Category Archives: Art Town

First Friday Art Night April 5

April 5, 2019

5:00pm                
#Clay Northfield@ Northfield Arts Guild and Carleton College
Northfield Arts Guild, 304 Division St S until 6:00pm
Weitz Center for Creativity @Carleton College, 320 3rd St East until 9pm
Inspired by the choice of the National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts (NCECA) to hold their 2019 conference in Minneapolis, the Northfield Arts Guild, Carleton College and St. Olaf College partnered to create thirteen unique exhibitions of contemporary ceramic work. Falling under the general title of #claynorthfield, each of these experiences celebrates creativity, diversity, and the important role art plays in our lives. This Northfield celebration of clay is truly unprecedented and designed for both visitors and our local community.  Exhibit details at www.northfieldartguild.org; apps.carleton.edu/museum; wp.stolaf.edu/flaten

7:00pm
Live music with Mary Cutrufello at Imminent Brewing, 519 Division St S

7:00pm
Live music with Jack Norton at Contented Cow Pub, 302 Division St  S

8:00pm
Live music with Ben Aaron at the Tavern Lounge, 212 Division St S
Ben Aaron returns to Northfield with his original folk, blues and Americana songs for a night of great live entertainment. Sit back and relax as he plays your favorite popular songs from the past and present.

First Friday Art Night March 1

If the calendar says “March” can spring be far behind? On March 1 you have your choice of seeing live theater, live opera, or dancing the night away to a Viennese Orchestra and a Swingin’ Big Band. Did we mention a bunch of live music in local hot spots as well?

NDDC Awarded $30,000 Artists on Main Street Grant

We are pleased to announce that the NDDC was awarded a $30,000 grant through the Preservation Alliance of Minnesota’s Artists on Main Street initiative. This program will help the Northfield Downtown Development Corporation to sustain a vibrant downtown by:

  • Providing art and creative placemaking experiences that draw people to shop, dine and connect in Downtown Northfield
  • Enhancing the downtown’s aesthetics through the creativity of our local artists
  • Utilizing the arts as a springboard for improving diversity and inclusiveness in Downtown Northfield across all cultures

Check out the official release from PAM below and watch here for updates on the program as we launch it in early 2019!

The Preservation Alliance of Minnesota in partnership with Springboard for the Arts, and with support from the Bush Foundation, launched a new program earlier this year, Artists on Main Street, to explore how the arts help address the challenges affecting Main Street communities today. The pilot year’s success in Faribault, Mankato, and Winona has resulted in continued investment in the program by the Bush Foundation to include eleven communities over a three-year period. Four communities were selected to join the program in 2019, and they are Northfield, Olivia, Wabasha, and Willmar.

“The Bush Foundation is very excited to be able to support Artist on Main Street through the Preservation Alliance of Minnesota’s Main Street Program. We see this as a great opportunity to support artists as leaders in their communities and to show how art and culture can be an important part of efforts led by local Main Street programs, Cities, Economic Development Authorities, and Chambers of Commerce throughout the region.” – Erik Takeshita, Portfolio Director for Community Creativity at the Bush Foundation.

During the program’s pilot year, over ninety artists and creatives attended Creative Placemaking Workshops resulting in a total of thirty-four artist-led projects involving fifty-five artists and creatives. “Over the last year we’ve seen new relationships built between Main Street organizations and artists in their communities, which has resulted in more community pride and new, creative ideas about addressing downtown concerns,” said Michele Anderson, Rural Program Director at Springboard for the Arts. “We’re excited to welcome another cohort of communities to this program and build on this momentum.”

Each community receives support on planning and implementing creative placemaking projects through training, one-on-one technical assistance, and cohort support to integrate arts-based problem solving. Artists on Main Street communities receive $20,000 for project funding and program implementation the first year and $10,000 the second year for artist-led solutions to a local challenge identified by the community. Training and resources will be provided in partnership with Springboard for the Arts to artists who live, work and have a personal investment in the community to make positive physical, economic and social impacts.

“Artists on Main Street is creating bright spots of arts-based community development and downtown revitalization in Greater Minnesota,” said Sarina Otaibi, Rural Program Manager for the Preservation Alliance of Minnesota.

Sidewalk Poetry Celebration Aug 30 at 7pm in Bridge Square

The Arts and Culture Commission of Northfield invites everyone to attend the 2018 Sidewalk Poetry Capstone Celebration at 7:00 p.m. on August 30, 2018 in Downtown Northfield on Bridge Square. The event is open to the public and will bring poetry lovers and sidewalk poets together to hear the poems read aloud, to meet the winning poets, and to hear music by Bonnie and the Clydes. Thanks to the Northfield’s FiftyNorth volunteers, the popcorn wagon will be open for business, serving delicious popcorn and cold drinks.

photo courtesy of Bonnie Jean Flom

Attendees are encouraged to bring lawn chairs so they can relax and enjoy the music and poetry of the night. A large map of the locations of the 2018 winning poems will be shared and the winning poems from all eight years of the contest will be on display. The City’s Department of Public Works will have poetry molds on display.

In 2011, Northfield launched its annual Sidewalk Poetry Project. In the eight years of the project, 71 poems – the creations of 49 local poets — have been selected for imprinting in over 220 locations across the community. Each one of the winning poems, imprinted into the concrete of our city sidewalks, is remarkable on its own; collectively, they offer a sense of the spirit of our community. The five winning 2018 poets are: Becky Boling, Avery Eastvold, Steve McCown, Julie Ryan, and Marie Vogl Gery.

Sidewalk Poetry is a partnership with the Friends and Foundation of the Northfield Public Library, the Northfield Public Library, and the City of Northfield and has been supported by the efforts of many local volunteers. An interactive map of the poems can be found on the Arts & Culture Commission page of the City of Northfield website.

For more information, contact Bonnie Jean Flom, Northfield Arts and Culture Commissioner, at bjflom@gmail.com.