State of the Arts Category Archive: We Art Minnesota

We Art Minnesota: Ch'ing Dynasty jade plate

Posted at 12:44 PM on July 9, 2009 by Marianne Combs (0 Comments)
Filed under: Museums, We Art Minnesota

Claire Thoen sent in our latest submission to the We Art Minnesota series. Her favorite piece of art is found in the Minneapolis Institute of Arts' permanent collection. She writes:

There are hundreds of works of art that I love and could be considered favorites but I am drawn to this one because it had a place in someone's daily life. I like to think of the delight it gave to those who used it.

It's translucence draws me to it and a trip to the Minneapolis Institute of Arts is not really complete until I've visited this precious object one more time.

Claire took these pics with her cell-phone (nice job!) - here's her favorite vantage point, highlighting the plate's translucence:

The plate's label reads:

China, Ch'ing Dynasty Plate, 18th-19th century Jadeite

Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Augustus L. Searle

Centrifigal tiers of fluted petals form a chrysanthemum design on both sides of this thin, Indian-style plate, the petals of the flower curling under at the rim. As is typical of much Mughal style jade carving, the quality of the stone is superb and the standard of craftmanship exceptional. Records show this work to have been purchased from the imperial collection in the early 20th century.

Thanks for the submission, Claire!

And for the rest of you out there, if you have a favorite piece of Minnesota art that you'd like to submit, send it on in.

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We Art Minnesota: Franconia Sculpture Park

Posted at 7:06 AM on June 30, 2009 by Marianne Combs (0 Comments)
Filed under: Sculpture, We Art Minnesota

Susannah Schouweiler knows her art; she's an editor for mnartists.org. She writes about Franconia Sculpture Park:

I've been a fan of Franconia Sculpture Park for a while now, but I really fell in love with the place last September at Franconia's Art & Artists Festival and Celebration when we took our son, George, with us. Seeing our three-year-old explore the park, watching him scramble over, around, and on top of the sculptures to get at all their textures and small hiding places was instructive: Franconia, unlike traditional gallery spaces or museums, invites you to engage the work directly, to touch the pieces, to step right up and play with the art like a kid.

When you stop by, you're treated a bit like visiting family; the artists who live and work at Franconia (many of whom are there on two-year Jerome Foundation artist-in-residence fellowships) are likely milling around the park with you, happy to take a break in what they're doing to chat for a minute.

Most of the 75 or so pieces on view at the park rotate through after a couple of years of exhibition time, so there's usually something new to see. At the same time, pieces are around for a relatively long time; so, if you visit a couple of times a year, you'll see bunches of old favorites each time, too. It's such a pleasure to see the sculptures weather over time as they make their peace with the elements and earn a bit of patina.

I suppose my very favorite aspect of Franconia, though, is the ubiquitous evidence of human handiwork behind the grandeur and whimsy of the finished pieces - heavy equipment to haul and fabricate stuff, artists with tools and brushes touching up their pieces, people milling around the communal house. My son calls it an "art farm;" I think that captures the gist of Franconia's appeal beautifully.

You can find out more about Franconia Sculpture Park, its fall arts celebration and its sculpture-building workshops for kids here.

Have a favorite piece of art that belongs to Minnesota (i.e. public art, a cool building, or a piece of art that belongs to a Minnesota museum)? Let us know.

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We Art Minnesota: Sidewalk Poetry

Posted at 6:46 AM on June 17, 2009 by Marianne Combs (0 Comments)
Filed under: Public Art, We Art Minnesota

Malia Cole brings us our latest submission for "We Art Minnesota." Malia writes:

I have a long love affair with public art. As a day-dreamer of a kid, nothing was more amazing than coming upon a piece of magic just sitting there in front of me. No museum doors, entry fees, pretension, just art for me to interpret and adore. Out there for everyone, out there just for me.

As a working, 9 to 5 kind of adult, I have grown in my appreciation of public art. I understand the hard work and intention that make public art possible. And, now the art feeds a need in my life for beauty beyond my laptop and my excel spreadsheets.

