MontiArts October Newsletter
BOO! (October Snuck up On Us!)
I don’t know why we’re so caught off-guard. Perhaps it was what turned-out to be Junetember? Grab your pumpkin spice lattes and your calendars to get some dates on there for creative fun downtown at Montiarts this month! We’ve got your chill fall vibes right here.
We have another artist profile for you near the end, too. This month we are featuring Sadie Nielsen!
Stay Curious & Creative. - Sue Seeger
Photo Hike THIS Sun, Oct 6th,
3-5pm @ Montiview Park
Critter by local potter Wyatt Galinski. There will be a limited number of these to borrow or purchase at the event. Bring cash to purchase.
Join Us Fri, Oct 25th 7 - 9pm For Our Mosaic Unveiling Party & Photography In The Parks Photo show!
It’s almost time to celebrate this project’s successful completion! Come to MontiArts (213 W Broadway) the evening of Fri Oct 25th from 7 to 9. Meet lead artist Laura Ruprecht, and the team of local artists who created 6 new mosaic benches for downtown Monticello.
They really need to be seen in person to fully appreciate. Make it a fun local outing. This project was funded by the CMAB.
Details about how to participate in the photo show a bit further down. Keep scrolling!
Artist Talk Thurs Nov 7th at 7pm Special Guest- Ron Siepel
Ron in his wood turning shop in Becker.
A few weeks ago we had the opportunity to visit with Ron in his wood turning shop at his home in Becker. Ron retired from Xcel in Monticello where he worked as an electrical engineer for many years. Since then he began focusing on his longtime interest in working with wood, which led him to explore wood turning. In the last two years he has become a master at this ; a highly skilled craftsman.
When he agreed to share a bit about this unique art form, and some of his work with us at MontiArts, we jumped at the chance.
Ron not only does goergeous work, he has a very unique outlook on what he creates. His stunning bowls, showcasing the beauty of the woods he selects, are not for sale. He is very determined to try to sew more seeds of kindness and decency into our turbulent world by only exchanging his art work for good deeds, paid forward. He will explain this in more detail at his artist talk, but suffice to say, this is not lip service. He truly believes we as individuals can put more good into the world, and he likes the idea of his artwork greasing those wheels.
Come meet Ron, hear about wood turning, and see his gorgeous pieces in person Thurs 11/7 at 7pm. This is a free artist talk, open to the public. We will have a display of his bowls up for the month of November which you will be able to see during our Open Studios, Tuesdays from 9 to noon & Wednesdays from 6 to 9.
Special thanks to Nancy McCaffrey for bringing Ron and his work to our attention.
Creative Self-Portrait Class Rescheduled For Nov 12,19,&26
This class is so cool, and an absolute steal! Do yourself a favor and sign-up right now. You do not need any special skills to create something really meaningful and beautiful. Local artist Lori Swanson will guide you step by step through a fun exploration of abstract painting, combined with collage and a writing exercize to create your very own artistic expression of yourself.
Here’s what Lori has to say about it:
“When was the last time you allowed yourself to play? Whether it was yesterday or years ago? Now is the time to join me, as we explore how to bring play into art as well as experimenting with various art mediums. Together we will discover types of visual languages and your unique expressions. Exploring our life experiences and mantras, we will create an authentic driven “I Am” abstract art piece. Wait. Abstract? Yep. Come play and find out how fun abstract painting is! This class is 3 sessions long and is $30. It will take place on Tuesday, Nov 12, 19, and 26th from 6:30-8:30pm. “
HERE is a sign-up link. Sign-up today! Space limited.
Wouldn’t It Be Cool If Someone Started a Drumming Circle?
Random guy from interwebs
Yes, Yes it would. Lucky for us, local artist Shawn Gellert has decided to start one.
The first session will be at MontiArts (213 W Broadway) Sun Oct 13th from 1 to 2:30. They will be at the same time, the second Sun of each month.
