by Richard Paske   February 16, 2004 To commemorate the Walker’s closing for a year, we’re running a series of reminiscences of performances at the Walker by Richard Paske, musician, radio host, and writer. This is the third and final installment. I�ll begin this section with a study in contrasts: the work of iconoclastic theater artist Robert Wilson as presented by the Walker in 1977, 1978, 1984, and 1999…

by Ann Klefstad   February 6, 2004 Most of our actions relate in some way to concerns that are in the end political. A broader notion of what constitutes “politics” will lead to a more grounded and far-reaching discussion of the relation of art to politics. The old feminist adage “The personal is political” can be extended: the political is personal, too. Many decisions that we are used to thinking of as…

by Jaime Kleiman   February 3, 2004 Jaime Kleiman attended the meeting called Jan. 17 at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts by Clea Felien, which brought together an ad hoc group of artists, critics, and curators who want to find ways to make art more crucial to the mainstream culture. What is a Minnesota artist? What is unique about making art in Minnesota? Why is it so difficult for Minnesota artists…

by Jaime Kleiman   February 1, 2004 Kristin Van Loon, a former competition figure skater and today best known as one half of the choreographic duo Hijack, walks into the caf�, her small frame covered by bulky winter clothes. It�s early in the morning � 7 AM to be exact � and she is on her way to a tech rehearsal at the Bryant Lake Bowl, where Hijack�s 10th anniversary retrospective played on November 20th…

by Dean Seal   January 26, 2004 Dean Seal hosted a series of talks at Grace-Trinity Church on ethics and spirituality in the theater. Seal asked Dowling to participate; he had heard him speak on theater as “secular spirituality of the shared experience.” This article is edited down from a talk that was about twice as long. Dowling: I would like to start with a quote that always struck me as being very…

My Favorite (Walker) Things, Part II: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly by Richard Paske   January 26, 2004 To mark the closing of the Walker for a year, we’re running a series of articles by Richard Paske, musician and writer, about his experiences with the Walker performing arts programs. This is the second; click link at the end of the article for the first. No discussion of performing arts at Walker Art…

by Michael Fallon   January 15, 2004 ARTISTS ARE MOSTLY SHELL-SHOCKED AND DEMORALIZED about what is happening to the Rossmor, but they are not surprised, as it is a familiar story that has played out again and again across this ruthlessly money-hungry country of ours. In Soho and Tribeca, in West Hollywood, in Minneapolis’s warehouse district, and now in downtown Saint Paul, it is never the visionaries…

by Michael Fallon   January 15, 2004 SAINT PAUL IS A CITY with a multiple-personality-disorder identity crisis. That is, on one hand Saint Paul is a place of stockyards, of mud flats and swamps and railway depots, of riverside breweries and hobo camps, of pig iron river barges and halfway houses. It is a pot-bellied and overalled burg of stevedores, bricklayers, blacksmiths, tanners, tinners, harnessmakers…

by Richard Paske   January 15, 2004 To mark the closing of the Walker for the next year, we’re running a series of reminiscences by Richard Paske, jazz musician, radio host, and writer, about his experiences over decades with the Walker performing arts programs. Two more will follow. The first time I walked into Walker Art Center�s auditorium I had to lug my Ampeg B-15 amp and Fender jazz bass down…