NEMAA’s First Thursdays @ Various NE Minneapolis Locations
Wednesday 10 March @ 13:54:52 |
 by Valerie Valentine
“If you’re open, they will come” would be a great mantra for the galleries and studios in Northeast Minneapolis. The artistic talent concentrated in this sector of the city is exceptional, and positions the Northeast area to overthrow the Cities’ art scene.
A gallery night once a month sounds fabulous; it also sounds too good to be true. But NEMAA is trying to make it a reality on the First Thursday of the month, between 5 and 9 p.m. All artists and art organizations in the area are encouraged to open their galleries and studios for the evening. The neighborhood gets to celebrate its vibrant art community, while art patrons and buyers get a chance to visit studios, talk to artists and experience an extravagant visual feast.
My visit to the second-ever First Thursday event satisfied like a good meal. There was just enough, and not too much; it didn’t become overwhelming, as during, say, Art-a-whirl (but then you have three days to do it all.)
“Into the Woods” (Right) by Catherine Vesley @ Mill City
I started at the California Building, where Mill City had an opening for the Sunday drawing group of the Florence Hill studio, which is upstairs from the cafe. Ms. Hill called up 30 of her artist buddies and got them to contribute anything landscape-related. The work spans all two dimensional media: oil, ink, pastel, acrylic, photography, and more. The watercolors were standout pieces. Tim Kremer, who runs the cafe, wants to continue having openings coincide with First Thursdays.
The California building’s gallery was open, too. Aldo Moroni’s Babylon project dominates the space, with intricate plots of miniature urban sprawl filling every corner. The tiny model buildings, streets and valleys waver and bend in on themselves, a microcosm of civilization. Several artists with studios in the building show work here, but the studios weren’t open this time to the general public, out of respect to the non-artist leasers.
Northrup King building was open, though. Maybe next month different artists will open their spaces, to mix it up a bit. Open studios foster community. Some would argue that it makes the artist-buyer relationship more casual, thus driving prices down, to the detriment of the artist. But this method allows artists to get paid straight from a buyer, with no gallery middling the deal. Artists can meet each other by opening their doors, too. Some may feel a bit vulnerable about exposing their secret laboratories, but it’s a proven method to show and sell work.
Everywhere you turn in northeast Minneapolis there’s an art space. Other galleries would be wise to participate in this monthly night on the town, as well.
First Thursday of the month, 5–9 p.m. at various locations around Northeast Minneapolis. Call NEMAA for more information, 612-788-1679.
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