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@analogtweet: You Write it, We Tweet It

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@analogtweet You Write it, We Tweet it. The American Association of Museums Annual Meeting and Museum Expo opens today in Minneapolis. With this national gathering of thousands of museum professionals in our backyard celebrating by officially launching the Analog Tweet project at AAM.  The inspiration for this simple activity is mixing the tactile intimacy of [...]

The First Analog Tweet by Lunalux's Jenni Undis

@analogtweet

You Write it, We Tweet it.

The American Association of Museums Annual Meeting and Museum Expo opens today in Minneapolis. With this national gathering of thousands of museum professionals in our backyard celebrating by officially launching the Analog Tweet project at AAM.  The inspiration for this simple activity is mixing the tactile intimacy of the handwritten notes with the immediacy of social media. The intent is for people to share thoughtful messages through “slow tweets” which leave behind a physical object after they are sent into cyberspace.

Here is how it works: We partnered with local print shop Lunalux to create  telegram-like letterpressed cards. Each card contains metered spaces  for the 128 characters (140 minus the #analogtweet hashtag).   You are invited to compose your message, remove the perforated receipt, and we will tweet the message and include a picture of the physical card.  It is actually hard to compose a tweet without the ability to have characters auto counted and writing it in one draft…don’t worry we have scratch paper!

The tweets are visible at @analogtweet and on the Open Field Facebook Page.  Please follow us to see all the compositions over the course of this week and summer.  The analog tweet table is located at the hospitality lounge across from the Dunn Brothers Coffee Shop during the AAM conference from noon to 4pm each day. We will also be providing other AAM related activities during conference including Drawing Club Coloring Book sessions, Open Field Button Making and Museum Bingo. If you are not attending conference analog tweet will settle into their permanent home on the Walker Open Field all summer as a daily amenity.

MAKING IT: Andy Ducett and how you fill 12,000 square feet in six months.

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The intent of the new MAKING IT series within the mnartist.org blog is to highlight the hidden aspects of artistic production.  This is everything from shots of working spaces to stratgies for mixing the perfect palette…all interesting aspects of artists work that are rarely discussed or revealed. With this idea of access to an extended [...]

The intent of the new MAKING IT series within the mnartist.org blog is to highlight the hidden aspects of artistic production.  This is everything from shots of working spaces to stratgies for mixing the perfect palette…all interesting aspects of artists work that are rarely discussed or revealed. With this idea of access to an extended process, I asked Minneapolis multimedia artist Andy Ducett for permission to document the progress of his upcoming solo exhibition at the Soap Factory.  Andy generously agreed to open his studio to share the “behind the scenes” view of his artistic production.  From planning, models, design decisions, sourcing materials, sourcing labor, fundraising, installation to opening night we will track the hidden work necessary for a success exhibition.  Andy will walk us through the progress in his own voice in an effort to not only see the work accumulate, but to gain understanding of the decisions that are made along the route.Here is Andy:

I’ve been asked to write in order to give a peek into my practice and share all of the processes, byproducts, successes, failures, left turns, right turns, u-turns and other minutia that is associated with an art practice is exciting.  We usually only see the results.  It’s like my car, or video chatting, or air travel…I have no idea how most of it works, I just know (or hope, rather) that it does whatever it’s supposed to do.

It just so happens that I am less than five months away from an a large solo exhibition at The Soap Factory in Minneapolis, a show that I’ve been planning and working towards for a little over 2 years.  The scope and nature of the exhibition is very similar to my regular artistic practice, while expanding on some of my ongoing ideas and visual strategies.  However, for this exhibition I plan to use new elements,  such as video and performance which has never appeared in my work previously.   One of the biggest challenges is taking advantage of the massive 12,000 square feet of  gallery space in The Soap Factory, and to make it into one cohesive installation.

The exhibition opens the 8th of September, and over the course of the next few months, I will be making regular posts about my progress. I am also working with local artist and videographer Eric Melser to film parts of my processes which I will share in future posts.

Also check out Andy Ducett’s MN Original segment for more insight on how to source thrift stores

Making It lifts the curtain on art-making around the state with posts that go inside the process of making and showing work. You’ll find these visually-oriented little pieces on both the Education and Community Programs’ blog and here, on the mnartists.org blog, and they’ll include a broad-mash up across disciplines, with everything from staff dispatches from Arty Pants and Open Field to rehearsal notes and studio visits, maybe even a few DIY tutorials by and with Minnesota artists.

