film talent by giving accolades to the Coen brothers and Diablo Cody. This weekend the Walker Art Center continues to celebrate local filmmaking with the Girls in the Directors Chair Film Showcase, a day-long screening representing the best of young women filmmakers in Minnesota. In preparation for Saturday's event, I had the opportunity to talk with one of the Girls in the Director's Chair filmmakers, 13 year old Molly Nemer about her film "New Orleans," which looks at the Katrina relief efforts.

What is your film “New Orleans” about?

The film is as much about the importance of youth volunteerism as it is about volunteer efforts to rebuild post- Katrina New Orleans.

When visiting the city, you did not originally intend to make a film. What made you change your mind?

After arriving in New Orleans a year after Katrina, and seeing its devastation, I spoke to a local shop owner who said that the people of New Orleans felt forgotten, and this isn't how America should be. I promised her I would spread the word that New Orleans needed help. I connected with volunteers from Trinity Episcopal School and Habitat for Humanity, who were working to help rebuild New Orleans.

How do you think film can be used to affectively convey a message like yours?

Film has an enormous impact on people because the stories are being told on a personal level. The moving footage and meaningful words combine to make a powerful message that others will take the time to listen to.

What local issues do you think that it is important for young people- male and female- to be involved and active in?

Whenever you feel passionate about an issue or event, the best thing to do is educate people on the topic, through film or any other means, so others see the issue's importance. This could be anything from community recycling to global warming.

Are there any particular filmmakers that you look up to?

I look up to my mentors at TVbyGIRLS, a filmmaking organization dedicated to portraying honest images in the media by and for girls, empowering them and giving voice. They taught me everything I know about the art of filmmaking and always are supporting and encouraging me to follow my dreams.

Do you work only in documentary film, or have you made other kinds of films?

I make a variety of films, some one minute metaphoric pieces, others ten minute documentaries.

What advice do you have for young filmmakers?

Experiment and enjoy!


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Museums Swamped — by kids!!

by Margaret at 11:59 pm 2008-02-21
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Museums are Swamped by Kids

Writing for the Guardian Unlimited Arts Blog, a rather crochety Nicholas Blincoe complains about the “infantalization” of British museums. He writes,

“I used to take pleasure visiting museums on trips around Britain, but now I am so clearly out-of-place: like Godzilla, a huge hulking man looming above the children. Our galleries and museums have been turned into playgrounds, with activity sheets and treasure trails, interactive video games and coloured signs that tell you about the exhibits in a few simple sentences, but nothing that an educated adult would not already know.”

Here’s the link to the article. What do you think? I appreciate it when museums have stuff for kids, in part because gallery activities and kid-friendly information in the galleries make visits more bearable for the whole family (and any hulking Godzillas who happen to be in the vicinity), but I agree that not everything needs to be turned into a cartoon character. And I love visiting what he calls “unmodernised museums: the museums that look like museums. I like them Victorian, cranky and encyclopedic,” (and so do my kids!) We promise not to swamp the place.

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Kathleen Kvern departs mnartists.org under a new moonlight

by matt peiken at 4:58 pm 2008-02-21
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Kathleen Kvern is stepping away at the end of February as project director for mnartists.org to become chief marketing officer for New Moon Girl Media, a Duluth-based publisher and media company focusing on girls aged 8-15. A tireless brainstorm-thinker and marketer, Kvern has led a tripling of membership, to more than 10,000 artists, and seen monthly site visits soar to more than 100,000 since taking over mnartists.org in mid-2004. Kvern will continue living in the Twin Cities.

Among Kvern’s accomplishments: mnartists.org has held more than 75 artist registration and technology workshops around Minnesota, collaborated with regional arts councils throughout the state, partnered with the Rake Magazine to produce the 10,000 Arts: Minnesota’s Creative Quarterly, collaborated with Magers & Quinn Booksellers to produce a poetry series, KFAI-FM for an ongoing series of podcasts, Minnesota Citizens for the Arts to lobby at the state capitol, and it has sponsored numerous arts festivals throughout Minnesota. New initiatives and collaborations include mnFashionFLASH, a series and quarterly competition highlighting local designers, fashion photographers, and stylists; mnSpin, a music series designed to expose new artists; and miniStories, a new short fiction series and competition. Through it all, Kvern says, “it is the talent and dedication of the artists that has moved me.”

“The sheer number of distinguished artists working in every discipline, hailing from every corner of the state is staggering. Over the course of any given day, among the new work to appear on the website I find something beautiful or unusual or funny or compelling,” she wrote in a farewell notice on mnartists.org. “Every week, I’ve had occasion to meet face-to-face with artists and talk to arts administrators, arts lovers, and those interested bystanders who just want a bit more introduction to what’s going on in the arts in Minnesota. I’ve loved every minute of these privileged opportunities to meet and talk with artists and to promote the amazing work coming from the artists working throughout our state. This has been the very best part of my job.”

The Walker and the McKnight Foundation were co-founding developers of mnartists.org, overseen and staffed by the Walker.

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