WEST END ARTS | SAINT PAUL, MN

Call for Artists

2011-12-08T17:52:00.001-06:00

Call for Artists

Claddagh Coffee Cafe is making its beautiful brick walls available

to local visual artists interested in showing their work to the community.

Contact Jeffrey for details;

jeffrey@rivergardenyoga.com

Call for Art!

2011-12-08T10:55:00.000-06:00

My name is Dennis Taylor, and I'm one of the owners of The Petite Salon located at 600 W. 7th. I'd love to connect with artists in the neighborhood who would be willing to display their art in our salon on a quarterly basis. We would be more than happy to sell your art on your behalf without charging you a commission. What we would ask of you in return is that you invite 50 people to the opening. We have a holiday open house scheduled for this coming Sunday, Dec. 11th, and it would be great to have some art on the walls in time for people to see your work. Please contact me if you are interested, my phone number and email are listed below. If you have an online portfolio, that would be great as well but not required. Thanks in advance!!

Dennis Taylor
email: hairwacks@msn.com
phone: (651) 295 4802

4th Annual Iron Pour at the Old Schmidt Brewery

2011-09-26T15:47:00.000-05:00

Here we go again folks! Come see the hottest show in town on Saturday, October 7th at 7pm. If you want to reserve at tile, come to the mold making gatherings at the same location Friday night before the pour or on Saturday during the day. More specifics to follow soon!

2011-06-19T22:42:00.000-05:00

2011-05-17T14:08:00.000-05:00

Hi All,

On Wednesday, June 8th, 2011 at 6:30 there will be an informal West End Arts meeting at the Fort Road Federation.

Check in, reconnect with other West End artists, share announcements and discuss what is ahead for WEA.

Hope to see you.

2010-11-29T14:21:00.001-06:00

A piano recital in concert

2010-10-27T07:46:00.000-05:00

Slavonic Selections

A piano recital in concert

A unique cultural offering at the CSPS Sokol Hall, oldest theater in the in the State of Minnesota.

Czech and Slovak Sokol Minnesota is proud to partner with Wells Pianos, 1330 Grand Avenue, in presenting this benefit concert for the hall.

Saturday, October 30 7:00 p.m. C.S.P.S. Sokol Hall, 383 Michigan at West 7th Streets

Suggested donation: $10 adult; $5 student

A concert grand piano will make its appearance in our theater, along with two stellar pianists:

William Yang, Eden Prairie, appears to be a slight, sheepish soft-spoken nine-year-old until he attacks a broad range of composers including Frédéric Chopin for us.

Anton Melnichenko, a graduate student at Hamline University, is studying under Alexander Braginsky. Anton will showcase Czech composers Antonín Dvořák and Bedřich Smetana, as well as Frédéric Chopin.

At the intermission, a selection of Slovak potica and Czech kolache will be available for purchase. The performances will be recorded through support by Hailun USA.

www.sokolmn.org | 651 297 9000

ANOTHER BLAZING SUCCESS FOR THE WEST END!

2010-09-17T12:22:00.004-05:00

West End Artists and Community Turn Out for the 3rd Annual Iron Pour...

The third annual West End Arts and Fort Road Federation sponsored Iron Pour took place last Saturday, September 11. The day capped many hours of preparation by sponsors, coordinators and the neighborhood artists who collaborated on this popular neighborhood annual event. We use the term “artists” with pride and encouragement as most of the contributors were our West End neighbors—families with young children as well as us “mature” creative types who enjoy dabbling in new art mediums.

We were fortunate to have a balmy September evening for the gathering, perfect for lingering with friends around a hot crucible of molten iron.

Expansive “ahhs” and curious “ohhs” were heard in between sets of Dave Thune's rock & roll group, "The Back Seat Boogey Band." The event drew a crowd from the neighborhood, as well as visitors passing by who came to check out the whoopla at the old Schmidt Brewery on West Seventh Street.

Many of our creative friends and neighbors took advantage of the 3rd annual iron pour to create a piece of art that will outlast them by hundreds of years. Sand molds were laid out on 6-foot benches etched with images of birds, sunflowers, Celtic designs, names, and even home addresses. The iron poured several times during the evening completing the cracks and crevices of the tile molds.

These annual iron pours are becoming a Fall tradition in the West Seventh neighborhood. Check back on with the West End Arts blog for information on other West End Arts events throughout the year.

Submitted by Kelly Jones Hicks

Foam Blocks for Iron Pour... Sept 6 Update

2010-09-06T17:52:00.000-05:00

Iron Pour - Foam Blanks available

10" x 4" x 4" foam blanks are available for 3D sculpture. If you're interested in doing a 3D iron sculpture at the pour contact Marty Hicks at 651-492-0899.

THIRD ANNUAL IRON POUR: September 10 & 11, 2010

2010-08-10T11:03:00.009-05:00

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Contact: westendarts@fortroadfederation.org
West End Arts
http://westendarts.blogspot.com/

THIRD Annual West End Iron Pour Lights Up Schmidt Brewery

[Saint Paul - August 10, 2010] West End Arts (WEA) and the Fort Road Federation are sponsoring the third annual West End Arts Iron Pour September 10, 11, and 12 at the Schmidt Brewery on West Seventh.

Community members can choose to sit back and enjoy the pyrotechnics or participate in the pour by creating a design in a scratch tile sand mold. There will also be a limited number of 3D molds poured.

Scratch tile sand molds will be available at the mold-making workshop Saturday, September 4 from noon to 4:00 p.m. at the brewery. Costs for a scratch tile is $15 for West Seventh neighbors and $45 for people outside the neighborhood. 3D molds need to be coordinated ahead of time and will be on a first-come, first-served basis. The cost of 3D castings will be determined on site but will probably range from $45 to $100.

Mold making continues Friday September 10 from 4:00 to 8:00 p.m. and on Saturday, September 11 from noon to 5:00 p.m. If you wish to participate, reserve your scratch tile by emailing betty@fortroadfederation.org or leaving a voice message for her at 651-298-5599. The actual pour is from 7:00 to 10:00 p.m. Saturday.

On Sunday, September 12 we'll break the castings out of the molds and clean up from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.

Visit http://westendarts.blogspot.com for more information on this event.

West End Arts Group: Artists, neighbors, and friends organized to promote and foster arts in the West End, by encouraging and connecting artists, and extending arts into the community through exhibitions, live performances, and educational outreach.

Press Release submitted by Marty Hix: marty@hixwerx.com
and by WEST END ARTS westendarts@fortroadfederation.org

View Larger Map

MINUTES AUG 2 IRON POUR SPECIAL SESSION

2010-08-06T14:56:00.005-05:00

West End Arts http//:westendarts.blogspot.com
Special Session: Iron Pour
August 2, 2010, Padgett’s
NEXT MEETING: MONDAY, SEPT. 6, 7 PM, STUART LOUGHRIDGE, 265 West 7th St., 3rd floor (no elevator), black door.

Attendees: Nance Derby-Davidson, John Davidson, Paulette Meyers-Rich, David Meyers-Rich, Stuart Loughridge, Mary Esch, Kim Berry, Mary Ellen Murphy, Rachel Gorski, Jason Gorski, Marty Hicks

Called to order by Nance at 7:15 PM

Preliminary general discussion:

Prior to 7:15, Deborah handed out copies of the new and current issue of the colorful and informative COMMUNITY REPORTER for the dual purpose of tooting her own horn “DEAR DEB” column and the full color pages containing the ARTIST PROFILES. Cover to cover this is a community newspaper to be proud of.

Paulette shared a number of announcements of artists’ opportunities including Jerome
Foundation Book Arts Mentorships for emerging artists; http://www.mnbookarts.org MCBA is currently taking applications for its Artist co-operative; current and upcoming PRINT exhibit at MCBA (further information will be forthcoming on WEA website with appropriate links).

Nance provided an update on ART IN THE PARK, indicating the deadline has been extended and that she updated the WEA website to reflect that. There was some discussion of the complexity of the grant application process. Marty Hicks had some information based on his work with John Yust who has created blueprints & designs related to this opportunity.

David Rich raised the existing opportunity for involvement in a repeat of the LIBERAL ARTS exhibit hosted by Dave Thune’s gallery 4 years ago. He wasn’t clear on the specifics of this year’s benefit (scheduled late Sept? ) but seemed to think Bob Spaulding would have further information.

Nance announced our new WEA meeting schedule: Every other month (with this Aug. meeting being an additional necessity because the Iron Pour is coming up so soon… September, this year instead of October). Both Nance and Deborah are seeking to hand over their responsibilities to other parties willing to serve as Coordinator/co-Coordinator. Deborah will soon announce her “drop-dead” date and will enthusiastically continue to participate as a participant (yeah, it’s redundant… Everybody’s a critic…) rather than a Coco or MOI.

Upcoming Meeting Schedule:
Monday, September, 6, 2010, 7 PM Stuart Loughridge,
November 2010 David and Paulette Meyers-Rich
January 2011 Jason Gorski
March, Thurs., 3/3/ 2011, 7 PM Padgetts
May 2011 Marty Hicks
July 2011 Someone suggested Matt Brown (we’ll have to confirm his interest)

IRON POUR, dates: September 10 & 11, 2010

Task list: (first 4 items of many….)

1. Write (update) grant application D Padgett (done)
2. Need 30 tiles – 12-15 3D things
3. Dave Thune will need prodding Jason Gorski
4. A garden hose is needed

Nance has an extensive task list that she handed over to Marty Hicks (point person) to manage with any volunteers. Jason Gorski will work with Marty and will update the fabulous poster he created for the last two Iron Pour(s).

Deborah Padgett offered to retrieve last year’s press release, get it to Marty for updates and then send it on to various publications.

Notes were not taken on further discussions between those who will carry out involvement in the Iron Pour from now to completion.

Oh, and this is a cool thing, Mary Ellen Murphy brought her home brewed Pickallily Pickle Relish with Red Pepper and passed out numbers. Then she picked a winning number from a hat and the winner of the prize relish was Nance!

Some individuals had to skedaddle and others stayed to visit, discuss art and other life issues.

Since our meeting the Iron Pour proposal has been updated, submitted to Betty, signed and sent on to the City. We should be hearing soon…

Marty talked with the Iron Heads and they are available to do the pre-Iron Pour Workshop on Saturday, September 4, from noon to 4 PM.

Marty had a conversation with Betty Moran at the Federation – “Since the Federation is the Fiscal Agent for WEA, Betty will be collecting $$ from participants at the Iron Pour. As we collect names, they need to be forwarded to Betty -- she'll be making the "master list". I suggest we up the price for scratch tiles to $15 for West End people and $45 for out of area folks. Cost of 3D molds will be determined on site but will probably range from $45 to $100.” Let’s start spreading the word to make this another successful Iron Pour. More later…

Respectfully submitted,

Deborah Padgett

The Front/Victoria Public Art Project

2010-08-02T17:20:00.002-05:00

District 6 Residents,

The Front/Victoria Public Art project is being redirected due to extended timelines and increased interest from the community. While planters were decided upon at the Land Use Task Force meeting in June, the community will now be able to view additional projects from artists in the area and will have more time to determine which areas will most benefit from public art.

District 6 Planning Council is sending out a Request for Proposals (RFP) to the District Councils, art organizations, and Public Art Saint Paul for distribution to their rosters,posting this information on our website and included a blurb in our newsletter. We feel this is an excellent way to ensure inclusiveness and make sure that our public processes are followed. We will have plenty of time to do the project and only the location needs to go to Public Works by November 1st!

A Steering Committee will be created with residents from the area. The committee will be charged with choosing the artist and design, assisting us with outreach and running the meetings. If you are interested in being on the Steering Committee please think about it and make sure you will have time to attend meetings, etc. The schedule is currently being set.

If you know of an Arts organization or an artiste who may be interested, please pass this along.

Kerry Antrim
Executive Director
213 Front Avenue
Saint Paul, MN 55117
651-488-4485 cell: 651-403-9338

August Special Session, Iron Pour

2010-07-09T15:05:00.000-05:00

July 9, 2010

Dearest West End Artists

We understand summer is busy which might explain low attendance at our monthly meetings. Participation is needed to keep opportunities and enthusiasm alive.

At the May meeting at The Lifted Up art Show we voted to have meetings every other month.

Attendance was so low at our July 5th meeting that the Iron Pour is in peril; therefore we would like to schedule a meeting in August to make specific plans for Iron Pour involvement.

We need a point person to coordinate the Iron Pour event, which is scheduled for Sept. 10th and or 11th. The funds are available and we have a checklist of tasks.

We would love to continue this as a West End Arts event.

Lets not miss this opportunity.

We really need a point person. No experience or skill with Iron Pours is necessary to coordinate this event.

The August Special Session meeting will be Monday, 8/2/10 at 7 P.M. at Deb and Michael Padgetts’ Studio, 274 Goodrich Ave., Saint Paul, MN 55102.

This is a very important meeting so please RSVP to deborahpadgett@mac.com

Please contact Nance or Deb ASAP if you will be our Iron Pour point person. We don’t have to wait till the August meeting to get started.

2010-07-05T15:27:00.000-05:00

Request for Proposal: Public Art Installation for Community Fitness Path

West 7^th/Smith Avenue Neighborhood Task Force

This is a request for bids to design, create and install functional public art that will jumpstart our long-term vision for a community fitness path that enlivens and connects our West 7^th/Smith Avenue neighborhood. Proposal deadline is July 30, 2010.

West 7^th/Smith Avenue Neighborhood Vision

A safe, clean, pedestrian-friendly urban residential neighborhood, with eccentric character, and inviting green/recreational spaces that encourage positive uses and bring people together.

West 7^th/ Smith Avenue Neighborhood Task Force Guiding Principles:

o Attract owner-occupants

o Design new construction in keeping with the spirit, size, scale and materials of current housing stock.

o Preserve historic architectural character where possible.

o Maintain eccentric residential character.

o Encourage innovative design and green structures.

o Increase green and recreational spaces that bring neighbors together.

Community Fitness Path

We see an opportunity to remake the 35E Trailway/bike path from Grand to St. Clair into the kind of green and recreational space that brings neighbors together. We want to make it a safe, attractive, inviting community fitness path, used by all generations, connecting our neighborhood, increasing interaction and building the health of the community. Our concept plan for the path includes the following:

General improvements

o Address the maintenance issues to the sound wall, fencing, and pathway surface.

o Provide care to the existing vegetation, removing overgrowth and stumps.

o Improve access/visibility at each end of the path.

o Add additional access point at Oneida and Superior creating a stairway exercise station at this location and thin vegetation for better visibility to the path.

o Provide low maintenance gardens or landscape areas along the path such as wildflowers or prairie grass.

o Provide community gardens such as flower plots and vegetable gardens. Consider creating a community nursery where neighbors can bring extra plants from their own overgrown gardens to be tended and shared with other neighbors.

o Consider how to include public art, sculpture, mural, etc.

o Create places for casual interaction among neighbors. Create places where neighbors feel pride and ownership with the community.

Fitness Course

o Design exercise stations along the path for different ages and conditions. Lifecycle use, from children to elderly. The station could provide a number of different types of exercise.

o Stations should be accessible for all levels of use – from casual use to serious fitness course enthusiasts.

o Stations should be visible within the neighborhood for better interaction and safety. They should tend to focus at the pathway access points.

o Explore options for providing stations created by different designers and artists (with preference to artists within the West 7^th community). Establish material and durability standards. Another option would be to have a group of artists/designers collaborate on the whole project.

We have begun reclaiming the path through a community-organized spring clean up. The adjacent Open School playground and yard are scheduled for reconstruction this summer 2010.

Phase One - RSVP Public Art Concept

We have an opportunity through the RSVP project (Residential Street Vitality Project) being implemented this year to install public art. We intend for this to serve as the first phase of the community fitness path creation.

We hope to install fitness station clusters at two separate spots at either end of the Garfield/Western/Harrison triangle. Each will include as many as 3 "fitness stations". One (based on budget and style) of the stations in each cluster will include more elaborate artistic design, while the others will be more functional stations, built with interesting metalwork/joints, local stone and other sort of whimsical ideas.

In addition to the exercise stations the following could also be considered as a part of the public art funding:

1. A means of explaining use the individual exercise stations… this could be some type of signage or possibly lettering embossed in the concrete path.

2. Information kiosks, or panels along the sound wall for postings of activities, etc.

3. Garden design, pathway designs (small paths, walkways, surfaces at the exercise stations and through landscaped areas).

4. Benches or other places to sit near the exercise stations.

Proposal & Project Timeline

– Request for bids issued

– Bid deadline

–Task force review bids/proposal

- Final plan to Public Works

September 30, 2010 –Preferred completion date

July 1, 2011 – Public Works project completion deadline

Budget

Project budget: $22,500 total

This includes design*, creation, and installation, as well as installation of any landscape material on the ground by the stations.

*Design cost must be less than 10% of total budget to be eligible.

Decision Criteria

The Task Force will use the following criteria in making the final selection for this project:

40% Will the design use the existing budget and resources effectively in order for this project to serve as a significant foundation for our larger goal for the 35E Trailway/Bike path?

30% Does the design reflect our neighborhood Vision?

30% Does the project include the work of local artists? Projects from artists

living in the West 7th community, or projects that include an artist from West

7th community are strongly encouraged

Bid submission

Deadline: July 30, 2010

Proposals to include:

c Drawings of the proposed project as completed

c Narrative description of project location, objectives, concept and materials (1 pg max)

c Budget, including at minimum line items for design, creation, installation and landscaping.

c Complete contact information

c A brief description of the experience of each member of the art team.

c Any supporting documentation you deem important for Task Force consideration

Submit proposals to:

W. 7th/Smith Task Force/Public Art

c/o Fort Road Federation

974 7th Street West

St Paul, MN 55102-3557

Complete proposals must be received 5 pm on Friday, July 30, 2010.

Questions should be submitted in writing to one or both of the e-mail

addresses following. Questions and answers will be made available to all interested parties:

Marit Brock, maritbrock@gmail.com

Sarah Gleason, sarahgleason@mac.com

JULY MEETING OF WESTEND ARTS, Monday, July 5, 7 PM

2010-06-29T09:40:00.001-05:00

Nance Derby's studio

Acme Scenic Arts, 941 West Seventh Street.
Agenda Items so far:
Iron pour
Iron pour show

contact Nance with any additions. westendarts@fortroadfederation.org

the new/old west seventh

2010-06-02T17:13:00.001-05:00

Subject: We're a Feature Article in THE LINE!

THE LINE, a new online magazine: West End Arts is the subject of a feature article in this "launch" issue. Looks like a quality publication and we're thrilled to be part of it. Take a look and see what you think.

