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Art Beat
Art Beat Fall 2020 Quarterly Regional Guide
Guest artists share talents with DAC clients
Hubbard County Developmental Achievement Center (DAC) clients are busy working with guest artists to create beautiful art.
The activities are made possible by the voters of Minnesota, through a grant from the Region 2 Arts Council, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the Arts & Cultural Heritage Fund.
Clients have been having art lessons with Erin Nelson twice per week at the DAC learning about famous artists. Erin spent 23 years as an elementary teacher in Grand Forks and 10 years instructing and chairing the visual arts program for East Grand Forks Senior High before retiring in 2014.
She is also a very talented artist who has been influenced by pop artists and abstract expressionists to create acrylic and mixed media landscapes and whimsical paintings of farmyard animals and “up north furry and feathered friends.”
In her Van Gogh lesson, she encouraged the DAC artists to paint their own version of Van Gogh’s sunflowers. Erin has really brought out the talents of the artists and the finished paintings are amazing. The collection will be hanging at CHI St. Joseph’s Dental Clinic.
“We are always very excited to share art with the
Like dominoes falling, Art Leap became another in a series of arts projects to topple this season.
In early August, Heartland Arts made the decision to cancel as case counts were rising. No one wants to cause even one person to be exposed to COVID-19 because of an event Heartland Arts sponsors. It was a hard decision, but better than regret.
In lieu of a driving tour, the plan is to post information on the Heartland Arts website about the artists who had committed to participating this year along with their websites, Facebook pages or other contact information. It is expected this can be accomplished by the end of August.
The Park Rapids Classic Chorale hopes this edition of Art Beat finds you all well. Due to the ongoing concerns regarding everyone’s safety and reducing the spread of COVID-19, the chorale’s winter session has been put on hold.
“We are saddened to not be able to produce our annual Christmas Concert, a tradition many families have come to expect,” said Jordan Goodwater, chorale publicist.
community,” said Laura Johnson, Hubbard County DAC executive director.
In July, Erin had a circus theme that included learning about Alexander Calder and George Rouault. The classes included line drawings, sculpture and collage.
In August, Erin worked with DAC artists to paint a mural on the Salvage Depot Building.
In August, clients also had the opportunity to work with artist Jill Odegaard and learn papermaking skills. Jill has a master’s in fine arts and is a professor of art at Cedar Crest College in Allentown, PA. She has worked with other projects here in Park Rapids through the Nemeth Art Center, including papermaking workshops and the Woven Welcome project for the Governor’s Fishing Opener in May 2013.
The focus of this summer’s workshop was to immerse participants in a sustainable art process by repurposing the paper shredded at the DAC. Participants transformed the material into pulp and used it to create paper.
Jill also demonstrated how to add other materials to the pulp to create 2D multimedia images that can be used as wall art, notecards or bound into books.
“It was an amazing couple of days out in beautiful
Erin Nelson worked with DAC clients to create circusthemed artworks.
Art Leap postponed, but find artists online
Minnesota making art,” Johnson said.
“The good news is, that while we are navigating these difficult times, we are working to stay connected as a chorus and with all of you. The board continues to monitor the COVID-19 situation and consider how to move forward when the time is right to safely deliver the quality programming you have experienced from us for the last 30 years,” he added.
Until singers and audiences can be together again, please consider following the Classic Chorale on
If you were planning to do Art Leap this year, please go to the site, “visit” the artists and support them. With many shows cancelled this year, some artists need our support more than ever.
When they learned of the decision, artists were gracious in their comments. Musician Kari Grace stated it well: “I’m sorry about the tough choices but agree they’re for the greater good of the community. I have hope there will be a better and exciting explosion of arts and need for them in the near future.”
Connect with Classic Chorale on Facebook
The Heartland Arts website is heartlandarts.org. Facebook - @PRClassicChorale. Some past videos and historical items from the archives will be posted. Above all, remember that arts organizations and artists need your support now more than ever!
