by George Slade   September 18, 2002 Eight glittery acrobats pose and twirl overhead in the lobby of Circus Juventas’ St. Paul facility. Sculpted with coils of bright copper wire, the mobile of figures frozen in various circus acts symbolizes the interdependent, interwoven phenomenon that is the circus family. Circus Juventas—named after an early Roman goddess of youth—began its life in 1994 as…

Paul Lundgren is a freelance journalist living in Duluth. He has written more articles about more topics than any of the other kids his age. by Paul Lundgren   September 7, 2002 There he is, Alan Sparhawk, singing an AC/DC song in his kitchen while he digs into the cookie jar. Two weeks ago he was on stage at the Green Man Music Festival at the Mont du Lac ski hill outside of Duluth, calling himself…

by A. Klefstad   September 5, 2002 I’m sitting here after 16 hours at the State Fair, walking, seeing, eating, smelling. Especially the latter. It was hot out there. I’m trying to think about the 91st State Fair Art Show and finding it difficult to do so. What do I have to show for all those hours? A heap of souvenirs and images, stuffed mermaids and fans-on-a-stick. Images of immense draft horses with feet…

by   August 16, 2002 Hi! My name is Colin Rusch. I was recently hired to be the community manager for mnartists.org. As a Minneapolis-based dance maker with experience in community organizing, web development, and creating business-to-business marketplaces, I am thrilled to be mnartists.org’s liaison for Minnesota artists and arts organizations. Starting this October I will also be facilitating…

by Ann Klefstad   August 8, 2002 In the air, lately, is drifting a great deal of thinking about place. Globalism makes us think of it, as does environmentalism; immigration and assimilation make us think about it as do the increasingly intractable differences between some places and others. The fragmentation of the artworld (an artworld that used to be a succession of single places, like Paris, New York…

by Willis Bowman   July 23, 2002 It was mid-June, 2002. We at Barebones Productions had been asked by the Minneapolis Institute of Art to perform with a cavalcade of puppets during their festival to commemorate the opening of the new Frank Lloyd Wright Bridge on 3rd Avenue. As with most festivals we are asked to perform at, unless the promoters want something specific, we grab whatever puppets are…

by George Slade   July 11, 2002 Minnesota is, officially, a state of grace. Alongside the common loon, walleye pike, red pine, monarch (state butterfly), milk (drink), wild rice (grain), Lake Superior agate (gem), blueberry (muffin), and morel (mushroom), the symbolic pantheon now includes Minnesota’s state photograph, given official status in March of this year.Here’s the official text: “The world-renowned photograph…

by Benvenuto Cellini (1500-1571)   July 1, 2002The plague had by this time almost died out, so that the survivors, when they met together alive, rejoiced with much delight in each other’s company. This led to the formation of a club of painters, sculptors, and goldsmiths, the best that were in Rome; and the founder of it was a sculptor with the name of Michel Agnolo. He was a Sienese and a man of great…

by Jeffrey Kalstrom   June 19, 2002 “When it’s too dark to work” is the answer given to Franconia Sculpture Park newcomers who ask “When is dinner?” Franconia was created to give sculptors the tools, space, and opportunity to work hard, big, experimental, and for as long as they can stand up. All the work is done outdoors, and a rainy day at Franconia can devolve into a sad, smelly spectacle of sculptors and…