ARTigras: A Celebration of Creative Spirit

Greetings Experience Rochester blog followers! I am Emily Colbenson Ties and have the pleasure of serving as witty Westra’s blog-writing substitute. This weekend I attended the Rochester Art Council’s 3rd annual art and cultural festival, ARTigras – a free fun-filled and family-friendly celebration of all things creative, which took place at Mayo Park.

Before I rave about this must-attend Rochester event, I think it’s important for you to know that I have zero artisan ability. However, I have always wanted to be an actual artist – in high school I took up writing poetry, became an (unsuccessful) choir member, joined the one act play and tried my hand at water color painting, even adopting the uber creative artist name Emile (yes, that’s about the extent of my originality – replacing the ‘y’ in my name with an ‘e’). So here’s your fair warning – I am a total wannabe!

Thrilled to have an actual day (I mean few hours - I spent the morning stuck in the Chicago O’Hare airport for the 523rd time) to myself (I usually spend my free time chasing after the two most amazing but exhausting kiddos ever), I couldn’t wait to check out the talents of the many actual artists that we have in the Rochester area.

My first art lesson was given by Alli, a member of ArtOrg, who was helping some of the many children present appreciate steamroller print making. After watching Rochester mom Marni and her adorable boys, Isaac and Owen create a sign for Owen’s room by cutting out designs from black sticky material and pasting it onto cardboard, Alli showed me how she spread on ink with what looked like a giant rolling pin and added another piece of cardboard on top. Owen’s creation was then ready to be finished courtesy of a large steamroller. The finished product was definitely wall worthy.

 


Left to Right: Marni, Isaac, and Owen; Alli from ArtOrg spreading the ink on Owen's creation; the finishing touch by the steamroller.

 
After admiring the skills of a local henna artist, I was drawn to a fabulous wooden bowl collection. While browsing and contemplating spending large sums of money (I had no doubt my husband would also think that our nightly salads deserved to be accompanied by beautiful wood grains), I met creator Brad Lynne who showed me my favorite piece of the day – a breathtaking wooden lamp. Brad proudly explained that the lamp was made from 2,976 pieces of ash, black walnut, quarter saw and white oak and took 5 weeks to create- wow! Next up, Jean Keefe - a talented Rochester native who layers paint to create textural works of art that are biblically inspired and pulled from scripture.
 


Left to Right: Henna artist; Brad Lynne's lamp; Jean Keefe and I pose next to her creation.

 
Feeling thirsty, I grabbed a cold beer and was drawn to the ARTiStage, where the Chris Millner Band was playing. Little did I know that I was enjoying the strumming of Cindy Lauper’s lead guitarist from the 80’s! Not even a little rain could dampen the spirits of the crowd, as they  sang along to “Can’t You See”.
While local fan favorite Hoag Park was getting ready to take the stage, I had a chance to connect with band member Dianna Park, whose thoughts I asked about ARTigras. She quickly exclaimed, “I love it! It’s a great community service with lots of different kinds of music in one venue on one day, showcasing all the talent in town.” I had a moment - looking around, seeing people of all ages and no doubt all walks of life swaying along to Dianna’s beautiful voice – and guess what, the rain stopped.

Inadvertently saving the best for last, I stumbled upon my favorite artist of the day - Sami - a young girl who not only makes spin art masterpieces, but also creates monsters with the help of family friend Marnie Leach. Sami, more of an artisan than I ever will be, designs all of the hand stitched details of the plush creations and lovingly puts them up for adoption. Needless to say, I quickly snatched up two for my own little monsters and couldn’t help but smile knowing that someday she will be a big deal. Peace, love and monsters Sami, peace, love and monsters.

 

Simply put, ARTigras was a wonderful! I sang all the way home (don’t worry, no one was with me) and couldn’t help but want to pull out those old water color paints. Instead, I took a closer look at my daughter’s art collection and vowed to help her embrace her own creative spirit, regardless of whether or not she takes after her mom.



My daughter's collection

Coming up in our next post: Brent Westra is back and doing his best to channel his inner Clinton Kelly while attending the downtown fall fashion show!

Veni, Vidi, Vici – View, Venerable Visitors, Variety

Greetings and salutations!  As one of my favorite writers, Jim Anchower, would say, “I know it’s been a long been a long time since I rapped at ya…”,  but it feels good to have another post finished and I’m beyond excited that we’re about to get reacquainted.