Thank you for your continued support. The Classic Chorale looks forward to making music for you in the near future!
Heartland Concert Association
D O N ’ T W A I T T O B E A S K E D . J O I N N O W !
HEARTLAND CONCERT SERIES FOR 2020-21 SEASON IS CANCELLED
Due to COVID-19, many postponements and the uncertainty of restrictions for gatherings, plus the unknown venue restrictions, the Heartland Concert Association Board of Directors had to make the difficult decision to CANCEL the 2020-21 concert series. We apologize, but the health of our audience and artists is our top priority. We look forward to seeing you in 2021-22! VISIT OUR WEBSITE FOR MORE INFORMATION www.heartlandconcertassociation.org
New mural celebrates downtown Park Rapids
Eighteen months after Ray Carlson, the new owner of Aunt Belle’s Confectionary, floated the idea of replacing a 15-year-old mural on the side of his building, a new painting enhances the wall.
Muralist Lili Payne Lennox of Minneapolis and her three-woman crew began the work the evening of Monday, Aug. 3, projecting images to trace on the wall. They completed the mural at about noon Friday, Aug. 7.
A steering committee representing several community organizations have collaborated on the project, working with the artist on a design that would welcome people downtown and convey the vitality of our shops, restaurants and the arts community.
As the mural crew was working, pedestrians commented they liked the vibrant colors and fresh look. “It shows the personality of the town. I’m a fan of making the plain look great. It’s money well spent,” one said.
An annual visitor offered the mural shows Park Rapids is more than just a fishing community.
Another pedestrian said, “It’s absolutely gorgeous. I’m glad we have this nice mural to look at.” A teenager said the mural looks like a party waiting to happen.
Some visitors suggested it would be good to have more murals downtown.
For 17 years, Lili, who was married in July, has built a business as a scenic artist and muralist, her most notable clients being Macy’s Special Events (Minneapolis and Chicago), the Loews Hotel Minneapolis, Split Rock Studios museum services, a 2017 feature film (“Wilson”) and numerous public art commissions. Her murals are installed in businesses and organizations all over the country, but mainly concentrated in Minnesota.
Lili is a founding member and vice president of the Guild of Scenic Artists, a non-profit working to foster community, provide educational resources, and help with the industry challenges of professional Scenic Artists. For more about her work, go to www.gildedlili.com.
Additional funding is from Aunt Belle’s Confectionary & Grandpa’s Cabin, the Park Rapids Downtown Business Association, Enbridge, Precision Pipeline and Viking Mat Company. Paint is being provided by Benjamin Moore and Cwikla Ace Hardware. Thanks also to the Park Rapids Lions Club for providing volunteers to paint the base coat and to Smokey Hills Outdoor Store for lending a GoPro to record the daily progress.
Most of the vibrant colors were applied with paint rollers of varying sizes.
Finishing touches were added Friday, Aug. 7 and the work was done by about noon.
Heartland Arts initiates fundraiser
Since 2005, Heartland Arts (formerly Park Rapids Lakes Area Arts Council) has relied on arts and cultural organizations, project champions and grants to support our efforts.
In addition to our goals of coordinating arts calendars, sharing information and incubating interest in new arts projects, Heartland Arts has sponsored 12 projects in a variety of arts disciplines: dance, music, visual arts, etc. Some projects were-one-time events, others a series and a few are ongoing. We also maintain a secure website. All support our mission to promote excellence in the arts through creation, education and performance.
For the first time, we are asking the community to help us expand opportunities for youth, artists and arts organizations in the Heartland Lakes area. Some grant support comes with strings attached. Donations would add money to our Medici Fund, which provides young people with financial assistance for lessons, workshops and other arts endeavors. Contributions also would allow Heartland Arts to respond to requests such as those we have received in the past for Century School PTA field trips, the 5th-H Performing Arts Club, Park Rapids Arts and Cultural Advisory Commission and Hubbard County DAC.
