Thursday, January 31, 2013

American Visions and Other Events Worth Noting

You'd think Northlanders would hibernate for the winter. The weather can be so very unreliable, interfering with the best laid plans. For some reason we keep our calendars full anyways, knowing that at any time we may have to make an adjustment. But we don't let it slow us down. 

Here are some ideas you might want to pencil in for the weekend of February 8 and 9 which is just around the corner. Then I will talk about the American Voice film series that kicks off this Saturday morning at the Zinema 2.

On the 8th, there will be at least four art openings. Nora Fie's inspired Love Your Local Artist III will begin at 5:30 p.m. at the Superior Public Library, with 31 artists showing their work this year. That's impressive.

At 6 p.m. the Washington Galleries will be opening its doors for Bound to the Light II, an exhibit featuring new work by photographer Ryan Tischer whose nature images are always spectacular. Also on Friday evening will be a show at Ochre Ghost and the Bitters show at PROVE and I hear rumblings that Art in the Alley down on Superior Street may be joining these three downtown galleries for these second-Friday celebrations.All I'm doing here is noting the fuzzy details for the moment so you can stamp it on your calendar.

We're not done yet. Make sure you get your Saturday established, too. Up at UMD the Proctor DECA team and Duluth Rotary 25 are pushing to set a new Guinness Book-worthy record for number of snow angels at one time. The target is 9,000 and Duluth/Superior, we need your help.  The event is being called Angels with a Cause and the gates will open at 9:30 with snow angel action to happen at 11:00 a.m. sharp. I do hope we'll see you there.

Saturday evening, if you're not yet exhausted,  Love at the Snoodle VII will be a-happening, with special guests including our local fire dancers. The theme of this year's show is Touch Me, in which artists have created art that you can touch. The Snoodle is at 7101 Grand Avenue out by the zoo. There will be an after-party at Beaners.

American Visions
One of the most exciting art events last year in the Twin Ports, of which there were oodles, was the ten part film series Shock of the New which was shared at the Zinema 2 theater by Annie Dugan and the Duluth Art Institute. Not only did we get an exciting overview of modern art, each segment was followed by lively dialogue led by various leaders from UMD, St. Scholastica and the local arts community. These dialogues were sometimes as stimulating as Hughes was dramatic.

Beginning this Saturday morning Duluth Art Institute has once again paved the way for the public to get a better appreciation for what has been happening in the art world with yet another Robert Hughes film series. Hughes called his American Visions series a "love letter to America" as he shows us the manner in which artists have responded to the natural wonders that surround us here, covering everything from early Spanish architecture to 1990's flabberghastation.

If the series is even half as good as last year's Shock of the New, it will be an enriching experience not to be missed. Anyone with half an inclination to learn more about the place of art in America will do well to join us over the next ten weeks, 11:00 a.m. Saturday mornings in the Twin Ports #1 theater for cool
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See you there!

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