Join a kazoo band

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Perform with us at Northern Spark 2013! From sundown on June 8th to late into the night, our intrepid Kazoo Band will parade through Lowertown, waving artist-made banners and entertaining the public, all while encouraging them to support Northern Spark with donations. We’ll learn a few pop songs that relate to money and giving, and you do not need to be able to read music to participate.

Kazoo Band performance during Northern Spark is organized into two sets: First set is from 9pm to midnight, second set is from 1am- 3am. You can participate in one or both sets. Kazoo Band performers get all of the perks of volunteering– food truck tickets, a free T-shirt, entry into prize drawings, and invitations to Northern Spark gatherings. You’ll also be able to keep your kazoo.

If you’re interested, contact Molly Balcom Raleigh at mbalcomraleigh@gmail.com. We’re accepting volunteer performers through May 17. Volunteers are required to participate in 2 practice sessions between May 20- June 5. Participation will be collaborative and fun– bring your ideas! 

 

Northern Spark Preview

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Art All Night. Community All Year.

Saint Paul, Minn. – March 12, 2013 – Northern Spark announced today the partners that will be participating in the free, dusk-to-dawn, nuit blanche, which will ignite Saint Paul’s Lowertown in an explosion of urban art. The festival will be held on Saturday (into Sunday morning), June 8, 2013 from 9:00 p.m. to 5:30 a.m. with the main hub at Union Depot, hosting nearly 25 projects. Performances, visual arts, projected images, interactive media, and participatory events will bring together a multitude of artists who create art projects in partnership with numerous arts organizations at multiple venues. The public is invited to join this all-night adventure to see the city in a new light.

Volunteers are also needed for a range of interactive tasks. Click here for more information.

“With the reopening of the historic Union Depot, the continuing expansion and development of Lowertown businesses and the ballpark construction underway, the Lowertown district, known for its vibrant arts culture, is only becoming more lively. This unique festival is a wonderful way to showcase our arts community in a distinctive way,” stated Mayor Chris Coleman.

This year the festival expects nearly 72 projects in collaboration with 47 cultural organizations and sponsors.

A snapshot of projects include:

  • A site-specific roving performance at Union Depot by artist Patrick Ganert blending history with fictional narratives from 1917 through today.
  • A live installation by Monica Haller that sonically links the Upper Mississippi with the Louisiana bayous.
  • St. Paul’s Big Table Studio and Printland Press team up with Minneapolis letterpress shop Lunalux to help visitors create travel-themed, handmade prints.
  • The Schubert Club invites visitors to play a harpsichord and a fortepiano while overlooking the river from Union Depot’s windows.
  • All-night crafty interventions on 4th St. related to art work at Minnesota Museum of American Art’s Project Space by Liz Miller, Andréa Stanislav and Randy Walker.
  • The Center for Hmong Art and Talent bring its Fresh Traditions Fashion show to an unconventional runway at Union Depot.
  • Art Shanty Projects will transform an out-of-the-way parking lot near the river into a site of artistic intervention and exploration.
  • Works Progress, who brought the Mississippi Megalops to Northern Spark in 2011, returns with a sunrise river cruise aboard the Jonathan Padelford.

Additional partners involved include:

air sweet air • Hack Factory • innova Recordings • Landmark Center • Minneapolis College of Art and Design • Minnesota Children’s Museum • Minnesota Historical Society • Mizna • Minnesota Sacred Harp Singing Convention • mnartists.org • Minnesota Museum of American Art Individual artists and artist groups involved include:

Chris Larson, John Keston, Piotr Szyhalski, Monica Haller, Ben Moren and Daniel Dean, Jennifer Newsome Carruthers and Tom Carruthers, Roger Nieboer/lesser mortals, Paul Herwig, Christopher Field and Sarah West, Angela Olson and Gilberto Vazquez Valle

The festival is pleased to be working with Twin Cities Public Television (tpt) as our media sponsor this year.

About Northern Lights.mn

Northern Lights.mn presents innovative art in the public sphere, both physical and virtual, focusing on artists creatively using technology, both old and new, to foster new relations between audience and artwork and more broadly between citizenry and their built environment.