Viewfinder: “KEEP SMILING at M&J Auto” by Ira Brooker

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Sometimes practicality and creativity go hand in hand. In 2002, the Delaney brothers, owners of M&J Auto Repair in Saint Paul, were looking to drum up more business. The problem was that their garage didn’t look enough like a garage; the telltale roll-up doors faced the parking lot in the rear, so passing motorists on [...]

"KEEP SMILING" by Brian Sobaski at M& J Auto, Saint Paul, 2002. Photo by author.

Sometimes practicality and creativity go hand in hand. In 2002, the Delaney brothers, owners of M&J Auto Repair in Saint Paul, were looking to drum up more business. The problem was that their garage didn’t look enough like a garage; the telltale roll-up doors faced the parking lot in the rear, so passing motorists on Prior Avenue saw only a nondescript brick wall. Their novel solution was to recruit local artist and old high school classmate Brian Sobaski (known around the Twin Cities for his unique straw sculptures) to turn the shop’s west wall into something impossible to ignore.

Sobaski found his inspiration in a selection of automotive ads from the 1930s. “It’s kind of their style,” he says, “it’s an old school repair shop – not a lot of computers, very analog.” He proceeded to emblazon the building with a row of one-story black-and-white cartoon panels spotlighting some of the motoring mishaps that M&J specializes in repairing. Ten years later, the blown-out tires and ailing engines of yesteryear still loom large over Prior Avenue.

Wall paintings at M&J Auto by Brian Sobaski, 2002. Photo by author.

Sobaski proudly notes that although the Delaneys invested in anti-graffiti sealant for his paintings, it’s rarely been put to the test: “I think it’s kind of a show of respect from the taggers.”

The ads glow with a friendly liveliness not often seen in modern advertising, especially in my largely industrial pocket of Midway. Their kinetic energy, crisp monochrome and clean geometric design are unmistakably retro, but there’s also a timelessness to them that draws me in every time I pass by. Our eyes aren’t trained to expect art in that environment, let alone see it on a business as traditionally utilitarian as an auto shop, and that makes it all the more arresting.

M&J Auto signage by Brian Sobaski, 2002. Photo by author.

Curiously enough, the image Sobaski identifies as “everybody’s favorite” is the only one that isn’t car-related: a mugshot of a grinning black dog sporting the slogan “KEEP SMILING.” It’s an order that I, for one, can’t help but obey.’

About the author: Ira Brooker is a writer and editor based in Saint Paul. He blathers about pop culture at A Talent for Idleness and also maintains an archive at irabrooker.com.

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Viewfinder posts are your opportunity to “show & tell” about the everyday arts happenings, interesting sights and sounds made or as seen by Minnesota artists, because art is where you find it.  Submit your own informal, first-person responses to the art around you to katie(at)mnartists.org, and we may well publish your piece here on the blog. (Guidelines: 300 words or less, not about your own event/work, and please include an image, media, video, or audio file, and one sentence about yourself.)

mnartists.marketplace: Spring 2012 Featured Artists

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Drawing Club: A Collaborative Coloring Book The second edition of artist-designed objects for mnartists.marketplace, Drawing Club: A Collaborative Coloring Book, follows in step with the first edition of specialty pint glasses released last fall.  We sent out a call to Minnesota artists for submissions, juried the entries, and are using the selected designs on a [...]

Drawing Club: A Collaborative Coloring Book, page by Hot Sundae

Drawing Club: A Collaborative Coloring Book

The second edition of artist-designed objects for mnartists.marketplace, Drawing Club: A Collaborative Coloring Book, follows in step with the first edition of specialty pint glasses released last fall.  We sent out a call to Minnesota artists for submissions, juried the entries, and are using the selected designs on a limited edition release of a specialty object. This time around, however, instead of printing the selected designs on pint glasses, we’ve taken a page from mnartists.org’s Drawing Club and printed the designs in a high-end coloring book that invites its user to collaborate with the featured artists! Starting Saturday April 28th, the coloring books will be available in the Walker Shop and online for $10.

