Archive of October, 2007

The printmaking studio was busy today as Master Printer John Lund visited ArtOrg to assist work on “The Twenty Views of Dundas” print project. Several artists from the project met with John to hear his advice on their individual works. John prints exclusively for Jasper Johns at his Low Road Studios now, but started his education at St. Olaf College and the University of Minnesota. A short interview of John Lund can be found here.

John will be dropping in on a St. Olaf print class tomorrow, and also giving a short lecture at Carleton College at 4pm in Boliou Hall, Room 161. The Carleton talk is free and open to the public.

A big Day of the Dead Celebration will be held again this year on Thursday, November 1 at 7 pm at the Northfield Armory. Last year, the event was a big success and attracted over 400 people. The celebration will feature many things: Community Ofrenda, People, Music, Great Food, Display of 104-Foot-Long Steamroller Print, Mexican Hot Chocolate, Sawdust Tapete, Pan de Muerto and more! Go here to see a short slideshow of all these things. In addition, some prints will be exhibited from a high school class, and results of a local ofrenda contest will also be displayed.

To learn about the celebration of last year, please spend some time with the following links: video of the 2006 celebration at the Armory, video of the creation of the long Day of the Dead steamroller print, video of Juanita Garciagodoy talking about Day of the Dead imagery, and video of Ray Gonzalez reading Day of the Dead-inspired poetry. For further research please visit the main Dia de Los Muertos page.

[Note: please go here to see video of this evenings talk.] Juanita Garciagodoy will visit Northfield on Monday, October 29 at 7:30 pm to give a slide lecture named “Day of the Dead vs. Halloween”. The talk will be at ArtOrg at 200 Division Street (riverside entrance) in Northfield.

The Days of the Dead is a Mexican fiesta with ancient origins. It is a family reunion in which the dead are the guests of honor who are regaled with food, flowers, and Continue Reading…

Five of the Day of the Dead Steamroller Prints are in exhibit for the next month at the well-known Minnesota company Medtronic. The prints will be hanging as a part of the Medtronic’s celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month. Artists represented are Steven Nunez, Gustavo Lira, Anselmo Cornejo, Juan Jose Palacios, and Douglas Padilla. The creation of this print set is captured in this small video. Please join us at our upcoming celebration at 7pm on November 1, 2007 at the Northfield Armory! More news on that celebration will follow…

2007 will mark the fourth year of our Japanese Animation Festival, held in conjunction with the Carleton Cinema & Media Studies Department. We wish to thank profusely Minneapolis College of Art and Design professor Frenchy Lunning and graduate Rana Raeuchle for their help in organizing the films and leading the festival in spirited discussions. Frenchy Lunning is one of the founders of the internationally-recognized three-day “Schoolgirls and Mobilesuits” workshop held every year at MCAD.

This year we will be showing the following films at the ArtOrg Moving Walls Gallery. We are at 200 Division Street (riverside entrance) in Northfield. This is on the north end of Division Street, where 2nd Street (also called Carleton Avenue) crosses the Cannon River. Go to the parking lot which is between the build and the river.

7:30 PM, FRIDAY. OCTOBER 12
Mushishi 蟲師
The film Mushishi follows Ginko who is able to see the usually-invisible creatures called Mushi. Ginko employs himself as, in fact, a Mushi master, or Mushi-shi. He attracts Mushi and must keep moving (and also smoking cigarettes) to keep a dangerous amount of Mushi from gathering near him. He is very laid-back, except when protecting other people from Mushi.

7:30 PM, FRIDAY. OCTOBER 19
Blood: The Last Vampire
Blood The Last Vampire is set in 1966 Japan, when a girl named Saya is hunting demons known as Chiroptera. Possibly the last remaining special vampire herself, she becomes aware of two classmates and a bartender who also may be vampires, and a spectacular battle takes place. Armed with only a samurai sword, she must slay the demons with a very bloody force. This film is violent, and possibly not suitable for children.

7:30 PM, FRIDAY. OCTOBER 26
Spirited Away
Spirited Away was only the second film to win an Oscar for Best Animated Feature, and was written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki. The main character named Chihiro is trapped in a world of gods and magic where humans are despised. She works hard to find the courage and resolve to escape and save herself and her parents.

After a short hiatus, regular figure drawing open studio is resuming at ArtOrg. Every Tuesday evening from 7 to 9 pm, artists will gather in the ArtOrg Moving Walls Gallery to draw the human form. Faculty member Lilla Johnson is teaching drawing at St. Olaf College and will be present on a regular basis to answer questions, but the drawing studio is largely undirected. Please drop in and draw with us in a quiet and informal atmosphere. Cost is $10 for the two-hour session.

As a part of the Friday, October 5 Northfield Gallery Crawl, ArtOrg will be celebrating “Film Stuff”. ArtOrg’s entry into this year’s 48 Hour Film Project called “MASKED DESTRUCTION” will be shown every 30 minutes starting at 7pm, and well as other films. This short 7-minute film, was created in only 48 hours by a 20-person team which included Brendon Etter, Aleshia Mueller, Greg Mattern, Alvin Ho, Chris Ash, Christie Clarke, Jeanne Hatle, Keeny Swearer, Juan Jose Palacios, Dan Freeman and others.

An additional treat will be rediscovery of 12-minute film from 1972 called “RUBICON” which was shot and edited in 16mm by local high school students. This film will be shown every hour starting at 7:40pm. The first showing will include the film’s original 1972 soundtrack, but the second two showings at 8:40 and 9:40 will feature an original soundtrack performed live by an orchestra led by Continue Reading…