Rock the Garden 2009: How many music fans fit in the Walker's back yard?

Got a head for figures? Or a thing for facts about the Walker? Test yourself with this contest:

Match up items 1-13 below with the appropriate numbers that follow. The first three readers to post the correct matches in the comments section will win two gallery passes — plus a bag of highly coveted Walker-branded swag.

1. Artist presentations and engagements at the Walker (visual and performing artists, filmmakers, and designers), including 10 artist residencies and 4 interdisciplinary collaborations

2. Total number of artists in the Walker collection

3. Total number of artworks in the Walker collection

4. Newly acquired artworks

5. Total attendance at the Walker

6. Visitors to the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden

7. Fun-seekers at Rock the Garden 2009

8. Partnerships with local arts and community organizations

9. Copresentations with local and national arts organizations

10. People around the globe who attended Walker-organized touring exhibitions at 7 host museums in 3 countries

11. People around the globe who attended Walker-commissioned touring performances at 40 host venues in 30 cities in 8 countries

12. User sessions at walkerart.org, artsconnected.org, and mnartists.org

13. Fans on Facebook and Twitter followers (combined)

A. 12, 661
B. 382,328
C. 3,621,718
D. 1,425
E. 1,575
F. 19,748
G. 671,757
H. 24,400+
I. 193
J. 85
K. 10,281
L. 60
M. 499,641

Note: Numbers are based on totals from fiscal year 2008-2009.

I recently asked Galen Treuer, Artistic Director of Live Action Set, a few questions about exploring dementia and Alzheimer’s through theater. Treuer and his Live Action Set colleague Noah Bremer co-directed the company’s My Father’s Bookshelf at the Guthrie in June, a play that looked at the powerful effects Alzheimer’s disease has on individuals, families and communities.

Treuer’s efforts illustrate an interest within performing arts to bring the subject of memory loss to the fore. Another local performing arts group engaging people with memory loss is Kairos Dance Theatre. Their The Dancing Heart keeps people living with dementia tapped into the world through movement.

Below is my conversation with Treuer.

Why Alzheimer’s? What got you interested in the subject of dementia and society’s response to this disease?

The idea started a weekend a couple of years ago at my parents’ house. I realized I knew them when they were my age – about thirty – and I started thinking about all the stories I would never hear from them. I imagined making a piece about aging and intergenerational exchange. At the time I was reading “A User’s Guide to the Brain” by John J. Ratey, actually I’d been reading it off and on for the past few years, and was interested in doing a play with neuroscience in it. After talking this idea over with Noah Bremer, we came on the idea of dementia as a good subject for interrupting the story telling. Initially I was drawn to the obscure forms of dementia, but as I read more about Alzheimer’s it became clear we could make something more relevant, less sensational by focusing on the most common form of dementia.

What elements of theater make it an effective media for sharing stories of memory loss?

Theater is a live art. You share the experience with the audience physically, in the moment. People with Alzheimer’s often lose words and the ability to share specific stories, but they gain an ability to live in the present moment. They are not worried about what is going to do tomorrow or the embarrassing thing they said 10 minutes ago. They are concerned with the here and now. Also, our style of theater lends itself to non-linear story telling. Time is flexible, and stories repeat or don’t follow a traditional narrative order. In Alzheimer’s time becomes confused and the linear path of experience breaks down. Also, connection and personal history are the most important thing for people with Alzheimer’s. If someone can’t communicate, at least they can feel like they belong and are heard by creating a connection. And personal histories are the last thing to be forgotten, so they are a great way to build connections. Theater is the energetic connection between an audience and performer. It helps people practice emotionally empathy, and it is a great venue for sharing personal stories.

Theater can also create a neutral ground where scientists, social workers, caregivers, and family members can observe the challenges and nuances of a very personal and scary disease without it being overwhelmingly personal or clinical. The arts create metaphorical space where people can synthesize new perspectives.

At the Walker we’re currently exploring visual arts programming that keeps people with Alzheimer’s and their caregivers engaged in the community. Do you believe joy is possible for people living with Alzheimer’s and that art — visual, performance, musical — may assist in eliciting positive, enriching experiences for them?

Joy is absolutely possible for people living with Alzheimer’s – both those with the disease and their family members. Art is a powerful tool for connecting. It is very emotional and metaphorical. Art provides space to connect and discover each other. There is a lot of wisdom in older individuals (even those with Alzheimer’s), and it’s a joy for both parties whenever you get to share it. Music and dance are especially powerful. I spent an afternoon in a locked memory ward in St. Paul, and when the woman leading the activities started singing the entire room transformed. Everyone became attentive, began humming and started smiling. That afternoon I sat next to a man who had a little radio playing big band music; he just wanted to hold my hand, tap out the rhythm, and tell me,“Yeah, that’s it!” Later, I heard he was never a musician or really all that into music until after he was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s.

In an interview for MPR your directorial partner, Noah Bremer, mentions the importance of laughter and humor for people living with Alzheimer’s and their caregivers. Can you speak to the role you understand humor playing in coping with an ultimately deadly disease?

