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Twin Town High (vol. 8) |
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Red Hot Art - Stevens Square Park
Wednesday 04 June @ 13:11:46 |
 by Katherine Farrior
Maybe you like going to art festivals—maybe you don’t. Maybe you’re not sure what an art festival entails—or maybe you know all too well. Don’t stop reading if you fall into the latter group because the event I’m going to tell you about will make you rethink the phrase “art festival.”
Artists involved in Red Hot Art - Top Left: Jason Willoughby. Top Right: Heathere Banke. Bottom Left: Zachary Korb. Bottom Right: Terrance Davis
The words “red hot art” scream new, exciting, ground-breaking. It’s as simple as that and yet more complex.
Many of us would secretly love to quit our desk jobs and become full-time artists. Just think of it…going to the studio in your house everyday to create whatever you want, taking lunch when you’re ready to let the paint dry, and reporting to your boss, otherwise known as, you. That’s easier said than done because most of us can’t afford to do such a thing, don’t know the right people to help us market our talent, or just don’t have the energy to pursue such an endeavor. The Red Hot Art festival changes everything. Its supporters recognize these obstacles and meet the artists halfway. For a small booth fee, local, emerging artists get the coveted chance to move their work out of the studio and into a 10 by 10-foot public space.
Red Hot Art is hosted by the Stevens Square-Loring Heights neighborhood. It’s a community arts festival featuring local, emerging artists and hands-on arts activities for kids and adults. Hands-on activities will be facilitated by Interact, an organization that supports artists with disabilities, and I Love a Parade, an organization that works with chronically homeless people who make art. This is the second year for the event. The festival also includes live music by local musicians.
Not your run of the mill art fair
Painting by Ben Olsen
Though many art fairs help local talent get their names out there, Red Hot Art is a unique art fair for several reasons. None of the 40 artists showing their work at this year’s festival are part of the traditional art fair circuit. “Most artists don’t have vast inventories of art objects to sell and most have never even been part of an art fair,” says Julie Filapek, Director of Stevens Square Community Organization. “Real art is something everyone can do. When you come to Red Hot Art you will see real expressions as opposed to something pretty to hang on your wall.” Unlike artists who travel around the country entering art fairs, artists participating in Red Hot Art are all residents or former residents of the Stevens Square-Loring Park neighborhood and the festival celebrates that community.
An evolving neighborhood and fount of resources
The Stevens Square-Loring Heights neighborhood is a creative haven for artists of all types. With the Minneapolis College of Art and Design, the Minneapolis Institute of Arts and the Walker Art Center all within walking distance, the neighborhood surrounds up and coming artists with plenty of inspiration. “It’s very pedestrian-oriented because it’s hemmed in on two sides by 94 and 35W,” says Filapek. “The neighborhood has always been in transition. The diversity and energy give it the feel of New York’s Greenwich Village.”
Three Red Hot artists
Ben Olson, Terrance Davis and Pall Hecker are just three of the many artists who have used Red Hot Art to bolster their journey on the road toward a full-time career as an artist. Terrance Davis is a still life photographer who moved to the Stevens Square-Loring Heights neighborhood after participating in Red Hot Art last year. He’s benefited from moving to the area and gleans a lot from the Red Hot Art event and from the neighborhood. “You can feel the vibe in the area when you’re walking through the park and meeting people,” he says. When asked what he likes about sharing his art with the public, Davis says, “It’s always fascinating to find out what kind of art people are interested in. I enjoy explaining pictures to people and telling them what it is that inspired me to take the picture.”
Ben Olson is an acrylic painter who participated in Red Hot Art last year and plans to show his work again this year. For him doing art in his spare time “is a luxury because I don’t have to push things as much and I can relax at the fair.” He enjoys the atmosphere the festival brings about. “Last year was the neatest thing in the world. It was so fun to be sitting in a beautiful park with kids playing all over the place.” Kids played but they also talked to Olson about his paintings. “I talk about everything from form to technique to what it’s all about.” Olson adds, “It’s really tiring but it’s the best thing in the world.” Olson likes taking advantage of the opportunity to get out and see what his artist neighbors are up to. Olson says, “It’s really cool to know that your neighbors are doing something really neat and are kind of in the same boat as you.”
Pall Hecker is an acrylic painter and found object sculptor who no longer lives in Loring Park but plans to be part of the festival action. “Last year was my first show. It was really fun. I had the chance to see what people were noticing [in my paintings]. It was definitely a growing experience and I felt really good about doing it,” he says. Hecker likes to visit the Walker sculpture garden and he says the art institutions in the neighborhood keep artists updated on current trends. “Generally artists are interested in what’s going on in the world in terms of art.”
Bringing together artists of all situations in life
Reflection of a Tower by Terrance Davis
Red Hot Art enables artists in their first stages of being an artist to display their work and discuss art with the public. The festival makes a point of supporting artists who are often left out of multicultural events, including the chronically homeless and individuals with disabilities. I Love a Parade is an organization founded by Sandra Haff, an artist who lives in the Loring Park neighborhood and has expanded her past work with homeless individuals to the realm of art. I Love a Parade artists make puppets, masks and jewelry that will be on sale at the festival. The organization’s involvement is two-fold this year. Last year artists were part of the art sale, but this year they will be sharing hands-on activities with the public as well. Haff is very enthusiastic about her group’s part in the festival, “I really like the idea of a neighborhood art event,” she says.
Interact is an organization that works with artists with disabilities. They will be facilitating hands-on art activities with festival attendees. Plans are in the works for a community tree sculpture that will begin in the Interact studio and will make its way to the park for the festival. “Visitors from all over the neighborhood including Somali and Latino communities will be able to create branches for the tree. The concept is for each participant to use art materials to symbolically express their response to community, home and the tree as a symbol.” After the festival the tree will reside in a Loring Park neighborhood locale.
Interact strives to “present our artists in an empowerment light and give them an opportunity to participate as part of a culturally diverse community,” says Schultz. Last year Interact artists sold their work and they will have the opportunity again this year. Many Interact artists face obstacles such as transportation to art fairs and regimented lifestyles in group homes. Red Hot Art underwrites some costs that help Interact artists overcome these obstacles and show their work. Schultz adds that Interact artists are very willing to discuss their work with festival goers. “Most artists are very good spokespersons on behalf of themselves and the organization.” Schultz is grateful for Interact’s partnership with Red Hot Art. “They made a special point of inviting us and have been extremely helpful.”
When you go
If you still think art festivals are only about arts and crafts or artists who care more about selling their work than about discussing it, then you should go to Red Hot Art. Where else can you find artist communities from so many backgrounds coming together in celebration of, in Filapek’s words, “an extremely vital place to live”?
“Red Hot Art is about art as action, as process—not only as decoration. And it’s about having some early summer fun,” says Filapek. So join in the fun, experience the Loring Park fruits of labor, offer the artists your opinion and buy some art if you like what you see. It promises to be nothing short of red hot.
Red Hot Art runs June 7-8, noon-7 p.m. in Stevens Square Park (19th St. E. at 2nd Ave. S). For directions or information, contact Stevens Square Community Organization at 612-871-7307.
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