My favorite piece (or many pieces) of art is the Everyday Poems for City Walk Project. Created by Saint Paul's Public Artist in Residence, Marcus Young and friends, Saint Paul Public Works, and Public Art Saint Paul, the project works in tandem with the City's sidewalk maintenance program and installs poetry where City sidewalks are replaced. In its first year, the project has the goal of one hundred stampings of twenty poems written by Saint Paul residents.

To find one of these poems on your Monday morning hike to the bus stop is a reminder to be human, a reminder that beauty is aways possible, everywhere. Sitting next to one of my favorite poems for the photo, a young girl comes out of her house to ask if I wrote it. I say no, I just love it. She then recites her favorite, on the spot, with a grin. She doesn't remember where she saw it, but it is now apart of her, moving through the world.

In case you can't make out the poem that Malia is sitting next to, here's a transcription:

I don't know enough
about balance to tell you
how to do it

That the scales measuring
right and wrong quiver
and stand still.

Thanks, Malia, for the wonderful contribution! And for those of you interested in learning more about the sidewalk poetry project, you can find Chris Roberts' story here.

If you'd like to submit your favorite work of art that belongs to Minnesota, we'd love to hear from you.

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We Art Minnesota: The Midtown Greenway

Posted at 6:38 AM on June 11, 2009 by Marianne Combs (0 Comments)
Filed under: Public Art, We Art Minnesota

Michael Croswell of St. Paul sent us this video submission for his favorite piece of Minnesota art. His nomination: the Midtown Greenway. Now already I know what you're thinking. "Midtown Greenway, "that's not art, that's a bike path!" But as you'll see in Michael's video, there's plenty of art to be found along the Greenway. Here's what he wrote to us:

My favorite example of public art that belongs to Minnesota is the Midtown Greenway in Minneapolis. The Greenway is the most exciting and important public art that is happening in the Twin Cities right now! It is an interactive public space that merges art with visionary urban planning to create a beautiful inner city green zone that is used for leisure while providing an alternative method of inexpensive transportation for anyone who can ride a bicycle.

I love the Greenway because it is all about the art of living together as a community. I see businesses, organizations, and people working together in order to make the Midtown Greenway a successful model for the future. It provides a really smart vision of what the future of our Twin Cities could be. The Greenway is the perfect excuse to start parking the car in the garage and start experiencing the joy of pedal power!

Thanks Michael for your video! And for those of you interested in submitting your own favorite piece of Minnesota art, we welcome your submissions.

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We Art Minnesota: The Bracket Park Rocket

Posted at 2:00 PM on June 9, 2009 by Marianne Combs (2 Comments)
Filed under: Public Art, We Art Minnesota

Welcome to the first installment of an occasional series here on State of the Arts we're calling "We Art Minnesota." We've been asking Minnesotans to share their favorite works of art that belong to the state, and why. People can submit images of themselves with their favorite work of art, or put together a short video if they like (preferably under a minute in length). It can be a piece of public art, something in a Minnesota museum, or even a building you think is particularly lovely. Use your imagination! Once we get enough submissions, we'll look at putting together a map of the state, covered with links to your favorite art. Voila - State of the Arts!

Today's submission comes from Ed Linder. Ed writes:

This piece of art is really close to me for lots of reasons. 1) it's located about a block from my house and 2) I helped get this piece of art created.

About 7 years ago the Rocket was part of the playground equipment located in Bracket Park. It was one of the last Rockets in the Minneapolis area. They were going to get rid of the Rocket to make way for new and improved playground equipment. My son Theo, at the time was 5 years old and was really up set that the Rocket was going to be destroyed. I thought if there was a way to save the rocket it would make a lot of kids and people in the community happy because of the wonderful memories the Rocket brought to them.

I looked in to what was being done and there was a local group doing just that, "saving the rocket." The group was called Brackett Rocket Boosters. I helped raise money to save the rocket and I was on the committee to help choose the artist who would make the rocket into a piece of art. That is my favorite art piece in Minnesota.

Ed also sent along some links(thanks Ed! We love links!). You can find out more information about the Bracket Park Rocket here and about artist Randy Walker here.

Interested in submitting your own video or photo of your favorite art in Minnesota? We'd love to hear from you.

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