July First Friday at a Glance

• Bemidji Community Art Center invites you to their July First Friday Art Walk and opening reception from 5pm to 7pm featuring “A Creative Partnership” by artists John Kolb and Linda Acklund Kolb in the Main Gallery and “Walking Behind Bemidji” with photographer Sean McCroy in gallery X2.
• Bad Cat Creations Gallery & Gifts – Bad Cat Creations First Friday event is “Put a Bird on It”.  This event is a group show with a variety of mediums all centering around a bird theme. Opening reception with Artist meet & greet is July 1st, 4pm- 6pm.
• Beltrami County History Center   The Beltrami County Historical Society, in conjunction with Gallery North presents, ” Nature’s Bounty,” 17 photographic pieces by Glenn Ferguson now through July 31^st, 2011,  Stop by and enjoy refreshments and Free Admission into the Museum on Friday July 1st, 2011 and every First Friday from 10 to 4pm.
• Bemidji Public Library Art Wall – presents artist Terry Honstead and her exhibit “Imagine”.  This collection of acrylic and mixed media works by Terry is all about using your imagination and features paintings of ideas that you can find in reading books.   
• Brigids Cross Irish Pub and Restaurant – presents the impressionistic and colorful works of Alice Blessing for the month of July.   Join us on Friday July 1^st for a “Meet & Greet” with Alice starting at 7pm.   First Friday entertainment is provided by Lance Benson at 8pm.  
• Cabin Coffeehouse and Café – presents mother, Audrey Merschman and daughter, Cheryl Windels as their featured artists for July.   Join us on Friday July 1^st for our “Meet the Artist Reception” for a look at their beautiful work and to visit with Cheryl and Audrey and as a part of the First Friday Art Walk from 4 to 6pm.
• Gallery North – welcomes their July Showcase artist, Joan Wilson and The Gallery’s Featured Artist for July is instructor and painter, Marion Reil.  The Gallery’s reception on Friday July 1^st, from 2:00 to 5:00 pm.
• Neilson Place - The Neilson Place Art Committee is pleased to host the opening reception for a new exhibit by artist Mary Lingen.  The pubic is invited to the Opening Reception on Friday, July 1st, from 3:00 – 4:30 p.m. in the Neilson Place lobby. 
• NEW VENUE!!! Northwoods Gallery and Frame Shop is joining the First Friday Art Walk for July.  The gallery will be showcasing watercolor, acrylic, pastel, oil, stained glass, woodcarvings, books and cards. Please join these artists at a reception on Friday, July 1st from 3:00 to 6:00 pm.  Northwoods Gallery and Frame Shop is located at 218 3^rd St. N.W.  (located next to the Senior Citizens Center) in Downtown Bemdiji.
• Rail River Folk School – will host The Northwoods Folk Collective Coffeehouse Open Mic.  The First Friday Coffeehouse offers the community an opportunity to share stories, songs, music and poetry with friends and neighbors in a relaxing and supportive atmosphere.  The July host will be Dennis Montgomery.  Coffeehouse starts at 7:30pm, performers come early to sign up for your performance time. 
• Saarens Productions invites you to the Wild Rose Theatre and Fleur de Lis Gallery for their July First Friday Art Walk Opening from 5 to 8pm with an artist talk at 7pm featuring Seam Smuda and Jane Powers.   Join us for the opening of “Navigating the Aftermath” Tour,  an exhibit that will be featured July 1^st through the 13^th in the The Fleur de Lis Gallery.  Also featured will be a screening of the documentary, “The Unreturned” by Nathan Fisher on the evening of July 13^th.   Extended Gallery hours for the exhibit are; Tues through Sunday from noon to 4pm, groups by appointment.  A screening of “The Unreturned” and discussion with Director Nathan Fisher will be held on July 13 at 7:30 PM in the Wild Rose Theater. The Bemidji Visit for the tour is co-sponsored by the Bemidji Community Art Center and Saarens Productions.
• Wild Hare Bistro and Coffeehouse will present the paintings of Maureen O’Brien July 1st through August 3rd. The exhibit will feature Maureen’s acrylics on canvass and prints on metal substrate, focusing on the serenity of the Northern Minnesota forest.  Join us for the opening reception on First Friday, July 1^st, from 3:00-5:00pm.

Go to our Upcoming First Fridays page for more information on our July First Friday Art Walk

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Navigating the Aftermath

“Navigating the Aftermath” tour coming to Bemidji with art and film on the Iraq War

 The Iraqi and American Reconciliation Project (IARP), the Bemidji Community Arts Center and Saarens Productions -announce the opening of the Navigating the Aftermath exhibit on July 1, 2011 at the Wild Rose Theater and Fleur de Lis Gallery in Bemidji. The exhibit, which will run until July 13, will feature art and film by Minnesotans and Iraqis in dialogue on the current state of the war,Iraq’s 4.7 million refugees, and onIraq’s present and future.                                                        

The featured artists include Minnesota veterans, Iraqi refugees, and Iraqi-Americans. The artists come from a variety of backgrounds and work in different mediums. The unifying factor is that each artist is someone who has been personally affected by the Iraq War, or has devoted a significant body of work toward awareness of the repercussions of the war.

