FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Northern Lights.mn announces the artist projects of Northern Spark 2022

Northern Spark artists explore “What the World Needs Now” in St. Paul with soul-fueling art and community all-night on June 11

(St. Paul, MN) April 28, 2022 — Northern Lights.mn announces the artists and projects for the all-night, in-person participatory Northern Spark art festival this summer exploring the theme, “What the World Needs Now.” This year’s festival will take place along University Avenue and downtown in St. Paul, MN on Saturday, June 11, 2022 from 9 pm – 2 am. Our Closing Event, ingiw mekwendamowaad ziibi: the ones who remember the river, will follow from 2 – 5:30am on Raspberry Island in downtown St. Paul along the Mississippi River.

Northern Spark returns to the Rondo, Frogtown and Little Mekong neighborhoods near University Avenue and downtown in St. Paul, as well as the Mississippi River to shine a spotlight on the beauty and richness of these communities. Art projects will take many forms, including performance, hands-on and participatory art-making, puppetry, and sound and sculpture installation, all responding to the theme, “What the World Needs Now.” 

This year’s program invites festival goers to slow down, sink in and engage one-on-one in a more intimate way than previous Northern Spark festivals. A smaller scale encourages focus on re-connection, memory, and letting go. The festival also includes art projects at Victoria Theater Arts Center, Springboard for the Arts, Rondo Community Library, and the Minnesota Museum of American Art, building upon ongoing partnerships with these organizations.

2022 Artists & Projects

Mangoes are Memories. Photo by Bruce Silcox.

Alia Jeraj
Mangoes are Memories
9pm – 2am: Springboard for the Arts
#MangoMemories

Using mangoes to connect the past and future, Mangos Are Memories asks: What memories do you come from? What memories do you want to pass on? Audiences are invited to share their memories with the mango tree — write them down, or speak them into a recorded soundscape.

By using traditional and contemporary saris, the artist welcomes her own ancestors into the space, and creates an environment for audiences to welcome theirs. The accumulation of memories will offer reflection on where we come from and what we want to leave behind, both as individuals and as communities. Learn more.

Eva Adderley
With Dan DeMarco and Thomas Boguszewski
Drive-in Movie Extravaganza
9pm – 2am: Victoria Theater Arts Center
#puppetdrivein

The nostalgic magic of enjoying a drive-in movie on a warm night has never been more needed than it is now. The Drive-In Movie Extravaganza is an artistic spin on a classic summer treat, featuring cardboard art cars parked in front of a shadow puppet screen. Festival-goers may choose to participate by sitting in one of our whimsical cars and watching the shows, or by becoming the show themselves! Learn more.

Felicia Cooper, Kallie Melvin & Alex Young
The Official Bureau of Lost Things
9pm – 2am: Springboard for the Arts
#lostthings

Join The Bureau’s one-night-only Open House for a chance to peruse years of archived loss and submit your own. Lost Things will be projected through live, improvised shadow puppets as they enter our database, and The Bureau’s guests will have the opportunity to bid them farewell in whatever ways they see fit. Gather to bid farewells, good riddances, and hearty see-you-nevers. Learn more.

Pang Foua Xiong, Mai Vang, Suzanne Thao & Sandy Lo
Community | Joy & Friendship
9pm – 2am: Springboard for the Arts
#Rediscovering

An interactive exhibition and journey strengthening relationships to ourselves and each other in community, this project is rooted in centuries-old Hmong embroidery practice of Paj Ntaub (“pan-dow”): vivid needlework incorporating symbolic images/codes, preserving stories – evoking family, nature (thus “flower cloth”), love, perseverance, or folklore. Learn more.

Glow in the dark art hangs on the wall in a purple party room. Image courtesy of the St. Paul Public Library

St. Paul Public Library
Library After Dark
9pm – 2am: Rondo Community Library
#libraryafterdark

Rondo Community Library will host a variety of activities and projects as part of 2022 Northern Spark. Learn more.

Grupo Soap del Corazón
Posters and Patches Pop-Up
9pm – 2am: Minnesota Museum of American Art
Guided tours are 9:30pm & 10:30pm, with pre-registration required.
#mpopup

In “Mestizaje: Intermix-Remix,” eight Latinx artists (identifying as Chicano, Chilean, Colombian, Mixteco, Mexican, and Mexican-American) explore what it means to claim a mixed-race identity consisting of both Indigenous and European descent. Join us at the M’s entrance in downtown St. Paul. Screenprint a patch designed by Grupo Soap del Corazón artists, pick up a free poster, and join a bilingual guided tour of the exhibition “Mestizaje: Intermix-Remix” with local independent curator and educator William (Billy) G. Franklin. Learn more.

