Twelfth Annual Juried Exhibit at the Edge Center Gallery in Bigfork

This will be the twelfth time the Edge Center Art Gallery in Bigfork, will invite artists to submit their work for judging by a juror. Butch Holden is the juror for this show. The juror is responsible for selecting the participating artists and judging which of the works will receive awards. The unknown in juried art shows is what the juror believes makes award winning art verses exceptional art. Some of the exhibitors in this year’s juried show are new for this gallery event or any juried art exhibit. For the visitor, a juried show presents a wider variety talents and media, than an exhibition by a single artist. There will be twelve artists’ work on display in this Twelfth Annual Juried Exhibit which is on display from June 30^th to July 30^th.  The opening day reception is on July 1^st from 5 to 7PM. There is also a special “People’s Choice Award” selected by viewers. That award will be part of the reception and can be voted on June 30^th and up until 6PM July 1^st. There is no charge for the gallery and reception. Edge Center Gallery is next to the Bigfork School and is open from 10:00 to 4:00 on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays.

As juror this year, Butch Holden is responsible for choosing the recipients of the Awards this year. Mr. Holden received his BA degree in art from the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN and his M.F.A. degree in ceramics from Indiana University, Bloomington IN.  He has taught drawing and ceramics at Mount Senario College in Ladysmith, WI and has recently retired as a Professor at Bemidji State University, Bemidji, MN, where he taught since 1983.  He has exhibited in local, regional and national competitions, and also has had many solo exhibitions.  In addition to having juried many shows, he has served on numerous art grant panels.

Those artists exhibiting are painters Nikki Besser, Harold Dzuik, Sara Fredrickson, Ralph Hanggi, Jr., Pegg O’Laughlin Julson, Tanya MacRostie, Gene Madsen, Chholing Taha and Christine Tierney. John McCoy’s prints and Joy Anderson’s drawings were also chosen for the show.  Among the accepted artists are photographers Audrey Johnson, Tim Lamey, and David Swanson. Denise Martin’s felted figure, Susan Gilbert’s aluminum sculptures, James Lutgen’s carved bird, and Cathryn Peters’ basket are the three-dimensional works that are part of the exhibit.

A special thanks to the sponsors of the awards.  This year they are: Best of Show Award by Kocian’s Family Market and two Awards of Excellence sponsored by Arvig Communications and First State Bank of Bigfork.  For the audience, the People’s Choice Award, sponsored by Bigfork Valley Hospital, is always a special. It gives visitors a chance to see how their opinions compare to the juror.

The Gallery invites you to come and see this Twelfth Juried show during the exhibit's opening day reception and pick your favorite while enjoying a snack and seeing a variety of exceptional art, or during its normal open hours from 10:00 to 4:00 on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays from from June 30^th to July 30^th. There is no charge to visit the gallery or attend the opening reception. For more information go to  www.the-edge-center.org  The Edge Center gallery is located next to the Bigfork School.

Fiber Happenings at the Edge Center Gallery

During June the Edge Center Art Gallery will host an exhibit featuring “Fiber Art” that ties together past traditions and current ideas.  The term "Fiber Art" refers to “fine art whose material consists of natural or synthetic fiber and other components, such as fabric or yarn. It focuses on the materials and on the manual labor on the part of the artist as part of the works' significance, and prioritizes aesthetic value over utility”. Fabrics were made by hand using knitting needles, crochet hooks or simple looms for centuries, and then, during the industrial age, those processes were taken over, in large part, by factory production.  Workers still continued to create “needle work” to make clothing or to decorate their homes, keeping alive the traditions. The term “Fiber Art” came about after WWII to describe works in the art world, using traditional fibers to make not only clothing, but to make artistic statements. Ref: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiber_art 

Artistic expressions in fiber from a number of different artists will be on display in Fiber Happenings, an exhibit in the Edge Center Gallery Bigfork MN (above). The fiber work of 8 artists may be seen from June 2 until June 25.  The Opening Reception is Friday, June 3 from 5:00 to 7:00.

