Urban Landscapes by Chris Bach
A figure ground map is a unique way of viewing the attributes of a particular urban area. Composed of built spaces, the map shows the relationship between what has been built, its size and density, and its relationship to the surrounding context. This overlay map of south St. Anthony Park is a graphically striking informative diagram that shows strong visible connections of how the neighborhood has grown, its overall organization, and how it relates to the open space around (parks, rail yards, freeways). By overlaying maps of the same area, we are able to see its transformation over time. Information has been taken from the city records back in 1928, as well as its most updated building footprint map taken from a few years ago. Buildings showing up as teal are structures that existed back in 1928 that currently do not currently exist while pink shapes shows current structures that were open spaces back in 1928. White shapes are areas that have continually housed a building since at least 1928 and therefore are typically representative of the oldest structures in the neighborhood. The overlay allows us to see the relatively unchanged pocket of residential houses to the north, the clearing of houses for the 280 freeway construction to the west, and the demolition of smaller structures in favor of larger industrial buildings to the south and east.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Chris Bach is an architect for who graduated with a masters degree from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. He lives and works in this neighborhood and has a diverse multi-disciplinary experience in architectural, graphic, and urban design. Before moving to St. Paul, Chris lived in Milwaukee, New York, and Washington DC where he enjoyed exploring and photographing cities via bike.
November Exhibit: Souvenir Plates of Midway Landmarks
Artist Rebecca Meszler
Our Midway neighborhoods are all so special and each have fascinating quirks and spots that an outsider, or a long time local, might not really see. As a relative newcomer, I have had a blast finding these gems. Most of them have quite naturally have become part of my every day routes. Some have served as markers for meeting points. Others have served as distance markers along a path. Often when I can’t recall street names, I am still able to communicate a locations by describing one of these “landmarks”. So I present to you my personal local landmarks. What are your local landmarks?
About the Artist
Rebecca Meszler is an illustrator and ceramicist who resides in St. Paul. She is also an avid collector of children's picture books, antique toys, and vintage housewares. Through her work, she hopes to marry new ideas to an old-world aesthetic.
Weird State Capitol Souvenirs by Sheila Smith
EXHIBIT DESCRIPTION
“In the course of twenty years of collecting, I have come across many weird ways that Minnesotans, who have loved their Capitol for over 100 years, have shown their love...from incense burners to garters featuring images of the Minnesota State Capitol.” This exhibit proudly displays some of the weirder souvenirs from Smith’s collection.
There are only 3 members of the "State Capitol Collectors"; people who collect tourist souvenirs featuring the Minnesota State Capitol, since it was built in 1905. The group formed in 2005 on the 100th Birthday of the Capitol, and curated a series of shows in the halls of the State Capitol.
At the SMSP exhibit, visitors can draw their own weird state capitol souvenir, and leave it to add to the collection.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Sheila Smith is the Executive Director of Minnesota Citizens for the Arts and Chair of Creative Minnesota. She is also a lifelong arts advocate. Her office has been in the Creative Enterprise Zone for 20 years, two blocks from Workhorse. She grew up three blocks across the freeway in Desnoyer Park. Smith spent 6 years working at the Minnesota State Capitol for the Minnesota Senate, which is when she started collecting weird Minnesota State Capitol souvenirs.
Smith is also a painter and has exhibited in multiple shows across Minnesota. Her first solo show was ANIMAL MAGNETISM at Workhorse Coffee Bar in 2017. You can find her work for sale on Etsy: www.etsy.com/shop/AnimalMagnetisms
EXHIBIT DESCRIPTION
While LEGO pieces are commonly viewed as a childhood toy, artists have begun to explore LEGO as a medium. Our goal in this display is to showcase some of the ways that tiles, plates, small slopes, and other pieces can be combined to create different textures and patterns. The LEGO Group has greatly increased their color palette in the past 15 years. You can see many of the new colors in this display. A few of the works in this display change when viewed from different angles.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
February’s exhibit was created by members of TwinLUG, a group of adult LEGO enthusiasts in the Twin Cities region. Our club gets together regularly to share ideas, trade parts, and generally be a part of the larger worldwide LEGO community. We enjoy publicly showing our own creations in local and national venues and generally try to provide a local resource for adults who are interested in LEGO as a hobby at any level.
