Art-A-Whirl – Stop By The Casket Arts Building!

Art-A-Whirl, Casket Arts Building, Studio 318, Northeast Minneapolis,
Minnesota, May 2010, photo © 2010 by QuoinMonkey. All rights reserved.

It’s the last day of Art-A-Whirl! If you are in the Twin Cities area, please stop by the Minneapolis Arts District in Northeast Minneapolis. I share a studio with Liz and two other artists in the Casket Arts Building. We’d love to see you at Studio 318. I am displaying the first print installation of my Writers Hands Series. Liz has a series of photographs in retro frames. Carol and Margery are displaying paintings and black and white photographs. Yesterday Carol did a demo on making egg tempera paint to a crowd of people who had gathered around. It was a great success.

The Northeast Arts District was recently written up in the New York Times. We drove down 13th Avenue yesterday on our way to the studio (past The Modern, The Ritz, and Shuga Records) and it was jammed with music and art lovers! I am grateful for the support of friends, family, and red Ravine readers over the years. And grateful for community. Thanks for the beautiful flowers for the Art-A-Whirl opening oliverowl. And to ybonesy, fellow artist and my blog partner on red Ravine. A special thanks to the Midwest Writing Group who followed my progress on this photo project month by month. And to all of our local friends who have stopped by to support us – a huge thank you.

More than 500 artists participate in AAW, including potters, tile makers, painters, sculptors, musicians, photographers, glass blowers, printmakers, and textile designers. They showcase their art in warehouses, galleries, homes, storefronts and cafes.

Art-A-Whirl, presented by the Northeast Minneapolis Arts Association, is the largest open studio and gallery tour in the United States.

It is a highly anticipated annual event that welcomes local and regional visitors to the Arts District in Northeast Minneapolis to see the art being made in this area and to meet the artists.

As visitors come to see the art over the three-day weekend they also experience the unique and welcoming community of Northeast Minneapolis.

Start Time: Friday, May 14, 2010 at 5:00pm
End Time: Sunday, May 16, 2010 at 5:00pm
Street: 681 17th Ave NE

-posted on red Ravine, Sunday, May 16th, 2010

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First Thursdays At Casket Arts

First Thursdays At Casket Arts, poster by Linnea Marie Doyle, © 2009-2010, used by permission of the artist.

Once a month the artists in the Casket Arts Building in Northeast Minneapolis open their doors to the public. The March date is coming up fast. The Casket Arts Building, which includes the Carriage House, has a rich history (see Casket Arts Photoblog). Not only did it used to be a genuine casket company, it’s one of the oldest surviving buildings in Minneapolis. And in 2006, after over 100 years on 17th Avenue NE, the Northwestern Casket Company moved their business to New Hope and sold the building.

That’s when two visionaries, Jennifer Young and John Kremer, turned vintage real estate into the Casket Arts Building. Together they work hard to maintain the integrity of the original structure, and create a thriving space for artists. I share Studio 318 with Liz and two other artists on what used to be the floor where women sewed and embroidered the inside of the caskets (more at Casket Arts Epilogue). It’s a beautiful space. Please stop by and visit if you are in the area!

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Date: First Thursday of Every Month
Time: 5:00pm – 9:00pm
Street: 681 17th Ave NE
City: Minneapolis, MN

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If you miss us this Thursday, we are open the First Thursday of Every Month from 5 to 9 pm at 17th and Madison Street NE. And don’t forget about one of the highpoints of the year for the Minneapolis Arts District, ART-A-WHIRL Open Studio and Gallery Tour which takes place May 14th – 16th, 2010 (in 2011, the dates are May 20th – 22nd). It’s a great way to kick off Spring in Minnesota — in community and support of the Arts.

-posted on red Ravine, Wednesday, March 3rd, 2010, with gratitude to Linnea for creating and giving us permission to distribute her poster. You can see more of her work at her website.

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Casket Arts Photoblog

The Northwestern Casket Company, May 17th 2007, all photos copyright © 2007-2010 by QuoinMonkey, all rights reserved.

I went over to the Casket Arts Building on Thursday to help my friend, Gail, hang her show. She recently joined the rain collective, a confluence of artists who moved into the building this week.

I took my camera along and the pleasure was all mine. The exposed brick had been restored, the studio floors had been sanded and polished to their original luster, a stunning mix of maple and pine.

The oldest portion of the former Northwestern Casket Company, which served as a casket factory until January of 2006, dates back to 1887. It’s one of the oldest surviving buildings in the city of Minneapolis.

I met owner, Jennifer Young, and we stood in the door of Gail’s studio and chatted for a while about what kind of shape the building was in before they bought it – and what it looks like now (a photographer’s dream).

The former owner of Northwest Casket Company, Robert Berny, rose from clerk to president and spent 6 decades with the company until his death in 2004. He was buried in a custom cherrywood casket.

Yesterday, the building was bustling with artists preparing for an annual Northeast tradition, Art-A-Whirl. This is the 12th Annual Art-A-Whirl; I remember the first. I had a studio in the Northrup King seed building back then.

When artists come together, the energy is palpable – vibrating and alive. I felt like I was standing in pockets of calm when I captured these images – silent spaces between the buzz of hanging oil, acrylic, and canvas on freshly painted white walls, and lunch at Emily’s Lebanese Deli .

Exit, May 17th, 2007, all photos in this post copyright © 2007-2010 by QuoinMonkey, all rights reserved.

Saturday, May 19th, 2007

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