Here’s what Shawn has to say about her drum circle:
Drumming circles are communal and improvisational groups in which several drummers come together to connect to higher power through music. The Earth has a natural beat at the center of the Earth. It has been scientifically measured. By drumming, this connects us to the heart beat of mother earth. We call it mother earth because all human earth bodies are made of mother earth. The body comes from Earth and the soul comes from our higher power. We sit in a circle and begin drumming. In a few seconds, your stress will diminish and you will feel connected to the love of the universe. You may feel yourself wanting to dance – and so, dance, wildly, calmly, reverently, or whatever! Drum circles raise spiritual energies, bring in healing and joy, and open your connections to earth energies. We ask Spirit to drum with and through us! We welcome all drums, rattles, and music makers, as well as all drummers and dancers at all experience levels. You will find a few instruments to borrow from if you don’t have one. Please sign up to reserve an instrument if one is needed. If we run out of instruments, you can sit and listen and/or dance.
You can sign-up to reserve an instrument by emailing Shawn at shawngellert@yahoo.com
MontiArts To Host CMAB Listening Session Tues Oct 15th
And you’re invited!
The Central MN Arts Board is such an important partner with MontiArts, funding a lot of our activities through grants. Every couple of years, they like to reach out to the people in the communities they serve to get feedback on how their funding has benefitted those areas, and take suggestions about future funding.
Come to MontiArts Tues Oct 15th at noon for some light snacks and to weigh in on what you think about arts funding in Monticello.
Photo Show: Photography In Our Parks
Critter by local potter Wyatt Galinski at West Bridge Park
Open To: Photographers of all ages. Photos must have been taken at a Monticello Park.
Drop Off Framed or Matted Print/s WITH A Hanging Wire ON The Back: At MontiArts Tues Oct 22 from 9 to noon, or Wed Oct 23 from 6 to 9.
OPENING NIGHT RECEPTION: Fri Oct 25th from 7 to 9 pm
Pick Up Your Photos: Tues Nov 12th 9 to noon, or Wed Nov 13th from 6 to 9.
Artist Opportunity: Holiday Art Under $50 Art Show/Sale
Apply by Nov 1st by emailing sue.montiarts@gmail.com
Title Email “Under 50 art Sale.”
Tell/show me what you’d like to display, and how much space you would like. We can’t promise this is what you’ll get, but it will help us decide how to lay out the space. We’ll be in touch through the applicant’s individual emails on further details. Thinking the show will run for the entire month of Dec during our Open Studio hours. We might start Black Fri weekend if enough artists want to set-up and be present for us to be open that weekend. Indicate your willingness in your email.
All sales will need to be made by the exhibiting artists. We will have a system where people can leave a check for purchased artwork, but will not make change etc. Recommend artists use Venmo or similar to collect payments. MontiArts will not handle transactions or be responsible for theft/damage of artwork.
Have you Met Sadie?
This month we’re featuring our very own Sadie Nielsen in this month’s artist profile. Sadie has been on the MontiArts scene since 2019, when she was the first intern MontiArts had, through her senior curriculum program at MCAD. We could see right away we were lucky to get to work with this talented young artist who was a hard worker and always had a smile on her face and friendly helpful attitude. In the ensuing years, we’ve gotten to know Sadie better, as a volunteer, part-time staffer, instructor, and artist.
Here’s some highlights from an interview she was kind enough to give us at MontiArts this week.
SUE: Hi Sadie. I usually ask all artists if they were art kids growing up, and if so, what was it they liked to do. How about you? Were you doing art even as a little kid?
SADIE: All the time! My mom was super crafty. She taught me how to sew on her sewing machine, and we would make these critters all the time. I’d also draw and color all the time, and got really obsessed with drawing horses for a while.
SUE: Oh, girl. Yes!
SADIE: I got so obsessed with them that it sort of took over for a while and eclipsed the art focus, but once I got an actual horse of my own, I went back to drawing quite a bit, doing fantasy drawings, game cards and comic strips…
SUE: When you were younger and making the sewn critters with your mom, were you guys just making them up without a pattern?