Our next two large displays are scheduled for March 16, 2019 at the Science Museum of Minnesota, and May 18 & 19th 2019 at the MSP Spring Con, which is held inside the State Fair Grandstand.
You can learn more about our club at TwinLUG.com
I grew up in St. Anthony Park. As a child I always had trouble visualizing the Twin Cities in map form—there were areas that I knew well, but I had no mental map for the cities as a whole. The first time that I began to understand how they were structured was in high school when I started taking Metro Transit. I became aware of my surroundings at all times and took in the geographic landscape. I learned the order of the streets, honed my internal compass, and paid close attention to landmarks.
Most of my life in and out of school revolved around University Avenue. I developed a strong affection for the street and its many distinct buildings and businesses. After I graduated, I left Minnesota to go to college out of state, and my relationship with University shifted to memories. When I moved back to Saint Paul two years ago, I experienced the area as an adult for the first time, and my relationship with the street changed again. When I take the Green Line down University now, I see the layers of time and memory that different spaces hold for me.
It is my love for University Avenue that drives me to create this gallery exhibit.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Ruby Thompson is a visual artist from St. Paul, currently living in Frogtown. She graduated in 2016 from The Evergreen State College with a B.A. in Visual Arts.
Her artistic practice is based around repetition over time and the flaws that are inevitably created. She has previously done artwork about taxonomy systems, oral storytelling, pattern-making, and reoccurring dreams. Currently, she is exploring sense of place and how locations morph in memory.
You can see more of her work at ruby-thompson.com
EXHIBIT DESCRIPTION
This exhibit chronicles some favorite jello creations; featuring everything from sparkling wine to homemade rhubarb syrup to a combination of avocado, mayo and Lime Jell-O. Also featured are images captured from Jell-O brand recipe pamphlets from the early 1900's, part of the University of Minnesota's Kirschner Cookbook Library. Finally, Jell-O FUN Barbie shares her proud moment as the key feature of Peters' first Jello Spectacular win.
You can be part of the exhibit, too! Send your selfie with jello to myfairjello@gmail.com by March 21st, and you'll be added to the "Show me your Jello!" exhibit inside the coffee shop. Note: Artist reception will include a View Master reel of Peters' jellos, plus cafe-themed jello treats
ABOUT THE ARTIST
JoAnne Peters is a five-time winner of the Northeast Minneapolis Hotdish Revolution Jello Spectacular Competition and chronicles her journeys with jello on Instagram @myfairjello. Her inspirations include vintage cookbooks, British jelly mongers Bombas and Parr, injected flower gelatina and the long, strange history of America's Jell-O brand. She has an ever evolving collection of interesting jello molds.
October Exhibit: I Spy Art All Around Me: Butterflies
by Becka Rahn
"For this piece, I really wanted to create art that was local. Not just local to the neighborhood or region, but specifically inspired by the site of the museum itself. So I took photos of just things I could see while standing in front of the Smallest Museum in St Paul and used those photos to create the art.
These butterflies are made from origami-folded wrapping paper. I shot photos of everyday things: a light rail train, traffic signs, and brick patterns on buildings. I really wanted to look for things that at first glance might not seem like they had anything artistic about them. I worked with each photo to bring out the colors and transformed each into a repeating symmetrical pattern. The patterns were printed onto heavy wrapping paper and then I folded each one into an origami butterfly. You can see some of the original photos on an easel inside the cabinet.
Why origami? I have had a fascination with origami since I was a small child. My great great uncle, Lester Grimes, “The Paper Wizard”, was a magician in the 1920s and 30s. He was known for tricks that involved paper and origami, and he performed an opening act at the 1932 World’s Fair. He was a friend and colleague of Harry Houdini and one of the founding members of the Origami Center in NY in the 1950s. I only knew him from family legends, but Uncle Lester was a hero to me as a kid. He was an engineer by training (he designed fire sprinklers), but I loved him because of the stories about his art and clever puzzles. He taught my dad all kinds of paper folding techniques and my dad taught them to me, occasionally entertaining us at restaurants by folding things out of paper placemats. I use origami often as a technique in my own work because it connects me back to an idea that I value highly: celebrating creativity and sharing it with others."
