Archive of August, 2005

Ray Jacobson is a well-known and beloved artist and teacher in Northfield. He approached local metalworkers to consider the idea of pouring a large sculpture concept based on wheat. This sculpture project will bring local metalworkers together in ways not often done before. It is hoped that the experience gained from working on the project will continue and be the basis for the sculpture studio in a the new art building that is proposed for Northfield.

The sculpture will be cast from bronze, and will be over 10 feet tall.

A small group already has formed to consider this project in some detail. For example, Elizabeth See is a member of the ArtOrg board of directors and has worked in a bronze foundry for two years in England. The local Machacek family also started a The Northfield Foundry in 1920 and is still going today, although they do not pour metal at the Northfield facility anymore. Jim Machacek wants to lend his foundry expertise to the project–learned many years ago from his father and grandfather. We believe to have a melt furnace with a 25o-pound capacity on loan from a sponsor.

The sculpture as yet does not have a home. A full-sized cardboard model will be created in one of the first steps in building the sculpture, and this model will be taken to various locations within Northfield. Siting the model in this way with a preliminary cardboard version will enable Ray Jacobson to properly size the work, and give a chance to find a worthy location.

This sculpture project would by itself be costly, if done in a commercial foundry. With local help we can reduce the cost significantly and also build our own competence. Building this knowledge with our own artists will really help Northfield on its road to being a true “Arts Town”. This sculpture may be the start of a very significant resource that may also help the proposed art trail between Northfield and Dundas.

Our fall class schedule will be announced next week. Most classes will start Monday, September 26. The schedule will include several important parts:

1) An after-school program for children. The list of these classes will be extensive, and there will be something for every age group and day of the week.
2) Open studio for figure drawing will continue at 7 to 9 pm on Tuesday nights.
3) Open studio for printmaking on Thursday nights.
4) A set of adult classes with everything from Handmade Books to a discussion group based on the slide set “Women Artists, 1800’s – present”.

Thanks!

ArtOrg opens its doors for a number of local artists including Virginia Kelly, Connie Conway, Maryrose Gondeck, Kari Alberg, Christina Osheim, Liz See, etc. A small number of originals from the recently-closed Mary Grandpre show will also be available. This event coincides with the open gallery program of Northfield’s ArtSwirl festival, where artists open their homes and galleries to visitors. Our program is also an open house, but for a large number of artists in one location.

A special treat will happen on Saturday at 2 pm, when our summer ASAP kids program will be performing plays with masks they created themselves. The yonger group is scheduled for a 2 pm show, and the older group at 2:30. Thanks for your support.

ArtOrg is located on the riverside entrance of 200 Division Street, the so-called Medical Arts Building. Enter from the back parking lot that also serves the Tavern Restaurant. We are the northernmost building on that parking lot.

Please make ArtOrg a stop of your tour of local artist studios!

This ArtOrg jazz concert is the fourth in a series and represents the one-year aniversary of ArtOrg’s first event. The concert starts at 7 pm on Tuesday, August 9. This is the fourth jazz concert given by ArtOrg. Please thank ArtOrg business partner The Art Store in Northfield for sponsoring this wonderful event!

Join us to welcome 22-year-old Alicia Wiley with a cast that includes Steve Jennings, Karl Koopman, Jeff Bailey, and Tim Snow.

Join us also to celebrate and review what ArtOrg did in its first year. We have held over 100 classes, attracted over 150 dues-paying members, and held many wonderful gallery shows. The gallery show of the Harry Potter book release event attracted over 200 people in the first hour, and over 550 in one evening. Our summer ASAP kids program is keeping about 35 kids learning about art for 6 weeks, thanks to grants from Grace Whittier and SEMAC.

One of the most important ways to make Northfield an real arts town, however, was also pioneered by ArtOrg starting over one year ago. We call it our Equipment-Intensive-Studios and we are working with Mendota home to make that a reality on the old site of the Byzantine restaurant, right next to SMSQ Architects. Our original business plan was submitted to ArtSpace and the McKnight Foundation in June of 2004 and included many of the same ideas we atre talking about today.