The most telling thing I noticed in our research was that every nurse I met who spent years in direct contact with Alzheimer’s patients had a wicked sense of humor. In January I spent an hour talking with two nurses at the New York Mills, MN Elders Home about their experience with Alzheimer’s. We probably spent 3/4 of the time laughing. Without laughing, I don’t know how you could deal with the looming tragedy of the disease. It’s also a really great way to keep your interactions dignified. I find humor empowering. It lets us approach uncomfortable topics and laugh at our mistakes and our fears.

In creating My Father’s Bookshelf we needed to use humor, otherwise the play would have been too painful to watch. Ultimately the humor also let the audience connect with Bob (the main character), to love him and respect him. It seems like it made for a more pointed, accessible, and personal tragedy that sat with the audience rather than on the stage.

What was the most meaningful thing you learned during your research and preparation for “My Father’s Bookshelf”

Age related dementia is an epidemic. We will all have to deal with someone who has it at some point, and it’s absolutely possible that I might get it. My family tends to live will into their 80’s, and half of people over 85 show signs of some form of dementia. That said, the way to deal with this is through connection and understanding. It’s what everybody wants no matter how old they are or if they have a disease. We can all start practicing right now. Start collecting stories.

Watch Treuer’s conversation with nurse Ellen Swanson about My Father’s Bookshelf:

Click here to view the embedded video.

So if you’re in the university neighborhood, head over to the U of M’s McNamara Alumni Center at 11 am on Tuesday, October 21 for a mid-day menu of 6 minute and 40 second presentations by innovative artists, scientists, and educators from the Twin Cities. They will each use their unique perspective to discuss how a fusion of art and science can be used to broaden the appeal of science policy in the public eye. The speakers are:

David Goldes, photographer and professor at Minneapolis College of Art and Design
Rachel Breen of Invigorate the Common Well
Ananya Chatterjea of Ananya Dance Theatre
Steve Jevning of Leonardo’s Basement
Neil Olszewski of the U of M’s Plant Biology Department
Lawrence Rudnick of the Minnesota Planetarium & Space Discovery Center
Jeffrey Kahn of the U of M’s Center for Bioethics

Best of all, its free! Well, the ideas and inspiration are free. You’ll have to bring your own lunch. For directions and rsvp information go here.

Minneapolis College of Art & Design, 2501 Stevens Ave, Minneapolis, MN 55404 (map)

Artist Sharon Hayes stages protests, delivers speeches and organizes demonstrations as ongoing artistic investigations into the relations of history, politics and space. At both the Republican and Democratic National Conventions Hayes is mounting large-scale public performances titled Revolutionary Love 1 & 2: I Am Your Worst Fear, I Am Your Best Fantasy. Organized by Creative Time in New York in collaboration with the Walker, these events involve a large group of citizens reciting coming out speeches of American politicians. For this talk, Hayes is joined by Creative Time curator Nato Thompson for a conversation on this project and her work in video, performance and installation.

Through the glories of viral marketing, Fox 9 News discovered the UnConvention project I Approve This Message. Here, Jaime Reese interviews Chuck Olsen from The UpTake and Allison Herrera from ECP on the lawn outside the Walker. Sarah Peters, baby Anna, cameraman Tim, and I enjoyed the time outside in the summer sun while the conversation took place. If you missed the story, which also featured filmmaker Mark Wojhan and numerous video clips, you can view it at: http://blip.tv/file/1025152

Fox 9 also has information on I Approve This Message and My Yard Our Message on their website.

On June 14, Allison Herrera and I went to the St. Paul Neighborhood Network (SPNN), a public access channel, to help publicize the kick off of the project I Approve This Message, sponsored by The Walker and The UnConvention. Chuck Olsen from TheUpTake.org was on hand to talk about the power of citizen journalism and gearing up for the RNC. Then we took to the streets to capture what ordinary citizens leaving the farmer’s market would want to say to a delegate. Despite some technical difficulties, everyone had fun, and I think we captured some great stuff.

You too can make your own political video! Upcoming Make your own Video workshops dates are:

July 10, 6pm: Walker Art Center, Star Tribune Foundation Art Lab

August 7, 6pm: Walker Art Center, Star Tribune Foundation Art Lab

August 16, 10am: Minneapolis Television Network (www.mtn.org)

In the meantime, go to http://theunconvention.com/iapprove to watch animals and puppets introduce I Approve This Message or and check out the submission guidelines.

Just in time for theholidays! Get your Frida Kahlo dinner plate! Julie Hellwich from Smart Women Companyis here totell us why women are drawn to Frida’s image or any image that remindsus of ouralter ego on day-to-day objects.

Julie Hellwich is the founder of Smart Women company, which began in 1999 at her kitchen table. She is a former homecoming queen, hockey enthusiast, and environmental geography major. She wanted to create inexpensive gifts for friends.Since then, it has taken off with major success. Even Hillary Clinton owns someSmart Women swag! In 2006, she partnered with the League of Women Voters to launch her Smart Women Vote campaign.

