Around the Arts, Sept. 16

'Gidibaajimomin' exhibit opens at Watermark

BEMIDJI-The Miikanan Gallery at Watermark Art Center in Bemidji has announced the opening of "Gidibaajimomin-We Tell Stories." This exhibit features prints and mixed media by Gordon Coons (Lac Courte Oreilles) and Anna Johnson (Turtle Mountain). Through the use of contemporary media, both artists give new understanding to traditional Ojibwe stories and culture, a release said.

The public can meet the artists during a reception 5 to 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 5, with an Artist Talk at 6 p.m.

In addition to the reception, Coons will lead a printmaking workshop Saturday, Oct. 6, from 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at Watermark. This workshop, sponsored by the Northwest Indian Community Development Center, is free with no registration necessary. It is geared for all ages, but children must be accompanied by an adult.

Coons is a nationally recognized visual artist. He has exhibited in juried shows throughout the U.S., including the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian in Washington. His work has won a variety of recognition awards. He currently lives in Minneapolis.

Johnson is originally from Bismarck. She received her bachelor's in fine arts from North Dakota State University in 2010. Johnson is a recent recipient of an individual artist grant from The Arts Partnership. Her work can be found in private and institutional collections throughout the region.

Gidibaajimomin will be on display through Nov. 4.

BSU alumnus Ferreri opens gallery schedule

BEMIDJI-Bemidji State University's Talley Gallery opens its 2018-19 exhibition calendar with "The Internal Affairs of Mr. Invincible," a collection of prints from Bemidji State alumnus Lou Ferreri.

The exhibition, open now through Oct. 17, features a selection of 25 prints from a series of hundreds of drawings - done on editorial pages of the New York Times - produced by Ferreri as part of the "Mr. Invincible" collection between 2010-2017.

Ferreri will visit the gallery to deliver an artist's talk from 1-2 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 4.

"Drawing on the surface of ever-changing newspaper headlines underscores the idea that, beneath the surface of our lives, the news resides as perpetual background noise," Ferreri said. "This subtext infiltrates our consciousness. My drawings elaborate on ordinary and extraordinary phenomena, physical preoccupations, anxieties and observations regarding the details of everyday living."

The project has been supported by an Artist Initiative Grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board. He has received two grants from the arts board during his career, as well as a McKnight Foundation fellowship and a Bush Foundation Artist in Education grant.

Prints from Ferreri's collections have been included in BSU's Lillie M. Kleven Print Collection, the Minnesota Historical Society and the Library of Congress.

In addition to his drawing work, the St. Paul resident wrote and illustrated the poetry book "Ostrich Logic" and wrote a memoir entitled "So Long, Betty and Veronica."

Bemidji State's presentation of "The Internal Affairs of Mr. Invincible" is made possible by funding from the university's Student Activity Fee Allocation Committee.

Vision Theatre closes season with 'Radium Girls'

HUBBARD-Vision Theatre, co-owned by Julie Kaiser of Bemidji and Jennifer Geraedts of Park Rapids will conclude the summer productions at Long Lake Theater in Hubbard with Radium Girls by D.W. Gregory. The show will be performed six times in September beginning Friday, Sept. 14, and ending Sunday, Sept. 23. Performances will be Friday and Saturday evenings at 7:30 p.m., and Sundays at 3 p.m. Tickets and reservations are available by calling (218) 732-0099, emailing visiontheatre16@gmail.com or at Beagle and Wolf Books in Park Rapids. The Jewel of the Northwoods will again host a gala following the Sunday, Sept. 16, performance. The gala is free and open to the Radium Girls cast, crew, and audience.

Radium Girls offers a wry, unflinching look at the peculiarly American obsessions with health, wealth, and the commercialization of science in 1926, radium was a miracle cure, Madame Curie an international celebrity, and luminous watches the latest rage.

Kids art class set Sept 22 at Watermark

BEMIDJI-Watermark Art Center will hold an art class for children ages 6 and up from 12 noon to 1:30 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 22.

This class is part of Watermark's "Second Saturday" kids art class. The recurring monthly program is typically held the second Saturday of each month, but was scheduled on the fourth Saturday for September. Parents may drop their kids off and are not required to stay.

Participants can create a multi-media landscape collage using liquid watercolor, textured foil, torn papers and more to create a water/land/sky landscape.

Cost is $12 for Watermark members and $15 for non-members.

To register or to learn about other Watermark art classes, go to watermarkartcenter.org.

Art Leap event scheduled Sept. 22-23

PARK RAPIDS-Art Leap, an open studio event featuring artists and guest artists, will expand from from 14 to 22 sites serving approximately 60 artists and musicians at studios and other locations in Hubbard, Becker and Wadena counties.

The event will be held Sept. 22 and 23. Studios will be open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday.

The Park Rapids Lakes Area Arts Council (PRLAAC) sponsors Art Leap and added more sites this year including more destinations in downtown Park Rapids and one at St. Urho Park in Menahga.

Participants can purchase original art and meet the artist who created it. At some studios and other sites, visitors will find artists doing demonstrations and hear live music. A brochure with a map also provides descriptions of the art and artists who created the works as well as scheduled music performance times and locations.

In addition to five artists who will display their work at St. Urho Park in Menahga, there are seven other new sites on this year's tour.

Beagle and Wolf Books & Bindery in downtown Park Rapids will host Betsy Bowen, Grand Marais artist, who is well known for her handmade, woodblock prints. Maureen O'Brien of Solway will show her acrylic paintings of north woods inhabitants at Cattail Creek Framing, also in Park Rapids.

In addition to two gallery displays at the Nemeth Art Center, Nate Luetgers of Park Rapids will be showing his charcoal and acrylic paintings and demonstrating his creative techniques.

Metal sculptor Mark Carlson has been a guest artist in prior years, but will open his studio near 8th Crow Wing Lake to visitors.

Award winning photographer Liz Shaw, who resides on Potato Lake, will show her latest creations. Jeff Renner returns to the tour in 2018 offering visitors artworks that have made Wolf Paw Gallery a favorite destination.

Also featured in 2018 will be the new Sculpture Trail in Red Bridge Park on the Fish Hook River in Park Rapids.

River Art Community and Ecce Gallery, both in Park Rapids, and Forestedge Winery and Gallery near Laporte also invite guests on the tour.

Art Leap brochures are available at the Park Rapids Lakes Area Chamber of Commerce Visitor Center, Park Rapids Area Library and other locations and at www.prlaac.org .