As you might expect the art shown at the Bigfork Gallery is but a slice of the “Fiber Art” world. And other examples include everything one might expect from such a large potential resource. Note the Yarn Bombing in Montreal in 2009 above or sculpture below.  They will not be at the Edge Exhibit, but you can learn more about “Fiber Art” at en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiber_art  

Many traditions inspire the Edge exhibit artists.  Oklahoma artist Michele Lasker (below) credits her travel experiences as sources of visual information.  Especially useful to her are “walking The Great Wall, studying the hand-chiseled designs on the doors of La Sagrada Familia, or climbing The Acropolis to see the statuesque columns of the Parthenon.  My travels throughout the world have shown me the synchronicity between different countries and cultures with similar approaches to fiber, miles apart and separated by centuries. I am most intrigued by that historical and contemporary context.”  In her own work, freeform knitting and crochet are enhanced with batik, hand embroidery, and beading.

Keila McCracken’s work comes from a specific tradition.  In order to achieve the type of weaving she preferred to do, Keila brought a 2000 lb. Industrial Age loom from Scotland to Bemidji, where she create traditional fabric.  Keila is a member of the Northern Minnesota Fibershed which is a group of farmers and fiber artists in the Northern Minnesota region that use local fiber, local dyes, and local labor to meet local fiber needs.

Mary Therese, from Fern Lake near Bemidji, paints and dyes fabrics (above and blow).  She uses batik and other dying methods to create reflections of the natural world, abstracting design elements and using rich vibrant colors.  She uses her fabric in wearable art, window treatments and church paraments, flags and banners.  Her work has grown out of her background in painting and printmaking.  

Two of the fabric artists featured in Fiber Happenings draw from their Native American heritages. Ccholing Taha is a Cree First Nation artist who has recently moved to the Twin Cities. Very complex textured shawls are one of her specialties (below).  “Shawls and wearing blankets are important garments even for modern times.  The shawl honors the drum, expresses modesty, given as a acknowledgment of dedication to the People, and much more.”

Maggie Thompson, Minneapolis based fiber artist, is a member of the Fond du Lac Ojibwe tribe as well as a graduate of Rhode Island School of Design.  Thompson knits and weaves with unique designs, rooted in her experiences as a modern Native American woman (below)

Edna Trunt displays her mosaic fabric quilted piece based on a photograph of one of her grandchildren (below). She owns Your Quilting Room in Grand Rapids.

 LeeAnn Geshick’s accomplished weaving (below)

and Bigfork’s Kristen Anderson’s large 2-D felted pieces (below) are also part of Fiber Happenings.

View the wide variety of ways textiles are part of the current art world at Fiber Happenings from June 2 to June 25.

The Opening Reception on Friday, June 3 from 5:00 to 7:00 is a great time to join others in seeing and discussing the work, while enjoying a snack.  And while you are there, consider attending a concert on the Edge Center Stage by “The Divas.”  There is a charge for the concert, but the gallery opening and exhibit is at no charge. The Edge Center is next to the Bigfork School. The Gallery is open from 10:00 to 4:00 on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays.  

“The Divas” Summer Show in Bigfork at the Edge Close Harmony and Lots of Excitement

This will be the fourth time “The Divas” are on stage at the Edge Center in Bigfork. Their performances are noted for music sung in close harmony with fun and excitement. This time they will be celebrating summer and all the fun that it brings to the North Woods.  They mix nostalgia, and the sounds of more recent music all combined with laughs and joy. With a wide variety of music, instruments, and styles, these ladies aim to please the variety of tastes of everyone in the audience. Their mix will not only include the music and songs but the assortment of instruments they play.  The place is the Edge Center in Bigfork on Friday, June 3^rd and the time 7PM.  Price $10 adults. Children $5.

The Stars

Having varied backgrounds, The Divas bring an assortment of many musical tastes, and particularly enjoy playing “their” arrangements of music. Rosie Gams, singing lead, is originally from Embarrass, where she began singing in grade school and sang with several groups before “The Divas”. Sharon Rowbottom, a native of Virginia, started singing at the age of 10 and received a vocal scholarship at Mesabi Community College. She has a varied background from performing with other local bands. Shannon Lee Gunderson is from Rawlins, Wyo. who sings lead vocal and harmony. Starting with piano lessons starting at age four and going to college on a musical scholarship, she also played with several groups including a show band for eight years. Shannon also toured for the USO in the Mediterranean.

“The Divas” are based in Virginia Minnesota, but range as far as their music talents and time will carry them, which include Northern Minnesota and neighboring states. After more than 15 years together, they know what audiences in the Midwest like and meld those “likes” into a repertoire they call “The Spectrum”. Audiences love their close harmony of 30’s and 40’s style music of the days gone by, and their 50’s and 60’s rock and roll which always provides an audience hit.  By adding some country, western, pop folk, and, don’t forget jazz,, the music really earns the title of being a spectrum of good sounds.

