Archive of November, 2006

The Northfield Day of the Dead Steamroller Print Exhibit opened last Saturday to a great crowd and nice comments. Dan Iverson of the Northfield News wrote a nice piece on the opening: Northfield News 11 22 06 and here is a photoset of the evening.

The show continues Thursdays from noon to 8 pm, and Fridays and Saturdays from noon to 6pm until December 16. The closing party starts at 7pm on Saturday, December 16. The California Building houses over 25 artists and is only a few blocks west of University Avenue in Northeast Minneapolis. Here is a map. Please join us to bring a close to the entire series of events.

This recently-closed Day of the Dead Steamroller Prints exhibit at the ArtOrg Moving Walls Gallery is moving to Northeast Minneapolis! We will display the 104-foot-long print along with thirteen individual prints, an informational video of the printing process, and a slide show of the celebration event. Here is a link to all the photosets of the events.

OPENING Saturday, November 18, from 7 to 10 pm.
What: ArtOrg Day of the Dead Steamroller Prints Exhibit
Where: California Building Gallery, 2205 California Street NE, Minneapolis, MN 55418
Ongoing: November 24 to December 17. Thursdays from noon to 8 pm, and Fridays and Saturdays from noon to 6 pm. Or by appointment by calling 261-8086 area code 507.

The show will be at the California Building Gallery run by NE art veteran Aldo Moroni. The California Building is located at 2205 California Street NE, Minneapolis, MN 55418 and is home to over 25 artists. Here is a map. The gallery is located at the upper left hand corner of the map. The restaurant next to the gallery is the Mill City Café, and it receives a hearty recommendation from us. Also in the neighborhood are The Sample Room and, if you haven’t had your fill of tiki recently, Psycho Suzi’s Motor Lounge.

If you missed the show at ArtOrg, join the NE scene and see all these wonderful artists and their work. Please be ArtOrg’s special guest at this opening event. Thanks for your support.

[See the video of Juanita Garciagodoy’s talk here] “Reading calaveras, pushing limits” is a slide lecture and discussion to be held this Wednesday at ArtOrg Moving Walls Gallery at 7:30 pm.

Juanita Garciagodoy will interpret several calaveras created by popular artists in Mexico City for Days of the Dead. These ephemeral works, of which there are fewer each year, often reveal some details of their worldview in a painting or sculpture that will only be exhibited for a few weeks. While most passersby may not do more than glance at the work or admire its aesthetic appeal, a close reading may disclose their creators’ national, economic, or sexual politics, and show they are sometimes pushing the limits of bourgeois “good” taste.

Juanita is Professor at Macalester College in St. Paul, and is the author of the book
Digging the Days of the Dead.

The Dia de los Muertos Celebration held at the Northfield Armory was a big success. The turnout was estimated at “over 350” by Douglas Padilla and “maybe 500” by Theresa Whitesong. Factoids: over 200 meals were provided by a group from the St. Dominic’s Catholic Church, and they were gone in less about 1 hour. We went through about 240 cans of pop plus gallons of hot chocolate and coffee. Here is a photoset of the event.

At one point the fire alarm went off on a false alarm which locked out the natural gas supply to the stove in the kitchen, so the group had to contend with heating the tortillas on an electric hotplate. Someone ran home to get an additional electric hotplate which turned out to be a Norwegian lefse hotplate. True story!

The important thing is that everyone had a great time and many people were happy and excited. Oliva, daughter of Dan Riggens and Catherine Dominguez, asked her parents at one point “if this is what it is like in Mexico?” and also Father Dempsey told about some nice conversations he had about the traditional observance of Dia de los Muertos in Vera Cruz.

People danced, talked and socialized.

The long print provided a nice backdrop to the event and ringed the “drill floor” or basketball court in the Armory on two sides. The print then traveled to St. Dominic’s Catholic Church and was on display in the O’Gara Social Hall outside the sanctuary for the bilingual mass on Nov. 2. The print then went to Buntrock Commons at St. Olaf College and was displayed there for two days. The long print is considered number 1 of 5 in our edition, and entire print set is documented here in some detail.

ArtOrg would like to thank the many, many people who helped make these events a reality:

Sawdust art and organization: Faustino, Marco, Ivan, and others
Ofrenda: Tina O’Brien and Xavier Tavera
Translations: Linda Burwell, Lori Rosmiller
Lighting, construction: Alvin Ho, Myrl Dahl
Armory event personnel: Erica Hoffmann and Alan Winsor
Food and drink: The group from St. Dominic’s and Goodbye Blue Monday.
College publicity: Erica, Monica, Margerita and Nicolina of LASO, Bill Green, Lynn Stenstrom
Local supporters: Marg Evans-de-Carpio, Amy Garza Colin, Jim Blaha, Theresa Whitesong, Father Denny Dempsey
Video and photography: Paul Krause, Greg Mattern, Bob Anderson, Dan Iverson of the Northfield News, Vance Gellert, Luigi Sison, Tina O’Brien, Paul Hager
Steamroller helpers: Joyce Francis, Alvin Ho, Keeny Swearer, Abby Vaughn, Suzy, Mike, Wendy Smith, David Drentlaw, Marybeth and Meredith Fredrick, Chris Schommer, Ron Wolfe, Jonathan, Natasha Pestich, and Fred Hagstrom (who suggested we go with the big steamroller)
100-foot-print helpers: about 100 individuals, too numerous to list, thank you!
Music: Los Jefes, Jose Curbelo,
Special gallery art thanks: Dawn Zero Erickson, Luis Fitch, Douglas Padilla, and Claudia Baca.
Sponsors (special recognition): Helen Preddy, Jim Egbert, Bill Laurie Tim and Carol Cowles.
Sponsors: First National Bank of Northfield, Community Resource Bank, The Anderson Center in Red Wing, The Art Store, Circa, Chapati, The Contented Cow, Will Healy
Thanks to: Taylor Trucking, Greg Langer at Northfield Tractor and Equipment, Mark Graue of Lamperts, Goodbye Blue Monday, Peter Diggens and Gordon O.
The ArtOrg Board of Directors: James Schlichting, Board President, Mark Fries, Secretary
Robert Anderson, Scott King, Kory Kohrs, Sharon Lessard, Greg Mattern, Catherine McBride, Cora Scholz, Elizabeth See, Rick Swearer, Anne Vogelwede
Special thanks to Mark, Mim, Tracy at Mueller-Dahl Remodeling for the use of their facilities and parking lot!
Thanks to the artists of the big print: Claudia “Billy” Baca, Kendall Bohn, Paloma Barhaugh-Bordas, Anselmo Cornejo, Betto Limón, Gustavo Lira, Steven “Nuno” Nuñez, Maria Christina O’Brien, Douglas Padilla, Juan Jose Palacios, Christina Perez, Richard Swearer, and Xavier Tavera.

And of course a big special thanks to Kari Alberg, Marco Flores, Xavier Tavera and Douglas Padilla, and the general openness of everyone without which this could never have happened.