The Line http://www.thelinemedia.com/
The Line tells the story of the new economy in The Twin Cities -- a narrative of creative people and businesses, new development, cool places to live, and the best places to work and play.

Each Wednesday, the online magazine presents original stories, video and photography to tell that story. Get The Line free in your e-mailbox each week. Sign up here.

We want to hear your thoughts and ideas for The Line. Please share them here.

Managing Editor Jon Spayde was an editor for Northwest Airlines Portfolio, Departures, and Travel and Leisure in New York. After moving to the Twin Cities, he worked at Utne Reader for thirteen years. He was arts and culture editor of the first Utne web site (1995) and co-author of Visionaries: People and Ideas to Change Your Life and Salons: The Art of Conversation. In 2008 he published How to Believe, a collection of profiles of religious believers, with Random House. His articles have appeared in publications ranging from ID and Art in America to City Pages and Experience Life. He lives in Saint Paul with his wife, business coach Laurie Phillips, and cat, Kerfuffle.

Managing Photographer Bill Kelley is a freelancer based in Minneapolis, specializing in images of people, lifestyles, and travel. He has made images around the Midwest, shooting everything from rodeos to CEOs. His clients include Minneapolis—St. Paul magazine, St. Olaf College, St. Catherine University, MinnPost, ADC Communications, and Novartis. He strives to become more fluid, more expressive, and more creative in his craft.

http://www.thelinemedia.com/

LIFTED UP...

2010-04-18T08:51:00.002-05:00

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

LIFTED UP: An exhibit of art work by West End Arts, http://westendarts.blogspot.com Hosted by Gloria Dei Lutheran Church http://www.gloriadeistpaul.org/ and Curated by West End Artists Michael and Deborah Padgett, http://www.padgettstudios.com

Gloria Dei Lutheran Church, 700 South Snelling Avenue, Saint Paul, Minnesota 55116, will host an exhibit of inspiring and uplifting works of art by seventeen Saint Paul artists during the months of April and May, 2010. The exhibit theme: "LIFTED UP" reflects a sense of being spiritually/emotionally lifted, inspired, worshipful and/or awestruck. Images of nature, community, animal life, growth and inspiration are included in the body of work on exhibit from April 13, 2010 through the end of May. Much of the work will be available for sale through direct contact with individual artist. For more information please contact Deborah or Michael Padgett at padgetts@padgettstudios.com For church open hours please refer to the website at http://www.gloriadeistpaul.org/

EXHIBIT DATES: APRIL 13 – May 31, 2010
Opening Reception: Sunday, April 25, 9:30 - 10:15 A.M.

Artist/Community Reception: May 6, 6-8 P.M.

Artists:

Marty Hicks, Halle O'Falvey, Danielle James, Spencer Silver, Barbara Brayman McMullen, David Rich, Matt Brown, Maryellen Murphy, Gina Ruppert, Dawn Kelly, Steve Murray, Janine Olson, Deborah & Michael Padgett, Nance Derby-Davidson, Lori Harris, Dan Kaniess.

2010-04-06T18:03:00.001-05:00

The April West End Arts meeting will be held at Degidio's Restaurant, 425 West Seventh Street, Thursday April 15th.
Hope to see you all there. Call Nance if you have any items to get on the agenda. 612-709-2777.

MARCH 4, 2010 WEA MEETING MINUTES

2010-03-14T16:40:00.002-05:00

WEA Minutes & Follow-up Actions: March 4, 2010. These minutes will be posted on the website. http://westendarts.blogspot.com/ as well as emailed to our regular mailing list.
March 4, 2010
Padgetts, 7 P.M.
Next Meeting, Monday, April 5, 2010
LOCATION TO BE DETERMINED: ANY VOLUNTEERS?
[Side note: Deborah Padgett will be out of town on April 5… Minute takers out there?]

Attendees: Dawn Kelly, JoAnna Craighead, Lori Harris, Dan Wing, Janine Olson, Janet Groenert, Kent Petersen, Mary Esch, Joe Landsberger, Mattt Brown,
Halle O’Falvey, Michael Padgett, Steve Murray, Kim Berry, Nance Derby, John Davidson, Marty Hicks, Deborah Padgett.

westendarts@fortroadfederation.org
website: http://westendarts.blogspot.com/

First order of business was discussion of attempts to hold an Iron Pour exhibit at Dave Thune’s Gallery. Matt, Nance, and Marty reported they hadn’t had a chance to call David Thune to find out if this opportunity exists. I think it was Nance who said Dave Thune wants to wait to hold the exhibit and hold it closer to next Iron Pour. We still have $700 in the Iron Pour budget and city wants to know what to do with the money. Have to spend $ to get reimbursed. Nance wants volunteers to engage in publicity, catering (Janet Groenet said she would cater), Will report back to larger group.

Second, June 19 Art Sale to be held in the Federation Yard. Halle O’Falvey will display quilts on the line to create a line of demarcation for the exhibit. There will be booths available. Halle is the point person. Contact her at: halle.ofalvey@yahoo.com The show will be first come, first serve due to limited space. WEA owns a pop-up canopy that can be put to use at this exhibit. The exhibit coincides with the West End Gardeners show. Halle will send out a call for artists. [Follow-up action: CALL was sent to all on mailing list on Monday, March 8, 2010.]

Third order of business: Art in the Gardens: Troubadours, Spoken Word, Plein d’aire painters wanted. Attendees were asked who might be our representative to attend West End Gardeners meetings. Deborah mentioned that Kent Petersen said he would connect with her and with Nance shortly about WEA involvement in Garden Show, Deborah said she expected to attend future meetings or West End Gardeners since she and Michael’s property will be a participant in the show.

There was discussion about having a plaquard created to denote the presence of artists in the garden and make visitors aware of our existence and purpose. Marty Hicks will make iron tripod stands. Marty Hicks will make display stands and seek reimbursement . He estimated costs somewhere around $200 and Kent Petersen said that funding is available in the West End Gardeners Budget. Betty forwarded a reimbursement form to Nance. Nance suggested using the classic artist’s palette shape for a sign indicating the hours artists will be in given gardens. Will report back. 12 to 15 gardens are featured in this show.Mary Esch is working with West End Gardeners to recruit artists to be in the gardens on June 19, 2010 during the garden show. She asked Deborah Padgett to send out her CALL FOR ARTISTS, which Deborah has done twice. Please contact Mary at mryesch@netzero.com for further information and/or refer to the email “Call” you received.

Deborah and Michael Padgett are working with Tami Wold so that WEA artists will exhibit at Gloria Dei Lutheran Church, April 13 – May 31, 2010. A CALL FOR ENTRIES has been created in both hard copy and email and has been distributed. A graphic was created for use as a 8/5” x 14” poster and can be used for other publicity in various shapes and sizes. The Padgetts will make up about 20 posters for distribution in the community. The Poster has been posted on the West End Arts website/blog as has the CALL FOR ENTRIES. Jpeg of Poster is attached here. [One correction: April 25 reception hours are from (9:30 AM to 10:15 AM and not 9-11AM… we will correct the poster...Done!)

The WEA Guidelines have been finalized and accepted by the Federation. Rachel and Nance will post on web. (pending)

Janine Olson made contact with Mississippi Market and is currently showing her work there. Be sure to stop in and take a look.

The W7th Business Association: Group seems to agree we should have representation/ attendance at these meetings but wasn’t able to make it happen in February. Kent Petersen said he attended the W 7th Enhancement Coalition On March 4. Said they are aiming toward Spring Clean Up, May 15, Saturday. The next meeting is Thursday, March 25, 11 AM at Mancini’s.

COMMUNITY REPORTER Editor called Deborah Padgett and asked her to urge artists to submit information to have their profiles included in the paper. He said the paper will be using color print in the future and the Artist Profile section will be a color feature. Deborah sent out an email request to our membership. Contact Jerry at communityreporter@yahoo.com. Refer to email for specifics.

The above concludes the formal business of the meeting. Well-attended meeting ended without mention of a location for next month’s meeting. PLEASE MAKE A SUGGESTION.

Respectfully submitted, Deborah Padgett

2010-02-28T13:58:00.004-06:00

Call for Entries
WEST END ARTISTS
Gloria Dei Lutheran Church
http://www.gloriadeistpaul.org/
Curators: Deborah and Michael Padgett
http://www.padgettstudios.com

EXHIBIT TITLE: LIFTED UP

EXHIBIT DATES: APRIL 13 – May 31, 2010
Opening Reception: Sunday, April 25, 9-11 A.M.
Artist/Community Reception: May 6, 6-8 P.M.

ARTIST ELIGIBILITY:
All West End, near West End, Saint Paul Visual Artists. Please submit, ASAP and prior to Saturday, March 20, 2010, via email to Deborah and Michael at padgetts@padgettstudios.com. Contact us with questions at deborahpadgett@mac.com, michaelpadgett@me.com
.
• Submit up to five (5) digital (jpeg) images of 2-D work: drawings, paintings, prints, water-colors, mixed-media, photography, ceramic relief, metal relief. All work must look professional in its presentation, that is to say, though you may frame your own work, it must look polished and professional for presentation. No un-framed drawings, paintings, photographs or prints will be accepted. There is space for up to four large-scale canvas pieces on durable stretchers or hung by grommets (picture framing not required in this case). The bulk of available gallery space will accommodate work up to 36” wide by 60” tall.
• Please submit a one-page artist statement.
• Please be sure all work is labeled with your name, title of the piece, medium and dimensions.
Venue: Gloria Dei Lutheran Church, Gallery at Fellowship Hall. The venue consists of wall space to accommodate up to four large scale (up to 6 feet wide, by 8 feet height) 2-D images/work, excluding relief sculpture weighing more than 30 lbs. ) and space for approximately 25 smaller scale pieces not to exceed 36 inches width and 60 inches height. The Gallery is in an easily accessible area of the church and the area is used for a variety of classes, meetings and gatherings and is kept open through much of the daytime and evening during the week. The church cannot provide insurance for the exhibited work but has a long time record of exhibiting fine art without incident. Work may be sold through direct contact with the individual artist. Artists will be expected to deliver and retrieve their work to/from Gloria Dei or make special arrangements with Deborah and/or Michael. More on this once work has been selected for the exhibit…
WHAT:
Exhibit of 2-D artwork created by West End Artists at Gloria Dei Lutheran Church Gallery. The proposed theme of the exhibit will be “LIFTED UP” in the sense of being spiritually/emotionally lifted, inspired, worshipful and/or awestruck. Images of nature, community, animal life all fit this theme. Abstract, non-representational work is highly applicable because it lifts and inspires (or comes from a sense of visitation outside the self…) much the same as music and dance represent this theme. [No images of violence, rage, nudity or explicit sexuality will be considered for this venue]. The church will hold an opening reception for the artists and congregation on a Sunday, April 25, from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. An evening reception is scheduled for May 6, (exact time to be determined).
WHO:
Michael and Deborah Padgett will curate the exhibit on behalf of WEST END ARTS in connection with Ms. Tami Wold of Gloria Dei Lutheran Church.

February 1, 2010 MINUTES & FOLLOW-UP ACTIONS

2010-02-15T09:54:00.000-06:00

WEA Minutes & Follow-up Actions: February 1, 2010 . These minutes will be posted on the website. http://westendarts.blogspot.com/ as well as emailed to our regular mailing list. Please review to determine if you’ve made a commitment to the larger group.
February 1, 2010
Padgetts, 7 P.M.
Next Meeting, Thursday, March 4, 2010,
DeGidio's Restaurant
www.degidios.com
425 7th Street West
Saint Paul, MN 55102
(651) 291-7105

Attendees: Sarah Prentice, Lia Rivamonte, Mattt Brown, Makea McCoy,
Halle O’Falvey, Michael Padgett, Steve Murray, Deb Fisher, Sheila Dickinson, Kim Berry, Maryellen Murphy, Paulette Myers-Rich, David Rich, Nance Derby, John Davidson, Marty Hicks, Rachel Gorski, Jason Gorski, Deborah Padgett .

westendarts@fortroadfederation.org
website: http://westendarts.blogspot.com/

First order of business was discussion of attempts to hold an Iron Pour exhibit at Dave Thune’s Gallery. Matt, Nance, Jason and David Rich will decide together who will call David Thune to find out if this opportunity exists. Will report back to larger group.

Second, June 19 Art Sale to be held in the Federation Yard. Halle O’Falvey will display quilts on the line to create a line of demarcation for the exhibit. There will be booths available. Halle is the point person. Contact her at: halle.ofalvey@yahoo.com The show will be first come, first serve due to limited space. WEA owns a pop-up canopy that can be put to use at this exhibit. The exhibit coincides with the West End Gardeners show.

Third order of business: Art in the Gardens: Troubadours, Spoken Word, Plein d’aire painters wanted. Attendees were asked who might be our representative to attend West End Gardeners meetings. Deborah mentioned that Kent Petersen said he would connect with her and with Nance shortly about WEA involvement in Garden Show, Deborah said she expected to attend future meetings or West End Gardeners since she and Michael’s property will be a participant in the show.

There was discussion about having a plaquard created to denote the presence of artists in the garden and make visitors aware of our existence and purpose. Marty Hicks offered to come up with a concept and maybe make some markers. Will report back. 12 to 15 gardens are featured in this show.

We then discussed an exhibit opportunity at Gloria Dei Lutheran Church. Mary Esch established contact with Tami Wold who requested the show and has turned the opportunity over to Nance and/or Deb to pursue. Michael and Deborah offered to check it out, meet with Tami, look at the space and come back to group with a proposal. {Michael and Deb have a meeting scheduled with Tami Wold on Monday, February 8 at 9:30 AM. She seems to still be enthusiastic about a WEA show} There was some discussion introduced by Lia about the inclusive/exclusive nature of exhibits WEA pursues. There are varying points of view on this which were discussed. Lia thought further about what she had wanted to say and sent an email to Nance, Deb, Paulette & David on Tuesday morning. I add the contents of that email as an addendum to these minutes*.

The WEA Guidelines have been finalized and accepted by the Federation. Rachel and Nance will post on web.

Grants information was discussed. There are upcoming opportunities. Paulette mentioned the Legacy $ available from the State Arts Board. Check their website for further information.

Lia Rivamonte raised some questions about our status as a 501C. We are a committee of the Federation which is our parent or umbrella 501C. She also suggested maybe someone would want to pursue further opportunities for exhibits at Mississippi Market, perhaps with a theme of “Sustenance”. Kim and Mary Ellen expressed some interest in reconnecting with Mississippi Market and will contact Mary Esch to learn who the contact person is.

Other exhibit opportunities were mentioned, among them, The Day by Day Café, contact person there: Jeanie.
The W7th Business Association meets at 11 AM, Feb 4… Seems there will be some discussion of Public Art. Held at United Family Medical. Halle will attend and report back. Nance has some information on the mission…

The above concludes the formal business of the meeting/salon. A full-scale party ensued with the final participants leaving the premises in a magical, moonlit snowfall.

FOLLOW UP ACTIVITIES IN RESPONSE TO FEB. 1 MEETING ARE:
1. Rachel Gorski is prepared to upload approved guidelines to blog for easy access for all WEA participants: This document, which was carefully drafted and refined by numerous volunteer contributors and reviewers, and approved by the Fort Road Federation, describes in detail:
* WEA's mission
* Group membership (open to everyone) and coordinator/assistant roles
* The process of proposing and producing a show, and the roles to be performed by everyone involved in the show
* Communication standards (e-mail, Web sites, etc.)
* Basic etiquette within the group, at group events, and at any event where you represent the group
2. The Padgetts met with Tami Wold, Curator for Gloria Dei Lutheran Church Gallery. They will submit a proposal based on WEA Guidelines via email to WEA members. Because Gloria Dei would like the show to open mid-April and run through May, 2010, there will not be a chance to discuss the proposal at a monthly meeting. There is a necessity to move quickly to accomplish inclusion in church calendar. We will try to accomplish all this business via email communication.

3. Padgetts attended West End Gardeners meeting on February 10. Gathered information on needed publicity, deadlines, contact persons for sale at Federation and garden artists, troubadors, etc. MARY ESCH has graciously offered to coordinate artists in the gardens and appropriate publicity. She is in touch with the appropriate parties and will send an email via Coordinator and Co-Coordinator to recruit interested parties. The deadline for inclusion in the catalogue is the END OF FEBRUARY (THAT’S THIS MONTH) so, once again, this will have to be accomplished via email communication rather than at a meeting. As discussed at our Feb 1 meeting, Halle O’Falvey will work with West End Gardeners on the plant and art sale. Marty Hicks will propose a plaquard pointing to the artists in the gardens.

• Addendum:
Hi All:

First, a huge thanks to the Padgetts whose gracious hospitality was much appreciated and thanks to Nance for continuing to coordinate and facilitate these meetings. It was really a fun time and I learn more about everybody and the neighborhood every time we meet.

I don't seem to have the whole email list but this message is intended for everyone (West End Arts). I've been thinking about what I said last night and want to lend some clarity to my ideas about the exclusive vs. inclusivity of exhibition opportunities regarding the group as well as grants and any other opportunities available to groups or individuals who identify as a member of West End Arts. (It may just be that the guidelines eliminate the need to say any of this--if so, sorry.)

Exhibition Opportunities: Re: Miss. Mkt.: whomever wishes to show there be it a group or individuals should take it upon themselves to make contact with Miss. Mkt. Whether it is set up as a 4-wk showing or whatever time is allotted, it should be one of a variety of chances to get exposure and possibly sell work for members of the group (whether it is exclusively West End Arts or not is up to the Co-op.) If there are funds to print PR and Marketing materials from the West End coffers, all the better. Otherwise, it is up to the individual artist or artists to communicate, curate, market, install and take down the work. If there are funds to help with reception costs ($40-$50), WEA should help. WEA should agree to support the artists(s) by spreading the word via email marketing, social networking, the Federation and attend the reception. If it is a show in which there is a general Call for Artists that includes the whole WEA, i.e. posted on the website, emailed out, etc. then a WEA Team should be appointed (or self-appointed). This team will recruit volunteers for further support and take care of PR and marketing, help install, arrange the reception and de-install the work.

If in the case of a venue like Gloria Dei, Deborah and Michael, who stepped up to the plate, should be able to do a show under the auspices of WEA in a way they feel most comfortable. However, the mission of WEA must be considered and if only a few artists are going to be involved I would argue that there should still be a public Call for Artists with the understanding that only 2 or 3 will be selected to exhibit along with Deborah and Michael and that this work will be selected with criteria created by the volunteer coordinators (they are the ones who volunteered their time and energy, after all). I really don't think that it should be a done deal who will participate if it's under the auspices of WEA. It would make WEA seem like an exclusive group that does not offer opportunities to the entire community of artists.