The Music

Shannon says of their upcoming visit to the Edge, “We are very excited to return to Bigfork for this fourth performance. We have been very busy with lots of fun gigs in and out of Minnesota, and, of course, getting ready for this upcoming performance. The first half of the program is a combination of three decades of music. We will keep you on the edge of your seat as to which decades they are from, and which is the best!  We will be having lots of banter and fun with all the harmony filled tunes.” The second half of the program will be dedicated to our veterans from all branches of military service throughout the years music,  but the music…”will definitely be the 40’s.  CIRCLING THROUGHOUT THE 40’s to the 60”s”.

Here is a sample of the music from the first half: THAT’LL BE THE DAY, ROCK AROUND THE CLOCK, ME AND BOBBI MAGEE, BOOTS ARE MADE FOR WALKIN , I CAN SEE CLEARLY, AND NOW THOSE WERE THE DAYS.

With the second set honoring service men and women of all services and all ages, the Divas picked music is from WWII. This will pull lots of memories up and give you a lasting impression. Here is a sample of the second half music: GOODY GOODY, BOOGIE WOOGIE BUGLE BOY, MR. SANDMAN, STRIP POLKA, and an all time favorite LET THERE BE PEACE ON EARTH.

Add to Your calendar

So, for a another good time with “The Divas” special musical talents and a great time to bring in the summer, come and see them at the Edge Center in Bigfork on June 3^rd at 7PM. This show is for the whole family with adult tickets $10 and students $5. See you then and bring your dancing shoes for a swing around the orchestra pit in front of the stage.

Color, Color, and More Color in the 2016 Student Art Exhibit

This year's group of young artists from the Bigfork School in Minnesota will display their talents at the Edge Center Art Gallery from May 5th through the 21st. The art is both creative and colorful. As with each yearly exhibit, this group of new artists will give you a chance to see creations often best made with a young person's early encounters with the creative process. These artists manage to come through with a surprising outlook at the basics of color, texture, and shape, mixed with light and darkness. They are stretching their creativity in ways that may surprise you.  The art show is open through May 24th with a reception in the gallery on May 11th at 4:30PM to 5:30PM. Normal gallery hours are Thursdays, Friday and Saturdays 10AM to 4PM.

As in the past, the art is from Roberta Steinhart’s art classes. This traditional first of the season's exhibits in the gallery will not disappoint you and will show you a wide range of color and uses. Student artwork often reflects aspects of the artist's lives as emerging adults.  The following examples will give you a little taste of the color and creativity.  If you wish, contact the school for more details.

TU Dance Returns to Bigfork on the Edge Stage

The Minnesota-based TU Dance Company, led by Toni Pierce-Sands and Uri Sands, will again grace the stage at the Edge Center in Bigfork with a public performance on Saturday, April 23 at 7:00 PM.  Founded in 2004 by Toni Pierce-Sands and Uri Sands in Saint Paul, Minnesota, TU Dance is a leading voice for contemporary dance. The 10-member, professional company is acclaimed for its diverse and versatile artists and work that draws together modern dance, classical ballet, African-based and urban vernacular movements.  The TU Dance repertory features original work by Uri Sands, as well asother renowned choreographers including Gioconda Barbuto, Dwight Rhoden, Ron Brown, Katrin Hall, Gregory Dolbashian and Camille Brown.

TU Dance provides opportunities for everyone to experience the connective power of dance. The public performance is at 7PM on Saturday, April 23. Prices for the public performance are $10 adults and $5 children. 

Founders Toni Pierce Sands and Uri Sands are veterans of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater.  They have won numerous awards and recognition including the Minnesota State Arts Board and McKnight fellowships, the Princess Grace Award, and the Joyce Award. TU Dance has credits including the Sage Cowles Best Performance Awards (2005, 2007 and 2010).  They consistently receive outstanding reviews, and engage new and diverse audiences.  They have performed in auditoriums from the 200-seat Southern Theater to the 1900-seat Ordway Center.  TU Dance is known for bringing a multi-cultural awareness of modern dance with style and grace to audiences of all ages.