We are grateful to those who help us continue to support opportunities for artists and other arts organizations.
Please indicate on your check memo line or with a note if you do not wish to be acknowledged on our website.
Contribution levels will be $25 Friend of the Arts.$50 Supporter of the Arts (for families and organizations), $100 or more Benefactor of the Arts.
Contributions may be mailed to Heartland Arts, PO Box 702, Park Rapids, MN 56470. Heartland Arts is a 501(c)3 so donations are 100 percent tax-deductible to the fullest extent of the law.
A form will be available on the Heartland Arts website: www.heartlandarts.org.
That’s community ed!
Park Rapids Community Education staff are busy organizing classes to engage learners of all ages.
The adult classes include Stained Glass, Basket Weaving, Barn Wood Quilt Signs, String Music Lessons, Photography and much more. Some of the classes are offered online while others are in-person.
Other classes are in the works, so check the website often at www.parkrapidscomed.com to see what is waiting for you.
If you have questions or are interested in offering a class, call Community Education at 237-6600. Stay safe and remember, we are thinking creatively to inspire and encourage you to try things you have never done before – that’s Community Ed!
Community Ed continues to work on in-person and online classes..
The board members for Heartland Concert Association made a difficult decision to cancel the 2020-21 concert series, which included a cancelled concert from the 2019- 20 series.
Like you, we are missing the variety of performances and the joy going to a live concert brings. Cancelled performances mean that artists are struggling, too. They don’t get to perform for a live audience, nor are they working. There are ways we can help the art community during these difficult times.
One way to help is to communicate your support. Artists would appreciate hearing you are missing their performances – knowing their efforts are valuable to you is vital. It will help them know you are excited by the prospect of seeing them in the future. Most artists have websites which allow direct communication. The more
Headwaters Center for Lifelong Learning (HCLL) board of directors met the COVID-19 pandemic’s restrictions with all of their creative talent. The result is a safe and most interesting fall 2020 series.
The board selected eight of the most popular programs from previous series to put on YouTube so they can be accessed at any time between now and the end of October, HCLL’s normal fall schedule.
Marty Leistikow, HCLL board chair, indicates that live programs will resume as soon as it is safe to do so. For the online series, additional information will be released each week, beginning with “Life of Sacagawea” by Mike Hansen for the week of Sept. 8. Hansen, a retired high school
Art Beat Quarterly Regional Guide
Check out what’s happening at the library
Every fall, the Friends of the St. Paul Public Library put together an author program with Minnesota Book Award winners and sends one program to one branch of each regional library system in the state.
This year is Park Rapids’ turn. It’s a little sad as it will be digital now, rather than the in-person event it usually is. But, the Park Rapids Area Library will have a digital program with three or four Minnesota Book Award winners.
As of mid-August, the digital program is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 10. Once staff learns which authors will be included, information on how people can register will be posted on Facebook at Park Rapids Area Library.
A special flamenco dance program is tentatively scheduled at The Armory Arts and Event Center Thursday, Sept. 24. Susana di Palma, artistic director, choreographed “Casita,” inspired by homeless women’s stories. “Casita” premiered at the Lab Theater in April 2019. This poignant and relevant work initially danced by di Palma and Jeanne d’Arc Casas (Puerto Rico) features original blues/jazz music by Billy Steele and vocals by gospel singer Tonia Huges.
As part of di Palma’s 2017 McKnight Fellowship for Choreography, she was in residency at Maggie Allesee National Center for Choreography, in Tallahassee, FL, to further the development of this new contemporary flamenco duet. “Casita” emanates from stories collected from homeless women and explores what “home” means in various contexts and the experience of what it is like to live an alternative lifestyle, without shelter.
Mary Schwartz has been posting videos on Facebook about art, creativity, science, etc. People of all ages seem people who take a few minutes to drop an artist a note, the better. Simply tell them you missed seeing them last spring, or will miss them this fall, and of your enthusiasm to see them when rescheduled. Everyone likes to know they are appreciated and needed.
