Benches & Binoculars, Photo by Cameron Wittig

1. Event Horizon and Benches & Binoculars: The much anticipated  reinstallation of the permanent collection opens on Saturday.  Previews of the exhibition are in the local media today, but I suggest reading them after visiting the exhibition…it’s more fun that way, personally.  You can get a jump on general public tonight at the always fun (and packed) Walker After Hours party.  Lookbook will be playing upstairs in Gallery 8, screenings of Scorpio Rising in the Lecture Room, special performances at 10 pm and 11 pm by Dafnis Prieto and Judith Sanchez Ruiz in the Burnet Gallery  and I will be DJing in Cargill (shameless plug).  I plan on a mix of Mos Def, The XX, Carl Sagan and T.I. for my set….it should be a great night.  

2. Susannah Bielak at Bethel University: Bethel University continues a string of strong exhibitions with new work by Susannah Bielak titled Quake/Temblor: A Forensics of Interior Life and Natural Disaster.  The work combines formica table engravings, text, sound and videos of conceptual experiments conducted on seismic shake tables to explore ideas of unpredictability and social systems. The exhibition is up through January 16, 2010.  

Michael Kareken "Compressed Oil Drums" 2009

3. Michael Kareken: Scrap and Tetsuya Yamada: Commuter at the MAEP:  This is a very interesting pairing of  Micheal Karekan’s huge paintings of industrial recycling plants and an installation by Tetsuya Yamada that explores commuting by train in his native Tokyo.  The two exhibitions make for combined commentary on issues of craft, repetition and industry.  The exhibition is open through January 24, 2010 and is free and open to the public.

4. MCAD Annual Art Sale: Do you think you can scout emerging art talent or do you just want to add to your collection…or maybe both.  This annual event at MCAD features students and recent graduates offering their work for sale. According to MCAD more than  7,000 pieces will be hung. Everything is under $1000 and most are under $100.  The preview party and sale begins Friday, Nov. 20 at 6pm and I would suggest arriving early. The sale continues (for free) on Saturday, Nov. 21.  All the proceeds go to benefit the artists. Also new this year you can preview the works available for sale by becoming a fan of the event on Facebook. Very cool.

5. 2010 Fringe Festival Applications are now being accepted.  You have until January 29th to submit your project.  The 2010 festival takes place Thursday, August 5, 2010 through Sunday, August 15, 2010.

6. ArtORG Projects: OnSaturday November 14, 2009 ArtOrg opened its biggest show ever “Going to California (Building) with a Boatload of Art” at the expanded California Building Gallery in Northeast in Minneapolis. The event features a showcase of five years of ArtOrg’s work including 58 artists from five ArtOrg projects, 2000 printing blocks from kids the Minneapolis premier of nine steamroller prints from Plains Art Museum Day of Dead Project and a celebration of recent “Twenty Views of Dundas” accession to Weisman Permanent Collection. A lot to see and but is limited as everthing comes down on November 29th.  Also check out local artist Aldo Moroni’s event in collaboration  titled ”ART BAR”. Located just 20 feet from the ArtOrg Gallery Exhibit is the Mill City Cafe, location for the ART BAR gathering of all artists and patron, great and small.  The ART BAR is open Friday, November 20 from 5pm to 1am. 

[vimeo]http://www.vimeo.com/7242858[/vimeo]

7. Artist Jeanne-Claude dies: Best know for work with her husband Christo, including the 2005 Central Park installation The Gates and other large scale “wrapping” projects around the globe. She was 74.

8.  Lightsey Darst: Writes about dance for mnartists.org and does so in such an engaging and eloquent manner. We are really lucky to have her as part of our roster.  Check out her most recent piece about The Good Dance: Dakar/Brooklyn, a Walker commissioned collaboration between Brooklyn’s Reggie Wilson and Senegal’s Andréya Ouamba. 

9. Gallery Gray: is an new Minneapolis based online gallery founded by Dustin M Price who serves as Curator/Director. The goal of Gallery Gray is to have international online juried competitions, supplemented by group and solo shows for emerging to mid career artists interested in utilizing a digital gallery format. The current exhibition titled Tilting at Windmills opens at 11.23.09 7:30 MST.  According to the gallery website “We can all agree that viewing art is at its finest in the presence of the artwork itself. Gallery Gray in no way wants to eliminate or discourage the tactile gallery or museum space experience, only to accompany and encourage it. The digital format of Gallery Gray allows for a number of interesting opportunities that might not be available otherwise.” Interesting idea and project to watch or virtually patron. 

10. And finally here is the greatest thing I have found on You Tube in months.  And yes its in my DJ set.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zSgiXGELjbc[/youtube]

Another packed week of artist talks, meetings and writing deadlines and its already the end of the week. Before we get into this week’s TEN I have a request.  I am DJing next Friday’s Walker After Hours party for the Event Horizon and Benches & Binoculars opening.  I am opening the request line for songs that you think fit the exhibition themes or mood….or are just awesome tracks.  Post them as a comment to this blog and will try to weave them into the mix.  