For those of you hearing about this for the first time, mnartists.marketplace is a mini-store within the Walker Shop devoted to the presentation and sales of local art, artistic wares, and art inspired objects.  In addition to offering a curated rotating selection of local artist-made wares, mnartists.marketplace invites artists to submit designs for a twice-annual juried call, providing an opportunity for artists of all disciplines to produce a limited edition of designed objects to be sold exclusively at the Walker Shop and promoted through mnaritsts.org and the Walker Art Center.

Drawing Club: A Collaborative Coloring Book, page by Kristina Estell

In an effort to take this season’s mnartists.marketplace limited edition coloring book to the next level, inspiration has been drawn from mnartists.org’s Drawing Club at Walker Open Field. At Drawing Club artists and the public add to the pool of collectively created artworks. Drawing Club: A Collaborative Coloring Book, invites its user to collaborate with the selected artists: rip out a page, color it, hang it on a wall, photograph it and share with the larger community by uploading the image to the Drawing Club facebook page: www.facebook.com/openfielddrawingclub. There you’ll be able to view, contribute, and comment on all the uploaded works and therefore participate in this shared practice and social experience of art-making, collaboration, and play.

After countless long grueling hours sifting through over 200 submissions from over 65 artists, the jury made the difficult decision of selecting the perfect 15 pages for inclusion in the coloring book. In the spirit of sharing and collaboration, take the time to read on and get to know a little more about the featured artists whose work you and/or your children may be defacing enhancing in the near future:

Saman Bemel-Benrud is an artist, designer, and comic maker. He recently had an apocalyptic dream involving earthquakes, tornadoes, and giant panthers. In order to prevent the end of the world, he had to collect all the stars and bring them back to his castle. The dream ended well, with pixel victory fireworks exploding against the night sky.
trashmoon.com

Emily Bennett Beck is a painter who explores themes of celebrity and fantasy. Her work deals with the expressions of (sincere and insincere) sympathy and reverie toward characters and public figures, which she translates in coloring book form for this project. As ‘participants’ color her page, they are able to revel safely in moments of inner turmoil and romantic drama without leaving the safety of their own identities. Emily’s work has been shown nationally and internationally, and she currently teaches at the University of Wisconsin- Stout.
www.emilybennettbeck.com

Cornelius Coons began his career in Los Angeles, graduating from the California Institute of the Arts with a degree in Graphic Design, before finding his way to the Midwest. Most recently, he worked as an Art Director for Schematic (now Possible Worldwide) and Peterson Milla Hooks, where he led multi-platform national campaigns for clients such as Target, Microsoft, Kmart and Gap.
graay.co

Brandon Cramm’s work accepts acute misinterpretations within his research, which he strives to prolong through the production of work. His process allows for one form of understanding to stand in the place of and communicate something about, or supplement the needs of the other. This might be best illustrated by a literal mistranslation where someone confuses something that is not physical for something that is.
mnartists.org/brandon_cramm 
www.cargocollective.com/brandoncramm

Kristina Estell received a B.F.A. in sculpture with distinction from Herron School of Art in Indianapolis, Indiana and received her M.F.A. in sculpture from the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis in 2004. Estell was awarded a full scholarship from the Pilchuck Glass School in Seattle and received McKnight Foundation Grant fellowships in 2007 and 2011. Estell has exhibited her work internationally and has attended artist residencies within and outside of the USA. In 2010, Estell was selected by artist Dan Graham to receive a full fellowship at the Akademie Schloss Solitude in Stuttgart, Germany for a 10-month visual arts residency.
www.kristinaestell.com

Hot Sundae is a Minneapolis-based collective consisting of Amelia Irwin and Nicole Killian. Both have MFA’s from Cranbrook Academy of Art and their work is weird and fun and represents a sad-faced ying-yang.
www.hot-sundae.com

HOT TEA is a Minneapolis-based artist collective. The two words hot and tea or more specifically the phrase “HOT TEA” was chosen to highlight the relationship between the two words. These two words compliment each other both physically and grammatically. Without one or the other you wouldn’t have a phrase that evokes a sense of comfort, warmth and relaxation.  The project is a comment on all relationships good and bad and the things that lie between them. Like the phrase itself Hot and Tea are two totally different words brought together to represent something new, which reflect on the media and surfaces that the project makes use of.