If there isn't already one, I suggest that an Exhibition Guidelines be created for those who undertake the coordination of a show. There would be a few differences between a general Call for Artists show and one that an individual would need to help him or her with this planning but it would be helpful.I would be glad to help out with this.

The only other thing I would add is: I think it would be a good idea before every meeting to state WEA's mission. I think there is a tendency for some artists to get hung up on the idea of selling work. This, of course, is an important goal for many of us but it should not be considered the main goal for WEA as a group.It is only one reason to come together. There are lots of others. Let us remind one another why WEA exists and keep in mind the larger vision.

If there are grant opportunities for WEA participants, they should be listed on the website; if there are exhibition opportunities down the road, they should be listed, if there are shows coming up involving West enders, there should place where these things are prominently placed on the blog (or re-iterate that people are welcome to announce their stuff. So that no one person is stuck with the job of updating the blog site, make sure to invite people to participate in this. Another suggestion: publish the meeting agenda.

Best,
Lia

NO JANUARY MEETING: NEXT MEETING FEBRUARY 1

2010-01-07T08:34:00.002-06:00

Seems we've mostly been caught up in holidays, snowdrifts and year-end commitments... Time got away from us and we decided to wait to have our next meeting in February. Let's try a Salon at the Padgett's, 274 Goodrich Ave, St. Paul, MN 55102 (across W. 7th from the Day by Day Cafe). Let's catch up with each other and share ideas. Bring work, ideas, wine, beer, (your favorite beverage) and snacks. 7 P.M.

Hope to see you there!

December Meeting

2009-12-03T13:41:00.002-06:00

The December meeting of West End Arts will be held at the Saint Paul Gallery, 943 West Seventh

Street, Saint Paul. The meeting will run from 7pm-9pm on Thursday December 10th. We will be planning the Iron Pour show among other things. Hope to see you all.

Meeting Minutes: Saturday, Nov. 7, 2009

2009-11-08T09:15:00.002-06:00

Thank you, Rachel for taking notes in my absence. As MOI I've taken the liberty of reviewing and editing the notes.

Deborah Padgett, Co-Coordinator and Minister of Information
WEA meeting, Saturday Nov. 7, 2009, Mississippi Market. 7pm.

Present: Lia, Matt, Nance, John, David, Paulette, Mary, Gail, Stewart, Steve, Rachel, Jason. Am I missing anyone? The stranger eating dinner next to the wall. (Was Joe Landsberger there?)

Background music: 80s light rock. Toto, Pat Benatar, Joe Jackson.

In the Minister of Information's absence, Rachel takes notes.

Discussion:
Mary was contacted by someone at Gloria Dei Church in Highland, offering us gallery space for a show. Stewart and David offered to help to an extent. Nance will post a call for interested volunteers.
Stewart doesn't have a car, and David confirmed the spelling of "Dei."

Nance has reserved space at the St. Paul Gallery for a showing of Iron Pour objets d'art in January. Jason, Paulette, and Matt offered help. Nance will kick things off with an e-mail to participants, giving them a heads-up about the show.

Joe Landsberger is helping spearhead a "West End Beautification Coalition" and suggested West End Arts send a liaison to their meetings, which can sometimes take place at 11am on weekday mornings, when most of us are earning our keep. Everyone veritably bursts with ideas for beautification that far surpass plastic likenesses of Charlie Brown and Lucy. (I thought those were fiberglass?) But is anyone interested in attending the meetings? Anyone? Nance is too busy with work right now. David's traveling a lot for family reasons. Maybe we should take turns! Okay, great--so who can go to the first meeting? Any takers? (MOI researching this and will get back to you... also, specifics about 1st meeting).I didn't hear who finally got tagged "it," because I was gabbing with Jason. He wants to create a life-size inflatable replica of the now defunct Excel coal power plant, that dances around like those huge stick men. "It would be terrifying!" he asserts, eyes gleaming.

December meeting! Who wants to host it? Mary, or someone, tries to rope Rachel and Jason into it, but Rachel is unyielding. Nance will reserve space (again!) at the St. Paul Gallery.

Mary would like to organize another show at Mississippi Market, ideally to run immediately after this one. As far as she knows, the walls are free. David likes the idea of a curated show, to some extent, to introduce the "possibility of focus." Lia expresses interest in curating a "Tasty" show at the Mississippi Market, art inspired by food (Jason's idea), but that would be at some uncertain point in the future. What about for the very next show, something we could slap together in a hurry and put up right after the current show comes down? Oh, well, when you put it that way ... hmmm ... maybe if we drop the theme/focus idea. (These artists, they're all over the place.) Show of hands, who has something they could contribute to the next non-thematic Mississippi Market show? (Hands rise.) Okay then! We've got a show! Mary, once again, offers to coordinate it. (Thank you, Mary.) "Maybe I could get some help," Mary demurely suggests. Nance and David take pity on her.

Meeting adjourned.

Monthly Meeting

2009-11-07T14:17:00.003-06:00

West End Arts monthly meeting is tonight, November 7th at 7:00 p.m..

This will be an abbreviated meeting following the Artists' Reception for "Reflections on the West End" at Mississippi Market, 1500 West Seventh street. Hope to see you tonight.

SECOND ANNUAL IRON POUR A SUCCESS! Photos will amaze you...

2009-10-15T20:51:00.001-05:00

Second annual Iron Pour a success! While Dave Thune's rock & roll band, "The Back Seat Boogey Band," provided the background music, the Ironhead team, dressed in futuristic silver trench coats with equally other-worldly sci-fi helmets, popped the cork on the iron furnace Saturday night.

Despite cool temperatures, artisans and community members huddled together in anticipation to watch the golden liquid flow into their carefully prepared sand molds. The fire department was on hand in case the fiery sparks flew too far and fly they did. It was exciting evening, with everyone's mold getting a dose of hot iron.

Sunday, the sand molds were cracked opened to "ooohs" and "ahhhhhs" as sand was brushed away from the iron. Those who participated in the pour walked away with a prized piece of personal art.

But wait! There's more you can do to make your iron sculpture really shine. Here are a few ideas from Marty Hicks, West End sculptor and metalworker.

* Wire brush the heck out your casting
* Cut, grind, or file off any unwanted material
* Sand the top surfaces to bring out the highlights
* Warm the casting with a propane torch or on your range, and wax it (Johnson's Paste Wax works)
* Or just leave it rough ...

Marty Hix submitted the above.

(Without whom this success would never have happened... Thanks Marty!)

Photography by Fotodog. www.ifotodog.com

Meeting Minutes: October 5, Acme Fine Arts

2009-10-13T16:46:00.001-05:00

WEA Minutes
October 5, 2009
7 P.M.

Attendees: Jayne Lindesmith, Mary Esch, Kim Berry, Maryellen Murphy, Paulette Myers-Rich, David Rich, Nance Derby, John Davidson, Marty Hicks, Rachel Gorski, Jason Gorski, Deborah Padgett

Meeting began with an Iron Pour Poster Pitch and folks agreed to plaster them all over the place and all agreed that was a really good thing!

At 7:21 PM Nance opened the meeting with the first agenda item: West End’s Arts on the Web. She discussed the history wherein it was determined it would be easiest to create and maintain a “blog” as opposed to a full-blown web page. There has existed some confusion as to how to use and who should be able to use this site. There are actually two blogs connected by links. If any WEA member wants something added to the blog please contact Nance Derby, WEA Coordinator or Deborah Padgett, WEA Co-Coordinator and Minister of Information (MOI). They share this email address: westendarts@fortroadfederation.org The blog sites are also linked to the Fort Road Federation website. Jason Gorski raised the possibility that interested members who want to create a germane blog can certainly do so, then let us know and we can link it to the WEA blog sites.

The second order of business had to do with the finalized (sort-of) guidelines created by Nance, Paulette, Mary E and Pinky (Rachel). The guidelines will go to Betty at the Federation for the Monday meeting. The Federation will look them over and give feedback. If anyone from WEA wants to author an addendum for inclusion in the guidelines, please write something up and submit it. Nance mentioned the guidelines were drafted based loosely on KFAI volunteer rules and expectations. If anyone wants a copy of the guidelines please contact Nance and she will email them to you as an attachment. A vote was taken to approve the guidelines and all present said “Aye”.(or something that sounded and looked very much like same)

There was a bit of discussion regarding Art as Business and the changing art market and challenges it presents in the current economy (not that it’s every been a simple thing to market fine art…) General discussion, some nostalgia and reminiscences of Minneapolis Warehouse district and the good old days and some talk of attracting a gallery and the huge commissions they need to take to stay in business and how likely/unlikely any given artist may be in attracting the uninterrupted attention of a dealer or agent or patron to the extent of being able to earn a living (or anything at all for that matter) from their heart’s work… that is, art making. We talked about the future possibility of getting the St. Paul Art Crawl map to include the West End, since, someone pointed out, it’s no further from city center than the lofts and galleries currently featured as the map’s epicenter. Padgett talked about pros and cons and costs and the like of setting up a merchant services account to accept credit cards. The Padgett’s were trying out full participation in the Art Crawl this time and will report back how it went.

Jason Gorski updated the group on his progress in establishing a 2nd annual art show at the Pilney. There’s another group in there doing a monthly collaborative… The W. 7th Collective. Jason will work with the Boones (great people). Committed to approach them next week. There was talk that the show would not necessarily have to be at the PIlney. If we’re going to call it the 2nd annual something or other it would perhaps have to take place before the end of the year. Maybe early Spring will have to be soon enough. JASON COMMITTED TO NAILING DOWN THE PILNEY.

Next we were updated on Iron Pour details. Quite a long list of people requesting tiles. Marty called about dumpsters and biffys. It was determined participants outside of neighborhood would pay $50 to cast something because grant is for neighborhood residents. Jason offered to make a sign out of plywood. It was determined where sign would be placed. Someone agreed to collect $$$$. Mary Esch brought in the WEA banner. Mary Esch agreed to take photos which will, very shortly be published on this blog along with glowing reviews of the occasion. Nance talked a bit about she and K. Thune’s connection with Bridgeview/Lynwood and/or Monroe schools to help with scratch tiles… paring mainstreamed kids with non-mainstreamed kids. Kudos to Katy Thune who, we were told, is a real whipper-snapper and really got onto the school kid connection aspect of this event. They’ve created a PowerPoint presentation and the future looks bright for future collaborative effort.

Mary Esch, curator of “Reflections on the West End: Mississippi Market Exhibit” updated the group on the show set up and how it all went. Several artists had the opportunity to stop by and see the show and felt very positively about it. There will be an opening reception on November 5 from 5-7 PM. Mary will notify us of the details. Deborah P. volunteered to ask her husband if he would do the graphic stuff for 2 20” x 16” posters to have printed at Kinkos (Mary volunteered to pay for them) detailing the nature of the exhibit, WEA’s mission, and advertising the reception. (Michael has since agreed to do this and will create the poster by mid-week after the Art Crawl). Halle, Nance & Maryellen offered to bring hors d’oeuvres . (Mary has since sent out an email detailing Mississippi Market’s catering offers and how we will partner up to increase the volume of eats…)

Respectfully submitted, Deborah Padgett (MOI) Co-coordinator

Iron Pour Scratch Tile Reservations

2009-10-09T16:05:00.000-05:00

As we prepare for the West End Arts Second Annual Iron Pour the public response has been a scorching success. We are happy to announce all scratch tiles have been reserved. We regret

we don't have an unlimited supply and hope you will all come out to see the event.

RETURN OF IRON POUR" LIGHTS UP SCHMIDT BREWERY

2009-10-09T16:04:00.001-05:00

West End Arts (WEA) and the Fort Road Federation are sponsoring the second annual West End Arts Iron Pour October 9, 10 and 11 at the Schmidt Brewery on West Seventh.

Community members can choose to sit back and enjoy the pyrotechnics or participate in the pour by creating a design in a scratch tile sand mold.

Scratch tile sand molds will be available at the mold-making session on Friday, October 9 from 5:00 to 8:00 p.m.

A second mold making session is scheduled for Saturday, October 10 from noon to 3:00 p.m. If you wish to participate, reserve your scratch tile by emailing: westendarts@fortroadfederation.org.

The actual pour is Saturday, October 10 from 7:00 to 10:00 p.m.

Live music provided by Dave Thune's classic sixties rock & roll band, "The Back Seat Boogey Band." Hot dogs and refreshments will be sold.

On Sunday, October 11 there will be pulling of the sculptures and clean up at 11:00 a.m.

View Larger Map

Next Meeting: October 5, 7 PM

2009-09-19T11:17:00.007-05:00

Next gathering is scheduled for Monday, October 5, 7 PM at Acme Scenic Arts, 941 West 7 thSt. St. Paul, MN.

If you would like to add an item to the agenda, contact Nance at: westendarts@fortroadfederation.

See you there!

Iron Pour Workshop a Blast!

2009-09-19T10:56:00.011-05:00

About 15 aspiring alchemists met at Marty's studio on September 17 to learn about creating molds for high-relief sculptures. Marty ably led the workshop. Many questions were answered, and now we know the parameters of what we can sculpt that will translate well to a mold at the Iron Pour the weekend of Friday, October 9 through Sunday, October 11.

Would you like to create art at the Iron Pour?! Yes You Can!

To reserve a scratch tile for the Iron Pour, contact the West End Arts Coordinator, Nance, at westendarts@fortroadfederation.org.

And remember, you can always CHECK OUT THE SCENE as long as you're here!

Minutes of September 3 WEA Meeting

2009-09-19T10:54:00.004-05:00

Minutes
West End Arts
September 3. 2009. 7 PM
Matt Brown and Lia Rivamonte's home/studio, 391 Banfil (at Western)
Matt Brown's studio: Ahh, the beauty of artistic disarray!

Attendees: Nance Derby, Paulette & David Rich, Kim Berry, Janine Olson,
Deborah Padgett, Michael Padgett, Deb Fisher, Matt Brown, Mary Esch, Marty Hicks, John Davidson, Heather Haynes, Maryellen Murphy, Halle O’Falvey, Virginia McBride, Lia Rivamonte

Lovely social setting in yard and studio (I’m regretting I failed to take some shots of Matt’s work in the studio… shoot…well, anyway, the work is vivid oil on canvas…) (Hey! Lia sent me some...)

Good attendance and much desire to socialize. Nance and Mary began the transition to new Coordinator by sharing the leadership role in this gathering. Deborah Padgett, Co-coordinator, butted into the business frequently to play the resident “control freak” and demand specific commitments, dates, times… that sort of thing.

It was announced that the September WEST END ARTIST profiled in the Community Reporter is Michael Padgett. Copies of the paper were passed around and attendees urged to read it and further urged to put together profiles of their own work and send it to Nance Derby, via email at westendarts@fortroadfederation.org and to Jerry Rothstein, Editor

Community Reporter
265 Oneida, St. Paul 55102
651-587-8859
www.communityreporter.org

editor@communityreporter.org

Please refer to earlier emails from Mary Esch regarding specific requirements for publication in The Community Reporter. Deborah Padgett [MOI, --- Minister of Information] offered to provide minutes and event updates regarding WEA to the Community Reporter and will be happy to submit press releases to this and other publications..

The next order of business concerned the upcoming, October 10th Iron Pour coordinated by Marty Hicks in conjunction with David Thune. Marty will host a pre- iron pour workshop for WEA members on Thursday evening, 7 PM, September 17 at his studio, 2223 Stewart Ave, St. Paul, MN 55116, marty@hixwerx.com. Nance is making contact with provider of scratch tiles and she and Marty will negotiate costs for materials and participation on Friday when they meet with Dave Thune. Nance proposed getting Monroe Art School 8th graders involved in working with scratch tiles. She will follow up with the teacher there. Nance and Marty will also discuss the possibility of the work being displayed at Thune’s gallery. There was talk of potential permanent display on a garden gate next year. Paulette Meyers-Rich will contact John Yust to discuss possibility for display at Highbridge Park. It was reported that Dave Thune has committed to the Iron Pour every year he remains Council person. Marty and Nance will get back to people about cost for workshop and Iron Pour within the next couple of days. Iron Pour Schedule:
Friday, October 9th at the Brewery Grounds, those who have attended the workshop will make their molds.

Saturday, October 10th is more mold making from 10 AM – 3 PM. Working on scratch tiles can go on until 7 PM.

The actual pour is from 7 – 10 PM on Saturday, the 10th

On Sunday, the 11th there will be pulling of the sculptures and clean up, 11 AM – 3 PM.

The public is encouraged to come Friday through Sunday watch the spectacle of alchemy

Kim Berry, Mary E and/or Paulette will contact musicians to try to arrange for live music during the Iron Pour. For further information on the Iron Pour click the link on this page titled: CHECK THE CURRENT SCENE!

As an item of FYI, Mary E. pointed out to attendees that if they are having difficulty viewing the WEA blog http://westendarts.blogspot.com/ they need only (and I paraphrase only slightly here) “fondle the website with their friggin’ (whatchacallit?) mouse, or whatever, and just kind of poke around in there ‘till you find…” She provided attendees with specific information to access the site and make contributions and comments on the site. It was determined we would discuss navigating the site and perhaps have a demonstration of the ease with which this can be done at a future meeting.

Next order of business is the exhibition Mary Esch will curate at the new Mississippi Market. She will decide, based on work submitted (by email by September 5 to westendarts@fortroadfederation.org, which artists and which work will be represented. The exhibit will be installed on September 25. D.P. will submit a press release regarding the exhibit once all details are finalized. Mary very much wants the work to represent the theme “West End Reflections”. The work must be suitable for wall display. She urged us to realize that if our work is not selected for this exhibit there will be future opportunities. She is also following up on exhibition opportunities at The Shalom Home.

A question was raised about the opportunity for a 2nd Annual at the Pilney (Jason’s contact) and it seems the Pilney space has been rented. Nance with check this out with Jason, as there may be future opportunities there.

Nance talked a bit about the structure of WEA and said she and Paulette will have the guidelines completed by next months meeting. The guidelines will reflect the grassroots nature of the organization. We hold 501C status through the Fort Road Federation (they are our fiscal agent). The structure will encourage anyone to make a proposal and then pull together working groups to make the project, idea, event, happen, much as Marty Hicks has spearheaded the Iron Pour and Mary Esch, the exhibit at Mississippi Market. There was scattered discussion about the importance of some of our events generating funds… nothing conclusive here. Lia talked about the importance of Art as community development and there was discussion about partnering and creating an Arts Festival or Fair in the future. Expansion of the Iron Pour into an even greater community partnering event in the future was also discussed.

