Amelia Biewald - Painting, Sculpture, Installation

Amelia Biewald

Name: Amelia Biewald
City/State: Minneapolis, MN
Email: ameliabiewald@yahoo.com
Website: www.ameliabiewald.com  

Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/amelia_biewald_artworks/
MNartist.org profile

Bio~

Amelia Biewald was born and raised in Minneapolis, MN. She attended the Rhode Island School of Design as an undergraduate, and the Minneapolis College of Art and Design for graduate school. She has been working as a visual artist in the areas of painting, sculpture and installation and has been fortunate in receiving awards, residencies, and fellowships for her artworks. Some notable awards include a Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture Fellowship, a Smack Mellon “Tops Picks” Award, a Lower Manhattan Cultural Council’s Space Program Award, the Schick Residency Award at Skidmore College, a Bush Foundation Artist Fellowship a Minnesota State Arts Board Artist Assistant Fellowship and a Jerome Foundation Artist Fellowship. She has worked with the public in the visual arts on many occasions, and has held positions as visiting artist/professor at Skidmore College, the Minneapolis College of Art and Design, and the College of Visual Art. Amelia’s work has been exhibited internationally, and is currently exhibiting at Rosalux Gallery in NE Minneapolis. 

Artist Amelia Biewald’s recent works explores the fantastic visual possibilities of Elizabethan England. A time that saw extremely elaborate but exceedingly uncomfortable stylized clothing, with heavy ornamentation and silhouettes based on geometric shapes and patterns. Influenced by imaginative histories and fashion scandals of this Golden Age, Biewald’s mixed media paintings and sculptural installations mock this duality. From her visual obsession with the neck ruff, an iconic fashion accessory of the age, to her manipulation of both traditional and invented artist materials and techniques, her sensuous surfaces draw the viewer into this alluringly theatrical and voyeuristic costume drama. Biewald’s work has been exhibited both nationally and internationally. She has been a recipient of various artist grants and fellowships, including the Bush Artist Fellowship, a Minnesota State Arts Board Artist Award, and a Jerome Artist Fellowship.

Inspired by his recent time in the rural Deep South—a landscape dotted with deteriorating infrastructures of forgotten mill villages, faded hues of old commercial signs, and the overgrown structures of a once thriving agricultural base, Jonas Criscoe visually explores the oxymoron, “Beautiful Detritus.” Through his densely layered mixed media compositions, use of distressed and worn surfaces, and graffiti-like drawings, Criscoe’s work conveys his interest in society’s disposable mind-set towards progress and nature's ability to reclaim the things that we abandon. A native of Austin, Texas, he received his MFA from the Rhode Island School of Design in 2008. His work has been exhibited throughout the United States, notably the Texas Biennial and the International Print Center in New York. Criscoe has also been featured in various art publications, including Art Lies and New American Painting, and most recently was a West Prize acquisition recipient.

(Detail)

Together, these artist’s works engage dualities that are present in both art and culture. Through their subtle manipulation of various art media, techniques, and processes, both Biewald and Criscoe create elaborate compositions and surfaces that convey an aura of touch, and a sense of history to the viewer through the materials and subject matter that they employ.

Tell me about your work? What are you currently working on? How is this different from past projects?

I have always been fairly obsessed with art and fashion histories and my recent works explore the fantastic visual possibilities of Elizabethan England. All the pattern and construction was extremely elaborate AND exceedingly uncomfortable! My favorite item of that time is the ruff. A complex, stiffly starched accessory that framed the face and could make your head appear as being set upon a dinner plate. This is the work I have included in my show at Rosalux in September. I am showing paintings, drawings and sculptural works. I have some works on paper which I really like and I don't often include in my exhibitions- they started out as sketches for sculptural works and I just kept working on them to make them finished drawings.

How did you decide to become an artist?
I was obsessed with horses when I was a kid and still am. I could draw a pretty good life-like horse by the time I was about 3 and I just kept at it. I spent a lot of time drawing down in the basement, and the horses became other animals, unicorns and dragons. I have such an overactive creative imagination no one else would take me. I did sort of want to become a plastic surgeon, but I'm not sure my clients would be ok with my inventions.

What was the best advice given to you as an artist? 

Sometimes it is better to attack an idea than over think it.

Many artists struggle to find ways to sell their art.  How do you sell your work?  How do you market yourself?