Riley Kleve and Ever Woodward
With Rowan Hellwich
Community Cloth
9pm – 2am: Springboard for the Arts
#communitycloth

Weaving, memory, and community collide in this interactive installation. Explore an assortment of materials, find common ground, then take a seat and weave with us. Community Cloth is an interactive artwork that asks participants to share stories about cloth while helping to create a woven tapestry. Over the course of the festival, visitors will have the chance to explore an array of materials and contribute to a growing piece of fabric, finding connection in the process. Just as weaving transforms many threads into cloth, conversation and sharing interlaces individuals into a community. Community Cloth is a space for empathy, where strangers can connect over ribbons from last year’s gifts, hems of cropped tee shirts, scraps of precious silks, mismatched shoelaces, long-forgotten stashes of yarn, and so much more. Learn more.

Nick Knutson
From Dusk till Dark: Waves in the Night
9pm – 2am: Springboard for the Arts
#DusktillDark

Dusk has fallen and it’s time for all good bats and ghouls to wake up and carpe noctem. 

Glowing lights emanate from the rooftop and a dull pulsing beat is felt in the distance. As audience goers roam the building, a red velvet rope is present near the elevator. An ominous figure guides you in and escorts you to your precarious location. As the mysterious elevator doors open to the rooftop, the audience is then immersed in an audio/visual experience that emulates an exclusive vampire club showcased in various movies. The dance floor where guests gather will light up and encourage your movement across the space; the projected images will inspire macabre thoughts as the ambient music from bass-driven dark dance and intense gothic rock create a cathartic experience to shake off the stresses of a thousand days. Learn more.

Tyler Olsen-Highness and Sydney Latimer
Post Office for the Ancestors
9pm – 2am: Victoria Theater Arts Center
#AncestorPostOffice

A silent interactive experience that allows participants to connect with those they’ve lost and each other. You are welcome to this space of imagination, honor, remembrance, and reflection. Learn more.

Mino Oski Ain Dah Yung and Native Youth Arts Collective
Start At Home
9 pm – 2 am: Victoria Theater Arts Center
#startathome

Bianca Rhodes and Katharine DeCelle with Youth artists
Rooted in Rondo
9pm – 2am: Rondo Community Library
#rootedinrondo

Rooted in Rondo is a youth produced docu-series and podcast that explores the histories, legacies, and future of Saint Paul’s historic Rondo neighborhood. This project features interviews of prominent Rondo residents, oral histories of past residents, and stories from current community members. Rooted in Rondo examines the businesses, art and music scenes, and community demonstrations in this historic Black neighborhood, pre- and post-construction of Interstate 94. Rooted in Rondo addresses what makes a community and how it heals after displacement and trauma. Youth artists include: ​​DeAnthoney Acon, Angelo Bush, Jacy Landi, Indigo Grey Liu, Jasmine McBride, Jevrye Morris. This is a project of Saint Paul Almanac, in partnership with Saint Paul Neighborhood Network and WFNU Frogtown Community Radio.  Learn more.

Painting of a turtle on water with an Anishinaabe medicine wheel on its back. Artwork credit: Sylvia Houle

Sequoia Hauck
With Margaret Ogas, Moira Villiard, Gayatri Lakshmi, Sylvia Houle, Awanigiizhik Bruce, Lyz Jaakola, and Rachel Lieberman
ingiw mekwendamowaad ziibi: the ones who remember the river
CLOSING EVENT – 2am – 5:30am: Raspberry Island

Northern Spark culminates in a final late night art experience celebrating the Mississippi River. The notion that water is integral to life is prevalent in almost every indigenous culture and community. Dakhóta peoples have a saying: Mni Wiconi (water is life) and Anishinaabe peoples have the same phrase in their language: Bimaadiziwin Nibi. For Indigenous peoples water is an ancestor, water is a teacher, water is a guide, and water is life. This project is a large-scale installation of two cloth rivers that span what is now Raspberry Island in Imnížaska Othúŋwe/Ashkibagi-ziibiing (St. Paul). The cloth rivers are replicas of Ȟaȟáwakpa/Gichi-ziibi (Mississippi River) and Mnísota Wakpá/Ashkibagi-ziibi (Minnesota River).

The community is invited to journey along the cloth rivers and interact with the teachings of water. The rivers’ pathway includes a multi-sensory environment of song, visual storytelling, and movement. The experience involves Native artists painting water stories on the cloth rivers, Native singers sharing songs of gratitude to the water, and an ensemble of movers embodying what it means to remember our connection to water. We consider this project a gesture towards remembrance. We invite audiences to participate through witness, exploration, and contemplation. Together we ask ourselves: What is our connection to water? How can we remember the significance of water in our lives?  Learn more.

This project is supported, in part, by the Capitol Region Watershed District. 