Someone suggested the blog contain a suggestion box area and a way interested parties might sign on to participate. Nance, Deb and Mary will talk about the blog when they meet on Saturday.

A reminder of the American Craft Council’s October conference in Minneapolis was mentioned. Though it wasn’t mentioned at last night’s meeting, Deborah Padgett and Mary Esch followed up on the Open Figure Drawing Co-op at ACVR Warehouse on Wed nights. Another drawing co-op is being started by Armando Guttierez on Monday afternoons beginning this month. Contact Deborah P. for information to contact Armando.

Next gathering is scheduled for Monday, October 5, 7 PM at Halle O’Falvey’s house, 416 Arbor St. St. Paul, MN.

Respectfully submitted, Deborah Padgett, MOI and Co-Coordinator

Next Meeting: August 6, 2009 at the Pilney

2009-09-19T10:49:00.001-05:00

The West End Arts Scene-and-be-Seen show was a smashing success - and proved that we have a vital arts community in West 7th and the neighboring areas of Saint Paul!

Come to the next general meeting of WEA, Wednesday, August 6th, at 7pm. At the Pilney building, 1032 West Seventh near Randolph.

Give and share input, ideas, or insight and help make the "scene" bigger and better! Show the world that people appreciate art and artists in Saint Paul!!

Plans are underway for a performing arts showcase and an iron pour!

Wow!! Thank you everyone!! C U there!!

Next Meeting: March 2, 2009 at Day By Day

2009-09-19T10:43:00.000-05:00

Our next monthly meeting will be held on Monday March 2, 7PM, at the Day By Day Cafe.
If we go over an hour we are invited to spill over to Michael and Deborah Pagett's lovely home.

Announcing New Web Content Manager

2009-09-19T10:42:00.001-05:00

Mary Esch will step up as New Content Manager for the blog. Don't let her get sucked into the vacum-read and give feedback.

WEA Meeting Minutes - February 5, 2009

2009-09-19T10:40:00.001-05:00

WEA Monthly Meeting
February 5, 2009
Mancini’s, 7 PM
*Copy of meeting agenda… (see below)
Meeting Minutes
Attendees: Mary Esch, Deborah Padgett, Michael Padgett, Joe Landsberger & Maryellen Murphy
7:15 P.M.: Called to order
Agenda Review. Agreed to wrap up by 8:30 P
Discussion of great success of SEE, BE SCENE AND BE HEARD. "Invigorating". "Hard Work." Learned a lot, especially about things we would do differently". M.E. emphasized an interest in having predominantly West End talent participate. M.M. said she felt inspired for next time
Artists have been paid. Jason and Hall/ Not yet. After expenses, left with about $300 balance. Hall cost is $800 -- waiting on in-coming $1000 grant to cover that expense Though we could pay that $300 (or so) to SOKOL, want to pay full $800 so will wait for grant monies. After SOKOL, there will remain $200 of grant money – remaining $’s can be disbursed to other volunteer staff (for example: Jason G. for web page, logo creation, poster, etc.)
Discussion of publicity led to concern about W. 7th/Fort Road Federation logo inclusion in all WEA materials including blog, website and email. This is important because WEA is a Committee (Task Force) of W. 7th/Fort Road Federation and not its own, freestanding entity. Agreement that logo can be taken from W. 7th/Fort Road Federation website and included in consistent manner in aforementioned publications.
NEIGHBORHOOD VIDEO PROJECT (NVP)
Established consensus that we do not have any one or more individuals willing to work on the project. All agreed it is an excellent project but no one has come forward to say, "yes, I will do this". Mary Esch will contact Mary Pumphrey and convey our regrets and appreciation for consideration.
NEW BUSINESS
Discussion about prior proposal to create a steering committee (Model after MAEP at MIA) Those in attendance asked when a report on status of guideline creation might be available. Joe said there had been discussion at prior meetings that projects have to come to WEA as detailed, review-able proposals No such proposal review process has been established. Seems some confusion about whether or not a steering committee/guidelines group already exists and, if so, who are it’s members and what is the status.
Possible creation of a position of treasurer was tabled for future consideration when more WEA participants are in attendance.
General discussion about the three major projects 1.) Visual arts exhibit 2). Iron Pour 3) Performance – Agreement that all were more or less successful but quite ambitious. Agreement also, that in future, would like to see participants from West End rather than reaching so far and wide and providing venues for artists from all over. Some thought WEA got ahead of itself and might want to step back and look at initial concept: That of a supportive network, a sharing of resources and ideas.
J.L. suggested something like an open studio, get-together in the Spring that could allow WEA artists to simply get to know each other as a next project. Michael and Deborah Padgett indicated interest in throwing open their studio doors for such an event. Further discussion at March 2 meeting (7 PM, Day by Day CafÈ).
Other ideas: A Garden Gig and/or Life Drawing Cooperative (just ideas).
J.L. proposed (not so much proposed as put out feelers…) further visibility by co-sponsoring next Lex/Ham play at SOKOL. Handed out blurb on current status of project. Joe will reach out to possible theatre artists in the West End to see if anyone would like to become a part of our Committee (WEA, that is) and perhaps give credibility to our signing on as co-sponsors. Joe will follow up with us at next meeting.

Announcements as indicated on included agenda. The Blogger user Pinky extended an invitation as indicated on agenda.
Next meeting of WEA will be held at 7 PM at the Day by Day CafÈ on Monday, Marcy 2, 2009. Announcement and agenda will be forwarded to membership via email.
* WEST END ARTS
e-mail: westendarts@fortroadfederation.org
Monthly General Meeting
February 5, 2008 7PM Mancini's
Old Business
I.)Summarize success at WEA Scene, be Seen, and be Heard-Thanks to all for hours of help
Wrap-up business-most bills have been paid but not CSPS
-PAYING CSPS:
Waiting for COPP grant to come thru so we can pay CSPS full 800. If the COPP grant does not go thru then we can only pay CSPS about $300 ( + some cash that performers didn't want) which is what currently remains in WEA account.
-Mary Esch wrote thankyou note and sent most performers $ 23 cash (some people did not need to be paid: Winbergs,
-COPP grant, last bit available for 2008 is coming thru but there was clerical error so there is a delay in needed signatures.
-FYI: No more COPP grant money for 2009
II.)Neighborhood Video Project (NVP) -review proposal and talk about comments
Vote on next step
New Business
I,)Proposal to create Steering Committee (Model after Minnesota Artist Exhibition Program at MIA?)
II.)Proposal to create Treasurer
III.)Joe Landsberger proposes another way to get more visibility: Co-Sponser next Lex/Ham play at CSPS
2009 Play announced: Karel Svenk’s “The Last Cyclist”The scene is the Terezin Concentration Camp in Czechoslovakia during World War II.
Announcments:
Betty Moran of West 7th/Fort Road Federation is temporarily laid off
Paullette Myers-Rich received Minnesota Book Arts Award-congrats!

The Blogger user Pinky has invited you to contribute to the blog: WEST END ARTS SAINT PAUL, MN.To contribute to this blog, visit: http://www.blogger.com/i.g?inviteID=2620689875370826318&blogID=3358375045603513071
You'll need to sign in with a Google Account to confirm the invitation and start posting to this blog. If you don't have a Google Account yet, we'll show you how to get one in minutes.

West End Arts Meeting Announcement - April 2, 2009

2009-09-19T10:37:00.001-05:00

Coordinator, Mary Esch announces the
West End Arts Monthly Meeting....Soiree

Thursday, April 2
Time: 7:00pm
Location: Acme Scenic Arts, 941 West 7th Street, BYOB or snack
All Welcome.
Agenda: Less formal meeting/more soiree, small art share, casual discussion on the making of a review committee, website awareness, rally more plein air painters and troubadors for West End Garden Tour.

Hey you, get up to speed and read minutes from past meetings at http://www.westendartsscene.blogspot.com/
For Further information please contact Mary at westendarts@fortroadfederation.org

June 6, 2009 West End Garden Tour

Some West End Artists and Musicians will be making there art and sound at the June 6, West End Gadren Tour. Guitar: Mike Orr; Plein Air Painters: Chris Weihe,Wendy McCarty, Kathryn Stemwedel, Rachael Johnson, and Mary Esch. Stop and say hello!

WEA Meeting Minutes - March 2, 2009

2009-09-19T10:19:00.002-05:00

WEA Meeting Minutes
March 2, 2009
7 PM, DeGidios Restaurant
Attendees: Deborah Padgett, Michael Padgett, Kent Petterson, Roxi Swanson, Joe Landsberger, Lia Rivamonde, Virginia McBride, March Esch, Nance Derby, Maryellen Murphy
Mary Esch explained that COPP $1000 is coming, signed and ready. Will pay SOKOL $800 in approx. 2 weeks
The Padgett’s will host a WEA and friends Spring Studio Party on Saturday, May 9, from 7 – 11 PM. The party will be in lieu of the May meeting of WEA. Stay tuned for email invitation with specifics. For now, know that it will be potluck and bring a favorite beverage. The Padgett’s address is" 274 Goodrich Avenue, St. Paul, MN, 55102 (directly across W. 7th from the Day by Day CafÈ). Web address is : http://homepage.mac/deborahpadgett/index.old.html
Joe L. raised the possibility of creating a catchy name for the studio event giving an indication that this is the first of many such events to come. So far we haven’t moved beyond WEA Spring Studio Party… so, feel free to contact Joe jfl@studygs.net or either of the Padgett’s deborahpadgett@mac.com with a catchy name.
Discussion of the party was set aside for a few minutes to discuss Nance Derby’s concerns about getting together a "vetting" (project review) group so that all proposals for exhibits, events, etc. can be reviewed in a consistent manner along similar guidelines and then brought before the larger group. {We have more than 60 West End artists on our list of "members", any of whom are welcome to attend each monthly meeting} The concern is we have to re-invent the wheel at each meeting, provide background information for new attendees and the process becomes cumbersome, ineffective and "no fun". We Tabled discussion until later in the meeting. [The later decision was to announce via email that such a group is forming and request that interested parties will notify the coordinator prior to the April 2 meeting. Selection of the project review group will take place at the April 2 meeting and the role they will play will be presented (NANCE? PAULETTE?)
Kent Petterson, from West End Gardeners attended the meeting to present an opportunity for West End Arts to participate in the West End Garden Tour on June 6 this summer.
Mary Esch is coordinating placement of 5 (or more) Plein Air painters to set up their easels in many of the gardens. There will be an effort to recruit some West End musicians as troubadours to stroll the gardens. It was agreed we would try to spread the word about this opportunity.
Additionally, Kent requested artists’ help with creation of a logo for West End Gardeners with a bit more artistic flair than the existing logo. In exchange for the artists working with him on this WEA will be provided with a half-page ad space in the Garden show booklet (catalogue). Maryellen, Nance, Mary Esch and John Davidson will meet with Kent at his bookstore at 6 PM, Thursday, March 5 to get logo together. Mary Esch and Nance will create ad copy and supply it to Kent by (what date? I missed this. D.P.)
Mary Esch raised the idea of generating WEA participants for the August, 2009, National Night Out. It was decided we will discuss this in more detail at April meeting and perhaps it can be one of the first proposals the Project Review Committee can review.
Further involvement was proposed in the Cullen Park Project. It was decided that Mary Esch will contact Paulette Meyers-Rich (the initiator of the project) and let her know the first steps seem to be for her to make contact with Parks and Recreation, W. 7th/Fort Road Federation and Neighborhoods surrounding the park. Next, a detailed proposal should be put together and reviewed by the Project Review Committee.
Further new business: Roxi expressed an interest in WEA preparing for future St. Paul Art Crawls and perhaps sharing studio or exhibit space among artists who have existing space and those who do not. There was further discussion of highlighting the visibility of West End Artists through a flyer or advertisement and even, ultimately hosting an art crawl (of sorts) of our own. Discussions will continue. Nance told Roxi she had available space at her studio on W. 7th and this led to the decision to hold the Thursday, April 2, 7 PM meeting at Nance’s studio: 941 W. 7th, B40B. Bring something to drink or snack to share, maybe even a sketch book. These meetings are meant to be fun.
The request was made of attendees to start thinking who will be coordinator when Mary E’s tenure is up in the fall. The question was raised about a position description. Mary E. said she will provide one at the next meeting.
Web management was discussed. Mary E. has taken over where Jason and Rachel left off. Joe L. said the site could (and perhaps, should) become a sub-site of the Federation. He and Mary E. will discuss and see where we are by next meeting. Meeting wrapped about 9 PM (or so) with a few staying on into the wee hours of the night (10:30/11?) just for fun.
Respectfully submitted, Deborah Padgett

Aug 2 WEA Meeting/Salon Notes & Photos

2009-08-04T11:02:00.009-05:00

First and foremost a huge THANK YOU to outgoing WEA Coordinator, Mary (the industrious, the talented, the fun and fascinating...) Esch. She will turn the reigns over to Nance Derby in September. She will still be working fast and furious on our behalf and on behalf of various other concerns. She will be taking on the role of curator for exhibits and other opportunities for West End Arts. psssst... thanks again Mary E.

Marty Hicks opened his studio and backyard last night for a pleasant gathering of artists. For several of us it was a bit of a reunion after several months of distractions that kept us apart. The weather was lovely, the company engaging, the discussion informative and even inspiring at points. Photo here shows Marty explaining some of his metal work processes.

Now for the Minutes: I didn't get the entire list of names of attendees but it goes something like this:
Nance Derby, John Davidson, Haley, Mary Esch, Marty Hicks, Jason and Rachel, Kent Peterson, Paulette Meyers-Rich, Deborah Padgett (anyone I’m forgetting?)

Meeting began with Mary Esch showing the Aug issue of Community Reporter and the profile on Rachel “Ratchet” Johnson, better known as Barista Girl. Take a look. Also, www.baristagirl.com

First order of business, Bike decorating contest update from Paulette. Paulette made a certificate of participation for those who decorate their bikes. Mary Essch and Deb Fisher will be at the community center at 4 PM. Bikes will be exhibited and awarded between 7:20 and 7:30 PM… Decorating is expected to go on throughout the day. Nance and Paulette have some items kids can use to decorate and they will drop them off at the community center.

Next: Iron Pour. We will do it again in the fall. Dave will get $ for workshops and advertising. Nance wondered if Dusty Thune could be enticed to offer advance workshops for WEA to prepare us to participate in the actual Pour day. Marty Hicks will lead the effort in regard to Iron Pour. Mary, nance and Jason will prep marty with anything that will help him pull this off. Nance said she’s 100% behind it if WEA makes molds and is/are taught a couple of weeks ahead of time through quality workshops for artists. Timing? October-ish. Jason will update IP poster… Probably Schmidt Berwery again for location. Marty will putll his group together. Larger group will review.

Dicussion then turned to and opportunity for art show at the new Mississippi Market. Mary E. made contact with Darcy there. Halley said she talked with Steve Murray about how well his photos might display there. She will follow up. Maybe a revolving art show, group show could take place (Paulette’s comment). Nance reminded us Shhalom wants a show: lobbies, hallways, seating areas. Mary Esch will make the contact and follow up.

No real update on art car parade. Read last months minutes. We had a visitor (Janet) from Intermedia arts wanting us to be aware of them and them to be aware of us. IT WAS DECIDED WE’L ENCOURAGE SOME discussion and thinking among ourselves about possible participation in Art Car and Bike Decorating in conjunction with next year’s National Night Out.
Jason raised the possibility of the 2nd Annual Pilney Art Show. Ran into Chris Boone who said he’d like to see it happen. Chris is the Pilney contact who can make it happen (as I understand it).

Nancy Derby was unanimously voted in as WEA Coordinator. She accepted the post for one year allowing for the possibility of extenuating circumstances. Deborah Padgett will stay on for at least the next three months to transition from assistant coordinator into the new year. All toasted and cheered and applauded. Then we all made a big deal out of Mary Esch… who, frankly deserved it. She did a great job and I, Deb P., loved co-coordinating with her.

Marty Hicks talked about the Amercian Craft Council’s Annual Conference to be held in Minneapolis at the Radisson October 15-17. Check it out online for more information. Sounds like an interesting agenda. Our own Paulette was quoted in regard to an article on Twin Cities artists/crafts people in American Craft Magazine.

We decided to talk about Art/Craft as lifestyle vs. livelihood at an upcoming meeting and discuss new and emerging business models for same.

Deb Padgett will look into existing drawing co-op in St. Paul and let the gang know what she finds out.

Art share was interesting with Marty showing us his work space, his process and talking about his affiliations and intentions.

The meeting closed around 9 PM (at least for me ‘cause I had to get home before dark so I wouldn’t turn into a princess… Don’t you hate it when that happens?

Respectfully submitted, Deborah Padgett

JULY 2 MINUTES

2009-08-01T21:05:00.001-05:00

WEST END ARTS monthly meeting
Thursday July 2, 2009
7PM
Gerry Heroff's backyard 392 So.Oseola Ave.
Present: Sam, Mr and Mrs. Herroff, Debra Fisher, Shelaugh C.,Gayle Cole,David Rich
Paulette Myers-Rich, Janet, Mary Ellen,Mary Esch, Marty Hicks
1.)2009 Nat Night Out Bike Decorating Contest/Parade update
Deb Fisher is Project Leader. Jeff Martinka Director of ComCenter wants to help us with this. He will send announcement for Com Reporter. He'll arrange for prizes like school supplies or gift certificate at Dairy Queen. Deb is creating a poster for event. A certificate of participation will be created for all.
2.)Art Car Parade proposal: Paulette invited an art car artist to the meeting, Janet___?___. to talk about past ArtCar Events events and how they run smoothly. Her suggestions are as follows:
Start Small, have a day workshop with a donated car. Hire a ArtCar Artist to lead a How-to Workshop. She suggested $250 for Mina Lear Wood, Cat Corrigan, Duane(formerly of HOTB, does whirli-gig art cars) List of Supplies: one clean car to paint, 1-Shot Lead paint,big tarp,brushes,gloves, smocks,participants,workshop leader. Do a simple impromptu “drive-by-parade” that requires no permit or police people. Do this as opposed to an official parade which involves getting permits and police involved to do set up street blockades. Try to get Business Sponsorship: area businesses, bars, and schools sponsor “snoopy statue-art” perhaps they would sponsor an art-car. Usually word gets out that an Art Car Event is taking place, drawing art car people to the event creating a bigger drive-by spectacle.
Jan Elftmann Leader of the Mpls. Art Car Parade and organizer for several years running, starts in May for a July parade event. She has a lot of infrastructure is already in place.
There is a trashy looking van at Community Center which may be usable as art car? Janet said she'd talk to Jeff Martinka about that. Get neighborhood Kids involved.
Ask Carl Benson a.k.a. Mr.Positive to be ArtCar/Bike Parade Leader
Leonardo's Basement does an adults only workshop 43/Nic. Mpls. Idea for us as a group for fun activity and for our own community in future.
3.)Community Reporter WEA Coverage: Keep sending your profiles to Jerry Rothstein. He has a bunch to work with for a few issues. Does not mind them trickling in.
4.) Visions for Future Projects:
Napkin Art Show at a bar, another Show at Pilney, Day by Day? Cherokee Banks?Create a list of art exhibition locations in area and contact info and limitations, State Fair Exhibit as a group? Idea: select one work by each member an exhibit at area business. Iron Pour #2-Marty Hicks said he'd look into the options for doing this again this year.
5.)Art Share: Gerry Herroff opened his painting studio to show us several oil paintings, GardenHose Night Mare was one such title and we toured his art collection in his home. Maryellen brought her found object Memory Boxes,Gayle Cole brought two richly patterned non-representational ptgs., Deb Fisher brought photographs of her miniature hand-constructed interiors with furniture.