I try to show as often as I can and also apply for a lot of grants and residencies, etc. You might not get the grant, but your work is shown to people who often want to work with you in the future and know collectors who would like your work. I also show with a gallery in New York which helps a lot.

Who are some of the Minnesota artists you enjoy?

I like a lot of work here- it's a great art city! A few names that come to mind are 
Terrence Payne http://rosaluxgallery.com/my_portfolio/terrence-payne/, 
Jennifer Davis http://www.jenniferdavisart.com/info.html, 
and Melissa Loop http://www.mnartists.org/artistHome.do?rid=47543

If I were to follow you around to see art in Minnesota, which places would we go? What would we see?

I would go to the MIA and see what is up for the MAEP. That space is so awesome I would love to do a huge installation there sometime. I would then go and look at the interiors or period rooms they have. I love art history so I could be in there for hours. I would then go to the Walker and see if they had the Paul Thek's Hippopotamus sculpture out. Love that.

In addition to www.Local-Artist-Interviews.com, where do you go online for good art resources, whether to find a new artist, or to see what is going on in the art world locally and otherwise?

Actually I get so many invites and notifiications just in my email and Facebook that I just use the links provided. I like that most galleries now have pages for all their artist so you can figure out what is new that way too.

What can we expect to see from you in the future?
I have a work in progress that is going to be pretty amazing- a huge full body mount deer that I mounted upside-down. This is going to be the basis of a huge mixed media installation.

Do you have any exhibits to promote in the near future?

“Nature’s Beast” Works by Amelia Biewald and Jonas Criscoe at Rosalux Gallery

Exhibit runs: September 6th – September 30, 2012 

Opening Reception: Saturday, September 8th, 6:30 – 10:00PM

Rosalux is a cooperative art gallery that was founded in Minneapolis in 2002. The gallery is home to twenty artists whose work is well known both nationally and internationally, featured in various major collections, and who have individually received numerous prestigious awards and grant recognitions.

Gallery Hours: Saturdays and Sundays 12-4PM, admission is free. For more information on the Rosalux Art Collective, visit www.rosaluxgallery.com.  
https://www.facebook.com/rosalux.gallery/events

Asia Ward - Sculptor

Asia Ward

Name: Asia Ward
City/State: Minneapolis, Minnesota
Email: asiaward@gmail.com
Website: asiaward.com
MNartist.org profile
Facebook page:
MNOriginal Feature
Twitter: @asia_ward

Bio~
I am a Minnesota based sculpture artist, and my work ranges from animatronic creatures to large-scale metal sculptures and aluminum dioramas. I exhibit my most recent experiments in kinetic sculpture at Rosalux Gallery, a member run gallery cooperative in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Tell me about your work? What are you currently working on? How is this different from past projects?

Within the past ten years I have created two different bodies of work. My current and future work is about strong dreamscapes that have affected my life. My earlier work is about using animatronics and fabric from stuffed animals and old clothes to give artificial spirit to my animal sculptures. Although the themes of both bodies of work are different, their similarities are my use of electronics to give them light, motion, and sound.

The landscape sculptures were created to represent "scenes" of strong dreams I have had during my life. The dreamscapes are distorted perspectives of real landscapes around my parent's house, an old school house in the country. They are also based on places I have lived where I have experienced clarity and fear. My unconscious neatly summarized everything I knew and felt at the time of my dream, and narrowed it down into a detached landscape symbolic of those events. I have often remembered the dreams during turbulent times in my life, and have used them to help me see a clear and detached perspective of current events. The dreamscapes have shaped my moods, perspectives, and choices, so I honor and remember them by the construction of these sculptures.

"What is Art?" is certainly too big of a question to ask here, but what do you hope your audience takes away from your art? What statement do you hope to make?

My aluminum landscape work is about seeing things from different perspectives. I distort a real landscape by turning the perspective into layers. I make features in the landscape appear near or far by twisting, fanning, or pinching the aluminum layers in different ways. This gives the viewer the opportunity to approach the three-dimensional relief landscape from all perspectives - flying above view, or below the earth view, etc.

I want the viewers to identify with the landscapes in my sculptures and to daydream about being a part of it - like a train set, or a Christmas village - to pretend and take part in this miniature world.

What was the best advice given to you as an artist?

You have to go where the artists are to continue to have community and support.

You have to defend your time as an artist, and declare that you are “ at work.” To yourself, and to others.

Spend at least two hours a day doing your art. That includes research, drawing, workshops, applying for grants and shows, and going to gallery openings.