About the Artist
Becka Rahn is a digital fabric and clothing designer, specializing in engineered fabric prints. She is the co-author of The Spoonflower Handbook, a how-to guide to designing your own fabric, and author of I See Art Everyday, a kids art book about the Prospect Park neighborhood. She has received both Jerome and MN State Arts Board grants for her work. Becka has served on the international Etsy Sellers Advisory Board, representing niche craft business owners and is a member of the Board at the Weavers Guild and Hennepin History Museum. Becka lives in Minneapolis with her husband and two big black labs. She spends a lot of time thinking about pixels. You can see more about her work at www.beckarahn.com
September Exhibit: 8 Places You Are Right Now by Larsen Husby
“8 Places You Are Right Now” is a set of eight postcards, each representing a place where SMSP is located: St. Anthony Park (neighborhood), Ward 4 (city council ward), 4th District (congressional district), Mississippi River Basin (watershed), N 44° 57’ 51.63” W 93° 11’ 52.74” (geographic coordinates); the Americas (continent); Imnízaska (the Dakota name for Saint Paul); and the Security Building (building where the SMSP is housed).
The piece is meant to cause reflection on the ways in which places are defined, who defines them, and what impact different definitions have on the individual and the community. Postcards are available to the public (inside). Help activate this audience engagement - Take one postcard and send it to a friend or colleague. Spark curiosity. Share inspiration.
About the Artist
Originally from Massachusetts, Husby has been in Minnesota since 2008. He graduated from Macalester College with a degree in Studio Arts in 2012, and has been living in Minneapolis ever since. He has exhibited in venues across the region, including the Minnesota Center for the Book Arts, the Duluth Art Institute, and the DeVos Art Museum in Marquette, MI.
As an artist, he is deeply intrigued by space and place: the connections between the physical world and the meanings we attach to it. His work frequently makes use of maps, both in order to explore these themes and to play with their aesthetic appeal as objects.
In 2013, he cofounded the Minneapolis Art Lending Library (MALL), a nonprofit which lends original works of art to the public, free of charge.
July Exhibit: Ahan on Spoons: Poems on a Refugee's Forgiveness
by Saymoukda Duangphouxay Vongsay
SMSP's July exhibit showcases the childhood photos of Saymoukda Duangphouxay Vongsay, AKA Refugenius, accompanied by her poems around the theme of forgiveness.
"For a few years, I had been sharing personal and sometimes painful photographs from my childhood: refugee camp birthday parties, first arrival in Minnesota, visiting an American mall for the first time to meet Santa, our family gathered on the floor for my mother's version of a Thanksgiving dinner, me sitting on the lap of my would-be molester, at a car dealership picking out my father's dream car (Izuzu Truck).
When I posted the photos online, I didn't think that it mattered much - I didn't realize that among my peers of .5 generation Lao American refugees, I was rich in childhood photographs. I had dozens from the refugee camp and hundreds from my childhood. They tell me, "How lucky you are that your parents had the foresight to take photos. Where did they find the time and the money?" There was an assumption that we were privileged, that we didn't have to work in cucumber fields, clean office buildings, or hot kitchens. It's just that those were the moments that were never captured.
I've been told numerous times by my peers that I should have an exhibition of my photographs because they're intrigued by my childhood. It's rare, they say, that I have so many photos. Sometimes I wonder how that's possible too? Like, how dare we ignore our poverty, our trauma, to pose for photographs."
Saymoukda Duangphouxay Vongsay is a Lao American writer. She was born in a refugee camp in Nongkhai, Thailand and immigrated to Minnesota in 1984. Because of her unique background, her work is focused on creating tools and spaces for the amplification of refugee voices through poetry, theater, and experimental cultural production. Her plays have been presented by the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center, Theater Mu, Consortium of Asian American Theater Artists, and Theater Unbound. She is a Many Voices fellow in playwriting, Loft Literary Center Spoken Word Immersion fellow, a Theater Mu New Performance fellow, a VERVE Grant for Spoken Word Poets recipient, and an Aspen Ideas Bush Foundation scholar. Her work has been possible due to support from the Jerome Foundation, Bush Foundation, Joyce Foundation, Metropolitan Regional Arts Council, and the MN State Arts Board. She is best known for her award-winning play KUNG FU ZOMBIES VS CANNIBALS (Theater Mu) and is developing two more plays for the KUNG FU ZOMBIEVERSE anthology of stage works. Get to know her at www.SaymoukdaTheRefugenius.com and keep up with her @REFUGENIUS.