Tell us about YOUR Northern Spark

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Tell us about YOUR Northern Spark

Take part in our online survey

Some press links for Northern Spark 2012

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Sarah Brumble, “The best of Northern Spark: A whole lot of Twin Cities love“, Twin Cities Daily Planet

Deboarah Carver, “Night Lights in the City,” mnartists.org

Marianne Combs, “Highlights and lowlights from ‘Northern Spark’,” MPRNews

Lightsey Darst, “Night Vision: A Northern Spark Diary,” mnartists.org

Zac Farber, “Wheelies, Skids and Bunny Hops Yield Chalk Art at Northern Spark Festival,” Southwest Minneapolis Patch

Jay Gabler, “My Northern Spark Journey,” Twin Cities Daily Planet

Tom Horgen and Mary Abbe, “Northern Spark Festival: Up all night,” StarTribune

Stephanie Kwong, “A Taste of Northern Spark,” phenoMNal twin cities

Andy Lien, “Photo Gallery: Northern Spark 2012, The Instagrams,” Lavendar

Jahna Peloquin, “Saturday: Northern Spark Festival,” Vita.mn

Sheila Regan, “Northern Spark: Minnesota’s sleepover art party,” City Pages

Joel Schettler, “Nuit Blanche: An Art All-Nighter,” Minnesota Monthly

Brittany Trevick, “Think and Wonder, Wonder and Think,” Twin Cities Metro

Joel Zimmerman, “MN Original’s Northern Spark journey,” MN Original

Vita.mn staff, “The Crawl: Northern Spark: What just happened??”

Northern Spark videos

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Northern Spark Channel

More than 20 videos of your favorite venues and projects.

Northern Spark channel

More videos

Contributed by participants. Add new links in the comments section.

This video created by Caleb Coppock (vimeo.com/calebcoppock) illustrates the time scope (from dusk until dawn) of the "In Habit: Living Patterns" performance at Northern Spark, June 2012. The music for the video was composed by John Keston for the sixteenth and final vignette in the sequence titled, "Energy."

Northern Spark in and around the Soap Factory including the 10 Second Film Festival

Interactive media art by Eunsu Kang and Donald Craig Choreography and dance by Diana Garcia-Snyder June 9th, 2012 at the W Hotel Minneapolis as a part of Northern Spark 2012

On June 9-10, the Loft and Paper Darts co-hosted a Northern Spark event called Captured Dreams. A video loop of submitted dreams ran throughout the night.

Time Lapse documentation of setup and participant interaction with Dan Scofield and Miriam Simun's "21%" sound installation at the 2012 Northern Spark Festival in Minneapolis, MN on June 9th, 2012. Site-specific sound installation, 2011. Passive Infrared and Ultra Sonic Range Finder Sensors, Arduino, Max/MSP, 8-Channel Original Audio 21% invites visitors to influence a sound collage in collaboration ‘with’ the trees they walk amongst, as well as with other visitors to the space.

Dillon Bakke, "Too Cool"

Alex Lauer + BA Mpls at Northern Spark

Yuiees collaborating with local artists; Rachel James, Kit Leffler, Andrea Steudel, Yuichiro Tanabe, and Josh Winkler

Tristan Pollock's Northern Spark

Northern Spark Midnight Mario Video #4, featuring the real Mario

Midnight Mario vids by Dustin Davis 1 2 3 4

Overnight is a realtime data portrait of Minneapolis shown at Northern Spark 2012. Projected on the Mill City Silos, each silo holds one aspect of data collected about the city. Data-driven music accompanies the visuals, and was played on a section of the Stone Arch Bridge overlooking the silos.

pongatorium in the Palace of Wonder at Northern Spark

Sarah Peters on CultureQueue

DLWeidt Northern Spark on Greenway

Videos along the Greenway by DLWeidt: 1 2 3

the Northern Spark psychedelic matching band: sunset

Grand opening of the Gamut Gallery in downtown Minneapolis. It was part of the annual Northern Spark art festival that takes over most of the city for one night.

Come see the Palace of Wonder!! wonder... wonder... at Northern Spark in the courtyard of Minneapolis Institute of Arts - June 9th - Dusk to Dawn!

Three Nuns And A Gun - (Live at MCAD - Northern Spark 2012)

During four weeks of construction and installation leading up to the MIA's 2012 Northern Spark event, HOTTEA, MIA staff and volunteers measured, cut, and knotted an estimated 14,000 pieces of colored yarn (almost 400 skeins) to a plastic fence. If laid end-to-end, the yarn would stretch for 82 miles, or put another way, the distance from the MIA to Mankato, Minnesota. If it went straight up into the sky, the yarn would reach past the Kármán Line, the border between Earth's atmosphere and outer space.

Balloon creatures at MIA @Northern Spark

Gallery13 presents SPARK3DS EXHIBITION and Mini Symposium will open on Saturday June 9th with the exhibition Opening 8:00 in conjunction with Northern Spark Festival.

A look at the strange sights and sounds of Northern Spark

We talked with Rosemary Williams, creator of "Mom's Cookies," part of the Northern Spark festival in Minneapolis on June 9, 2012. Her videos, featuring several General Mills products, were displayed on the side of buildings on the historic Minneapolis riverfront and milling district.