Buy a nice camera and document your work. All of it- the good stuff and the bad stuff, then share it with the public as much as possible.

Listen when someone is critiquing your work. Ask them questions and get them to explain their reasoning. Do not get defensive.

Tell me about your workspace and your creative process.

My studio is in the Casket Arts Building in NE Minneapolis.
I like to figure out the capabilities of my materials. Right now it’s electronics, microcontrollers, aluminum sheet, steel and a mig welder. I have an idea in mind and I push the material and tools to the limit. I fight them. I break the aluminum and steel! I try not to break my welder or catch anything on fire! I enjoy working with materials that can handle a lot of abuse. Natural materials like wood and clay don’t work for me because they have their own way. Whereas steel and plastic, you can bend and break, and weld it back together again.

I challenge myself by coming up with a project idea that is really hard to draw because of its complex 3-dimensional shape. I try to be flexible and compromise, and continue to strive to complete a good and finished sculpture.

Who are some of the Minnesota artists you enjoy?

John Diebel
http://www.flickr.com/photos/35689679@N08/sets/72157623020753079/
John Diebel creates collages of places and situations. He is a master at using color, layers of paper, and composition to pull out and push back the subject matter in his work.

Amelia Biewald
http://www.ameliabiewald.com/
Amelia Biewald’s work is about the sensual and slightly dirty feeling of fantasy, sexuality, and rich tactile objects.

Jack Pavlik
http://www.mnartists.org/artistHome.do?rid=5337
I love Jack Pavlik’s ability to make bands of steel sing and move gracefully.

David Bowen
http://www.dwbowen.com/
David Bowen’s work inspires me. He can grow plastic shaped onion bulbs at the same rate as real ones, let house flies pilot four foot blimps, and make a field of grass in Minneapolis move exactly in same way as a field of grass in Duluth.

If I were to follow you around to see art in Minnesota, which places would we go? What would we see?

Rosalux Gallery in N.E. Minneapolis
http://rosaluxgallery.com/
I’m a part of the Rosalux Gallery Co-operative, and can’t help but promote the amazing group of artists that show their work there.

The Museum of Russian Art
http://tmora.org/
Some of the paintings in the museum’s collection have really captured the ugliness and the enduring nature of human labor.

Franconia Sculpture Park
http://www.franconia.org/
An hours drive from the cities, and well worth the trip to see emerging and professional sculptures create monumental pieces of work. Watch them weld! Participate in an iron pour!


Where do you go online for good art resources, whether to find a new artist, or to see what is going on in the art world locally and otherwise?

Springboard for the Arts
http://www.springboardforthearts.org/

Mira’s List
http://miraslist.blogspot.com/

The Art Newspaper
http://www.theartnewspaper.com/

The Jealous Curator
http://www.thejealouscurator.com/blog/

Do you have any exhibits to promote in the near future?

Rosalux will be having a group show titled XXL at the Burnsville Performing Arts Center, in Burnsville, MN running through the month of December.

I was chosen to be an Artist in Residence at the Anderson Center in Red Wing, MN for the month of September 2011.

Alex Kuno - Painter

Alex Kuno

Stevens Square Center for the Arts

Featured Artist for the exhibit,

"The Nature of Romance"

Reception: Saturday 2/12 7-11PM

Exhibit runs from 2/12/11 - 3/13/11

Alex Kuno

mr_sibato@yahoo.com

Curlytalefineart.com

Alexkuno.etsy.com

Alexkuno.blogspot.com

Facebook.com/alex.kuno

mnartists.org/Alex_Kuno

Bio~

Alex Kuno received his BFA from the University of Minnesota and is an emerging, full-time artist currently living and working out of his home studio in NE Minneapolis. Since creating his The Miscreants of Tiny Town series in 2007, his work has shown in numerous galleries, universities and private collections regionally and nationally, and now consistently works on commission for clients around the country. In 2010, he was awarded a CSA grant and received formal gallery representation with Curly Tale Fine Art in downtown Chicago, IL.

Tell me about your work? What are you currently working on?

The Miscreants of Tiny Town is a constantly evolving series of apocalyptic, satiric fairy tales that are as whimsical as they are rampantly morose. The figures and landscapes in the paintings are painstakingly rendered using a combination of acrylics, graphite, chalk, ink, ballpoint pens and crayons on pine boards that I’ve carved into curving, free-form shapes.