1.  Doctor Sam: Dr. Sam Willis is a board certified Family Medicine physician and visual artist who recently opened a new medical practice in the Northeast Minneapolis Arts District (1300 Quincy St. NE, Minneapolis, MN). Check out Wednesday Star Tribune article on how Dr. Sam Willis offers primary medical care that’s more personal and less costly by cutting out the middlemen. Dr Sam also has a exhibition space in his office featuring the work of local artists. On Tuesday, November 17 6:30 pm – 8:00 pm Dr. Sam is offering tour the clinic and learn more about his practice. Food and beverage will be served. The event is free, but please REGISTER online at springboardforthearts.org. 

David Leftkowitz

2. Artist Lecture with David Lefkowitz:  Northfield artist  David Leftkowitz talks about his current solo exhibition  Other Positioning Systems Saturday November 14th at 1pm, at the Rochester Art Center. The exhibition is on view through January 10, 2010 but this a good excuse (if you are going to travel to see the exhibition anyway) to make it Saturday.  Also checkout a new installation/public sculpture by Minneapolis artist Jennifer Danos on the exterior of the building. 

3. American Craft Council is moving to Minneapolis: Its official!  After 66 years in New York City the American Craft Council is coming to the Twin Cities.  Reasons for the move include both economic challenges of remaining in New York. and the strength of the Minnesota craft community. This is a huge score for the Twin Cities and another indication of the vitality of the craft movement locally.   

4. Local-to-Global Jewelry Artist Mart: Time to start shopping…or just treat yourself, its been a long week, right?  The Walker welcomes more than a dozen international, national, and local jewelry artists and designers for this special event on Saturday, November 14. Among those attending are Nina Dinoff (Brooklyn, NY); Ann Lambrecht (Minneapolis); Tonia Kim (Chicago, IL); Grace Ann Hogan (Bayfield, WI); Amy Torello (Mexico City, Mexico); Kathy Frey (Nevada City, CA); Jennifer o*live Kraus (Chicago, IL); Carrie Hoffnagle (Des Moines, IA); Devon Driscoll (Minneapolis); Tia Keobounpheng (Minneapolis); Karin Jacobson (Minneapolis); Vickie Anderson (Madison, WI); Alice Roche (San Francisco, CA); Lauren Nicole (Minneapolis); and Alicia Piller (Brooklyn, NY).  Additional special events include an opportunity to meet Minneapolis chocolatier B. T. McElrath and sample chocolates from 11 am–3 pm.

5.FEAST MPLS is a recurring public dinner designed to use community-driven financial support to democratically fund new and emerging artmakers. The concept By getting together and pooling money, wealth becomes a plural communal attribute. The wealth is then shared with people whose projects the community finds most the valuable to implement. Check out the proposals here. Each person attending FEAST is making a cash donation on a sliding scale to receive supper and a ballot. At the end of the night, you cast a vote for which of a handful of artists’ proposals should get the evening’s proceeds. The winning proposal is funded directly from the donations collected at the door, and the grantee is asked back to present the fruits of their labor to you—the patrons—at the next FEAST dinner.

FIRST FEAST:
Saturday, November 14, 6:00–9:00pm
$10–20 cash donation, no one turned away
view the Facebook event invitation

6. XY and Z Gallery: 18 Months XYandZ  is new(er) project space in Minneapolis that is presenting a preview exhibition titled 18 Months opening on November 13th and running through December 30th. The show will feature original pieces of work from artists scheduled to show at XYandZ through early 2011. Participating artists include Totem2 & Viper, Broken Crow, Keegan Wenkman and more. Cool idea, great new space and excellent website. Opening Reception: November 13th 7pm-11pm 

7. Sewtropolis: a do-it-yourself sewing studio and fabric store opened on Nov. 1 a few blocks from my house near the intersection of  Diamond Lake Road and Nicollet.  Its in the space of  Auntie Em’s bookstore, which recently closed. The studio is equipped with Janome sewing machines, cutting and design tables, fabrics, scissors, threads, needles and patterns by hotpatterns.com.  My wife and I are considering some classes that might finally lead to getting new curtains up in our house.  Welcome to the neighborhood!

8. The Precious Object: Obsession, Collection and Desire: Artists James Cleary, Beth Barron, Andy Ducett and Ginny Maki explore topics of appropriation, memory, and desire at the last artist talk for the Precious Object exhibition on Tuesday, November 17, 7 pm  at the Hennepin County Central Library’s Pohland Hall. This is a really intriguing and group of artists and I am excited to ask them about what their collection, how act of collection and selection influences their work and do they worry about ending up on that Hoarders show on A&E. Also checkout the full online archive of the exhibition on mnartists.org. 