Financially, there are a couple of options. Most artists have CDs or other merchandise available on their website. Buying a CD or two would help them and give you a chance to both support artists as well as enhance your own library of music.
Many artists have a YouTube channel. If there is a button to subscribe, clicking it adds to the artist’s number of regular visitors and in many cases helps them financially. This is a simple and cost effective way to help an artist.
Several artists have been doing live stream performances. Many of these are free. But some have an history teacher and past president of the Lewis and Clark Heritage Foundation, spoke at Northwoods Bank community room April 16, 2013.
HCLL, a nonprofit educational organization, has been presenting programs on a wide range of topics since 2001, for a total of over 300 programs. Thanks to a grant from Itasca-Mantrap Operation Roundup in 2012, HCLL was able to purchase recording equipment, and began recording the programs on DVDs that can be checked out of the Park Rapids Area Library. From those recorded programs, the board selected the following eight popular programs to put onto YouTube:
Readers are invited to make posters for an “Authors Inspire” bulletin board.
to be enjoying them. Jodi Schultz is continuing to post story time on Facebook Live. You can join her on Fridays at 10:30 a.m.
To engage members of the community, Schultz is putting together a bulletin board with the heading “Authors Inspire” with posters of author quotes. A video still in the making will invite others to create something from author quotes they find inspiring. The goal will be to fill the board with many pictures/posters/notes with
Heartland Concerts postponed
inspirational quotes. option to contribute also. While it is nice to enjoy a free performance, it is nicer to both enjoy the show while knowing that you are helping the artist pay the bills. And you can do it from the comfort of your favorite chair, regardless of the weather and mask-free!
Heartland Concert series artists who were cancelled due to COVID-19 include Ball in the House, Seeger to Springsteen, Barron Ryan, Duo Baldo, Chipper Experience and Remember when Rock was Young: Elton John Tribute. It is the hope that for the 2021-22 season, HCA will be able to bring these artists back.
Thanks for your supportive efforts! Stay well and safe! Heartland Concert Association looks forward to seeing you in 2021-21.
HCLL announces online fall series
updated information.
1. Mike Hansen: “Life of Sacagawea” 2. Jill and Deane Johnson: “Little MN in WWII” 3. Anne Dunn: “Native American Stories and Songs” 4. Mike Roberts: “Last Keeper at Split Rock Lighthouse” 5. Rod Nordberg and Nicole Lalum: “Park Rapids Then & Now” 6. Edric Clarke: “World War II Memories” 7. Tom Chapin: “Poachers Caught” 8. Chris Tolman: “Owls Up Close.”
To access the links to the programs, go to the HCLL Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/ headwaterscenterforlifelonglearningparkrapidsmn.
Art Beat Quarterly Regional Guide NLOC produces virtual cabaret
How does a performing arts organization cope when a pandemic limits gatherings, imposes social distancing, discourages singing, etc.?
COVID-19 has turned the lives of most people upside down during this past spring and summer.
The Northern Light Opera Company (NLOC) has had to adapt in creative ways. ZOOM became a vehicle to connect past and recent cast members from England to New York City, Washington, D.C., Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Wisconsin and throughout Minnesota on a project. This virtual cabaret was live streamed Aug.14 and can be found on www.northernlightopera.org.
For the past 18 years, NLOC’s tradition was a summer musical theater production for the Heartland Lakes community. As a result of this mission, a creative community developed and worked on a virtual performance as a way to maintain this important connection. Sound simple? It was quite the process to create a virtual performance.
It involved: 1) Locating contact information on past cast members, 2) Connecting via ZOOM, 3) Selecting songs and finding sheet music and accompaniment tracks, 4) Creating rehearsal and accompaniment tracks, 5) Shipping phone mics and costume pieces to performers to record themselves with both audio and video files, 6) Uploading video and audio files into a common destination, 7) engineering both audio and visual files into a coherent project, and 8) Securing livestream technology.