The narratives in my work typically involve lost, deranged orphans who’ve been reduced to take very grim actions in their search for a home within an endless, foreboding landscape. These scenes trap the characters in the “middle” of a larger, unseen story, so their motivations and outcomes are permanently left unresolved. Though the series vividly or even gleefully depicts all sorts of terrible things that people in the Real World have been known to do to each other once times get tough, these images aren’t necessarily meant to be “nightmarish,” so much as they come from the desire to put a playful, childlike face on the formless anxieties that keep stressed-out grown-ups awake at night.

How has your work changed since you started the series?

At the time, the original paintings started as a basic thematic and technical exercise more than anything else, and looking back on them, it shows. They were usually done on 8”x10” watercolor paper or pre-stretched canvas, with thicker lines and brighter, simpler colors, like pages from a graphically violent coloring book that was crudely finished. As I took the series more personally and got more involved with the overall world these characters inhabited, I noticed that hand carving the curving shapes on wood was just as necessary as any other part of a painting. I’ve been trying to give the flora and fauna within the landscapes as much “personality” as I want my figures to have, rather than just using those landscapes to anchor the narratives.

I’ve grown weirdly attached to my figures over the years, and tend to invest more emotion in their faces and gestures. I’ve been trying to give the flora and fauna within the landscapes as much “personality” as I want my figures to have, rather than just using those landscapes to anchor the narratives. I’ve also grown to genuinely empathize with these characters over the years, and have finally, reluctantly admitted to myself that they’re visual representations of my own little inner conversations. It’s sad, I know.

What was the best advice given to you as an artist?

I know that the old phrase “you’re your own worst critic” isn’t really used as “advice,” so much as it’s usually a polite way for people to tell me that I should learn to just shut up and accept a casual compliment rather than disagree with the person who gave it. But I’ve taken that old cliché to heart at some point, and I’ve since used it as a way to try to teach myself to remain as objective as I possibly can about every painting I produce, and to see each one as a learning experience rather than as a “finished” piece.

Tell me about your working space and your creative process?

I’m currently using the “mother-in-law” apartment attached to my home as my studio and office space. I built a wrap-around desk in one of the rooms as my primary work area, so I can save space and make it more effective to mass-produce paintings. In the same room, I have a 4’x6’ white board where I can quickly jot down life-sized, laughably stupid-looking sketches for compositions or character ideas.

I carve out a loosely formed shape of wood with a jigsaw, sand down the edges, screw on a recessed backing, then slather on several thick coats of gesso with my hands until I get a texture that’s rugged but easy to work with, then let the shape of the wood dictate the composition of the landscape. From there I try to be as intuitive as I can, blocking out the characters with rough chalk outlines in relation to the landscape and keep reworking them until a conversation I think is worth having begins to emerge on its own. It’s a huge mess that requires a lot more sitting and staring than actual physical labor, but once the piece finally starts to take shape, I zone out while I refine the details until it pretty much finishes itself.

Which Minnesota artists do you enjoy?

One of the most important lessons I learned while I lived in New York is to never take Minneapolis’ art scene for granted.

Jennifer Davis http://www.jenniferdavisart.com/info.html

Allen Brewer http://www.allenbrewer.com/profile.cfm

JM Culver http://www.jmculver.com/

Amelia Biewald http://www.ameliabiewald.com/

Andy Ducett http://www.mnartists.org/artistHome.do?action=info&rid=108955

Nick Howard http://www.rosaluxgallery.com/artists/nick-howard.html

Cheryl Wilgren-Clyne http://www.mnartists.org/artistHome.do?rid=11140

and the entirely way-too underexposed Dan Murphy are just a few of my favorites.

If I were to follow you around on an “art day” in Minnesota, which places would we go? What would we see?

Since I spend all of my time painting, every day has become an “art day” these days, whether I want it to be or not. So if you were to literally follow me around, you’d get the opportunity to watch me stare at and/or work on all of my unfinished paintings, check my websites, email clients, shove the cat off of miscellaneous desks and tables and swear at myself while Goodfellas or Louie play on an endless loop. If you had any sense you’d leave immediately. Then you’d go to SooVAC, Fox Tax, or show up at a Spotart opening to clear your head.

Where do you go online for good art resources, whether to find a new artist, or to see what is going on in the art world locally and otherwise?

Facebook

Etsy

Springboard for the Arts

Mnartists.org

Do you have any exhibits or any interesting things going on in your life or coming up in the near future?