Karen Kvitek is a lover of old books, birds, vegetables, flat rocks, friends, animals, and anything odd. She has a BFA in graphic design and a day job behind a cash register. She’s rarely without pen and paper, especially enjoying a good fine-tipped pen that’s nowhere near running out of ink. Fine-tipped pens and found images are her favorite things to work with and she thinks drawings make great gifts.
www.karenohbuddy.blogspot.com

Max Mose is an independent cartoonist and illustrator based out of St. Paul, Minnesota. In 2011, he received his MFA from the Center for Cartoon Studies, which is located in dreamy, picturesque, slightly dilapidated White River Junction, Vermont. His self-published comics work has often been described as “deliberately weird.”
www.maxmose.wordpress.com
www.secretacres.com/store/

Terrence Payne is a Minneapolis based artist whose work has been shown at museums, galleries and universities throughout the United States. His work is also found in private collections all over the globe.   He has found a really strong and creative community in Minnesota with a supportive audience and ambitious, talented artists. Building upon this community, he has also been the gallery director of the Minneapolis Arts Collective, Rosalux Gallery, since 2002, helping other artists further their own careers.
www.terrencepayne.com

Casey Seijas’s drawing was inspired by his inner 10-year-old, back when he’d spend afternoons witnessing glorious battles between good vs. evil, and wonder from the backseat of car rides, “What do those colorful maze-words say?” that he’d see under bridges and behind shopping centers. He has art crushes on the Dadaists, Andy Warhol, J.C. Leyendecker, Jenny Saville, Neo Rauch, Banksy, CASE2, ELET, Anibal Padrino, Katsuhiro Otomo, Dan Clowes, Chris Ware, Eduardo Risso, Aaron Draplin, Charles Anderson, his uncle Jaff, the crew over at Aesthetic Apparatus, whoever painted the card art on old G.I. Joe action figure packaging, and the dude who did the art for Iron Maiden’s t-shirts. He is also known as FCV*CASE*MCT and Tootsie Cornrolls.
caseyseijas.com

Angela Sprunger was born in India, grew up in New Jersey, and now lives in Minneapolis. She a drawer, painter, printmaker, and sewer. Her recent work is about nostalgia. Her current drawing and print series is about being cautious of the desire to surrender to nostalgia’s persuasion that the past is better than the future. Conversely, she indulges and perpetuates nostalgia through fabric work, creating child-centered sewn objects like totes and stuffed animals.
angelasprunger.com

For Melissa Stang, drawing is the bedrock of her artistic practice.  She’s also very flexible in that she is capable of numerous, vastly different visual styles and generally works on several different projects simultaneously. She’s come to describe herself as a drawing-based, mixed-media object maker who is also a reasonably knowledgeable amateur naturalist.
melissastang.com

Peter Steineck is a maker of things and a current 4th year Graphic Design student at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design. Pending a 2012 graduation, Peter hopes to become an attentive, participating member in the conversation of design. He enjoys movies, comics, letters, and subversive comedy. He does not enjoy jellyfish, little sleep, and people like Andy Rooney. RIP old man.
cargocollective.com/petersteineck

Lex Thompson’s work focuses on manifestations of hope and failure in the American landscape.  Photographs I Wish I’d Made, No. 1 (Scarlett Macaw) is from his series Mahalo, exploring the Hawaiian Islands.  The project is primarily composed of photographs, supplemented with images from television and cinema that shaped his expectations of Hawaii.  As a counterweight to these media images, he made the drawings – “Photographs I Wish I’d Made” – as records of photographs he failed to make.  These renderings, filtered through memory and nostalgia, give just as sublimated a vision of the actual scene as the photographs from television.
www.lexthompson.com

 

We can’t wait to see what you all will do with your artist-designed coloring book pages, so don’t be shy and be sure to share images of your collaborative coloring online at: www.facebook.com/openfielddrawingclub

For more updates and information about mnartsits.marketplace follow @mnartistsdotorg on Twitter and like the Walker Shop and mnartstist.org on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/walkershop and http://www.facebook.com/mnartists.org

About the Walker Shop
The Walker Shop supports the mission of the Walker Art Center through the sale of merchandise from around the globe. It offers a unique assortment of award-winning contemporary home and office accessories; artisan jewelry; books about multidisciplinary contemporary art, design, and culture; creative toys; and exclusive Walker products. All proceeds support the Walker’s artistic and educational programs.