2009-08-01T21:03:00.001-05:00

Minutes
WEST END ARTS monthly meeting
Monday June 1 2009
Dunn Bros. Coffee House on West 7th St.

Present: Jessie Zubiran, Sarah Prentice,Paulette Myers-Rich, David Rich, Deb Fisher, Kent Petterson, Joe Landsberger, Mary Ellen,Mary Esch, Stuart Loughridge, Roxi Swanson, Halle.
1.)Garden Tour- share hand outs and information for June 6 event.
Communty Reporter: Call for artist profiles Deadline: June 30. Call for Artist Studio Hours June 14
2.)National Night Out- Jeff Martinka of Com Center wants to partner with us. Deb Fisher and Paulette will follow up on this
3.)Form a General Review Committee? Voted to table this until we get guideline together.
4.)Visions for Future Events:
Literary/Spoken Word Event-multi-generational outreach, Digital White Board, Shrink Wrap Old Bill Board with Artist Design, Murals on Wheels, Sandwhich Board Parade, Studio Crawl,Film Projections and Music , photo opportunity with big Green Chair, Invite Spring Board for the Arts to talk to us,Web-site Forum,SPPL and Community Center, W7th Community Friends of the Library, Compus, Arts-For -All.
5.)Art Share:
Paulette Rich brought her hand made limited edition Accordian Book, Sarah Prentice shared her hand-made jewelry of recycled rubber and old necklaces , Virginia McBride brought 3 big charcoal drawings of Jason's Boston Terriers.

May 2009-WEA Spring Studio Party at Padgett's Studio

2009-08-01T20:47:00.003-05:00

No Minutes for May 2009. Instead of regular monthly meeting we had WestEndArts first Spring Studio Party at the Padgett's on Goodrich. Approx 75 WEA members and friends attended. PotLuck of salads and decadant deserts and BYOB. Bon Fire. Smores. A multi-person action drawing was created. Wondering,wine glass in hand, through the studios of Deborah and Michael Padgett was a wonderful experience. They have been granted an award for designing a two story backyard stucture that both suits thier profesional needs but also is in keeping with the architecture of the neighborhood.

dog walk

2009-07-19T12:52:00.004-05:00

Here I am after a long absence. I know the world has been waiting. A multitude of changes have taken place since my last post. The focus of this blog is pretty narrow, though. I will only mention those changes in my immediate environs just beyond my own walls and the streets my dog and I traverse on our daily quick and dirty walk.

1. More abandoned and repossessed houses, subsequently demolished
2. More transitional people
3. More dirt and trash in the streets and in yards
4. More "For Sale" and "For Rent" signs that languish for months and months
5. More kids playing in the street (not necessarily a bad thing except when they will not move for traffic)
6. More street noise.

This summer has been the worst for bad neighbors. What do I mean by "bad"? Those who insist on "communicating" by screaming at one another, yelling profanities, who lean on their horns at any hour of day or night while revving their engines; who nonchalantly toss their chip and candy refuse while strolling down the street; who slam doors and, worse, constantly abuse their kids through violent, nasty words and physicality.

I'd love for Westsiders to share some creative ideas about: how we might begin to engage the aforementioned kids in productive, safe, free activities. I no longer believe that the adults in their lives can or want to change, or much less care. Question of the day: What does art have to do with it?

WEA Minutes from April 2

2009-04-13T14:58:00.005-05:00

Submitted, Saturday, April 11, 2009
WEA Meeting Minutes
April 2, 2009

7 PM, Nance Derby’s studio, 941 W. 7th

Attendees: Deborah Padgett, Michael Padgett, Kent Petterson, David Rich, Paulette Myers-Rich, Halle O-Falvey, John Davidson,Edie Meissner, Marty Hicks, Jason Gorski, Rachel Gorski, Mike Orr, David Christoffersen, Cathie Carlson, March Esch, Nance Derby

The meeting/soiree began in a most soiree like manner with bottle being opened, chips being munched, everybody talking at once and much laughter. Kent Peterson, West End Gardners got the business started (very much in sync with the soiree atmosphere) by reporting the logo making party held at his TERRACE HORTICULTURAL BOOKS resulted in some greatly appreciated artwork for the June 6, West End Garden Tour catalogue. As a result of our involvement we are granted a 4” x 5” ad in the catalogue. Mary Esch has worked tirelessly to recruit Peinters des Plein Air to paint in the gardens and Troubadours to stroll the gardens making music. Here’s a mock up of possible ad:

Kent thanked all involved (Tonya Johnson, Mary Esch, Nance Derby) profusely and invited us to attend the Terrace Hortiultual Books Open House on Saturday, April 4, 2009. Nance added that the Friends of the Artists, Daytons Flower Show would be held in the Daytons (Yes, she said Daytons!) auditorium.

Applause, praise and recognition were offered in honor of our own, Paulette Meyers-Rich for her fabulous accomplishment as recipient of the Minnesota Book Award. Examples of her work are on display on the 1st floor of the St. Paul Central Library, non-circulating collection, up until May 1, 2009.

Next order of business was to table or vote on the formation of a new project review committee. A fair amount of discussion ensued resulting in Paulette and Nance agreeing to finalize the proposal guidelines for our review at next meeting. There was talk of crating a core group that could rotate in one year shifts.
Next order of business: Mary Esch has website access and wants techi help. Deborah Padgettt will be techi help and Nance Derby wants to be involved. She mentioned she considers herself in training to possibly offer to be Mary’s replacement as Coordinator in September.

Paulette reported on the history and progress of the Cullen park project. She met with Joe Landsberger, Rachel and Jodi Martinez at Parks Department. A survey is being done and once the “bones” of the park have been established decisions can start to be made about where things can go. So, when opportunity is there to do gardens, art, murals, they will let us know when the time is right?

We need new coordinator nominees: anyone interested and wanting the job description please contact Marcy Esch or Deborah Padgett.

Treasury report: Paid Sokol MN $800, Paid Gorski, $380, have balance $319.
Rachael Johnson made a request for silent auction on behalf of Rudies. After some discussion WEA decided it was not something we will do.

New business: Nance and Paulette each had some fundraising ideas they want to put into play in future discussions like, perhaps, a “Calendar” of local artists… Other ideas

Edie asked who will report about WEA at the Federation annual meeting on Monday, April 13. Halle, Jason, Mary and Deborah will participate. (Mary sent out an email detailing who will do what and when on that evening and indicating the expectation of Free Beer). It was agreed we want to present WEA so far as a “Roaring Success”. (See email for further details).

Edie mentioned she would like to get some things going between West End and Lillydale parks when the time is right.

The Padgett’s will host a WEA and friends Spring Studio Party on Saturday, May 9, from 7 – 11 PM. The party will be in lieu of the May meeting of WEA. Here are the specifics. Please invite West End artists and friends of the arts to join us for a raucus and wild evening of S’Mores, appetizers, snacks, desserts, various beverages, laughter, music and erudite conversations pertaining to, yup you guessed it, THE ARTS! For now, know that it will be potluck and bring a favorite beverage. The Padgett’s address is” 274 Goodrich Avenue, St. Paul, MN, 55102 (directly across W. 7th from the Day by Day Café). Web address is : http://padgettspot.blogspot.com
Joe L. raised the possibility of creating a catchy name for the studio event giving an indication that this is the first of many such events to come. So far we haven’t moved beyond WEA Spring Studio Party… so, feel free to contact Joe jfl@studygs.net or either of the Padgett’s deborahpadgett@mac.com with a catchy name. Let’s create some real visibility through this event!
Email Mary Esch at : westendarts@fortroadfederation.org
Contact Deb Padgett with any concerns about these minutes or any information you need about our May 9 party at deborahpadgett@mac.com

Please stay tuned to our website and blog at: http://westendarts.blogspot.com http://www.westendartsscene.blogspot.com/

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2009-03-30T11:37:00.002-05:00

Coordinator, Mary Esch announces the

West End Arts Monthly Meeting....Soiree

Thursday, April 2
Time: 7:00pm
Location: 941 West 7th Street,Acme Scenic Arts
Host: Nance Derby-Davidson
BYOB or snack
All Welcome.
Agenda: Less formal meeting/more soiree, small art share, casual discussion on the making of a review committee, website awareness, rally more plein air painters and troubadors for West End Garden Tour.

Hey you, get up to speed and read minutes from past meetings at http://www.westendartsscene.blogspot.com/
For Further information please contact Mary at
westendarts@fortroadfederation.org

UPCOMING: June 6, 2009 West End Garden Tour
Some West End Artists and Musicians will be making thier art and sound at the June 6, West End Gadren Tour. Guitar: Mike Orr; Plein Air Painters: Chris Weihe,Wendy McCarty, Kathryn Stemwedel, Rachael Johnson, and Mary Esch. Stop by and say hello!
Posted by mary esch at 7:32 AM

Home
CHECK OUT THE MAIN PAGE!

Find out more about us!
West End Arts Main Page
Fort Road Federation

New Content Manager Needed

2009-02-06T01:27:00.004-06:00

This is your chance to step up. People are needed to keep West End Arts going. So instead of coming up with excuses for not volunteering to make art happen in West Seventh, take advantage of being unemployed and make something happen. Hopefully someone will be posting new information soon. We've been looking for new blood, but the old blood is about used up.

Email: westendarts@fortroadfederation.org

or call: The Fort Road Federation at 651-298-5599

February Meeting Announcement & January Meeting Minutes

2009-01-10T16:28:00.002-06:00

We will have our next WEA General Meeting Thursday, February 5th, 7PM at ???.
(Stay tuned for details.)

Be sure to check out the current scene at:
http://westendartsscene.blogspot.com/

I. SPNN Youth Video Project (Mary Humphrey)

Mary Pumphrey of SPNN spoke about a youth video project that will create "neighborhood video camps" in three St. Paul neighborhoods, including (potentially) the West End.

An artist mentor would be paid by SPNN to work with youth within the neighborhood to produce videos. Goal is to connect youth with community, artists, and history-present-and-future of the neighborhood.

They are currently applying for grants and looking for partner organizations within the neighborhood, who would write letters of interest and/or support for the project.

As partners, SPNN would look to us as a lead to a potential mentor, a resource to help screen videos within the neighborhood. Details of partnership to be hammered out once funding is secured sometime in the spring.

* Jason would like to see an excerpt of the grant proposal.

* Nance concerned that we'd be competing for grant money.

But ...
Those present voted in favor of signing a generic/conditional letter of support for the project.

II. New Art Coordinator Assistant (Mary Esch)

Rene can no longer fulfill this role.

Deborah Padgett has volunteered to be the new assistant. Happy anniversary, Deborah!

III. Scene, Be Seen, and Be Heard Showcase (Group)

Production crew volunteers:

Director: Mary Esch
Stage Management: Jason (Stage Mgr), Chloe (Emcee), Mike Orr, Joe (consulting on Hall setup)
Cash for change (at show) & cash reimbursement (post-show): Jason, Betty, Nance
Doors: John, Dan K, Mike Orr
Bar: Paulette, Nance (and maybe Ed H.--Joe will ask him.)
Kitchen: SOKOL volunteers being coordinated by Joe
Setup/Decoration: Mary Ellen, Jason, Nance, Joe, Roxy, Krista Walsh
Cleanup: Gayle, Roxy, Mary, Mike, David

Friday afternoon 1/16 schedule:
Mary and her new assistant Deborah will notify participants of schedule.

5pm: Volunteers show up at hall to help set up, go get stuff as needed, etc.
6:30pm: Performers show up for dress rehearsal

Posters were distributed and areas to poster were assigned.

Budget was sketched out with rough estimates of expenses and expected revenue at the door.

Reminder that the artists have been allotted a percentage of door proceeds.

Joe is flexible about the rental fee for CPSP Hall and we'll discuss it further after the event.

January Meeting Announcement & December Meeting Minutes

2008-12-08T23:46:00.006-06:00

We will have our next WEA General Meeting Monday, January 5th, 7PM at Skinner's
(Stay tuned for details.)

Be sure to check out the current scene at:
http://westendartsscene.blogspot.com/

Minutes From our Last WEA General Meeting
Thursday, December 4th , 7PM at Glockenspiel

I. "Scene, Be Seen, and Be Heard" Live Performance Showcase Update (Jason)

Lineup:
Initial response to our flyers was weak but proactive efforts by Mary have generated 12 commitments and 9 maybes for our lineup, representing a mix of music, spoken word/performance, film, and poetry. Two hours of material easily.

Space:

No screen to drop in front for films. That's an issue.
There are restrictions on drilling holes in historic walls of historic theater, so some setup/decor issues will need to be figured out. Jason suggests using the hall as is. Nance has ideas. They'll talk.
Discussion of sound and lighting equipment. Christy suggested we talk to Metropolitan Regional Arts Council (MRAC) (http://www.mrac.org/) regarding borrowing equipment or renting it at a discount for community event. Someone else suggested Midwest Sound and Lighting.
Betty working on beer license. Nance fronted money for license and will get reimbursed with proceeds. Volunteer pourers listed below.

Promotion:

Betty suggested a small mailing because she didn't think we could cover a larger mailing with our current account balance of $600. Jason disagrees, and thinks this amount could cover mailing, some posters, and even some beer and wine. Mary will follow-up on mailing plans.
Paulette wants MN State Arts Board mailing list, and Christy says she can help with that, though she thinks there is a charge.
Kent suggests an ad on SPNN and an insert in the Community Reporter. Nance will look into the charge for an insert. A couple of us know Mike from SPNN but not sure if anyone committed to asking him about this.

Calendar items:

Joe and Jason plan to meet with Jack Rose, Lex-Ham Theatre contact, re: stage management.
Rehearsal/run-through planned for Friday night before show.

Production crew volunteers:

Jason
Nance
Joe
Christy
Mike
Marty

Beer volunteers:

Betty
Nance
Paulette

II. Other Discussions

How much of our efforts are community-centric (a la Scene and Be Seen Visual Arts Show) vs. bringing in influences from outside West Seventh (a la Iron Pour)? What are our goals in this respect? What should our goals and responsibilities be in this light, given the grant money we receive? Opinions vary.
Nance wants the Rules and Regulations Committee to meet again. She'll contact Paulette, Mary, and Jason (color commentator) to arrange a date and time. Rachel will pinch hit as reviewer as needed.

December WEA General meeting

2008-12-01T16:17:00.007-06:00

All are welcome to join us at the next West End Arts General Meeting!

Thursday, December 4, 7:00 pm

Location: Glockenspiel Restaurant
www.glockenspielrestaurant.com
605 West 7th (at Michigan)
St Paul, MN 55102
(651) 292-9421

Agenda: Updates on the January 2009 performance showcase "West End Arts Scene,See,and Be Heard", and some important announcements.

Next general meeting is Monday, January 5, 2009

Got a discussion topic? Or for further information
please contact: Mary at westendarts@fortroadfederation.org

See you there!
Mary Esch WEA Coordinator

December Meeting Announcement & November Meeting Minutes

2008-11-04T12:20:00.004-06:00

We will have our next WEA General Meeting
Thursday, December 4th, 7PM at ??? (Stay tuned for details.)

Agenda:
(Stay tuned for details.)

Future meetings:
Monday, January 5,2009

Be sure to check out the current scene at:
http://westendartsscene.blogspot.com/

Minutes From our Last WEA General Meeting
Monday, November 3rd , 7PM at Bennett's Chop & Railhouse

I. "Scene, Be Seen, and Be Heard" Live Performance Showcase Update (Jason)

There hasn't been a good response to the flyers yet.
We may extend deadline for entries past 11/22/2008.
KFAI broadcast will not necessarily be simulcast, but will air post-performance date instead.
Everyone should reach out to performer friends and encourage them to submit an entry!
Those interested in hanging flyers along West 7th Street can pick up copies at Mad Hatter's or ask Jason.

II. Iron Pour Debriefing (Dave)

Overall, a fantastic and spectacular event. Nice art and a nice number of spectators. Firemen loved it.
Proceeds from scratch molds and some extra grant money can go into the WEA/Fort Road Federation account. Maybe as seed money for another iron pour next year.
We did not end up selling beer, but the discussion surrounding this was idea was dispersed and confused. We should discuss this more carefully next time, and if we decide to sell beer, contain it within a beer garden.
Staging could have been better, in terms of creating sight lines for spectators.
Look into scheduling training or workshops in advance.
Have people on-site clearly designated as explainers, so that people with questions would have someone to ask.
A mailing would have been good, to help to increase attendance.
More community outreach would have been good. Interacting with art classes at Monroe, interacting with businesses--suggesting they get their logo in a scratch tile. Now that we know the firemen love it, maybe make something for them specifically?
Iron Pour people talked about building a furnace that would remain in West Seventh neighborhood.
Consider other sites for the event. Roosters BBQ? Crosby Park? Wherever it is, we should publish/provide maps so people know exactly where to go.

III. Fort Road Federation Liaison (Mary)

Mary currently attends Fort Road Federation board meetings as needed, but she would like to delegate this duty to Jason.
Jason accepts and will plan on attending meetings for the duration of Mary's year-long term as Coordinator.
Aside from attending meetings, Jason will be in charge of "keeping Betty happy." That means that anyone working on a project needs to stay in touch with Jason so that he can keep Betty and Ed in the loop in terms of what's going on, what will be coming across Betty's desk in terms of grant proposals/funds, what insurance questions may come up, etc.