9. Pam and Allen’s Studio Sale: Everything must go…or at least a pile of awesome pieces by local artists Pam Valfer and Allen Brewer who are having a studio clean-out sale.  Work will be priced to sell from $10 – $500. What a great way to start an art collection or inexpensively add to yours. Friday, Nov 13th 6-10pm and Saturday, Nov 14th, 12 – 6pm

Studio 202
Dow Building
2242 University Ave
St Paul, MN 55114
(corner of Hampden and University)
Parking in rear of building on Hampden

10. Sesame Street Celebrates 40th Anniversary: One of the most influential programs of my childhood still continues to be relevant.  NPR had a great piece on the 40 lessons of Sesame Street this week in honor of the 40th anniversary this week.  One of my personal favorite clips is below in which Herbie Hancock demonstates his Fairlight synth/sampler to a young girl (Tatyana Ali) ewho later played  Ashley in the Fresh Prince of Bel Air.  I cannot overstate the impact of introducing electronic music and contemporary jazz to a young boy in rural Minnesota. Have a great weekend everyone.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oKoisNv1ftw[/youtube]

Another week has flown by so here are another ten picks from what is happening in local art.  

 1. Franklin Art Works NexTen Benefit: Franklin Artworks turns ten years old with a benefit celebration and auction on Saturday November 7th from 7pm to 11pm. The auction features an impressive lineup of 40 local, national and international artists including Uta Barth, David Rathman, Nicola López, Shinique Smith, Ghada Amer, Paul Chan, Santiago Cucullu, Stacey Davidson, Kota Ezawa and Rob Fischer, Xavier Tavera, Javier Piñón, tectonic industries, Zak Smith and Maximillian Toth, among many others. There will be music, drinks and all the other reasons to come out and support an important local art venue.  If you are a student ask about discounted tickets as well! 

Bruce Tapola

2. Bruce Tapola: AU NATUREL: opens on Saturday night November 7th at Art of This Gallery  from 7pm -11pm..  This new installation is a can’t miss highlight of the weekend.   The piece combines two distinctive bodies of work to create a novel investigation within the artist’s painting and sculptural practice to initiate a dialogue between the distinctive and eclectic artworks.  All the cool kids will be there.

3. mnLIT Original: “The Four Hermans” by Brian Beatty is the first of mnartists.org’s newly commissioned pieces by the 2009 mnLIT grand prize-winning poets and writers. Each work will be accompanied by a curated selection of work drawn from mnartists.org’s vast database of artists.  Look for more original works in the coming weeks and announcement for the 2010 mnLIT series schedule soon.  

4.  Art and the Economy: Here is an interesting article from the Wall Street Journal about how art collectors are looking closer to home due the unstable global art market.  On a somewhat related note…I have had numerous discussions lately with local artists about the need to build an active and informed collectors base for local art.  There are a lot of good investment opportunities close to home which can be had on a limited budget. There is a trend in local food to buy local…it would be nice to see some of that same mentality carry over to the local arts.  Here is also an article from the New York Times about a sometime forgotten aspect of the downturn in the economy….the gallery owners.

5. Art Attack:  is an annual open studio and gallery crawl at the Northrup King Building, in the heart of the Northeast Minneapolis Arts District. The weekend-long event features over 200 artists working in all media.  Art Attack is an exciting opportunity to gain admission to private studios and to buy original art direct from local, nationally and internationally known artists. This a great one-stop event to see a dramatic range of artists and artwork and perhaps add to your art collection or get a few early holiday gifts.  

6. giveMN.org: Check out this site to research and contribute to Minnesota non-profits.  

7. Congrats to the 2009-10 Jerome Fellowship winners in visual arts Steven Accola, Caroline Kent, Tony Sunder, and the collaborative of Tynan Kerr and Andrew Mazorol.

8. Bad at Sports: is an awesome contemporary art blog and podcast based out of Chicago…. that everyone should check out on a frequent basis.  Their blog has an interesting post as to food as the hot trend in art events and performances.  Here is a link posted on the blog this week to best Halloween costume of the year …in my opinion.  8-bit is a bit played out, but this is cleaver. 

9.  As a tribute to the seminal local punk rock band the Suicide Commandos, newly re-elected mayor RT Rybak is declaring this Saturday, November 7, “Suicide Commandos Day.” The band will re-emerge to play three separate shows on Saturday: a pair of “10 and under” shows at the Walker Art Center during the day (one at 11 a.m. and one at 1 p.m.), and a late-night gig at the Dakota Jazz Club that begins at 11 p.m. The Walker concerts are first come seating and you must have a child with your group :) [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zs_RlJ_cLv8[/youtube]

10. mnartists.org / Walker Art Center artist pass program  We are launching a new program today for registered members of mnartists.org to receive admission to the Walker Art Center galleries and discounts on select events for the discounted price of $20 annually.  This program is intended to offer access and recognition to working artists  and active mnartists.org members within the state.  For more information and for an application for visit www.mnartists.org/artistpass.