Walker Shop Hours
Tuesday-Sunday, 11 am – 6 pm
Open Late Thursday, 11 am – 9 pm
Closed Monday
612.375.7633
mnartists.marketplace Walker Shop Online: http://shop.walkerart.org/collections/mnartists-marketplace

About mnartists.org
The mission of mnartists.org is to improve the lives of Minnesota artists and provide access to and engagement with Minnesota’s arts culture.

mnartists.org is a joint project of the Walker Art Center and McKnight Foundation.

VIEWFINDER: “Wishes for the Sky” by Katie Hill

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For the past few Earth Days, weather permitting, Grace Minnesota has presented Wishes for the Sky: a day of wishing on kites, experiencing public art, and respecting the environment hosted on Harriet Island in Saint Paul. Wishes for the Sky makes public otherwise private thoughts; it also makes communal an otherwise individual practice. As kids [...]

My wish in flight. Photo by author.

For the past few Earth Days, weather permitting, Grace Minnesota has presented Wishes for the Sky: a day of wishing on kites, experiencing public art, and respecting the environment hosted on Harriet Island in Saint Paul.

Wishes for the Sky makes public otherwise private thoughts; it also makes communal an otherwise individual practice. As kids we vow not to share what we wish for when blowing out birthday candles for fear of it not coming true. And as an adult, I can’t think of the last time I honestly truly wished for something, never mind telling anyone about it.

So imagine bringing together a whole population of ‘wishers’ and inviting them to wish together, in public! Wishes for the Sky validates all wants, letting the wisher chose their own hope after an inspiring chat with a Heart-Counselor and a walk through the Wishing Pavilion. While many wish for world peace and an end to poverty, others have wished to meet a famous teen heartthrob or for warm summer weather. No matter the desire, it is illustrated with words on traditional Chinese kites and then set to flight as the wisher tries to catch the wind.  This public performance of wishing is unique and, for many (including myself), treasured.

Yesterday, I wrote a wish on a kite. I was able to fly it for a few minutes on intermittent wind bursts before returning it for another to wish on.  And though at the time I was entirely confident in the promise and practice of public wish-making, that feeling has now passed. Today, I simply cannot bear to publicly pronounce my wish. The fear of the birthday wish that may not come true if shared has returned, and with it, my self-consciousness. I suppose this speaks to the power of such an event, but also reveals the truly ephemeral nature of wishing.

 

Past wishes. Photo by author.

Getting my wish stamped. Photo by author.

Meeting with Heart-Counselors to receive kites. Photo by author.

Entrance to the Wishing Pavilion. Photo by author.

 

 

 

 

 

 

About the author: Katie Hill is an art historian, writer, and cat lady living in Saint Paul. She is also the current mnartists.org Program Fellow.

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Viewfinder posts are your opportunity to “show & tell” about the everyday arts happenings, interesting sights and sounds made or as seen by Minnesota artists, because art is where you find it.  Submit your own informal, first-person responses to the art around you to katie(at)mnartists.org, and we may well publish your piece here on the blog. (Guidelines: 300 words or less, not about your own event/work, and please include an image, media, video, or audio file, and one sentence about yourself.)

Taglio: “It Is What It Is!” Comic by Todd Balthazor

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About the artist: Todd Balthazor is a satirical, often anthropomorphic illustrator, fine artist, muralist and children’s art instructor from St.Paul, MN, with a BFA in illustration from the College of Visual Arts (CVA).  He has done artist residencies at Jackson Elementary and the St. Paul University Club, and his work has been displayed in venues both [...]

About the artist: Todd Balthazor is a satirical, often anthropomorphic illustrator, fine artist, muralist and children’s art instructor from St.Paul, MN, with a BFA in illustration from the College of Visual Arts (CVA).  He has done artist residencies at Jackson Elementary and the St. Paul University Club, and his work has been displayed in venues both locally and abroad, including: illustrations in the Altered Esthetics Gallery (Minneapolis), the Walker Art Center blog, and multiple Red Leaf Press publications (St. Paul); visual narratives at the Adugyama Art Exhibition (Ghana, Africa) and the Save the Children Nepal Project (Nepal, India); and murals at an orphanage in Jaurez, Mexico.  Samples of his work can be found at toddbalthazor.com and toddbalthazor.blogspot.com.

Balthazor also works as a guard at the Walker Art Center, and draws on his experiences behind the scenes at the museum in his weekly comic strip for mnartists.org, It Is What It Is.  (Click the image above to enlarge it.)