The exhibit will also feature the documentary film, The Unreturned. Directed by Minnesota native Nathan Fisher, The Unreturned looks at the continuing middle-class Iraqi refugee disaster and portrays the lives of five displaced Iraqis from diverse ethnicities and religions. A few of the film’s most recent awards include Best of Festival at the 2010 Minneapolis-St. Paul International Film Festival, Opening Night Selection at the 2010 One World Film Festival in Ottawa, and Official Selections at the 2010 Human Rights Watch International Film Festival in New York and the 2010 UNHCR Film Festival in Tokyo. 

The tour’s curator, Tricia Khutoretsky, says, “From the American perspective, the artists will be veterans, friends and family of soldiers or those closely tied to the war through activism. The voice will be that of the lives changed and the lives taken in Iraq. Carefully chosen artists will answer through their art: What needs to be remembered? What can we let go of? And how do we move forward? Both Iraqi and American artist perspectives will contribute to a two-way dialogue, where the first step towards addressing, ‘what’s next,’ is to listen.”

An opening reception will be held at the Fleur de Lis Gallery on July 1 from 5 – 8 PM with a presentation at 7pm. A screening of The Unreturned and discussion with Director Nathan Fisher will be held on July 13 at 7:30 PM in theWildRoseTheater.

The Navigating the Aftermath tour includes six stops around Minnesota: Mankato, St. Cloud, Bemidji, Ely, Duluth, and Winona. With over 4,400 American casualties, at least 100,000 Iraqi casualties, over 32,000 Americans wounded, and at least 2 million Iraqis forced to flee their country, the ongoing Iraq War has etched itself onto American and Iraqi history. Navigating the Aftermath features a range of voices on the ongoing war, from US veterans to Iraqi refugees to Iraqi-Americans. Through their work, artists examine how the war has changed them personally and altered the future of their countries.

For further information, please contact IARP or visit the tour website, www.navigatingtheaftermath.org.

Nathan Fisher, Tour Director                             Tricia Khutoretsky, Iraqi Art Project Director
nate@reconciliationproject.org                           tricia@reconciliationproject.org
510-967-0377                                                    612-978-5566

The IraqiandAmericanReconciliationProject (IARP) connects Iraqis and Americans in innovative art, education, health, and cultural exchange programs that promote peace and reconciliation. Working with our partner in Iraq the Muslim Peacemaker Teams, we empower Americans to see beyond stereotypes and support the rebuilding of Iraqi society. We help Americans build personal and cultural connections across the globe.

The MuslimPeacemakerTeams (MPT) bring all Iraqi groups together in peace to work for the good of the country by getting in the way of violence and encouraging the people to be self sufficient. MPT’s immediate goals are to teach peace and human rights so the Iraqi people can once again live in a civil society, to help the people to maintain their physical health, and to lift their spirits by providing encouragement and support.

 This activity is made possible in part by a grant provided by the Minnesota State Arts Board, through an appropriation by the Minnesota State Legislature from the Minnesota arts and cultural heritage fund with money from the vote of the people of Minnesota on November 4, 2008.

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It’s Only Clay 2011

The BCAC and Bemidji State University are proud to present studio potter Guillermo Cuellar as the 2011 It’s Only Clay juror and guest artist.  Guillermo will in Bemidji November 2 – 4,  to present a community lecture, day and half workshop at BSU and present the awards for the 2011 Juried Exhibit at the Art Center. 

Born in Venezuela, Guillermo studied ceramics and graduated with a BA in Art at Cornell College in Mt Vernon, IA in 1976. After working as an environmentalist he returned to pottery in 1980. In 1986 he set up a studio in the village of Turgua, an hour southeast of the capital city, Caracas, where he made pots for the following 18 years.  

In 1981 he worked as an assistant to Warren MacKenzie, who was teaching in Caracas. Subsequently he regularly shared studio experience with MacKenzie in Stillwater, Minnesota, from 1984 to 2006. Guillermo’s experience includes teaching workshops in Venezuela and Chile and participating in the organization and execution of workshops given by international guest potters in Venezuela.

His work has been on display in the Venezuelan National Art Gallery, Museo de Arte Contemporaneo de Caracas Sofia Imber, Museo de Arte Contemporaneo de Puerto Rico, The Smithsonian Institution, The Northern Clay Center, Mashiko Municipal Pottery Art Museum and private galleries in Minnesota, the United States, England, Venezuela and Chile.  He makes his home in the Upper St. Croix River valley near Schaeffer Minnesota.  

ARTIST STATEMENT “I believe that exquisite beauty can be found in pots made for use, primarily for preparing and sharing of food. Their significance is not diminished by the fact that they dwell more comfortably on the dinner table, in the kitchen or at home than on display in a gallery or a museum. I believe their value is enhanced by making that unique beauty a daily presence in our lives.”

More information is available  on the 2011 It’s Only Clay event.  To apply for the juried exhibit look for the IOC Prospectus and Application.

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Power and Grace by Rock Bakken

Artist Statement -

” A philospher once said, “our best havings are wantings”.  With that in mind, it could be said that I paint because I want to have images to look at that I find interesting and stir my imagination .  But I discovered that the actual painting process is more thrilling and thought provoking than viewing the finished work: so for me the it is better to paint than to have a painting.    

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