SADIE: There was a heavy focus on cats (laughs) which makes a lot sense if you know us, but yeah, just kind of whatever, using our imaginations.
SUE: That is so cool your mom supported her kid’s creativity like that - exploring.
SADIE: For sure. My dad worked in adverstising and was really good at making detailed realistic drawings too, even though his work was in advertising, he was a really talented artist, too. Sometimes I’d get to go to work with him and use all the fancy pens they used to use back in the day before computer illustration, at his big drafting table. I was kind of surrounded by creative people.
SUE: That is so cool. When you were graduating high school, did you know you wanted to go to art school?
SADIE: Not at all! (Laughs) I went through a pretty boy crazy phase that pulled me off track a bit, and also I was told art wasn’t really a career option. That left me feeling very overwhelmed. I took a year off then started community college, where I always took an art elective. I got my AA degree, intending to transfer to a 4 year school, but still having no idea what I wanted to do. I kept hoping it would become aparent as I worked my way through, but I still felt really confused about it. Then I took a painting class with Jane Bassuk —— who became my most favorite professor ever. She told me about MCAD, and told me I was really talented, and actually had what it takes to be a professional artist. That gave me the confidence to apply and get on that track. My confidence really grew as I made my way through there, too.
SUE: I remember being told as a teen the things I was good at weren’t really careers (art and writing), so I should come up woth something else, and I felt really discouraged and lost. Was that how it felt to you too?
SADIE: Yeah, I never really gravitated towards anything else. I was just floating around trying to find something I was good at, but I never was as good at anything else, as I was at being creative. Once I stopped avoiding creativity because it supposedly was unproductive, and pushed into it because it really was what I was good at and fit my personality, the wheels finally began turning. It finally felt ok to not fit the classic mold.
SUE: (Sarcastically) And then came the magical moment in your senior year, when you finally found MontiArts!!
SADIE: (Laughs) Yep! I needed intern hours for graduation. I was working at a group home actually, part-time, and my coworker, who isn’t even an artist or anything, knew about MontiArts and knew about you, so she recommended that I reach out. The rest is history, haha.
SUE: So you graduated from MCAD, then needed to find income. Most artists aren’t able to exit art school and automaticall get their own studio and go right into life as a professional fone artist— they get other jobs. How has it been for you juggling all that? Do you find you have time for your own art? How are you doing art these days?
SADIE: I haven’t actually been paiting for a while now. I have two jobs. What I’m finding is that I am really getting into the public and community art we do here. It seems to really fit my personality. I do have ADHD, and feel I really do better when there is some expectations around my work, and other people on a project where we can fuel each other creatively. I really love that the work I’m doing now is more in the public eye, serving a community. I didn’t get that when I was just making art on my own for myself. I feel my artistic practice has evolved a lot. I no longer am that interested in working on my own with a goal of creating a cohesive collection of my own art. I like being with people.
SUE: Working more collaboratively?
SADIE: Yes! I love being on a team…which is funny because I was always very introverted growing up. I never liked group projects in school. But now that I’m part of a team of people who think like me, who are creative, I love it! I totally love it. I love doing light hearted art now that is community focussed. It gets my creativie gears going.
SUE: Awe, that is so great to hear. Do you think the creative recovery process you’ve gone through, post education, finding your joy in creativity again by working with others, has made you more interested in helping others find that in themselves? By teaching and coming up with classes etc?
SADIE: Definitely! Even in Open Studio, which isn’t a class, just a group of artists who get together to do their own art and visit— when you have a bunch of people in a room who all have creative brains, it almost creates its own beast (laughs). Ideas just start bouncing off the walls that we’d never come up with on our own.
SUE: They start rebounding off each other?
SADIE: Yeah! And if you’re in a class setting it can happen, too. It’s so fun to see someone experience that for the first time.
SUE: Wow, it sounds like your entire experience with art, personally and professionally, has become much more social.
SADIE: It really has. I never knew it could be like this. It’s so motivating. You get inspired to try new materials, and try things you’d never have even thought of before. It removes the intimidation when you have a team of creatives supporting you. I love it here.