Finally, Lisa Dove, NLOC’s director, used her magic to create a viewable virtual performance. 2008’s Fiddler on the Roof’s Tradition kicked off the performance which ended with
At the request of a parent and after consultation with the appropriate authorities, the decision was made to move forward with NLOKids, the Northern Light Opera Company’s annual kids’ theater camp for 8- to 13-yearolds from Pine Point and Park Rapids, through creating a new format.
In previous years, the kids had created an original musical, writing the script, creating the music and sets and presenting this musical for parents and friends. Obviously, that format was not appropriate for COVID-19 reality.
The new format largely involved outdoor adventuring and improvisation, solving a mystery and instead of presenting a musical, a video was created, documenting the kids’ travels and experiences in July. The kids named their adventure, The Unknowns. The video has been livestreamed in chapters, but is available to view on Facebook at NLOKids.
A questionnaire was developed for both kids and parents.
Some of the Northern Light Opera Company’s cast members communally singing from their “happy place” the song “Make Our Garden Grow” from Bernstein’s Candide.
Make Our Garden Grow from Bernstein’s Candide. Excerpts from past shows were interwoven with current favorites of many cast members. Besides the individual selections, the entire group (from their varied locations) sang Tradition and Make Our Garden Grow, which was a separate challenge.
When will we be back on stage? What does the The kids prepared for their last confrontation with the villain on their Adventure of the Unknowns as part of NLOKids theater camp in July. future hold? Who knows?
Until things are back to “normal,” keep healthy and safe.
Kids theater camp heads outdoors
from the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund.
Kids were asked: Best Part? Seventy percent said everything; 30 percent said the adventures.
Best memory? One said “met my best friend.”
What would you change? All said nothing. One said “COVID so we could make a play.”
Parents were asked: 1) Would you send your student again? All said yes, definitely or every time; 2) What experience was most valuable for your child?
Comments: “My kids absolutely love it.” “It helped her break out of her normally quiet shell. NLOKids is an awesome experience for children.” “This has taught her so much. She has been able to speak up for herself.” “She is learning to act in plays/movies. She gets a lot of interaction doing this.” “Good learning experience, she learned how to express her thoughts and feelings.”
Positively impacting young lives is an amazing venture.
Talking Stick Volume 29 is available now
By Niomi Phillips Sharon Chmierlarz, poetry; Jill Johnson, creative about the meaning of life.
The Jackpine Writers’ Bloc, the north-central nonfiction; Candace Simar, fiction. The title of this 29th volume, “Insights,” reflects the Minnesota writing group which meets locally once a This volume of the Talking Stick is dedicated to the writers’ ability to take ordinary events and common month, has released Talking Stick Volume 29, memory of Luke Anderson, a multi-genre writer, who sights and give readers a new and different perspective. “Insights.” was a long-time member of Jackpine Writers’ Bloc and The annual book release party and workshop have
This literary journal, produced annually and cowas instrumental in the development of the Lake been cancelled for this year, but Jackpine Writers’ Bloc edited by Sharon Harris and Tarah Wolff, is a collection Region Writers Network. will sponsor a virtual workshop Saturday, Sept. 19 of poems, short stories and creative nonfiction by The stunning and colorful cover art is from a from 10 a.m. to noon. Candace Simar, prominent Minnesota writers. watercolor, Missing You, by Luke’s life partner, award-winning writer, will conduct the all-genre, two
The work of 92 writers from over 300 submissions Minnesota artist Joanne Cress. hour workshop via Zoom. was selected by the editorial board of Jackpine Writers’ Editor Sharon Harris notes that there are poems Copies of the Talking Stick and information about Bloc for inclusion in this volume. Awards were made in and stories in this volume that are humorous, some participation in the workshop are available at www. each genre after blind submission to celebrity judges: that are very touching, and some that make you think jackpinewriters.com.