IV. Pilney Update (Mary)

Kim is no longer the point person for this project. Someone else will need to step up.
To simplify things, Mary suggests we find a new locale for "small shows," preferably a business that has regular "open to the public" business hours (e.g., Mad Hatter/St. Paul Gallery, salons, dental offices, real estate offices). We should clarify insurance issues with Betty.
Rachel suggests we maintain a positive relationship with the Boones at the Pilney, in hopes of having our annual visual arts show there. Jason points out that whoever works with the Boones needs Web/e-mail access, and the ability to reply quickly via e-mail.

V. Ideas for the Future (All)

Show of iron pour art
Wall of iron pour tiles

VI. Harvest Festival Nov. 15 at SOKOL (Joe)

Decorating help needed Nov. 12, 13, 14: Jason and Mary will be pitching in. Note that a decent-size disco ball will be available. John has a compatible motor.
Bartenders also needed. No license required, but must be 21 or older and have good judgement.

November Meeting and Next Meetings

2008-10-23T16:12:00.004-05:00

We will have our WEA General Meeting
Monday, November 3rd , 7PM at Bennett's Chop & Railhouse
(they know we're coming!)

1305 7th St. (at Victoria)
(651) 228-1408
Please plan to buy a drink!

Agenda:
Scene,See and Be Heard Update
Iron Pour Debriefing
WEA presence on Fort Road Board
Pilney Update-new plan?
Ideas for future?
WEA presence on Fort Road Board

Future meetings:
Thursday,December 4, 2008
Monday, January 5,2009

Be sure to check out the current scene at:
http://westendartsscene.blogspot.com/

October Meeting, Next Meeting, and the Next Scene!

2008-10-13T11:45:00.003-05:00

West End Arts General Meeting
Thursday Oct 2, 2008 7PM at Fort Road Federation

Minutes
Attendance: Rene LaBore, Mary Esch, David Rich, John Davidson, David Thune, Nance Derby, Jason Gorski, Kle Thune, David Thune, and Betty Moran. New attendees: Maryellen Murphy and Jayne Lindesmith

1.)IRON POUR:
--About 20-40 students and profs participating in the the main iron pour. About six people signed up for the scratch tiles.
--Biffies will be set up on site, 2 police officers on duty, and hot-dog vendor on Saturday.
--No beer sales or donations because we did not get Permit soon enough and also because of some limits on what brand we could have at the brewery.
--No band.
--Nance will bring some tables and chairs. Mary will bring a canopy tent. Jason will bring pop.

2.)Art at Pliney ( Point-person: Kim Berry )
--Art shows there are postponed indefinately because Chris Boone needs to install some permanent art hanging devices on the walls and he needs to look into insurance issues.

3.)Guide Lines ( Point-person: Nance Derby-Davidson)
--Our last meeting (Nance,Mary, Paullette) was productive and we are half way done.We will meet again to finish up.

4.)Performance Showcase "Scene,be Seen,and Be Heard" ( Point-person: Jason Gorski)
--For performers who live or work in the West End
--Probably take place at CSPS for1-3 nights in January over Martin Luther King weekend.
--West End Arts website has ALL the details about auditions. www.westendartsscene.blogspot.com
--Recorded demos submission deadline is Nov.22 and live auditions will be Nov.20
--We need to apply for Alcohol Permit ($58.00) about a month before event.This allows Betty Moran to serve (she is annually certified in Alcohol Training) complimentary beer/wine or serve it for donations

5.)New Business
No one objected to the proposal to start having our general meetings at local cafes or bars. Mary will checkout Bennet's Chop and Rail House for next meeting.

6.)Future Meetings
Monday, November 3, 2008
Thursday,December 4, 2008
Monday, January 5,2009

Despite the rain the Iron Pour was fun. Hope to see more people from the neighborhood next time!

Be sure to check out the next "Scene, Be Seen, and Be Heard"!

West 7th Iron Pour is On! & Call for Entries for "Scene, be Seen, and be Heard"

2008-09-16T15:37:00.013-05:00

WEA General Meeting -- All Welcome
Date: Thursday Oct 2 @ 7:00PM
Location: 974 West 7th -- Fort Road Fedration Office
Agenda: Iron Pour update, small shows at the Pilney, winter performance showcase

Check out the new art scene brought to you by your friendly neighborhood West End Arts. It's an arts inferno that's truly on fire! Then cool down for our cool winter showcase for the performing arts!

CLICK HERE FOR GENERAL MEETING NEWS!

Click here to find out more about the Pour baby, pour ! and find out more about performing for our winter showcase!

West End Arts Update! Live from Saint Paul, September 30, 2008

2008-09-15T22:48:00.006-05:00

West End Arts Update: August 2008

2008-08-11T21:46:00.015-05:00

Are you looking for info about West End Arts events? Check out our West End Arts Scene site!

Do you want to be part of the scene? Read on!

...

Lots of fun being had by West End Arts! Our inaugural show was a spectacular success, we've celebrated our accomplishments, and we're busy planning future events!

If you missed our last general meeting, check out minutes below and contact us to get involved in workgroups: westendarts(at)fortroadfederation(dot)org. (That's a new e-mail address!)

NEXT MEETING:
Monday, September 8, 2008, 7pm
The Pilney Building, 1032 West Seventh Street at Randolph
(Note the date. We typically meet the first week of the month, but since Sept. 1 is Labor Day, we're meeting on Sept. 8 instead.)
Discussions: Updates from Iron Pour & Live Performance & Pilney Space workgroups; Update from the WEA Guidelines group; Formation of a Grantwriting group; and more. Got a discussion topic? Please e-mail us: westendarts (at) gmail (dot) com.

Note tentative dates for future meetings.
FUTURE MEETINGS:
October, 2008
November, 2008
December, 2008
January, 2008
February, 2008

West End Arts General Meeting Minutes
Wednesday, August 6

Important: If you're interested in joining any of the workgroups described below, please e-mail westendarts(at)fortroadfederation(dot)org!
* Iron Pour (Coordinator: Kle)
* Live Performance Showcase (Coordinator: Jason)
* Event Planning and Production Guide (Coordinator: Nance)
* Pilney Gallery Events (Coordinator: Nance)
* Grant-writing (Coordinator: TBD)

Art at the Pilney Space (Nance)
* The Boones (owners of the Pilney) loved having art in their ground floor space, and are interested displaying art long-term.
* They are open to groups of 2 or 3 artists at a time showcasing their work on a month-to-month basis.
* Space would be shared with tenants who meet in the space occasionally.
* There would be limited public viewing time with volunteer gallery sitters and by appointment with artists.
* Artists would be in charge of their own promotion and marketing.
* Afternoon tea-party style opening would be okay
* Installation should be spare and well-thought-out, to well-represent the West End Arts group.
* Chris open to using the space for acoustic music or spoken word but emphasis would be visual arts.
Workgroup Coordinator: TBD
Workgroup Members: Nance, Tom, Stuart, Roxi, David, Kim, Janine (cc: Chris Boone)
Next Meeting: TBD

Future Events
I. Iron pour (Kle Thune)
* What's an iron pour? Donated iron is melted down in furnaces, and poured into sand or tile molds that are brought by artists/community members who sign up in advance. Template molds and safety instructions are distributed in advance. About 20 molds could be cast. The event is open to the public and is quite a spectacle.
* Kle is collaborating with an established group that has run iron pours in community settings already. They have all they need in terms of putting on the event: equipment, insurance, etc. They just need a space and people to show up and participate.
* The owner of the Schmidt Brewery site has agreed to provide space for the event.
* Tentative date: Weekend of Oct. 10, Friday through Sunday
* Kle is interested in partnering with WEA for the event, and would like our help mostly with advertising and promotion. We would make this event an arty happening for the West End.
Workgroup Coordinator: Kle
Workgroup Members: Tom, Jason, Marty
Next Meeting: TBD

II. Live performance showcase (Jason)
* Tentative date: January, 1 to 3 nights
* KFAI simulcast a possibility
* Strong interest and support for holding the event at SOKOL Hall
Workgroup Coordinator: Jason
Workgroup Members: Larry, Roxi, Joe, Rachel
Next Meeting: TBD

III. Upcoming events at SOKOL Hall (Joe)
Joe distributed flyers with info about future events at SOKOL.
For details, see http://www.sokolmn.org/upcoming.shtml.
Also:
Nov. 1: Mystery Theatre Dinner
Nov. 15: West End Harvest Dance

Recommendations from Scene-and-be-Seen Debriefing (Nance)
After the raging success of the Scene-and-be-Seen show, some members of the group suggest we document some processes and procedures for planning events. Such as:
* How to do mass mailings
* How to handle donations
* How to create an event plan
* How to organize a production crew
* ... and more.
This would be an attempt to record the things we learned from producing the visual arts show, and provide future planning and production crews some guidelines to follow.
Ideally, anyone should be able to come to WEA with an idea, and we'd provide them processes and procedures to follow, so that they can run with it.
The workgroup will meet offline to hammer out a working document, and they'll bring it back to the group and it will evolve over time.
Workgroup Coordinator: Nance
Workgroup Members: Jason, Rachel, Joe, Mary, Roxi (as time permits), Stuart, Kle, Rene, Paulette
Tentative meeting: Aug. 18, Mad Hatter's, 7pm

Arts Coordinator Role (Nance)
* We talked about having an "Arts Coordinator" who will be a point person for the group.
* This person would set meeting times and places.
* This person would be the first point of contact for people interested in getting involved, and she or he would be able to point that person in the right direction.
* This person would need to be kept in the loop in terms of everything going on.
* This person would not be a decision-maker or referee or tie-breaker.
* Mary Esch agreed to try out the position. Hooray Mary!

Grant-Writing (Joe)
Joe knows his grants. (He gave a long list of grants he's written and received.)
Nance suggests we form a grant-writing group to seek out grant-makers and put together applications.
Workgroup Coordinator: TBD in September
Workgroup Members: Kle, Stuart, Nance, Kim
Tentative meeting date: TBD in September

Reminder: Potluck on Sunday!

Reminder: Artists' Reception, Sunday, August 10

2008-08-07T16:47:00.002-05:00

First, a reminder for you!
Sunday, August 10, 2008, 6pm
Scene-and-be-Scene Artists' Reception
CSPS Hall, 383 Michigan St., 2nd floor theater

And now, a quick update!
We had a great West End Arts general meeting last night at The Pilney. Stay tuned to this space for meeting minutes ... coming soon!

In keeping with our normal meeting schedule of either the first Monday or Wednesday of the month, please note (tentative) dates for future meetings. Times and places to be announced.

Wednesday, September 3, 2008
Discussions: Updates from Iron Pour & Live Performance & Pilney Space planning crews; Update from the WEA How-To Guide group; Forming a Grantwriting group; and more. Got a discussion topic? Please e-mail us: westendarts (at) gmail (dot) com.

Monday, October 6, 2008
Discussions: TBD

Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Discussions: TBD

Monday, December 3, 2008
Discussions: TBD

Wednesday, January 7, 2008
Discussions: TBD

Monday, February 4, 2008
Discussions: TBD

THE FINAL WORD: General Meeting - Wed. 8/6; Artists' Reception Sun. 8/10

2008-07-23T10:50:00.012-05:00

Please excuse confusion caused by previous blog posts. This is the final word on August events!

Wow! What a busy and successful month. The news is out! There is an arts scene in the West End of Saint Paul, USA! Come celebrate and help shape what comes next.

Here are some key dates for your calendar!
Thursday, July 31 - Saturday, August 2, 2008, 1-5pm
Final weekend of Scene-and-be-Seen 2008! The inaugural visual arts showcase presented by West End Arts.

Wednesday, August 6, 2008, 7pm
West End Arts General Meeting, The Pilney Building, 1032 West Seventh Street at Randolph
Hundreds of people came from far and wide to the opening reception of the West End Arts inaugural event. Are you thrilled? Do you want to help plan the next event? Come on down!
Discussions: Welcoming new members, electing an Arts Organizer, organizing next events, STAR grant application (Joe, Edie, Nance).

Sunday, August 10, 2008
Scene-and-be-Scene Artists' Reception
CSPS Hall, 383 Michigan St., 2nd floor theater

In keeping with our normal meeting schedule of either the first Monday or Wednesday of the month, please note dates for future meetings. Times and places to be announced.

Wednesday, September 3, 2008
Discussions: Live Performance Showcase planning! And making sure we're all surviving the invasion of the RNC.

Monday, October 6, 2008
Discussions: Live Performance Showcase planning!

Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Discussions: TBD

Monday, December 3, 2008
Discussions: TBD

Wednesday, January 7, 2008
Discussions: TBD

Monday, February 4, 2008
Discussions: TBD

West End Arts Scene-and-be-Seen: Opening July 12!

2008-07-06T17:18:00.002-05:00

The Pilney Building was a flurry of activity on July 5, with artists dropping of their work and volunteers arranging pieces on the walls and in the windows. It's almost showtime!

Meet us at the opening reception!
Saturday, July 12, 6-10pm
The Pilney Building
1032 West Seventh Street at Randolph, in Saint Paul's West End neighborhood

We'll resume monthly meetings in August. Stay tuned to this Web site for details.

Tonight's Critical Mass Mailing CANCELED!

2008-06-30T15:05:00.002-05:00

... due to postcard shipment delay!

We will meet on Tuesday or Wednesday night instead (as long as the postcards arrive)!

Please check this blog for an updated time and place.
Also consider helping us hang show posters! If you're interested, leave a comment here or e-mail westendarts(at)gmail(dot)com!

Thanks, and sorry for the inconvenience. But remember, it's even more inconvenient for us.

Critical Mass Mailing - Monday, June 30! * CANCELLED*

2008-06-28T14:16:00.004-05:00

UPDATE!
This meeting has been cancelled due to a postcard shipment delay.
Please check the main blog page for updates, and join us on Tuesday, July 1, if you can!
Thanks, and sorry for the inconvenience.

***

Monday, June 30, 7pm, Fort Road Federation, 974 W. 7th Street

For new folks who want to meet the group, come by the Fort Road Federation offices and help us reach critical mass to get a mass mailing done. It's for the upcoming "Scene and Be Seen" visual arts show at the Pilney Building on July 12. Come by around 7 pm, say hello, and do some manual labor. There may be some pizza left.

Monday, June 30, 7pm, Fort Road Federation, 974 W. 7th Street

Weeeyaaah!(WEA),
The Whip

West End Arts Scene-and-be-Seen 2008!

2008-06-24T23:38:00.003-05:00

Members of West End Arts are busy getting ready for West End Arts Scene-and-be-Seen!

Check this space for details about upcoming meetings and news of our inaugural exhibition.

Questions? Interested in getting involved? E-mail us at westendarts(at)gmail(dot)com.

Posters With a Lot of Information Are an Eyefull

2008-06-19T11:37:00.009-05:00

Here's the poster with room to specifically include sponsors when we get commitments. It'll be an 11 x 17 Kinkos production. I made it three color because we can get matching T-shirts.

Cheers,
The Whip

June 11, 2008 Meeting Announcement

2008-06-08T21:29:00.002-05:00

What: West End Arts Scene-and-be-Seen Steering Committee Meeting
Who: All who are interested in helping produce our inaugural arts show!
When: Wednesday, June 11, 2008, 7 pm
Where: Black Dog Coffee & Wine Bar, corner of 4th & Broadway, L

June 4, 2008 Meeting Minutes

2008-06-08T20:31:00.007-05:00

June 4, 2008 Meeting Minutes
SOKOL Hall
Starring: Jason, Rachel G., Joe, Halle, John, Nance, Laurel, Mike Orr, Mary, David, Paulette (and later, Rachel R.)

I. Scene-and-be-Seen Show update
Call for entries was published in the Community Reporter along with an article by Halle.
Some flyers have been posted (Mad Hatter's, Rudies)
One submission rec'd so far.
Open items:

Betty/Insurance (Nance)
Budget/Dave Thune (Nance)
Jason will contact Pilney re: setting up a meeting with hanging crew.

Show publicity: We should provide Kent/garden tour sites info about show to distribute. Halle will contact Villager about place ad. Bonfe ticker tape sign. Public radio spots.

Web site: We should post submissions/show pieces on our "scene" blog, including those entries that we didn't have space for (if necessary).

"People's Choice" award for show entries (suggested by Laurel): could have picture of piece, winner in Community Reporter

Any volunteers willing to post about 5 flyers each at businesses in the West End? Yes!

Nance & John (downtown)
Paulette (CVA, Day by Day, Miss. Market, YWCA, Nina's, Common Good Books, WA Frost)
David
Mary (Skinners, Leitner's, The Spot, Bennett's, churches)
Halle
Mike (West Side coffee shops)
Rachel & Jason (Black Dog, Fresh Grounds, Tease, Supatra's)

Any volunteers willing to contact artists for submissions? Yes!
Many of those present committed to submitting a piece, and David and Paulette made a long list of people they'd reach out to.

Any volunteers willing to be gallery sitters during the show? Yes. Will confirm as we get closer to the show.

II. Future projects to consider
Performing arts showcase. Potential leadership/involvement from ...
Jason, Dave W's band, McNally School of Music, Rachel R., Heather's family, Gabriella Sweet, Lisa Kane (is she still in our 'hood?), Lia, Sarah Remke, Accordion Heaven, Jeanne Cotter (pianist, "Mythic Rain") (via Paulette)

Mississippi Market. David & Paulette have contact with board member Mary Bishop, who works at Leitners.

Shalom Home.

III. Next steering cmte. meeting: Wed. 6/11, Black Dog in

West End Arts Monthly Meeting Tonight!

2008-06-04T14:29:00.006-05:00

Come by Sokol Hall tonight for our monthly meeting
(above the Glockenspiel Restaurant),
383 Michigan St. at West 7th, 2nd floor.
7 to 8 business. 8 to 9 pleasure, drinks, gnoshes.

Our meeting tonight is an important one because we only have a couple weeks to get submissions. More posters need to be out there and people need to commit to talking to artists they know to commit to submit. We got our first submission only today.

Come tonight to find out how you can help and then hang out for awhile to meet other artists and lovers of art who live and work in the West End of beautiful Saint Paul!

Call for Entries! West End Arts Scene-and-be-Seen

2008-05-15T14:58:00.004-05:00

West End Arts announces our kick-off event: West End Arts Scene-and-be-Seen, a showcase of visual arts created by artists living or working in the West End. We welcome original submissions of every visual art form, including paintings, drawings, photography, mixed media, sculpture, ceramics, glass, and wood.

For details, visit West End Arts Scene-and-be-Seen!

Call for Entries Poster

2008-05-14T06:33:00.015-05:00

Here's the "Call for Entries" poster. I've updated since the first posting for accuracy and better wording, with a watercolor treatment for the image.