Viewfinder: “That’s my house!” by Joel Hagen

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I think James Casebere is stalking me. That’s my house in “Landscape with House (Dutchess County, NY) #8.” Sure, my house isn’t in New York — it’s in Fargo — but he isn’t fooling me with that title.                             See it? It’s [...]

I think James Casebere is stalking me.

That’s my house in “Landscape with House (Dutchess County, NY) #8.” Sure, my house isn’t in New York — it’s in Fargo — but he isn’t fooling me with that title.

James Casebere, Landscape with Houses (Dutchess County, NY) #8, 2010. Framed digital chromogenic print mounted to Dibond paper: 69 3/4 x 86 1/4 inches.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

See it? It’s the house in the foreground, all by its lonesome on the street with driveways to nowhere. It’s the only house without window shades; the one without pigment that’s fenced in by hedges.

Look.  My house cowers below the looming houses on the hill; those big colorful houses with above ground pools, TV antennae, and playgrounds. And above them, a stately blue house presides at the top of the hill. Me, I’m at the bottom — colorless — watching the sun set behind the other houses, blocked from a forest of color by my betters. It’s rather sad – this exploitation of my life and house for art.

But wait!

Take another look: See how there are no driveways visible at the bigger houses, how their curtains keep them insulated, how their pools, barbecue sets, and TVs keep them tethered to their homes?

I have mobility. My home has the only vehicle in sight in this unpeopled world. I have a bike. I have a house that spills onto the sidewalk, connected to a road that leads to the great unknown. I moved to the Twin Cities from Fargo to escape this life — to become something more than the value of my house size — to connect to culture by going to events like the Lifelike exhibition at the Walker Art Center.

But then I turn a corner in the gallery and James Casebere is shoving my old life right back in my face. And I nearly trip over a bronze sleeping bag as I back away.

 

About the author: Joel Hagen is a freelance writer living in the Twin Cities. His web portfolio is at www.mrjoelhagen.com.

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Viewfinder posts are your opportunity to “show & tell” about the everyday arts happenings, interesting sights and sounds made or as seen by Minnesota artists, because art is where you find it.  Submit your own informal, first-person responses to the art around you to katie(at)mnartists.org, and we may well publish your piece here on the blog. (Guidelines: 300 words or less, not about your own event/work, and please include an image, media, video, or audio file, and one sentence about yourself.)

Hecklers and a New Anthem for our Minnesota Twins: The Baseball Show Concludes

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The Baseball Show concludes today with segments with writer Peter Schilling and Andy Sturdevant composing a new anthem for our Minnesota Twins.  Since our last episode the Twins have been 2-0…let’s hope the anthem can keep the momentum going.  Thank you to Works Progress and Salon Saloon for making this week’s series possible and we [...]

The Baseball Show concludes today with segments with writer Peter Schilling and Andy Sturdevant composing a new anthem for our Minnesota Twins.  Since our last episode the Twins have been 2-0…let’s hope the anthem can keep the momentum going.  Thank you to Works Progress and Salon Saloon for making this week’s series possible and we hope this is just a taste of whats to come.

Salon Saloon: The Baseball Show

On October 26, 2010, that topic was baseball. The Twins’ playoff dreams had been dashed three weeks earlier by the hated Yankees, and that Tuesday night there was a gross, slushy thunderstorm — all assembled were in a dour mood. But our five guests spoke with such wit, thoughtfulness and enthusiasm on this rich and multifaceted subject that by the end of the night, everyone in attendance was as punchy as if it were Opening Day.

Writer Peter Schilling, author of the novel The End of Baseball, presented a carefully researched segment on those unsung heroes of the ballpark: the hecklers.

 

A New Anthem: What sort of new musical anthem might inspire Twins fans to greater heights of bonhomie and camaraderie? Salon Saloon decided here to look to precedents set in other sports. The new anthem is, as you can hear, an instant hit.

Learn more about the original song, “Marching On Together” by Les Reed and Barry Mason here:

About Salon Saloon: Combining the best and worst elements of chat show, variety program and artist talk, Salon Saloon is a live-action arts magazine that invites local artists, designers, musicians and creative workers to the stage of the Bryant-Lake Bowl in Minneapolis every month for informal, far-ranging explorations of a specific topic.