Part of the public Bigfork performance includes three numbers:

Title: Veneers (24 minute, 7 dancers) Premiered in 2006

Choreography: Uri Sands

Music: Arvo Part, Kronos Quartet

Above Photo by V. Paul Virtucio

A 2009 review by Camille LeFevre says in part.  "Veneers" is my favorite dance work by a local choreographer. That it still has the rigor, intelligence, ferocity and nuance to thrill — even after five or so viewings — is a testament to its choreographer, Uri Sands…”

 Reference:  https://www.minnpost.com/arts-arena/2009/06/tu-dance-features-thrilling-veneers-show-southern

Title: High Heel Blues (5 minutes, 2 dancers) Premiered in 2005

Choreography: Uri Sands

Music: Tuck and Patti
Above Photo by V. Paul Virtucio

A 2008 review by Erin Caryle  of City pages says in part, “…Next, TU Dance pleased the crowd with High Heel Blues, a retro-feel piece danced by Uri Sands and Toni Pierce-Sands, the company's artistic directors. Pierce-Sands acted out the sung longings of a woman lusting after high-heeled shoes, though she knows that they are not good for her feet; Sands was the salesman who helped her along the path to buying them.”

Reference http://www.citypages.com/music/tu-dance-charms-st-paul-crowd-6622679

Title: Vibrations, Sightglass San Francisco (28 minutes, 10 dancers)

Premiered in 2015 with production support from The O'Shaughnessy

Choreography: Uri Sands

Music:  Charles Mingus
Above Photo by Michael Slobodian ©

A review by Caroline Palmer in a special to the Star and Tribune says in part…““Vibrations, Sightglass San Francisco” is an ode to city living with sections titled ‘Morning Coffee,’ ‘Power Lunch and ‘Happy Hour.’ But choreographer Uri Sands adds a distinct 21st-century twist to this suite set to sparkling Charles Mingus jazz compositions. His dancers are constantly in motion, their heads bobbing and twitching, their bodies unsettled and yearning for the digital pulse as they search for rhythmic connections.

Of note is a trio for Darwin Black, Randall Riley and Alexis Staley, all buttoned up and ready to conquer the financial district. They stomp to the flamenco-inspired beats, agitated as bulls locked up in a pen. All three are stylish and cool yet itching to seal a deal. But Sands directs the talents of these exquisite dancers away from the obvious power play, directing them into soaring leaps and long-limbed looseness. They have a higher purpose.”

Reference: http://www.startribune.com/review-tu-dance-troupe-taut-with-an-urban-edge/352764511/

Experimental Contemporary Dance and Mixed-media Exhibit by Native Choreographer Rosy Simas

Rosy Simas Danse presents “We Wait In The Darkness”, a story of one Native American family’s struggles through generations of displacement and search for identity, and is a multimedia event that documents the history of a Native American family through the generations that includes traumatic events of Simas’ mother, including the flooding of her ancestral home to make way for the Allegheny reservoir.  Rosy Simas Danse will present, “We Wait In The Darkness” on Saturday, April 9th at 7PM. Admission $10 adults and $5 children. Simas will also conduct residency activities in the area and in neighboring Native American communities associated with her visit.  Ms. Simas’ accompanying historical exhibition will be displayed in The Edge Center Gallery April 8 through April 30.

From the Rosy Simas website (www.rosysimas.com):  “Recent scientific study verifies what many Native people have always known, that traumatic events in our ancestors lives are in our bodies, blood and bones. These events leave molecular scars adhering to our DNA. Our grandmother’s tragic childhood can trigger depression or anxiety in us, but we have the ability to heal these DNA encodings and change that trait for future generations.”

"Rosy Simas, wearing an old-fashioned white dress, dances to the sounds of rushing water and whispering voices. Eyes closed, she steps carefully along an invisible path trod by many before her, including her grandmother Clarinda Jackson Waterman. Simas uses her slowly unraveling movement to reach back into time while still performing in the present..." From http://www.startribune.com/tragic-history-informs-dance-by-rosy-simas/265597851/  

Ms. Simas states: “If time travels in both directions, we can heal the scars of our grandparents’ DNA.”

“We Wait In The Darkness” is an art/dance work created to heal the DNA scars of Simas’ grandmother, her mother, and our ancestors.  It is a journey of displacement and homecoming fueled by the stories of the Seneca women of Simas’ family, particularly her grandmother Clarinda Waterman.”

Within an environment of images and sounds from Seneca lands this new dance work engages past and future, DNA memory, and invisible presences, to create a personal artwork about loss, family, perseverance and home.  This work is created in collaboration with French composer Francois Richomme.