I’m in the process of finishing up three pieces that will be featured in the Stevens Square Center for the Arts’ (SSCA) new show “Nature of Romance,” opening February 12, and I made a piece specifically for the Anderson Art Center’s “Into the Whirlwind” show out in Red Wing, and that show’s going on now.

Aside from that I’m starting some new commissions and am building a glut of new work to be shown in my gallery in Chicago.

If you were to receive a $2,000 art grant to do anything you want, what would you do?

In spite of (or maybe because of) the fact that I’m not even remotely Catholic, I’ve recently started to become interested in learning about its various saints for some reason. One that stuck out for me was Saint Rita of Cascia, the patron saint of lost and impossible causes. (She’s the one with the weird red scar on her forehead.) It would be great to have the chance to make a series of relief woodcarvings depicting her life and symbolism.

Who am I kidding? I’d just blow it all on Pepto Bismol or something.

Walker Art Center

Membership Winner

J.M. Culver - Drawing-Painting

J. M. Culver

J. M. Culver
info@jmculver.com
http://jmculver.com
http://facebook.com/jmculvergallery
http://mnartists.org/artistHome.do?rid=21897
http://twitter.com/jmculver   @jmculver

Bio~

I am a figurative artist based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. My work explores relationships, allegories, and the complexities of the human condition. Through a combination of painting and drawing, I create large-scale subjective narratives in hopes of evoking an emotional response and creating a dialogue with the viewer. I regularly exhibit my work, curate exhibitions, and am very active in the arts community.

Tell me about your work? What are you currently working on? How is this different from past projects?
My current drawings/paintings are visual narratives that capture fragments and recreate moments of childhood memories and anxieties. They reveal intimate and sometimes awkward scenes that focus on growing up with a schizophrenic grandfather and the impact of this relationship.

These life size drawings/paintings are fueled by personal fears, confusions, anxieties, frustrations, and the vulnerabilities of childhood. They integrate universal themes of the human condition: a celebration of life at its darkest and brightest points.

Images of tumbling kittens, broken chairs, little girls, and distressed men strive to connect with each other while sharing an inner life at odds with reality. Built into the narrative are familiar characters, such as Pinocchio, that represent the duality of the real and artificial self and the innocence of childhood. These characters explore an internal world unrestricted by logic or structure that conveys an underlying sense of anxiety and uncertainty.

The tactility of charcoal and smoothness of acrylic/oil evokes and blurs forms to create solidity and space. Large white expanses suggest the transitive nature of memory juxtaposed against anxiously marked areas of visual and psychological interest. Aggressive marks, erasures, and veils of acrylic create realistic and abstract moments frozen in time.

I intend for these frozen moments of childhood memories to intimately and physically engage the viewer while sharing an honest reaction and dignified experience that everyone can relate to. These narratives are personal observations of the human condition that present an immediate and intimate, tangible expression of memory.

How is this different from past projects?
I’ve actually been working on this series for a few years now. I started out using charcoal and acrylic on paper and am now exploring the same subject with different layers of charcoal, acrylic, oil, and clear medium on paper and cradled masonite panels. The narrative continues to evolve and I will continue with this series until I feel it is completely exhausted. I also have an interest in abstract painting and was working on a series of “Visceral Landscapes” and “Decompositions” a while back. They were abstractions of the figure with a focus on anatomy as a landscape. My representational work has abstract elements with loose painterly marks and erasures.

What was the best advice given to you as an artist?

“There are 24 hours in a day. Make it work.”

Tell me about your working space and your creative process?

My studio is located in the California Building in North East Minneapolis. I like to divide my working space around the room for different projects. So there's always room if something isn't working out well that day or if I come up with new ideas.

I have different visual journals for each series that I use to write about ideas, memories, and researching contemporary art that I admire and that gives me inspiration. My visual journals are full of almost illegible writing, collage elements, and basic sketches.

I then work from a combination of sources – observation, photographs, intuition, and imagination. It ends up working like a collage when it comes together. I don’t appropriate directly from any specific source. I want to maintain a sense of immediacy and honest reaction to the subject matter.

If you were to receive a $2,000 art grant to do anything you want, what would you do?

I would like to have the opportunity to create new work for a large solo exhibition that explores multi-media with my current themes. I’d like to include large-scale drawings, paintings, video with sound, and constructed environment installations.

Which Minnesota artists do you enjoy?