Call for Entries poster.pdf

It's black and white for cheaper home printing, and letter size because of common bulletin board constraints. Designed for borderless printing.

Here's a 2 up version for smaller bulletin boards

2 up Call for Entries poster.pdf

Cheers,
Pop

Pilney Proposal to the Boones

2008-05-14T02:41:00.010-05:00

Here's the PDF of the Pilney Proposal:

WEAProposal.pdf

Cheers,
Pop

May 12, 2008 Steering Committee Minutes

2008-05-13T18:54:00.021-05:00

Tonight's focus: Preparing for the Show!

I. Locale Update
The Pilney is a go. Tenant is fine with our plan to use the space for our show during business hours and on weekends.
We need to draft a proposal for The Pilney's owners. Details below.

II. Budget
Nance circulated the budget proposal that was submitted to Thune/City Council. The proposal was blessed by steering cmte. members and Betty at Fort Road Fed.
We hope to have the budget money in time to do publicity for the show, but if it doesn't come through in time for us, we will have to get creative. (Roaming sandwich boards, heavy e-mail/word of mouth, radio spots, press releases, Community Reporter, etc.)

III. WEA letterhead and business cards
Jason is working on these.
Letterhead will need to specify West End Arts as "A Committee of the Fort Road Federation."

IV. Show Setup: To Do List
Beg, borrow, steal:

Pedastals for sculptures (from Thune, Nance, Jason)
Lighting equipment (light fixtures, c-clamps, extension cords, etc.)
Movable walls (from Thune, Nance)

Solicit volunteers to:

Select pieces to show. (Mary, Virginia, Paulette)
Gather donations of cups, napkins, beverages. (Halle) (Our show poster can include a thank you to businesses who donate.)
Help hang show.
Help with fundraising at the show (producing/selling t-shirts, soaps, caps, bumper stickers, magnets, key chains).
Line up volunteer musicians for venue-appropriate music (probably acoustic, small-scale, not minding being background music).

IV. Proposal for Pilney Draft Text
Proposal for West End Arts Scene-and-be-Seen Show

To take place in the ground floor/open space of the Pilney building, organized and staffed by volunteers of West End Arts.

Pilney building owners agree to provide West End Arts volunteers access to the show space at the following dates and times.
Show dates: Saturday, July 12, 2008-Saturday, August 2, 2008
Opening reception: Saturday, July 12, 2008, 6-10pm
Open to the public: Thursdays through Sundays, 1-5pm

Art drop-off dates: Sunday, July 6, 3-6pm and Wednesday, July 9, 1-4pm

Show preparation dates: Saturday, July 5 through Saturday, July 12 between 9am and 5pm

Art pick-up dates: Wednesday, August 6, 1-4pm and Saturday, August 9, 3-6pm

West End Arts volunteers and Pilney building owners will arrange a date and time to meet at the show space sometime between May 24 and June 21, 2008, so that:

West End Arts volunteers can assess the space (take measurements, determine the number and types of pieces we'll be able to display, determine equipment and lighting needs).
We can clarify how West End Arts volunteers will access the space as we prepare and conduct the show.

West End Arts volunteers understand that the Pilney building's tenant requires use of the space on weekday evenings, and agree to clear the space of artworks each afternoon before leaving the site.
West End Arts and Pilney building owners will agree upon a safe, out-of-the way area within the space in which to stow pieces during off-hours, from the date we begin receiving show pieces (July 6) through the date artists will pick up their pieces (August 9) (for example, the back of the room, a closet, etc.). If the tenant and/or building owners prefer, we can leave select pieces displayed during the length of the show (for example, paintings on the permanent walls or sculptures in the windows).

We thank you for your support of West End Arts!

Contact:
Jason Gorski
651.206.4084
westendarts@gmail.com

V. Call for Artists
Our schedule:
Finalize details for call for artists: By May 24
Begin circulating/posting call for artists: Saturday, May 24 (poster format: 1/2-legal size and legal size)
Submissions due: Saturday, June 21
Selection period: Sunday, June 22-Sunday, June 29

Draft Text to include on blog:
West End Arts Scene-and-be-Seen
Call for Entries

West End Arts, a committee of the Fort Road Federation, is a newly-formed group of artists, neighbors, and friends organized to promote and foster arts in the West End, by encouraging and connecting artists, and extending arts into the community through exhibitions, live performances, and educational outreach.

Our kick-off event is West End Arts Scene-and-be-Seen, a showcase of visual arts created by artists living and working in the West End.
We welcome submissions of every visual art form, including but not limited to paintings, drawings, photography, mixed media, sculpture, ceramics, glass, and wood.
Your submission packet must include:
(1) Cover letter with:
Your name, e-mail and/or postal address, and phone number
A brief description of your connection to the West End (whether you are a resident, business owner, or employee in the neighborhood),
(2) Digital images (submitted online) or photos/photocopies (submitted by mail, 8.5 x 11 inches maximum) of up to three artworks, with actual dimensions specified. These items will not be returned to you.
(3) An artist's statement to be displayed alongside selected work(s) with:
Your name
Title of artwork(s) and (optionally) prices
Up to 100 words (about three short paragraphs) describing yourself and/or your artworks.
Note: If you're offering your artworks for sale, you must take full responsibility for negotiating with potential buyers, collecting payment, and delivering artworks. West End Arts does not represent individual artists or buyers.

Schedule
Entries due: Saturday, June 21
Selection period: Sunday, June 22-Sunday, June 29
Show dates: Saturday, July 12, 2008-Saturday, August 2, 2008
Opening reception: Saturday, July 12, 2008, 6-10pm
Open to the public: Thursdays through Sundays, 1-5pm

Due to space limitations, the selection committee may elect to display one or more submissions at a future event.
If your works are selected, you'll be required to:

Deliver your artwork(s) to the Pilney Building, [address], Sunday, July 6, from 3-6pm or Wednesday, July 9, 1-4pm.
Sign a waiver releasing West End Arts and the Fort Road Federation from liability should your artworks be lost, stolen, or damaged during preparations for the show, for the duration of the show, and until the artworks are returned to you.
Pick up your artwork(s) at the Pilney Building Wednesday, August 6, 1-4pm and Saturday, August 9, 3-6pm

Submit entries by e-mail westendarts(at)gmail(dot)com or by U.S. Mail to the attention of:
West End Arts
Fort Road Federation
[address]

For details, see westendarts.blogspot.com or e-mail westendarts_at_gmail_dot_com.

VI. Other Appeals to Artists

Send Maxine call for artists to publish in Community Reporter (Rachel)
Ask Maxine how much it would cost to do an insert in the Community Reporter (for show) (Rachel)
Rake Magazine (online) has a Call for Artists page. We can send a listing to cristina(at)rakemag(dot)com.

VII. Action Items
Nance/Jason/Anyone will bring templates of insurance/waiver for selected artists to sign.
Rachel will draft Pilney Proposal.
Rachel will draft call-for-artist
Jason will finish call-for-artists poster.
Nance will talk to Betty about Fort Road Federation insurance, and confirm it's okay for artists to send submissions to us in care of Fort Road Federation office.

Steering Committee Meeting Venue Change: The Artist's Quarter!

2008-05-12T14:06:00.004-05:00

Newsflash #1: Jason just spoke with Chris, from The Pilney. Chris spoke to the tenant, and the tenant is cool with our plans for the show. Woo hoo!

Newsflash #2: Steering Committee Meeting Venue Change: The Artist's Quarter!
From Jason:

Last minute change of plans.

I want to meet at the Artist's Quarter at 7 tonight instead of my house, because they have an open mic night and we can meet before they start and than see what's going on. Also I would like to talk to the hosts about letting WEA sponser a few open mikes for fund-raising and PR. I'm interested in doing this because I am a performer besides being a visual artist. Our business can be conducted for the gallery show and we can start doing a little outreach for a performing project and have fun at the same time! Also Rachel and I met some great Jazz artists this weekend who are in the hood who would be great for performing for the gallery show.

Wheeeeeee!

Need directions to the Artist's Quarter in downtown St. Paul? See the AQ's Web site.

Halle & Nance have confirmed that they can meet us at this new locale. Please help spread the word to Heather & Lia & Marty!

May 12 & June 4 Meeting Announcements

2008-05-05T23:54:00.003-05:00

Steering Committee
When: Monday, May 12, 7pm
Where: Chez Gorski
Details to be e-mailed. If you have not attended a steering committee meeting before but are interested in helping plan our inaugural art show, please leave a comment on this post, and we'll contact you!

General Meeting
When: Wednesday, June 4. 7-8pm, business; 8-9pm mixer/potluck.
Where: SOKOL (tentatively)
* Notify Maxine if we change meeting time or location so she can update the Community Report calendar announcement.

May 5, 2008 Meeting Minutes

2008-05-05T22:55:00.008-05:00

I. Inaugural Show Plan Update from Steering Committee
Jason spoke to the owners of the Pilney building and they're very open to the idea of participating in our show. Someone will be renting the downstairs space over the summer, but only in the evenings, and if the renter is amenable to the idea, we could use the space during the afternoon and on the weekends. Jason is checking back with the Pilney owners on Thursday for an update.
The steering committee will create a written proposal for the Pilney owners that outlines our tentative plans.
Show dates: Saturday July 12 through Saturday August 2
Opening reception: Saturday July 12, 6pm-10pm
Open to the public: Thursday-Saturday, 1-5pm
Staffing: Volunteers during reception and public viewing hours
Miscellaneous: Movable walls on loan from Dave Thune, lighting for back walls, donation jar
We are most enthused about this space: its large windows easily viewed from the sidewalk & street, its manageable size.
When the show is all done, the Pilney owners might even be interested in leaving some art hanging on the walls, and rotating pieces over time. They like the idea of displaying art.

Update on other venues, just for everyone's info:

Brewery: The Cohen's suspect that Kreitzer will not be interested. Misgivings about liability are likely.
St. Francis/St. James; Monroe; Four Seasons: Nance met with the Community Ed. person and all these schools are interested in partnering with us. We share that interest but don't feel that a school would be a good venue for our inaugural show. Post-show, we should follow up with these schools and initiate contact with Arts H.S., Visual Arts school, and Performing Arts school downtown.
As a sidenote, lot of people at the West 7th Business Association approached Nance and told her how excited they are about WEA! At the Fort Road Federation annual meeting, Rachel spoke with representatives from the Sholom Home and Mississippi Market, both of whom were hip to the idea of working with us on something.

Next Steering Committee Meeting: Monday, May 12, Chez Gorski, 7pm (details to be e-mailed)
We'll nail down particulars such as:

Template of waiver for artists to complete (Jason will look for a template online.) ("While reasonable care is taken to protect the art, neither West End Arts, nor the Fort Road Federation, nor the owners of the Pilney Building are liable for damage to or theft of the artworks you provide ...").
Insurance issues. Joe says we probably have liability coverage through the Federation; Nance says Pilney surely does and it's also pretty inexpensive to purchase such insurance for a one-time event.
Call for artists, selection criteria (if any)
Plan to have a list of pieces for sale and contact info for artists (no commissions for us, but donations gladly accepted)
Pick-up/drop-off times and locations for selected pieces, and installation dates
Lineup of talent (A few musical performances, a spoken word artist or two, taking up 5-20 minute blocks during the course of the evening--hand-selected by steering committee rather than as part of the call for artists? All TBD.)

II. Other WEA Updates and Input

Nance confirmed that we have non-profit bulk mailing rate through the Federation. We have to provide the money, is all. Nance will follow up with Betty.
Nance has the budget proposal all ready to go. She may add a few details about our tentative plans for the show, now that they're shaping up. She's passing it along to Betty to get printed on Fort Road Federation letterhead.
WEA logo: David Rich wonders if it would be helpful to incorporate W7 into the logo, so people would have an immediate sense of the place we're coming from (i.e., West 7th Street). The general consensus seems to be we'll stick with what we have now, since Jason took the initiative and everyone's pretty happy with the design. We've sort of tied ourselves to the "West End Arts" handle, but nothing's written in stone and additional logo designs are certainly welcome! :)

III. Partnering with SOKOL for Harvest Dance in October
Joe is attending a SOKOL board meeting on Thursday and they'll be discussing their events calendar and scheduling the Harvest Dance. Would WEA be interested in coordinating with SOKOL on this fundraising event? Discussion ensues.
Pros:

It would get WEA's name out there to the community.
It'll be fun to get ourselves out there in a party atmosphere.
We'd get a share of the proceeds.
We could take advantage of the opportunity to promote ourselves as supporters of performing arts (not just visual arts), by coordinating live music for the event (for example). We would also be expected to volunteer as ticket sellers, concession workers, etc.
Joe assures us it's not that much work.

Cons:

We're a new group with no track record and hesitate to commit to an event just yet.
Depending on how involved we get (e.g., putting out a call for musicians, selecting performers, etc.), it could be a lot of work. Will we all be burnt out from the show, will we be able to rustle up enough volunteers? We feel uncertain.
We have no money to contribute for publicity, supplies, etc. We don't want to commit to SOKOL and then end up letting them down because we have nothing solid to contribute.
We're not sure how closely this ties in with our mission.

IV. Socializing
Some artists in the community are less interested in planning events and more interested in just hanging out, like at a mixer once a quarter or something. We plan to have a business meeting next month, followed by a hang-out session/potluck.
Maxine will publish a meeting announcement in the Community Reporter calendar, and it'll mention the social hour as open to visual, performing, and literary artists.

V. Community Reporter interviews with artists
Maxine is interested in publishing interviews with local artists, ideally every month. If an artist will be showing work in the near future or participating in our show specifically, that would be an ideal candidate for an interview. Nance nominates Jason as interviewee number 1. Jason accepts.

VI. When next we meet ...
General Meeting
When: Wednesday, June 4. 7-8pm, business; 8-9pm social hour/potluck.
Where: SOKOL (tentatively)
* Notify Maxine if we change meeting time or location so she can update the Community Report calendar announcement.

Steering Committee
When: Monday, May 12, 7pm
Where: Chez Gorski
Details to be e-mailed.

There's way more

2008-05-05T13:27:00.002-05:00

Okay, so those interested or involved in the visual arts are in the process of planning an exhibition of visual art. We know there are other westenders whose focus may be in another area: literary arts, music, dance, theater for example. There's no reason why folks into other disciplines can't put heads together and figure out more ways to connect and maybe bring work out into the community at the same time. Maybe not at the art show event but in another venue, at a different time. I invite everyone who would like to meet other neighbors within their own discplines to come to the monthly meetings. Afterall, there's more to this art thing than pictures on the wall. I'd like to suggest that the meetings be more than just about planning events--that we make time for connecting and getting to know one another as neighbors and artists and writers and musicians, etc.

Steering Committee Update, April 30 Meeting Cancelled

2008-04-29T17:40:00.002-05:00

Since we met last week, Jason and Halle contacted some key people about potential venues, but have not nailed down any details yet. Instead of meeting on Wednesday, April 30, we thought it would be easiest to post this update. We hope to have more details by Monday, in time for the next general West End Arts meeting.

Here's the story:

Jason contacted Dave W. and the Cohens about the use of the brewery, and since the Cohens have not closed the deal yet, the person we really need to contact is Dave Kreitzer, the current owner. Dave W. already has a relationship with him so he's going to contact him on our behalf and try to have some info for us by Monday.
Halle contacted a couple local businesses who expressed support and interest in participating, should we pursue the "art crawl" option.

See you all next Monday, May 5, at the Fort Road Federation Office.

Come on in -- the water's fine...

2008-04-24T10:49:00.005-05:00

Spring brings the promise of good things....In these economically, politically and spiritually trying times art is one of those "good things." We hope more of you artists, writers, performers, art lovers, community activists in this West End will jump in soon. The water is just a puddle so far--not too deep and a little on the tepid side. If you cannot make the meeting times, start commenting on blogs and contributing ideas anyway. We need and want all voices to be heard.

Steering committee meeting.

2008-04-23T20:40:00.006-05:00

April 23

The first steering committee meeting was tonight at Acme Scenic Arts.

Atendees:

Heather Haynes
Halle O' Falvey
Lia Rivamonte
Rachel Gorski
Jason Gorski
Nance Derby

Marty was excused due to artistic endeavors.

We discussed alternating nights of general meetings, every other month, Mondays & Wednesdays. We'll bring this up at our next general meeting on May 5.

There was poster feedback.

Marty sent his compliments.

All in attendance love it.

There was some concern about the readability of the "WEA" letters. Jason will produce a few other ideas. But overall, feedback on posters and logo was positive.

Discussion of whether we're going to have performance art or just visual art. The decision was to limit our first show to visual art but to invite musical performers and/or spoken word for the opening (e.g., Armaiti, Heather's daughter & daughter's father). Steering committee welcomes suggestions and will make a selection on its own.

We'd like the show to be at least one week, at most one month. If we do get a venue for a month, we could have additional music or events on weekends featuring groups on the West End. The groups who express interest would coordinate their events themselves, so that it's not all up to the core steering committee to coordinate each event each weekend.

Jason is volunteering to contact Dave W. re: the brewery site. Alternative sites, if brewery is unavailable:

Mad Hatter Gallery & Tea
Tease
Pilney building
Uncommon Grounds
West Seventh Community Center
Rudie's
Petit Salon
Visual Addiction
Day by Day
Donahue Real Estate
Shalom Home
Mississippi Market (later)
Summit Brewery Rathskeller
West Seventh Storage
Victoria Park Condo
Halloween Fright Night Old Magic Shop site
Art Crawl across multiple small venues, if not large venue is available

Halle will make some calls.

If all else fails, Nance offered Acme as a venue once construction is complete. (But we are all eager to have a summer show.)

Nance will contact Betty at the Federation to finalize the advertising budget and give it to Dave Thune.

Nance will also find out if the Federation has a non-profit postage bulk rate for mailing that we could use for show mailings.

Once we get a venue, we'll need to check on insurance. We can talk to Federation about that. Participating artists will also need to sign a release/waiver.

Next show steering committee meeting: Wednesday, April 30, 7pm

Chez Gorski

Let's communicate by e-mail during the week, and meet only if we have some viable venue options to discuss.

Getting the show rolling . . .

2008-04-11T01:58:00.003-05:00

Here's a possible poster for the up coming show. I wanted to make it eye-catching and easy to read from a distance. I felt that we need to convey more details with a follow up to a response via email or telephone or mailing/dropping off/picking up applications. Cheers - Jason

Art for the new Mississippi Market?

2008-04-09T17:28:00.002-05:00

Mississippi Market is coming to Victoria Park on the West End. Hooray! I cannot wait to walk to my co-op!
Should we approach the Mississippi Market folks and ask them about plans for art in or around the store? A mural, a sculpture, whatever? Maybe we can contribute.

