Art-A-Whirl at Sociable 2022
This year, we welcome Art-A-Whirl back to Northeast—huzzah! Read on to find out what you can expect going on May 20-22nd at Sociable to celebrate the art district.
What is Art-A-Whirl?
Art-A-Whirl is the largest open studio tour in the country, which happens annually throughout Northeast Minneapolis the third weekend of May.
Over 1,000 NEMAA member artists, galleries, and businesses participate across all of Northeast Minneapolis at over 60 locations. Art-A-Whirl is a fantastic way to connect with artists in their own spaces, enjoy demonstrations and interactive activities, listen to live music, and enjoy local restaurants and breweries. Art-A-Whirl is free and open to the public.
Featured Artists at Sociable Art-A-Whirl Weekend
The Tandava Potters: Tandava Potters is a group of artists fascinated with the ancient method of wood firing clay. Our kiln is a hand- built Japanese Anagama style kiln named “Tandava” meaning “dance of fire.”
Each wood firing is a communal activity: we cut dry wood, stack it, and load it into the kiln constantly for three days and nights. The pots are carefully loaded into the kiln and warmed before the initial firing. We take shifts during the 24 hour days monitoring heat temperatures at the front and back of the kiln, and loading wood accordingly.
Wood firing is a natural process with random, accidental and sometimes suprising effects. Flames beat music upon our pots and every unique pot is a poem, a song.
The Tandava Potters are:
Pratibha Gupta
I am a potter, painter and sculptor. I have been making pots for 25 years. I etch my pots with original designs when leather-hard. These are all wood fired - a process of firing that is close to my heart. The random effects of fire and ash make the effect on ceramic pieces so very interesting.
Lee Persell
Life is in the details and so are the vessels I make. A vessel is such an intimate thing - we hold them and raise them to our lips - caress and use them daily. A vessel or pot to me is a tactile or sensual experience. It is in these experiences that you know the maker - the potter in a tangible way and that is why clay is the vehicle for my expression. Life is in the details and it is also in the clay.
Dom Venzant
A stack of wood, a pile of clay, a little water and some time are transmuted into pots that tell my story as well as bring joy to people using them. My labor becomes a form of veneration because I believe that a shared meal or a full cup is a form of celebration.
Mike Egan
My work tends to be functional. My work’s purpose is to be used either daily, or for special occasions when friends and family gather to share a meal, beverages and fellowship. The pieces selected for this exhibition are wood fired. The fire and kiln’s atmosphere react with the clay, slips and glaze elements to add the color that enhance the pot’s surface. I strive to present a somewhat primitive but appealing appearance to my wood fired work.
Kim Christopherson
I am intentional in making ceramic pots that are both functional and useful for everyday use. My creativity is driven by allowing the clay to reveal its beauty from within, striving for consistency with each piece, while remaining aligned with a purpose that is practical.
Jack Liebo
Always influenced by Impressionism, and such painters as Van Gogh, Matisse, and Picasso, I studied painting at the University of Minnesota in the early 1970’s, during the period of Abstract Expressionism. I studied ceramics in Warren MacKenzie’s ceramics department at the same time. I have been making functional stoneware pottery and more sculptural lamps ever since. My style in both watercolor painting and pottery is emotional.
Barbara Bujold-Martinez
Woodfire. Working hand-in-hand with the divine in nature. Am I worthy?
Zachary McPherson
I personally used to loathe wood fired ceramics. Every time I would make a piece, it would never turn
out how I imagined it would; and it still doesn’t. What has changed is my perspective. I’ve always subconsciously considered a piece done when I put it in a kiln. Woodfiring isn’t like that though; you have to work with the fire and atmosphere to create. And in return it yields something that is truly unique and unrepeatable.
Although I have been working with ceramics for the least amount of time relative to this group and I have received minimal formal education in regards to ceramics, that has not stopped me from pursuing the knowledge I need to succeed in my focus of differing forms of functional pottery.
Jo Reske Kirkman
Primarily, I am a painter. Creating three dimensional work with clay is a new avenue of exploration. Surface textures, spaces, patterns, lines, rhythm and form are primary elements in my ceramics as they are in my paintings. Working with the chemistry of hand- made glazes and the magical transformation of surface in the Anagama kiln inspires my creative process.Sue Christenson: My name is Sue Christensen. I’m a longtime clay artist who is teaching myself to paint. I started with acrylics about ten years ago and found out that hand glazing pottery is great training for painting. Glaze is gritty and runny and bears no resemblance to its finished color. Having learned how to control glaze, I found paint delightfully smooth, predictable and intuitive.
Best of all, paint is infinitely revisable. One can do hundreds of little “firings” just by waiting a few minutes for paint to dry. Mistakes can be obliterated and painted over. I also enjoy the infinite range of subjects and ease of expression available in painting. I work primarily in oils. My inspirations include my urban neighborhood, plants, bugs, fire, and especially burning furniture.
I’ve been making patchwork pottery in northeast Minneapolis for since 1997 as Nameless Wildness Clayworks. I own an art shop called Sideshow Gallery at the Minnesota State Fair. It's in West End Market next to the glassblowers. We sell my art as well as Heidi Elmer's skull pottery, pottery by Gloria Van Dixhorn and others, and magnetic art by Jeff Gauss. I spend a lot of my free time at Sociable Cider Werks. I will be selling art and demonstrating wheel throwing in the parking lot here during Art-A-Whirl. My art school friend and State Fair partner, Heidi Elmer, and I will have our art hanging in the taproom during May, June and July.