About Works Progress: Works Progress is an artist-led public art & design studio based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. We create artistic platforms for people to engage, connect, converse and create with/in their neighborhoods and communities, across creative and culture boundaries. We work collaboratively with other artists and organizations and produce our own public art projects and programs.

 

Batgirls, John Fogerty and the Aesthetics of MLB uniforms: The Baseball Show continues

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Opening Day didn’t work out very well for our home town Twins, but today is a new day.  With the second game of the home stand we present three more segments from the Salon Saloon Baseball Show.  Enjoy! Salon Saloon: The Baseball Show On October 26, 2010, that topic was baseball. The Twins’ playoff dreams [...]

Opening Day didn’t work out very well for our home town Twins, but today is a new day.  With the second game of the home stand we present three more segments from the Salon Saloon Baseball Show.  Enjoy!

Salon Saloon: The Baseball Show

On October 26, 2010, that topic was baseball. The Twins’ playoff dreams had been dashed three weeks earlier by the hated Yankees, and that Tuesday night there was a gross, slushy thunderstorm — all assembled were in a dour mood. But our five guests spoke with such wit, thoughtfulness and enthusiasm on this rich and multifaceted subject that by the end of the night, everyone in attendance was as punchy as if it were Opening Day.

Annue Ursu
Anne Ursu, young adult novelist and the celebrated creator of the late, great “Batgirl” blog, puts up with Andy’s ridiculous questions and wins the adoration of all assembled.

Nikki Schultz
We asked singer/guitarist Nikki Schultz if she might consider arranging a cover of John Fogerty’s heartland jock anthem “Centerfield” — and the resultant murder ballad recreation stunned the audience into awestruck silence.

Megan Vossler
Megan Vossler is a talented visual artist, and in this segment turns her keen artistic eye to the aesthetics of MLB uniforms.

About Salon Saloon: Combining the best and worst elements of chat show, variety program and artist talk, Salon Saloon is a live-action arts magazine that invites local artists, designers, musicians and creative workers to the stage of the Bryant-Lake Bowl in Minneapolis every month for informal, far-ranging explorations of a specific topic.

About Works Progress: Works Progress is an artist-led public art & design studio based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. We create artistic platforms for people to engage, connect, converse and create with/in their neighborhoods and communities, across creative and culture boundaries. We work collaboratively with other artists and organizations and produce our own public art projects and programs.

PLAY BALL! Celebrate Opening Day with Salon Saloon

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Opening Day is day filled with hope and promise.  Its one of those eagerly awaited signs of spring that regardless of the expectations for your favorite team (or how a weekend series played out in Baltimore), anything seems possible. Today is the home opener for our Minnesota Twins against  Albert Pujols and the Los Angeles [...]

Opening Day is day filled with hope and promise.  Its one of those eagerly awaited signs of spring that regardless of the expectations for your favorite team (or how a weekend series played out in Baltimore), anything seems possible. Today is the home opener for our Minnesota Twins against  Albert Pujols and the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.  In celebration of start of a new season mnartists.org is partnering with Works Progress and Salon Saloon to present The Baseball Show.  We will be posting segments of this popular (and frequently requested) episode throughout the week, think of it as our first home stand with Salon Saloon with the promise of many more to come.  So sit back and enjoy the first pitch.

Salon Saloon: The Baseball Show

On October 26, 2010, that topic was baseball. The Twins’ playoff dreams had been dashed three weeks earlier by the hated Yankees, and that Tuesday night there was a gross, slushy thunderstorm — all assembled were in a dour mood. But our five guests spoke with such wit, thoughtfulness and enthusiasm on this rich and multifaceted subject that by the end of the night, everyone in attendance was as punchy as if it were Opening Day.

Michael Fallon
Arts writer Michael Fallon presents here a lavishly illustrated history of the historic back-and-forth between visual art and baseball.

About Salon Saloon: Combining the best and worst elements of chat show, variety program and artist talk, Salon Saloon is a live-action arts magazine that invites local artists, designers, musicians and creative workers to the stage of the Bryant-Lake Bowl in Minneapolis every month for informal, far-ranging explorations of a specific topic.

About Works Progress: Works Progress is an artist-led public art & design studio based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. We create artistic platforms for people to engage, connect, converse and create with/in their neighborhoods and communities, across creative and culture boundaries. We work collaboratively with other artists and organizations and produce our own public art projects and programs.

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