Northern Spark Marching Band on the Stone Arch Bridge at St. Anthony Main, Minneapolis MN. Conducted by Jackie Beckey

mnartists.org, Drawing NIGHTclub Acoustic Campfire + Bedtime Stories, Brian Laidlaw Scott Sayre and Vanessa Voskuil, Midnight Padhandling

Ben Johnson and Elizabeth Johnson, PixelTron150

Jackie Beckey, Psychedelic Art Parade

Aniccha Arts, In Habit: Living Patterns

Michael Murnane, Under Ice

Rosemary Williams, Mom’s Cookies

Eunsu Kang and Diana Garcia-Snyder, Shin’m Pinata Jim Campbell, Material World Caly McMorrow, Observation Tape Deck

Tetsuaya Yamada and Clive Murphy, Pizza/Calliope Diane Willow, Tuning the Sky Bell Museum, Capturing the Night Raptor Center, All About Owls Weisman Art Museum, Night Vision Tours: All Will Be Illuminated Jenny Schmid, Drew Anderson and MAW, nightdemons

Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak kicked off Northern Spark with a rousing call to the night and the virtues of Minneapolis.

Northern Spark videos

Written by

Northern Spark Channel

More than 20 videos of your favorite venues and projects.

Northern Spark channel

More videos

Contributed by participants. Add new links in the comments section.

This video created by Caleb Coppock (vimeo.com/calebcoppock) illustrates the time scope (from dusk until dawn) of the "In Habit: Living Patterns" performance at Northern Spark, June 2012. The music for the video was composed by John Keston for the sixteenth and final vignette in the sequence titled, "Energy."

Northern Spark in and around the Soap Factory including the 10 Second Film Festival

Interactive media art by Eunsu Kang and Donald Craig Choreography and dance by Diana Garcia-Snyder June 9th, 2012 at the W Hotel Minneapolis as a part of Northern Spark 2012

On June 9-10, the Loft and Paper Darts co-hosted a Northern Spark event called Captured Dreams. A video loop of submitted dreams ran throughout the night.

Time Lapse documentation of setup and participant interaction with Dan Scofield and Miriam Simun's "21%" sound installation at the 2012 Northern Spark Festival in Minneapolis, MN on June 9th, 2012. Site-specific sound installation, 2011. Passive Infrared and Ultra Sonic Range Finder Sensors, Arduino, Max/MSP, 8-Channel Original Audio 21% invites visitors to influence a sound collage in collaboration ‘with’ the trees they walk amongst, as well as with other visitors to the space.

Dillon Bakke, "Too Cool"

Alex Lauer + BA Mpls at Northern Spark

Yuiees collaborating with local artists; Rachel James, Kit Leffler, Andrea Steudel, Yuichiro Tanabe, and Josh Winkler

Tristan Pollock's Northern Spark

Northern Spark Midnight Mario Video #4, featuring the real Mario

Midnight Mario vids by Dustin Davis 1 2 3 4

Overnight is a realtime data portrait of Minneapolis shown at Northern Spark 2012. Projected on the Mill City Silos, each silo holds one aspect of data collected about the city. Data-driven music accompanies the visuals, and was played on a section of the Stone Arch Bridge overlooking the silos.

pongatorium in the Palace of Wonder at Northern Spark

Sarah Peters on CultureQueue

DLWeidt Northern Spark on Greenway

Videos along the Greenway by DLWeidt: 1 2 3

the Northern Spark psychedelic matching band: sunset

Grand opening of the Gamut Gallery in downtown Minneapolis. It was part of the annual Northern Spark art festival that takes over most of the city for one night.

Come see the Palace of Wonder!! wonder... wonder... at Northern Spark in the courtyard of Minneapolis Institute of Arts - June 9th - Dusk to Dawn!

Three Nuns And A Gun - (Live at MCAD - Northern Spark 2012)

During four weeks of construction and installation leading up to the MIA's 2012 Northern Spark event, HOTTEA, MIA staff and volunteers measured, cut, and knotted an estimated 14,000 pieces of colored yarn (almost 400 skeins) to a plastic fence. If laid end-to-end, the yarn would stretch for 82 miles, or put another way, the distance from the MIA to Mankato, Minnesota. If it went straight up into the sky, the yarn would reach past the Kármán Line, the border between Earth's atmosphere and outer space.

Balloon creatures at MIA @Northern Spark

Gallery13 presents SPARK3DS EXHIBITION and Mini Symposium will open on Saturday June 9th with the exhibition Opening 8:00 in conjunction with Northern Spark Festival.

A look at the strange sights and sounds of Northern Spark

We talked with Rosemary Williams, creator of "Mom's Cookies," part of the Northern Spark festival in Minneapolis on June 9, 2012. Her videos, featuring several General Mills products, were displayed on the side of buildings on the historic Minneapolis riverfront and milling district.