West End Arts logo: A thing of beauty!

2008-04-09T17:23:00.007-05:00

Thank you, Jason, for this beautiful logo! I love it!

So easy to scale based on size of media!
So easy to stencil! I'm ready to spray paint my t-shirt, thank you.

April 23 & May 5 Meeting Announcements

2008-04-09T12:01:00.003-05:00

Steering Committee meeting
When: April 23, 2008, 7pm
Where: Acme Scenic Arts (Nance & John's place), 941 West Seventh. (Next door to the Mad Hatter.)

West End Arts meeting
When: May 5, 2008
Where: Fort Road Federation Office

April 7, 2008 Meeting Minutes

2008-04-09T11:36:00.011-05:00

West End Arts Meeting Minutes
by Rachel

April 7, 2008
Fort Road Federation Office

Round-up of ideas for our inaugural event/show:

Brewery as locale, if possible
Non-juried, though if there are an extraordinary number of entries we can have a selection jury
Satellite spaces for overflow entries
Steering committee will meet to hammer out details such as:

~ call for artists within Ford Road Federation boundaries
~ combining show announcement & call for artists
~ venue
~ date
~ opening reception
~ where/how to distribute posters, postcards, & flyers
~ Community Reporter/Villager article/ad
~ KFAI promotion
~ public access/SPNN,
~ press release
~ West End Business Association partnership
~ "art crawl" with the art crawling down W. 7th via sandwich boards
~ rings of power for participating artists
~ ... and more

Steering committee members so far:

Jason
Lia
Heather
Marty
Halle
Nance
Rachel
John

Mission statement:
Marty suggests we solidify a mission statement, to define ourselves and give us some direction, aid in goal-setting, put at the top of a grant applications or budget, etc. So, what are we about?

non-inclusiveness: for all ages, demographics, subcultures
connecting artists with each other
letting the greater area know we're here
supporting arts and artists
having shows
being visible
communicating
sharing knowledge
promoting and encouraging each other
defining "art"
defining "support"
... by any means necessary

Draft statement:
Neighbors and friends organized to promote and foster arts in the West End, by encouraging and connecting artists, and extending arts into the community through exhibitions, live performances, and educational outreach.

Inaugural Event/Show Budget ideas:
Heather offers to take the lead on drafting a budget for the St. Paul City Council. Rough ideas:
5000 postcards at $1,500
5000 flyers at $200
250 posters at $500
Postage $400
Designer $300

What's Next:
Steering Committee meeting
When: April 23, 2008
Where: Acme Scenic Arts (Nance & John's place), 941 West Seventh. (Next door to the Mad Hatter.)

West End Arts meeting
When: May 5, 2008
Where: Fort Road Federation Office

April 7, 2008 Meeting Announcement

2008-03-23T18:25:00.004-05:00

When: 7 pm
Where: Fort Road Federation Offices, 974 West 7th/Fort Road

February 4, 2008 Meeting Minutes

2008-03-23T17:56:00.006-05:00

West End Arts Meeting Minutes
Feb. 4, 2008
Chez David and Paulette

Ideas for our Inaugural Event
West End Arts ... a flushing out of artists in the community.
To this end, our first priority will be an open call, non-juried show.
Mary Esch presents sample calls for entries. She just curated a show at St. Kate's so has recent and direct experience with this kind of thing.

Approach:

Mary suggests a simple approach for an inaugural event. David seconds.
Rotate show. Put some stuff up at first, then other stuff.
Mary, Ann, Becca promote idea of artist "mixer" in the space, whatever it is, separate from the show.
Volunteers could watch over space/show during exhibit hours.
TBD: Would call be open to non-West End artists?

Locale:

Inquire at for rent/vacant spaces. Perhaps Dave Wick. can help us find these spaces.
Pilney building is currently vacant.
Remember that there would be a tax deduction for donations of space, food, beverages, etc. (Truly? Even if we're not offically a non-profit organization?)

Resources:

Dave Thune said city may be able to provide ad budget.
Marcus Young, current St. Paul Artist-in-Residence, is good liaison to city. He's currently looking for space in the West End. He loves it here.
West End Business Association, which has recently reformed, may be interested in providing resources. Nance is joining.
Becca suggests establishing West End Arts membership dues of $5-$10.

Other Business

Nance would like to develop a structure for the West End Arts group: a leader, etc.
Paulette suggests Kent Aldrich as potential graphic designer/logo developer.
Community Reporter ran an article about the proposed artist live/work spaces at the Brewery. Paulette mentions that tax credit for such spaces is in jeopardy, and this may impact development.

Action Items

Becca will get together with Dave Wick. to find out about potential space for West End Arts inaugural show.
Nance will pursue ad budget possibilities (by talking to Dave Thune).

January 2, 2008 Meeting Minutes

2008-01-31T13:56:00.001-06:00

From Joe.

Minutes of the fourth meeting, first wednesday; nineteenth hour, first month, fifth day, 2008 CE. CSPS Hall Theatre (Note change of day, time, location for next meeting.)

first agenda item
was a discussion of a project we could be working on. Discussion quickly evolved to a proposed gallery show this summer and what it would look like. Issues included location, whether or not we would jury entries, wording of the call, whether or not to charge, how the selection committee would be formed. A summary paragraph/framework is being developed by Sheila Dickinson, Mary Esch, and Paulette Myers Rich.

second agenda item
Rachel Robinson is transposing the visual arts asset survey of the West End into a graphic.

third agenda item
was a discussion of where and when to hold the next meeting. It was decided to hold it on (this) Monday, February 4 at 7 p.m. at Paulette and David Myers-Rich’ studio, 436 Smith, 1.5 blocks from the High Bridge.

Announcements/new business:
The West End Neighbors Garden Tour will be held Saturday, June 21, from 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. There are about 20 entries to date. Pertinent agenda items queried whether our arts group would contribute creativity to a distinctive sign (format undetermined) to mark the residences on the day of the tour, whether there would be an art sale at the same time to coincide with the plant sale at the Federation parking lot on W 7th street, whether artists would like to showcase a piece in selected gardens, whether music to accompany garden visitors would be appropriate, Kent Petterson (Terrace Books on 503 St. Clair) of is the contact/organizer: terrace@winternet.com

Call for Artists: COMPAS writers and artists in the schools program (WAITS)
work in schools with students in Minnesota. 651 292 3249 This is COMPAS longest running program.

Vaclav Havel’s Memorandum produced by Lex-Ham Community Theater has been extended to two weekends at the CSPS Hall 383 Michigan: Feb 29, March 1-2; March 7-9. Fridays and Saturdays, 7 p.m. and Sundays 2 p.m. It is a great comedy! Full of governmental bureaucratic nonsense similar to what we are experiencing today. (Ooops—shouldn’t editorialize)

February 4, 2008 Meeting Announcement

2008-01-31T13:53:00.003-06:00

When: Monday, February 4 at 7 p.m.
Where: Paulette and David Myers-Rich’s studio, 436 Smith, 1.5 blocks from the High Bridge.

Temporarily Sustainable Holes?

2008-01-31T08:13:00.000-06:00

Passed by a brand new "hole" in the neighborhood. What do we have to do to make good use of these new vacant lots? I assume they are owned by the city and are for sale. In the meantime what if we put some good soil and seeds down and provide the neighborhood with healthy, free greens? Prettify the ravaged block with flowers? Provide a little gardening training to kids next door and let them be responsible for maintaining the plots and then reap the benefits?

Building Blocks

2008-01-29T19:44:00.000-06:00

Okay, I'm back. Not that I've been anywhere but here and still thinking about this potentially great little neighborhood. And how art can make it better. There's a new grant initiative at the Metropolitan Regional Arts Council. It's called Creative Intersections. It's about developing real partnerships: art organizations, businesses and municipal or other government agencies to collaborate on an art-related project that will have a life beyond the project somehow. It's a challenging proposition that demands thinking a little deeper and having a broader vision about the kinds of projects that such a cross-sector collaboration can engender. I'd like to suggest that those of us interested in using the arts as building blocks to construct a richer, homier, livelier and culturally vital community begin by thinking about projects that deepen the sense of place and history of the West End area. It's not so much about applying for a grant as it is about beginning to consider what kinds of programs, events or activities we could work together on that would have a long-lasting impact; that might serve as a beginning rather than an end.

West End Arts-Like Initiative in Minneapolis

2008-01-24T14:23:00.000-06:00

I heard this report on the KFAI Evening News and it all sounded eerily familiar! Click the link to access the audio file.

Art's Forum in 8th Ward
On Wednesday, January 16, the 8th Ward City Council Office of Minneapolis hosted an Arts Forum at the Pillsbury House Theater. KFAI's Erin Vassilopoulos reports.

January 2, 2008 Meeting Announcement

2007-12-11T10:42:00.001-06:00

When: First Wednesday of January, January 2, at 7 p.m.
Where: To Be Determined

Traffic Mimes and Other Creative Approaches to Civics

2007-11-30T11:02:00.000-06:00

I read about Antanas Mockus, the former mayor of Bogotá, Columbia, in the last issue of the Walker's newsletter/calendar. He was featured in a piece about the Brave New Worlds exhibit. And he sounds super-cool. He approached the city's problems in lots of creative and innovative ways, including:

Hiring mimes to help control traffic at busy intersections.
Distributing penalty cards (like the kind used in football/soccer) to the populace, so citizens could call attention to traffic rule violators.
Taking an eco-friendly shower on TV (turning off the water while soaping up), to encourage people to save water.

You can read more about him here:
Academic Turns City into a Social Experiment, by María Cristina Caballero
An excerpt:

"The distribution of knowledge is the key contemporary task," Mockus said. "Knowledge empowers people. If people know the rules, and are sensitized by art, humor, and creativity, they are much more likely to accept change."

What changes would we like to see on West Seventh, and how we can use art and humor to gently encourage those changes along?

The St. Paul Cube, by Andrew Hine

2007-11-29T10:43:00.000-06:00

MinnPost.com published this lovely article about the St. Paul cube, created by Andrew Hine:
St. Paul preservation group offers new twist on 'cubist art', by Marisa Helms

Thanks to Ruth Dantuma of Historic Saint Paul for the link!

Holes

2007-11-16T10:28:00.000-06:00

November mornings such as this one: chill setting in, the sunlight just wan enough to remind me that even in weather there is mediocrity. There is a charmlessness in the eclectic architectural styles that dominate these neighborhoods--what were people thinking? I admit there are some among us who find a certain fascination in some of the least imaginative dwelling structures. (My friend Tom likes to visit from over in Minneapolis and photograph the most unlikely houses--in those pictures he is able to reveal a strange narrative--kind of an emptiness, actually. If you went to the art show at the state fair, you might've seen one of his "houses." Do check out his website, www.duhbris.com--his collection of photographs from all over the world, which he updates daily.) So, yes, at least they (houses)provide cheap shelter but it's as if the dullness of this kind of November morning overwhelmed the men (sorry, it had to be that particular) who came up with the idea. I'm thinking of boxes with a door, asbestos siding, small aluminum framed windows and unadorned concrete front steps. Add to this a cyclone fence around a tiny lawn and a mean yipping dog and you get the idea. The onset of winter lays bare some rather uncomely scenery. The city has been demolishing some of the worst offenders. Now there are holes. What will we fill them with?

what a world

2007-11-14T17:26:00.000-06:00

Hello west 7th artists, writers, music-makers, activists, advocates et al. Creativity is in the air--I'm hopeful that we will be infected with this new spirit as a loosely based collection of west-end dreamers (and subsequent do-ers). I walk and ride through these neighborhoods often and sometimes rue a lack of connectedness to the place. I know the area is a treasure trove of his and her stories. The potential to make our community more livable and lovable lies, I believe, in discovering how we can connect-- art can be a powerful means to bring people together to mine the riches.
Some connecting possibilities:
A multi-generational dance-party
Art displayed in empty storefronts
Public signage that carries one word/thoughtful messages sprinkled throughout the neighborhoods
A youth-based, youth only coffee/art house
A fund for granting smaller art projects/groups throughout the West 7th community
An art tour of, by, and for west-enders
A series of small events - one Thursday eve per month, for example, or Sunday afternoon (a reading, hour of music, a film, demonstration, art activity...)
Okay...gotta go, board meeting -- anyhow, it's your turn.

Claremorris Open Exhibition in Ireland

2007-11-14T11:12:00.000-06:00

Sheila D. let us all know about this juried exhibition that takes place in Claremorris, Ireland.
Claremorris Open Exhibition

Could West Seventh host a similar event? It's a nice twist on a traditional art crawl: a juried exhibition that attracts participants from all over the place.

Art Crawls in Seward and on Grand

2007-11-14T10:59:00.000-06:00

Paulette let us all know about upcoming art crawls close to home.

Seward Arts Festival (This already took place, on November 10th.)
Art on Grand, Thursday, November 15th, 4-9 p.m.

Art on Grand proves you don't need to devote a whole weekend to an event. It also shows a nice collaboration between arts and businesses! Check it out if you can, and think about the possibility of organizing this type of event along West Seventh.

Mr. Positive: Carl Bentson

2007-11-14T10:49:00.000-06:00

There was an amazing turnout at the West 7th Community Center Saturday night for the world premiere of Mr. Positive: Carl Bentson, a documentary co-directed by Mike Hazard and Emily Rumsey. The documentary celebrates our West Seventh friend and neighbor, Carl Bentson.

Find out more, see the trailer, and order a DVD! Visit the Center for International Education (The CIE) Web site.

West End Garden Tour, Spring 2008

2007-11-14T10:33:00.000-06:00

At our West End Arts meeting on November 7th, Kent Petterson talked about the plans for a West End Garden Tour tentatively scheduled for June 21, 2008, a Saturday from 10-4PM. Some suggestions came up about how we might participate:

Lending (or commissioning) sculptures to featured gardens.
Arranging musical performances in featured gardens.
Beautifying random green spaces along West Seventh.

Joe L. has passed along minutes from a Garden Tour planning session, which I'm excerpting here. If you're interested in finding out more, you can contact Kent Petterson at terrace-AT-winternet-DOT-com. Kent owns Terrace Horticulture Books at 503 St. Clair Ave., right here in St. Paul (phone 651-222-5536).

An ad hoc committee of neighbors met at the Fort Road Federation offices on October 24th at 6:30 PM regarding a proposed summer 2008 neighborhood garden tour. Our informal survey that night indicated this tour would be the only community sponsored summer event next year. Our thanks to Betty Moran and the Federation for making their conference room available.

Kent Petterson acted as moderator for this first meeting of the group and will be a contact point in the future. Information will be transmitted via email as much as possible in the future. Please let Kent know at terrace-AT-winternet-DOT-com if you wish to be added to this email list.

Schmidt's Brewery Lofts

2007-11-12T10:39:00.000-06:00

Jeff and Craig Cohen, who plan to finalize their purchase of the Schmidt Brewery in April, announced plans to develop the bottling plant into artists lofts last month. We'll get the chance to meet Jeff and Craig at our West End Arts meeting on December 5th. Stay tuned for details!

If you haven't heard the latest news about the brewery, here's an article that appeared in the Star Tribune.

Old Schmidt Brewery will be on tap for artists
Turning part of the bottling house into artist housing could fill a niche and revitalize part of West Seventh Street, developers say.
By Chris Havens, Star Tribune
October 31, 2007

The old Schmidt Brewery, which lies vacant on 15 acres in St. Paul, is often referred to as the heart of the West Seventh Street community.

Developers are hoping artistic creativity will get the blood pumping there again. A deal to turn the 100,000-square-foot bottling house into a place for artists to live and work was announced Wednesday, and proponents of the project say it could be the springboard for more development on the site.

The complex, built mostly in the Romanesque style, has lain dormant since 2004, when the Gopher State Ethanol plant operating there was closed. The brewery's castle-like structures were built between 1900 and 1939. The brewery has always been a symbol of the community, said Council Member Dave Thune. "We want to bring life and liveliness back into the neighborhood," he said.

The development will probably have 90 to 100 units and cost $25 million to $30 million, said Mark Moorhouse of Dominium, a Plymouth-based development firm that's buying the building. Work could start in late 2008, with completion likely in early 2010. "There are lots of arts organizations and creative people around West Seventh, and we're carving out a niche," Moorhouse said.

Called a huge first step
Bill Hosko, who's challenging Thune for the Second Ward City Council seat, said he has supported a mixed-use development at the brewery for years. "At first blush, it sounds like a great idea, but I'd have to see their proposal."

Jeff Cohen of Washington D.C., and his son, Craig, who has lived in St. Paul for a decade, will be the master developers and have a purchase agreement to buy the entire site from BHGDN, the current owners. They plan to close on that deal in April, said Jeff Cohen, who has done residential projects in Maine.

Plans for the rest of the site could include a couple of hundred thousand square feet of retail space and a hotel or condominiums.

Ken Peterson, president of the West Seventh/Fort Road Federation, called the deal a huge first step in the development of the complex. He said artist housing had been among the first things community members talked about. "Artists seem to get very vested in the community," Peterson said. "They like neighborhoods."

'A lot of potential'
And there's not a lot of affordable housing for artists, said Tom Melchior, manager of market research for LarsonAllen, a Minneapolis accounting and consulting firm. Although he said he wasn't familiar with the Schmidt plan, Melchior said the location is excellent. "It's an area of St. Paul with a lot of potential," he said.

Lowertown has a thriving arts community and a few buildings that cater to artists. The Carleton Lofts on University Avenue, also a Dominium project, filled up with renters quickly, creating a waiting list.

"If it's below market price, they'll have a huge demand," said Wendy Holmes, vice president of consulting and resource development with ArtSpace, a national nonprofit developer.

ArtSpace has about 150 rental units of artist live/work space in St. Paul, she said, and there are hundreds of people waiting to get in.

Many artist housing projects are subsidized by low-income tax credits or historic building tax credits. Moorhouse said financing plans and rental rates haven't been worked out yet.

December 5, 2007 Meeting Announcement

2007-11-08T19:11:00.001-06:00

When: First Wednesday of December, December 5, at 7 p.m.
Where: Sokol Hall (above Glockenspiel Restaurant), 383 Michigan St. at West 7th, 2nd floor.

Community Reporter, November 2007

2007-11-07T15:02:00.000-06:00

Pick up this month's Community Reporter and check out these articles.

Historical Tour of West End Wows Visitors, by Andrew Hine (page 8)
Inaugural Meeting of West End Arts, by Alice Lerner (page 9)

Note: The Community Reporter Web site is terribly out-of-date. If anyone is interested in helping maintain this site, contact Maxine McCormick!