My RCVB blogging experiences withstanding, it seems like my summer has consisted mostly of two items:
1) Battling the heat in my AC-less car
2) Slowly shaking my head in disappointment while watching the Twins

The former can be combated by sticking my left arm out the window to direct air into the car, but the second is different beast that appears to have no solution in sight.

I came into this season with modest expectations (read: 120 wins, .430 Avg for Mauer, 75 HR for Morneau, 40/40 Club for Nishi, and Nathan hitting 106 on the gun in his first appearance since Tommy John surgery).  Needless to say, this hasn’t quite materialized.  And with the Twins seemingly in the tank, it’s time to focus on some other MVP’s, or “mVp’s” for the purposes of this post. 

You see, I decided it was time to venture out to some of Rochester’s local eateries and watering holes, and in dedication to my “mVp” theme, I decided to visit: a place with a view (Kathy’s Rooftop), a place with venerable visitors (Pappageorge’s Tavern), and a place with variety (Whistle Binkies).

A Place with a View: Kathy’s rooftop, in addition to offering up the only rooftop patio in Rochester, also bestows its patrons with one of the best views of downtown.

That mixed with the fact that you can sit at one of their outdoor tables and enjoy a tasty libation or two makes it an ideal place to be on a gorgeous day or night.  In fact, it’s so relaxing that it’s quite easy for happy hour to become “happy lots of hours” as you soak up some vitamin D and sip on your favorite summer cocktail.

Plus, unlike Danny Zuko and Sandy Olsen, this summer loving can keep going strong well into fall, as propane heaters keep the rooftop patio warm as the weather turns colder.  It’s almost like sitting by a campfire, but without the smell soaking into your Sunday bests, so be sure to keep the rooftop in mind as those leaves start changing.

A Place with Venerable Visitors: Walking into Michael’s / Papageorge’s via the valet parking entrance is one part hall-of-fame and one part history lesson, as the walls are adorned with pictures of famous people that have come through its doors over the years.

When I was younger, and not yet the well-informed, debonair blogger that you’re reading today, I remember having to ask my dad who a lot of the people in the photos were.   I had no idea who Joe Garagiola was, or why it was interesting that he had been to this place.  However, as I’ve aged like fine-wine, I’m able to appreciate their places in history and love taking a few minutes to admire the photos on my way in to grab dinner or a drink.

Some of my favorites include: Jim Nabors, Dale Earnhardt, Leo Buscaglia, Dear Abby, Sean Connery, Craig T. Nelson, Clem Haskins (Don’t believe the NCAA, we were in the 1997 Final 4… I remember it!), Louis Rukeyser, Dudley Moore, and of course Kirby Puckett.

But let’s move on to Pappageorge’s Tavern itself for a moment.  It features a gorgeous bar area where classic cocktails are made without a cheat sheet and ice-cold beer is served in a frosty chalice.  Bottom line: if you’ve never been to Papageorge’s Tavern, or haven’t been there in a while, you should drop in to grab some eats and drinks, and also take a moment to meet its famous friends.

A Place with Variety:  If the beer selection at most places leaves you feeling claustrophobic, you should head over to Whistle Binkies (they have two locations) to break free.  A rough tally of their tap and bottled beer list yields about 150-200 options for you to look over.  Throw in all the limited releases and seasonal brews they get throughout the year, and you’re looking at one impressive list. 

Whistle Binkies also has great specials every day of the week.  I dropped in on a Monday, which is Mystery Beer night.  “How does that work?”, you ask.  Well, the rules for Mystery Beer Night state, “Draw a beer from the mystery bucket.  If you want to, try it, it’s $2 bucks.  If not, you don’t have to, but you may only draw once per order.  Sorry… luck of the draw.”

My wife and I (sorry ladies, this stud is spoken for) decided to try our luck.  She drew a wild blueberry lager, which she happily went with.  I, on the other hand, drew something I’m not a huge fan of, so I tried my luck with the evening’s other special: a limited bottle special of Pinkus Brewery Hefe-Weizen Unfiltered Wheat Ale that is brewed in Germany.  Jackpot! 

After polishing off our beers and a couple appetizers, we headed out the secret entrance around back and headed for home… arms sticking out the window to deflect air into the car.  Veni, vidi, vici.

Coming up in my next post:

A trip to Denver has me turning over the keyboard to Emily Colbenson Ties for the next post.  She’ll be checking in from the ARTists Village, which will be located in Civic Center park during Rochester’s first annual ARTigras celebration, and will feature “over 100 juried artisans mixing with Rochester’s arts and cultural organizations.”  For more ARTigras information, visit: http://www.rochestermnarts.com/events/artigras.html