Northern Spark Marching Band on the Stone Arch Bridge at St. Anthony Main, Minneapolis MN. Conducted by Jackie Beckey

mnartists.org, Drawing NIGHTclub Acoustic Campfire + Bedtime Stories, Brian Laidlaw Scott Sayre and Vanessa Voskuil, Midnight Padhandling

Ben Johnson and Elizabeth Johnson, PixelTron150

Jackie Beckey, Psychedelic Art Parade

Aniccha Arts, In Habit: Living Patterns

Michael Murnane, Under Ice

Rosemary Williams, Mom’s Cookies

Eunsu Kang and Diana Garcia-Snyder, Shin’m Pinata Jim Campbell, Material World Caly McMorrow, Observation Tape Deck

Tetsuaya Yamada and Clive Murphy, Pizza/Calliope Diane Willow, Tuning the Sky Bell Museum, Capturing the Night Raptor Center, All About Owls Weisman Art Museum, Night Vision Tours: All Will Be Illuminated Jenny Schmid, Drew Anderson and MAW, nightdemons

Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak kicked off Northern Spark with a rousing call to the night and the virtues of Minneapolis.

Walker Art Center, Northern Spark 2012

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Walker Art Center, Northern Spark 2012 from Northern Spark on Vimeo.

mnartists.org, Drawing NIGHTclub
Acoustic Campfire + Bedtime Stories, Brian Laidlaw
Scott Sayre and Vanessa Voskuil, Midnight Padhandling

Videographers: Nolan Morice, Tricia Towey

Editor: Brennan Vance

Ben and Elizabeth Johnson, PixelTron 150, Northern Spark 2012

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Ben and Elizabeth Johnson, PixelTron 150, Northern Spark 2012 from Northern Spark on Vimeo.

Ben Johnson and Elizabeth Johnson, PixelTron150

Videographers: Allison Osberg, Nolan Morice, Brennan Vance

Editor: Brennan Vance

Jackie Beckey, Psychedelic Art Parade, Northern Spark 2012

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Jackie Beckey, Psychedelic Art Parade, Northern Spark 2012 from Northern Spark on Vimeo.

Jackie Beckey, Psychedelic Art Parade

Videographers: Allison Osberg, Tricia Towey, Tom Johnson, Nolan Morice, Gus Ganley, Brennan Vance

Editor: Brennan Vance

Annicha Arts, In Habit: Living Patterns, Northern Spark 2012

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Annicha Arts, In Habit: Living Patterns, Northern Spark 2012 from Northern Spark on Vimeo.

Aniccha Arts, In Habit: Living Patterns

Videographers: Allsion Osberg, Tricia Towey, Brennan Vance

Editor: Brennan Vance

Michael Murnane, Under Ice, Northern Spark 2012

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Michael Murnane, Under Ice, Northern Spark 2012 from Northern Spark on Vimeo.

Michael Murnane, Under Ice

Videographers: Allison Osberg, Tricia Towey, Tom Johnson, Nolan Morice, Gus Ganley, Brennan Vance

Editor: Brennan Vance

Rosemary Williams, Mom’s Cookies, Northern Spark 2012

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Rosemary Williams, Mom’s Cookies, Northern Spark 2012 from Northern Spark on Vimeo.

Rosemary Williams, Mom’s Cookies

Videographers: Allison Osberg, Tricia Towey, Tom Johnson, Nolan Morice, Gus Ganley, Brennan Vance

Editor: Brennan Vance

The Foshay and Target South Tower, Northern Spark 2012

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The Foshay and Target South Tower, Northern Spark 2012 from Northern Spark on Vimeo.

Eunsu Kang and Diana Garcia-Snyder, Shin’m Pinata
Jim Campbell, Material World
Caly McMorrow, Observation Tape Deck

Videographers: Nolan Morice, Brennan Vance

Editor: Brennan Vance

Weisman Art Museum, Northern Spark 2012

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Weisman Art Museum, Northern Spark 2012 from Northern Spark on Vimeo.

Tetsuaya Yamada and Clive Murphy, Pizza/Calliope
Diane Willow, Tuning the Sky
Bell Museum, Capturing the Night
Raptor Center, All About Owls
Weisman Art Museum, Night Vision Tours: All Will Be Illuminated
Jenny Schmid, Drew Anderson and MAW, nightdemons

Videographer:: Tom Johnson

Editor:: Brennan Vance

Stone Arch Bridge and Mill Ruins Park, Northern Spark 2012

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Stone Arch Bridge and Mill Ruins Park, Northern Spark 2012 from Northern Spark on Vimeo.

Robin Schwartzman, THINK AND WONDER, WONDER AND THINK
David Rueter, The Kuramoto Model (1,000 Fireflies)
Wil Natzel, Night Blooms
Lauren McCarthy and David Wicks, Bumps in the Night

Videographers:
Allison Osberg, Tricia Towey, Tom Johnson, Nolan Morice, Gus Ganley, Brennan Vance

Editor:
Brennan Vance