Caitlin Karolczak – http://studiosilenti.com
Stacey Davidson – http://staceydavidson.info
Amelia Biewald - http://ameliabiewald.com


If I were to follow you around on an “art day” in Minnesota, which places would we go? What would we see?

I frequently visit the MIA and am always drawn to the Soutine painting “Carcass of Beef” and Larry Rivers’ work. I spend a few hours with my sketchbook sitting on the museum floor writing, sketching, and developing ideas. I attend various art openings in the Twin Cities and also enjoy visiting The Bell Museum to view the dioramas.

Where do you go online for good art resources, whether to find a new artist, or to see what is going on in the art world locally and otherwise?

http://mnartists.org - local news/opportunities
http://artdeadlineslist.com/ - other opportunities/call for art
http://artnews.com and http://artforum.com - art world news
http://www.saatchi-gallery.co.uk/ - other artist’s work
http://facebook.com - networking, local art exhibits, openings, other artists.

Do you have any exhibits or any interesting things going on in your life or coming up in the near future?

I have framed prints and a few original paintings available for purchase at Spyhouse on Nicollet in Minneapolis until mid January. I also have a solo exhibition in March at Gallery 122. I’m working on organizing some group exhibitions as well. I plan to start grad school this coming Fall to pursue my MFA in Painting.


2012 Update:

2012 Art -A-Whirl Open Studio and Art Sale. Friday, May 18th - Sunday, May 20th.

Studio #505, California Building, 2205 California St NE, Minneapolis, MN. I will have large scale drawings, medium scale abstract paintings and small mixed media works on view.

Cult Sisters III: Love/Hate. Cult Status Gallery. Opening Reception, Saturday, May 26th 7pm to midnight. Exhibition runs May 26th - June 18th 2012.

Other upcoming exhibitions, curatorial work, and projects such as workshops will be listed on my website: http://jmculver.com

Terrence Payne - Painter

Terrence Payne has lived and worked in the Minneapolis area for the past fifteen years, building a body of unique and thought provoking work while exhibiting at galleries and universities throughout the united states. His work can be found in private, corporate and collegiate collections throughout the world. Terrence founded Rosalux gallery eight years ago to give local emerging and mid career artists an opportunity to exhibit their work in an environment that would bring them higher visibility while nurturing their artistic callings without the limitations imposed by many commercial galleries. Serving as gallery director since its inception , he has helped over sixty local artists further their art careers through their involvement with Rosalux.

Terrence Payne

www.terrencepayne.com

terrencepayne.blogspot.com

tjpayne@comcast.net

You are currently exhibiting as part of the Minnesota Artist Exhibition Program (MAEP) at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts. This seems like quite and honor and opportunity. Tell me about the work you are showing there.

I'm showing a group of eight large oil pastel drawings. My drawings are typically portraits of different archetypes defined by the figure in the piece, their costume, action, secondary objects around the figure and a sort of wallpaper pattern behind them which sets the undertone for the entire work. For this show I am using the same pattern in each individual drawing to give an underlying unity to the entire show. I'm hoping that it will read as to how different sorts of personalities react to a similar situation and how what each one brings to a scenario can affect its outcome.

You have a special place in the Minneapolis arts community in that not only are you an artist, but you are also the founder of the Rosalux Gallery, which is one of the relatively few galleries in the twin cities accessible to emerging artists to show their work. Whose work have you shown that you are proud to say you have been able to provide an opportunity for exposure?

I would have to say that I am proud to have been a part of giving any and all of our artists past and present an opportunity for exposure. When I started the gallery I had this idea of creating a space where the artists have an active roll not only in the creation of their work but also in the promotion and exhibition of it as well. By asking that they take on the financial risks of exhibiting their work that also gave them the freedom to do what they wanted to do how they wanted to do it. Specifically for emerging artists I think that this is an extremely valuable experience because they are learning how to write a press release, edit the work in a show, garner and maintain a database of individuals who are interested in their work, put together a portfolio of their work to send out to new markets and begin to build a network of peers to share information with with regards to furthering their careers.

In the time since we opened our first location we have worked with over sixty local artists as members in the group, as well as the many others who have participated in the annual open door exhibition, and through these connection I hope that we have managed to make a positive impact on the local arts scene. The main motivation for Rosalux has always been to act as a tool with which to strengthen the Minneapolis arts community with the belief that by strengthening our artists at how it will create a better impression for all abroad.