Background of the Seneca People and the KinZua Dam                                  

The Seneca are a group of indigenous Iroquoian-speaking people native to North America who historically lived south of Lake Ontario.  They were the nation located farthest to the west within the Six Nations or Iroquois League in New York before the American Revolution. In the 21^st century more than 10,000 Seneca live in the United States in three federally recognized Seneca tribes.  Two are in New York and one in Oklahoma, where their ancestors were relocated from Ohio during Indian Removal. Approximately 1,000 Seneca live in Canada, near Brantford, Ontario, at the Six Nations of the Grand River First Nation. They are descendants of Seneca who resettled there after the American Revolution, as they had been allies of the British and forced to cede much of their lands.

 “The federal government through the Corps of Engineers undertook a major project of a dam for flood control on the Allegheny River.  The proposed project was planned to affect a major portion of Seneca territory in New York.  Begun in 1960, construction of the Kinzua Dam on the Allegheny River forced the relocation of approximately 600 Seneca from 10,000 acres of land which they had occupied under the 1794 Treaty of Canandaigua….The Seneca had protested the plan for the project, filing suit in court and appealing to President John F. Kennedy to halt construction…The Seneca lost their court case, and in 1961, citing the immediate need for flood control, Kennedy denied their request.” Reference: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seneca_people 

“Modern Times” with Charlie Chaplin at the Edge in Bigfork

The 1936 Charlie Chaplin film, “Modern Times” is often referred to as Chaplin’s greatest movie. It blames the problems of its time, specifically the depression, on the modernization of society and screws the dehumanizing effects of technology with hilarious comedy.  This is a “laugh out loud” sort of movie that will give you a chance to look at what Chaplin thought of the problem that is still an important political issue in 2016.  “Modern Times” will be shown by Jack Nachbar at The Edge Center in Bigfork on April 14^th at 6:30PM free of charge. The movie will be accompanied by Jack’s presentation providing a better understanding of the film at the time period of the picture.

This film has a 100% Rotten Tomatoes rating and remains one of Chapin’s most beloved classics. It was supposed to be Chaplin’s first talking movie. By1936, the movie industry had long passed silent movie era. But Chaplin worried that some of the charm and mystique of his beloved character, the “Little Tramp,” would be lost by sound. That seems strange today, but we live in a world totally overwhelmed by sound entertainment. So maybe a trip back to Chaplin’s world might be a good exercise for our “Modern Times.”

Sir Charles Spencer "Charlie" Chaplin KBE  (1889 – 1977) is often referred to as one of the most influential figures in the film industry. Chaplin’s 75 year history with the movie industry served both well. He had Movies in the late Victorian Era well into the 1970s.  
  

It amazing that this creation is so often singled out as his “best”. Sculptures from around the world shown above.  He started life in poverty and ended it in luxury and all of it done with his own hard work. Charlie received an honorary Academy Award “…for his incalculable contribution to the industry,” and has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Paulette Goddard (1910 –1990) started out as a child fashion model, and performed in several Broadway plays as a Ziegfeld Girl. Paulette became a Paramount Studio star in the 1940s with a wide array of movies to her credit, but, again, the movie “Modern Times” tops the list of her most famous movies. And it was her first major role in movies.

The critics of the 1930s were very positive with the likes of Frank Nugent of The New York Times  writing…”'Modern Times' has still the same old Charlie, the lovable little fellow whose hands and feet and prankish eyebrows can beat an irresistible tattoo upon an audience's funny bone or hold it still, taut beneath the spell of human tragedy ...”

Also said of “Modern Times”: ”Time has not changed his genius. Variety called it "grand fun and sound entertainment."[7] Film Daily wrote, "Charlie Chaplin has scored on of his greatest triumphs. John Mosher of The New Yorker wrote that Chaplin ‘manufactures some superb laughs ...’  And finally Burns Mantle called the film "another hilariously rowdy success….”

Modern Times was deemed "culturally significant" by the Library of Congress in 1989, and selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry. Fourteen years later, it was screened "out of competition" at the 2003 Cannes Film Festival.

For such a famous movie to have little or no negative press is a great testament to the movie and a good reason to come and see it on the Big Screen at the Edge Center in Bigfork. You can see this movie free of charge.  Some appropriate snacks will be served courtesy ofJack and his wife/projectionist, Lynn.  Place: The Edge Center for the Arts, Bigfork. Date and time: Thursday April 14th at 6:30PM. It will be worth going out on a chilly Spring evening to a nice warm theater.