A crowd of people sit along a table outside at night. All of them hold pencils in their hands and focus on writing and drawing. Some wear glowing bracelets and necklaces.

NL’s Best of 2022

Bring out the journals, it’s the reflection time of year. At Northern Lights, 2022 has been continued uncertainty, beauty, mistakes, challenges, dance parties and joy. Sounds like the new normal, right?

In our reflection on 2022, we put together our own best-of list to celebrate the big and small moments of our year.

(Above photo: Amanda Lovelee and Colin Harris, Really Big Table, Northern Spark 2022. Photo by Drew Arrieta.)

An empty stage with blue and pink lights, a camera, a drum set, mics, speakers, and a greens screen with an array of red and white telephones set atop pedestals.

Best Hard Decision: Postponing the Telethon to keep people healthy

COVID struck again. ‘Nuf said.

Soft purple lilacs grow on a fence amidst green leaves. Roofs of houses can be seen in the background.

Best Lilacs: the fence near VTAC

We enjoyed these thoroughly while doing site visits for Northern Spark 2022 in the grassy lot near Victoria Theater Art Center. Make note for spring 2023!

A vibrant pink and purple sunrise behind bridges and the river. In the foreground, people stand and admire the sky.

Best Sunrise: June 12, 2022

5:25 am, after a night of traversing St. Paul amongst friendly strangers, the sounds of Lyz Jaakola & Oshkii Giizhik Singers and drummers welcomed the sun in a pink lavender sky over Ȟaȟáwakpa / Gichi-ziibi / the Mississippi River. Thank you Sequoia Hauck and collaborators for bringing ingiw mekwendamowaad ziibi: the ones who remember the river to life to close Northern Spark.

(Above photo: Sequoia Hauck, ingiw mekwendamowaad ziibi: the ones who remember the river, Northern Spark 2022. Photo by Gisell Calderón.)

Four people in sparkly outfits play kazoos of all shapes and sizes in front of a green screen displaying a turquoise, purple, and black sequin explosion design radiating out from the center.

Best Rendition of “Twist and Shout”: NS Kazoo band

What talent! The Northern Spark Kazoo band delighted with a wholly original version of “Twist and Shout” as we raised money for NL programs at the (rescheduled) Telethon at NanoTako studios in October.

A collage of images from the AOV11 booklet. The forest green front cover is centered, surrounded by images from the artists' projects: people engaged in various activities, rosehips, grass, and trees.

Best Finally Finished, Long-Overdue Project: AOV11 booklet

If slow is the new fast, these are right on time. A picture-filled booklet with artist texts and an essay by Mara Duvra rolled off the press this December to celebrate the work of Art(ists) on the Verge 11 fellows Candice Davis, A.P. Looze, Kelley Meister, and Sarah Nassif. If you’d like one, email aov@northern.lights.mn. Or read on-screen from a downloadable PDF here.

(Above photo: The color proof of the AOV11 booklet! Photo by Matthew Rezac.)

Three white people with face masks pose amidst piles of bins, water cooler jugs, boxes, stakes, and other equipment.

Best Behind-the-Scenes Achievement: storage unit move

After years of driving out to Hopkins to access our festival signage and tech equipment, this May we rented a truck and moved all of our worldly possessions to a tidy storage facility in St. Paul, much closer to our projects. When Northern Spark 2022 rolled around, our crew had only to travel a few miles to collect and return the festival stuff.

(What is all that stuff you ask? Things like 10 pop-up tents, 42 eight-foot Northern Spark stanchion signs and the entire set of Aquanesia. And lots more. Huge thanks to Northern Spark festival Producer Erin Lavelle, Function Crew lead Sydney Petersen and volunteers Chris and Craig for their help!)

(Above photo: Sydney, Erin, and Sarah settle into the new space!)

Best Give to the Max Day Donor Response

A screenshot of a text message that says, "I was thinking back on my artistic experiences of the year, and northern spark fed my soul for months. My absolute pleasure.

This text came back to us after thanking a #GTMD22 donor. Hearing what our work means to you is one of our deepest joys. Thank you to all who supported us and artists this year, from the mundane tasks to the meaningful engagements.

The Best of 2022