Addie Elling: I grew up as a quiet, observant kid. I would absorb experiences, books, movies, television, music, people and places and make sense of it all through making art. I have always been like that. Back in kindergarten when in response to ‘What do you want to be when you grow up?’, my answer always was: ‘An artist.’
A compulsive doodler and fidget-er, I am unable to stop myself from scrawling in the margins, of crafting folded origami structures with every napkin or scrap piece of paper.
As I have grown up, I have manifested this energy best into painting. Paintings are now the major focus of what I make, and I will never not be amazed at how working with lines, colors and shapes FEELS so good. How is that pictures can explain more than words?
I am moved to paint whatever grabs me. It can be the memory of a place, a silly face my friend makes, a scene from a movie, a moment at a concert, the rainy night and the streetlight behind my apartment or the imaginary landscapes I build with these in my head. I listen and observe the world for a subject to materialize.
Events at Sociable Art-A-Whirl Weekend
Friday, May 20th
Live music starting at 5:30pm:
Cory Coffman: Cory Coffman is a Duluth, MN songwriter, arranger and multi-instrumentalist.
Blending a bohemian-punk ethos with an indie-folk sound, Cory Coffman melds his inviting voice with a musical eclecticism, giving his songs popular appeal. Presenting poetic depth and musical thoughtfulness, Coffman is witty enough to laugh with, yet endearing enough to cry to.
Maria and the Coins:
Maria and the Coins bundle big-picture pop ambition into earnest, indie sensibility. The five-some distinguished themselves in the Minneapolis scene by fusing singer-songwriter driven pop hooks with the vulnerability and honesty of an indie band.
Frontwoman Maria Coyne's powerhouse vocals are matched with emotive storytelling often focused on finding the light amidst the chaos. While the writing features nods to Coyne’s pop, country and theatre roots, the music finds its sweet spot behind alternative rock-influenced arrangements. The band has opened for local and touring artists such as Betty Who, Jeremy Messersmith, Forest Blakk, and Reina del Cid.
With the release of their latest album 'Forward', the band gained traction with local and national outlets like American Songwriter, Indie Spoonful, and Please Pass the Indie. “Movin’ On,” the first single from the album was featured in The Current’s Friday Five and City Pages Local Frames and has received local and international radio play. For more info, visit mariaandthecoins.com.
Saturday, May 21st
Live music starting at 2pm:
The Foxgloves
Mixing classical, folk, country, and Americana, The Foxgloves pair rich vocal harmonies with stringed instruments to deliver an ethereal yet approachable take on American standards and heartfelt, original compositions of love and heartbreak.
The Silent Treatment
Old school punk rock noise from Minneapolis. As subtle as a car accident. This four piece band's commitment to the stripped down noises of confrontation will leave you yearning for the days of glowering in disgust at your family’s kitchen table. The group’s EPs You’re Gonna Get It (2018) and Everything’s Just Fine (2021) are available on Bandcamp and most live shows. The Silent Treatment has played the Turf Club, 7th Street Entry, The Cabooze, Uptown VFW. Always loud and always fast, the Silent Treatment is Keely Lane (Ol’ Yeller, Trailer Trash, Rich Mattson and the Northstars) on drums, Dave Randall (The Boot R&B, Kinda Kinky, Cindy Lawson) on bass, Rob Sells (Loose Rails, Low Rats) on guitar, and Claire Luger on vocals.
Jeweler
On their debut LP Tiny Circles, Minneapolis-based quartet Jeweler mine the sonic palettes of lush U.K. shoegaze, melodic noise-pop, and expansive, psych-tinged art rock to build a musical vocabulary both uniquely their own and eminently engaging. Grown out of the bedroom studio project of Michael Voller, the group has expanded to include Sylvia Jennings (vocals and keyboard), Dillon Marchus (bass), and Sean Levine (lead guitar).
Machinery Hill
This Minneapolis-based band takes their name from the Minnesota State Fair's large display of farm equipment. Their original style mixes Americana with Rock, Ska, Blues, Rockabilly, Irish and touches of irony. Machinery Hill features a variety of songwriters who delve into topics from building combines to the end of the world, all solidly delivered with an upbeat attitude and 3-part harmonies. If you look up “diverse” in the dictionary, it says “see Machinery Hill.”
Tie-Dye on the Squoze Deck!
Join Ciara from Sociable on the Squoze deck for tie-dying from 11am-2pm! Your shirt options include Sociable Logo, Francis burger character, and miscellaneous Squoze tees.
$20 includes shirt, dye supplies, gloves, bag to take finished product home, washing instructions.
Sunday, May 22nd
Rock painting with Jeremy Ross of Your Bearded Artist
Free if you bring your own hand held smooth rock. Or $3 for 1 rock, $5 for 2 rocks, and $10 for 5 rocks (cash or charge at the event).
NO RESERVATION NEEDED. Show up and paint anytime while I'm there.
Please join me and paint a Kindness Rock and explore all the fun you can be having at one of my paint parties!
For more information, visit Your Bearded Artist.