Many artists find art to be a solitary experience, where creating community can be difficult. I wonder if you might have a different experience. I referring specifically to the Pilot Arts Group. The Pilot Arts webpage says it was created to provide updates of the “collective and individual endeavors of Pilot Artists.” Can you tell me how this group came together? What advantages have you found by working as part of a collective? Do you have any advice for others who might want to go down this same path?

Pilot is something that grew out of an idea that John Alspach and I had for Rosalux several years ago as a different way of promoting our art in hopes of finding a larger audience for the work of local artists. The basic idea of it being that we would work with a smaller group of artists and buy advertising in national design magazines to promote a website for the group and do one or two shows at alternative spaces each year.

The Rosalux group wasn't ready to give it a go so we decided to work with some other artists who were further along in their careers and would be more comfortable trying some new things. The first show we had was in a vacant storefront in uptown that coincided with our first ads in Dwell magazine and it went pretty well. As time went on and newer less traditional media started to spring up which made more sense for artists to put their efforts into pursuing rather than print ads the group changed its focus to being an annual exhibition collective which seeks out one show a year outside of minnesota.

Our next show is this coming october at the Greyduck gallery in Austin, Texas. Overall I think that pilot has been a great thing for us, its seems to have evolved into more of a guild than a collective in that it is a place for a group of peers to share ideas and experiences and try new things.

What was the best advice given to you as an artist?

I can't remember any specific words of wisdom that I ever received from anyone in particular, but I would like to give a shout out to M.C. Anderson of the former M.C. Gallery which used to be downtown back in the day. It was my first experience showing in a gallery and M.C. tolerated me hanging around and asking annoying questions about the art world which was really where I learned great deal about how things work in the world of art and commerce.

Which Minnesota artists do you enjoy?

eeerghh! I am terrible at remembering the names of artists but I have no problem remembering the images I see. First off, there are none better than Jen Davis, Joe Sinness, and Erica Olson Gross who are my exhibition partners this fall inthe MAEP Galleries at the MIA. I have seen a lot of awesome local art this year but these are a few that have really stuck with me: I have really enjoyed following the design work of Land Land this year, the drawings of Nick Howard, the photos of Areca Roe, and the sculpture of Amelia Biewald. These are some of the artists who have made definite impact on what I am doing right now in one way or another.

If I were to follow you around on an “art day” in Minnesota, which places would we go? What would we see?

We would probably start our day at the MIA looking around and wandering aimlessly waiting for something to spark something for us( I usually go there and do that when I am stuck on an idea or looking for inspiration). then we might stop for lunch at Victors and head over to Andy Ducetts garage and see what kind of weirdness is going on there. next stop is the shiny robot studios in NE to see whats being made up there and probably we would end up at Jim Wrayge's studio in the Northrup King getting drunk and embellishing stories about stupid things we used to do.

What was the last local exhibit you saw and what were your impressions?

I just went to the opening for Tara Costello's new show at Rosalux this past weekend as well as the new shows at SooVac the weekend before which features work by Liz Miller, Justin Stewart, Pam Valfer and Allen Brewer. They were all top notch and the biggest impression I am usually left with after visiting most shows in the twin cities is how lucky we are to be living in a community that turns out and supports its artists as well as the quality of work happening in town on any given day.


Where do you go online for good art resources, whether to find a new artist, or to see what is going on in the art world locally and otherwise?

I like to check out Fecal Face, Tiny Showcase, Artist a Day, and then whatever links I find on Facebook or that get sent to me by other artists.

How do you incorporate your blog, Facebook, and other social media/internet resources into your life as an artist?

I pretty much use my blog as a diary for my own purposes considering the amount of traffic it gets. Its a good place to put up new work and sketches I am working on to see how they fit in with a larger group of work. Facebook is great for sending out invites to shows and spy on what others are doing and I use my website as an online point of reference for others to get a sense of who I am as an artist.

Do you have any exhibits or any interesting things going on in your life or coming up in the near future?

I do, I will be showing in the MAEP galleries at the art institute (MIA) this month with Jen Davis, Joe Siness, and Erica Olson Gross in a show called Flourish which opens October 21st as well as another group show this month in Austin,Ttexas at the Grayduck Gallery with the Pilot Arts Group and that one opens on the fourteenth. Then its back to Rosalux which will be hosting our annual juried competition Open Door this November and I'll be spending the winter preparing new work for a show there this coming April.