Saturday, May 12, 2012
Local artists explore the fears, joys, and challenges of motherhood at a new gallery show this Saturday.
The young man's eyes stare out from the canvas, kind yet arresting. His handsome, coffee-colored face shines in with a placid, beatific expression. But artist Melodee Strong framed this loving portrait of her son with a grey hoodie and a bucolic suburban background, palpably laying bare her fears that her son could be the next Trayvon Martin. It's an arresting image, and juxtaposed with Strong's joyous children's book illustrations across the room at ColorWheel Gallery, it illustrates the duality of her own motherhood. This weekend, Strong and scores of other local artists will be exploring the fears, joys, and challenges of motherhood at ColorWheel owner Tammy Ortegon's yearly "Fight Like A Mother" show. The show's opening reception …
Saturday, May 5, 2012
MLK Park mural needs your help.
Calling all artists! Calling all non-artists! Kingfield needs you! The neighborhood organization is looking for people to help paint a mural that's slated to hang at the intersection of 40th Street, Stevens Avenue, and the Interstate-35W sound wall. No experience necessary, say organizers, and no art supplies needed, either. Just bring yourself to the Martin Luther King Park rec center on Saturday from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. The mural design is intended to welcome people across the 40th Street footbridge into Kingfield, welcome Kingfielders across the bridge into the Bryant neighborhood on the other side of the freeway. The mural's design, at right, was developed in cooperation with Kingfield residents.
Thursday, May 3, 2012
Ex-Minnesotan Bethany Kalk practically sculpts her subjects—the environment of her current home in Appalachia.
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
East Harriet nonprofit looks to give a boost to women in the local music scene.
Minneapolis' music scene is overflowing with great local talent. Positively bursting at the seams. But, ever notice how women like Poliça's Channy Leaneagh and Doomtree's Dessa seem really few and far between? Jenny Case and Amy VanPatten do. Several years ago, she founded the East Harriet nonprofit She Rock She Rock to help girls find their voice—or guitar pick—and give them encouragement to go forth and rock out. Their first "Girls' Rock and Roll Retreat" was held in 2007, and since then it's steadily grown by steps and leaps. This year, they decided it was time for the grown-ups to get a chance to join in. Last week, She Rock organized its first "Ladies' Rock Camp" for 15 women at the Linden Hills House of Music. Case told Patch it was…
Saturday, April 28, 2012
Bethany Kalk practically sculpts her paintings.
Walking into Gallery 360's main exhibition space, you're momentarily taken aback by the work currently hanging on the walls. Wispy, blue-black trees rise skyward over an Appalachian lake, like so many leafy tentacles. Gnarled roots surge around roadside boulders, creating a fantasia of shadows. More arresting than the drama and haunting beauty of Bethany Kalk's work, though, is its depth, achieved using encaustic—a technique combining layered, colored wax and paint, charcoal, and other two-dimensional materials. Those same quivering trees rise off the panel, while branches and flowers sink into the background behind layers of translucent wax. Details of Angkor Wat-like roots, and the rocks beneath them, are physically etched into the …
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
A biannual show at Burroughs school drew artists from across the Midwest.
Burroughs Community School was transformed into bustling artists' souk this weekend, its hallways glittering with handmade jewelry, fine textiles, lush paintings, and beautiful ceramics. It wasn't quite a dead ringer for "Arabian Nights"—there was a distinct lack of camels and donkeys—but many of the artists displaying their wares had traveled from far away. "I have friends here from Illinois, who I never see outside of the art fairs we do together," jewelry maker and Lynhurst resident Linda Smith said. Smith herself once roamed the country, from Florida to Minnesota, displaying her works with a tight-knit community of jewelry makers from around the country. Since her daughter, a Burroughs student, was born she "only" does shows in the …
Monday, April 2, 2012
The local musician is well-known for solo work and as part of Rogue Valley
Armatage is about to get another touch of local stardom. Minneapolis singer-songwriter extrodrinaire Chris Koza is scheduled to play Cafe Maude on Tuesday, April 3. Considered one of the most well-versed and dexterous singer-songwriters in the Twin Cities, Koza's work is reminiscent of an earlier generation of musicians like Paul Simon. As CityPages' Bob Longmore put in his review of Koza's 2008 album, A Dark, Delirious Morning: At the heart of each song is a simple melody, but like a latter-day Elliot Smith, Koza layers on instruments and sounds, creating mood and intensity. From the title track's Wilco-like introduction to the Tom Waits style of telling stories within the songs, Koza takes classic pop songs and twists them just enough …
Saturday, March 31, 2012
The film festival will end Sunday evening at the Sabes JCC in St. Louis Park.
If you've been enjoying the films of the 2012 Minneapolis Jewish Film Festival—or haven't yet had the chance to go—this weekend is your last chance. It may be out in St Louis Park at the Sabes JCC, but it looks worth the trip for film buffs. The festival comes to a close on Sunday, wrapping up a string of 14 films in 15 days. Here is this weekend's schedule: The first three screenings are $10 for general public; $8 for JCC Premium & Community members and students. The closing night screening and reception is $12/$10.
Monday, March 19, 2012
Armatage resident Jennifer Noice shows off a Ukranian folk art she picked up...in Denver, CO.
Even without the bright afternoon sun streaming in through Jennifer Noice's living room window, it would be hard to miss the basket of brightly-colored eggs sitting on her coffee table. Such is the detail that the intricate patterns almost seem embroidered. These definitely aren't the Easter eggs from your childhood. Called "pysanky," the decorated eggs are traditional Easter and good-luck gifts in the Ukraine, and use designs and motifs possibly dating back to pre-Christian times. Even the individual colors can tell a story Noice, an Armatage resident, first picked up the art from a friend obsessed with all things Eastern European when she lived in Colorado. Now, she and her family make them year-round—some even have little notes painted…
Friday, March 16, 2012
The Yes!Lets collective offers a unique way to spend your St. Patrick's Day evening.
After the fireworks of July 4, St Patricks’ day is probably the noisiest holiday in Minneapolis, full of college kids loudly partying their brains—and stomachs—out. The Yes!Lets Collective is trying something different at photographer Wing Young Huie’s Third Place gallery in a performance/show called “Light/Dark.” The whole show is built around isolating the senses, and in so doing, figuring out how to process the show with and without your fellow audience members. For 15 minutes, the audience will be asked to explore in silence works of art from four local artists affiliated with the collective. If you think you’d be weirded out by the thought of being stuck in a room with many other people, and not able to interact with them verbally, …
