What started with a loose screw ended with a magical encounter with a painting that has long been one of my favorite works of art. So goes the serendipity of travel as I embark on another segment of “Travels with Paula—Moroccan (and unexpectedly Madrid) edition.” (Time to silence my posts if you don’t like my travelogues.) After getting up at …
The American Museum of Natural History’s recent decision to remove the statue of Theodore Roosevelt from its Central Park entrance gives us all the opportunity to revisit and rethink a wide range of things we have taken for granted in American history and American memory. Although the Roosevelt debate has largely focused on the statue group’s depiction of him as …
The silly controversy over Shane Balkowitsch’s proposal to mount a 7-foot-high portrait of the Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg on the outside wall of a downtown building in Bismarck comes just as we learn that Antarctica has experienced the two hottest days on historical record and just when an iceberg the size of Malta has broken free from the Pine …
The firing of the Johanna Kiln, the largest wood-burning kiln in North America at St. John’s University and Abbey in central Minnesota only happens every two years. The 87-foot-long brick kiln was designed and built 25 years ago by the university’s master potter and artist in residence Richard Bresnahan, along with help from apprentices and volunteers. The latest firing was completed …
My introduction to the art of Rembrandt came indirectly, through my friend, Fred Rogers. In the fall of 1995, I traveled to Pittsburgh to interview the children’s television icon for a newspaper story, and in one of our early conversations, Fred mentioned that his favorite author was Henri Nouwen, a Dutch Catholic priest. Henri, as I would soon learn, was …
Places I’d like to visit again? Monet’s Garden. Claude Monet, one of the giants of Impressionism, is among Dorette’s and my favorite artists. We’ve seldom missed an opportunity to see his work. We’ve also twice visited his estate near Meudon, France, a short train trip from Paris. Traveling with us last year was Avery Dusterhoft, Dorette’s granddaughter, who brought along …
Jim and I took in the most enchanting exhibit at the Bismarck Art Galleries Association this afternoon, one of the treasures of our city. The exhibit is “Northern Plains Native Americans: A Modern Wet Plate Perspective” by Shane Balkowitsch. I was particularly taken with many of the subject’s Native American names. Although there were dozens that deeply moved us, my …
A most delightful evening soiree was held at the Linda and Chuck Suchy farm south of Mandan on Sunday night. The occasion was a showing of Mandan, N.D. artist Ken Rogers’ “plein air” oil paintings, centered on the paintings Ken has recently done of Albert Jankus’ place. Albert, a longtime neighbor of Suchy’s, recently moved to Mandan. We were thrilled and …
Our Cuban Family is the second photo exhibit I have from the 5,000-plus photos I took on a trip with 12 other Westminster Presbyterian Church (1200 Marquette Ave.) members a couple of months ago. This exhibit opens in the Westminster Gallery on Sunday with a noon reception following the 10:30 a.m. church service. I will speak very briefly as will a …
This portrait of Fred Rogers hangs at the top of the stairs entering our living room, which means I see it, and make eye contact with Fred, many times each day. Having Fred hanging there changes the molecules in the air of the place where we live. The artist who created it is another reason why that picture is one …
Thomas Jefferson would probably not have supported the National Endowment for the Humanities and the National Endowment for the Arts, at least in his own time. Don’t get me wrong. He loved the arts. He read in seven languages. In fact, he was reading Thucydides in ancient Greek, without a grammar or dictionary, in the 83rd year of his life. In …
In 1974, I took the above picture of Pablo Picasso’s most famous painting, then displayed in New York’s Museum of Modern Art. “Guernica” was created in 1937 during the Spanish Civil War to protest Nazi Germany’s terror bombing of that undefended and militarily unimportant village. Picasso loaned the huge 11-by-25-foot work to the museum at the beginning of World War II. …
Garrison Keillor often said there are two kinds of Lutherans — those who take their religion very seriously and those who mostly don’t. I’ve been accused of being in the second group, although my Norwegian grandfather, Hans Vorland, helped build the Bethany Lutheran Church near Wellsburg, N.D. Some Facebook friends know I recently had my grave marker placed in the …
“Crossing The Border: A Public Art Installation,” which could be seen Saturday along both sides of the Red River near the Sorlie Bridge in downtown Grand Forks and East Grand Forks, depicted the trials and tribulations of immigration, as symbolized by local artist Guillermo Guardia. Guardia, himself an immigrant from Peru in 2002, said the 300-figurine project took four months to complete. Grand Forks …
Last week, we went to “Delacroix’a Influence: The Rise of Modern Art from Cézanne to van Gogh”: at MIA [pronounced mee-a], previously known as the Minneapolis Institute of Arts. It was an extraordinary exhibit. To quote The Wall Street Journal, which said it best, “As one moves through the exhibition, the breadth of Delacroix’s imagination and authority becomes inescapable.” I …
Alexandria, Va., photographer Jeff Olson recently visited the newly renovated Renwick Gallery in Washington, D.C., which had been closed for about 18 months. Home to the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s craft and decorative arts program, Renwick is located across from the White House at the corner of 17th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest in downtown Washington, D.C. The renovation has carefully restored …
For nearly three years, I’ve been involved with a group that meets quarterly called the Forecast Public Art Breakfast Scrambler. About 40 artists, public art administrators, art supporters, educators and Twin Cities area planners gather to share information, learn from each other and network. Started by Jack Becker 37 years ago, Forecast Public Art is one of the nation’s first …
Pablo Picasso’s famous untitled sculpture overlooking over a farmer’s market in Chicago and Georges Seurat’s “A Sunday on La Grande Jatte” in the Art Institute of Chicago caught the eye of Bloomington, Minn., photographer Dave Vorland on a recent trip to the Windy City.