Her success is due to her ethical business practices and her devout Minnesota fan base. She says, “The botom line isn’t the only measure of success.” Indeed! Read On!

“ I love Frida because even on a discounted plate from Marshall’s Home Store, she stands out from the crowd.”Thus notes Nikki Hardin, Publisher of “ Skirt!” Magazine, on the shopping favorites “ Skirt!Loves” (obligatory for women’s magazines) page*.Or, in the words of Lia, my 28 year old daughter, “ One reason I love Frida, is because she is scandalous”.Iconic and scandalous.All this from a gold-rimmed salad plate?

It was under Lia’s shopping tutelage I first learned of Frida. Her holiday gift list read something with Frida’s image’.Why does Frida’s image appeal to us on household images? I think part of it is that women have traditionally left their personal mark (unless they were artists) in the day-to-day objects that centered their lives.

Think appliquéd toaster covers (growing up, ours had a rooster), crocheted tea cozies, embroidered hand towels and knitted mittens. It’s in the everyday objects we use that give women expression. Grandma Betty knit sweaters for Barbie.Crafty knitters today sport skeletons, graffiti, body parts; messages and symbols that juxtapose the culture of sex positive’ with the comfort of snuggly booties. There is a similar dissonance – a nod to extreme-homemaker – that makes sense of the appeal and commercialization of Frida’s art.

I think in some way, Frida sells a message (via the kitchen magnet).A message of acting, acting-out, out of a prescripted female norm.Our prescripted female norms are most present or oppressing in the domestic, every day areas of our lives….how and why we do the cooking, make the bed or set the table.When we drive to the store to get milk, or, put on our lipstick….whether we are acting within the norms or without; by choice or by default, we like to be reminded (visually, tactilely, every day) that we have choices in how we act, acquiesce or rebel.

I like the quote below from a NY Times, (September 8, 2002) article by Stephanie Zacharek, “ Ms. Taymor said the profusion of Kahlo kitsch is not necessarily a bad thing. If people are attached to their mouse pads and magnets, she says, it’s because ”they’re needing something. So we have to ask, ‘What is that? What need does she fill?’ As opposed to saying, ‘Oh, it diminishes her.’ Nothing diminishes her,” Ms. Taymor said. ”There is something that is so direct about her paintings, that says, ‘I am profoundly who I am.’ ”

Maybe the Kahlo kitsch’ reminds us all that we are profoundly who we are’. The images on that mousepad may move us to profoundness’ through our work, communication, or personal appearance – to pluck or not to pluck.

Smart Women Company delivers a message via every-day products. These messages speak to women’s intelligence.“ Smart Women Make Changes” eraser, or, “ Smart Women Thirst for Knowledge’ mug.The messages on these products appeal to women, in part, I believe, because they are a refreshing change from the plethora of products that speak to women’s vanity.

Messages are powerful.Independence is powerful. Frida’s art – and the kitschy manifestations of same – are powerful statements in the art of life (domestic or other).

*January, 2007,

Charleston South Carolina.

Familiar though his name may be to us, the storyteller in his living immediacy is by no means a present force… It is as if something that seemed inalienable to us, the securest among our possessions, were taken from us: the ability to exchange experiences.

–Walter Benjamin, “The Storyteller,” 1936

On two Thursday evenings in May of this year, I led a free Zine-Making Workshop at the Walker Art Center as part of the museum’s ongoing free Thursday night programs. The production of a zine — a small, low-tech, and low-cost magazine usually produced by an individual or a collective as an alternative media outlet — introduced participants to simple techniques and key concepts of printmaking as a method and praxis. I hoped to serve two main audiences with this workshop. First, museum-goers that visited the Walker’s concurrent exhibit, Paper Trail: A Decade of Acquisitions, could learn some of the techniques used in the works on view. Secondly, local organizers and creative individuals who wished to divulgate their own events or ideas learned simple and affordable techniques for small-scale publicity.

It was important for me not to promote a particular political agenda, but rather to provide a methodology of art-making that encouraged students to reflect on the relationship of news, ideology, and history to the mainstream media as an industrial complex. The pedagogy of zine-making promoted an organic development of alternative stories and truths through the production of alternative and sponsor-free media. On one occasion, as I helped an elderly woman with the Xerox machine, I made the mistake of asking her if she was making a card for a friend. Somewhat insulted, she replied: “I am making a political statement, because I am political.” This mishap provided the opportunity for her to vent her frustration with the current state of political affairs. Although I regretted underestimating her political drive, I was happy to find out that the workshop had been a cathartic experience.

The narrative nature of the project encouraged participants to bounce ideas off of each other, and engage in collective discussions. These interchanges revealed unexpected commonalities, and fostered politically sophisticated conversations. To my delight, I saw freshly acquainted strangers exchange phone numbers for future collaborations or meetings. In the most fruitful instances, the project transformed what was a public space of strangers into a public forum of community building and intellectual exchange.

Aaron Johnson-Ortiz