The Theme: What the World Needs Now

The festival theme, “What the World Needs Now,” was created by the 2022 Artist Council with Northern Lights.mn.
Artists are truth tellers, dreamers, seekers of imagination. Between the ever-present uncertainty of our times and the impossible tangibility of the future, we wonder: What does the world need now? 

Some may already be singing, “What the world needs now is love, sweet love.” These lyrics ring true as an anthem for our times. We all need love, but perhaps your answer to this statement is, poetry projected on every building, clean water for all who inhabit this earth, a sing-a-long in a local park, or endless bubbles shining iridescent in the sun. One thing is for certain: we know we will always need art to fuel our souls.

Returning to the one-night, all-night festival
In 2022, Northern Spark returns to the structure of its roots — a one-night, dusk to dawn festival, bringing back the beloved Northern Spark experience of greeting the dawn together, outdoors, after a night of connecting through transformative art experiences.  

As our cities still grapple with the effects of COVID-19, 2022 festival curators leaned into our uncertain times to support artist projects that encourage our communities to safely connect while inspiring the kind of experimental, surprising experiences we love about Northern Spark. 

Northern Spark Background
Beginning in 2011, Northern Spark is a late-night, participatory arts festival that lights up the Twin Cities in early summer. From dusk to dawn the city surprises you: friendly strangers share a moment, glowing cyclists whirl by, unique installations pop-up in neighborhoods, and wanderers participate in experimental performances in green spaces. The glow of sunrise after a night of amazing art experiences leaves you rejuvenated. 

Northern Spark’s locations, times, themes, and forms are always transforming. In 2018, the festival introduced a two-night model, so people could experience the artful magic of a festival for two nights until 2 am. In 2021, the festival took on new forms: art in the mail, online, and in person in St. Paul, MN during two weeks. This year, festival organizers are excited to return to an all-night time frame with a modified schedule. 

Northern Spark is produced by Northern Lights.mn, a Twin Cities non-profit arts organization whose work ranges from large-scale public art platforms like Northern Spark to Art(ists) On the Verge, a year long mentorship program for 4 emerging artists working in public space. Northern Lights.mn supports artists in the creation and presentation of art in the public sphere, such as at St. Paul’s Union Depot (Amateur Intelligence Radio), “choir karaoke” at the Minnesota State Fair (Giant Sing Along) and Illuminate South Loop, a mini outdoor festival of nine interactive projects in Bloomington, MN’s South Loop in the days leading up to the 2018 Super Bowl. Through projects such as Aquanesia, a location-­based environmental mystery game, and large scale festivals themed around social issues, Northern Lights.mn helps audiences explore expanded possibilities for civic engagement through art.

MEDIA CONTACT
Amy Danielson, 612.245.2020 amy@northern.lights.mn
2022.northernspark.org
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NorthernSparkMN/
Twitter: @NL_mn
Instagram: @Northern Lights.mn 

#northernspark

We’re seeking Sponsors for the Northern Lights.mn Telethon!

A fundraiser for the Northern Spark festival and Northern Lights.mn
Wednesday, April 20, 7:30-9 pm
In-Person (limited seats) at Nanotako Studios and broadcast LIVE on YouTube 

Featuring: 

• John Gebratatose from HUGE Theater and Black Out Improv returns as host! 
• The Northern Spark Kazoo band!
• Mayda as House Band! 
• Sami Pfeffer as the Remote Telephone Operator!
• Dazzling Door Prizes! 

Sponsor levels and recognition
RotaryDial: $2,000
1 minute spot on live broadcast + 2x mention in Instagram/FB stories

NokiaBrick: $1,000
Shout out on live broadcast + 2x mention in Instagram/FB stories

Blackberry: $500
Logo recognition during show, 2x mention in Instagram/FB stories

FlipPhone: $250
Logo recognition during show, 1x mention in Instagram/FB stories

All levels receive: 

• Group logo display on live broadcast throughout program
• Acknowledgement in NL’s bi-monthly weekly newsletter (~10K subscribers)

Interested? We are happy to brainstorm additional engagements!
Contact Sarah Peters, sarah@northern.lights.mn

Northern Spark is the beloved all-night arts festival that lights up the Twin Cities in June: art installations in the streets, experimental performances in green spaces, glowing cyclists, and other unique arts experiences await. Support Northern Spark and become a Telethon sponsor! 

December 23, 2021

Since our announcement on 12/16/2021 of the finalists for the Future River Call for Augmented Reality Projects we have learned of concerns about the call’s process and lack of care around our definitions of the terms Native and Indigenous.  

In the call we used the language “Native artists or artist teams with significant Indigenous creative leadership” to describe who would be eligible to apply. We did not define these terms, creating confusion and uncertainty for some of our stakeholders. This is a mistake for which we apologize. 

At Northern Lights.mn we aim to support Native artists and Indigenous artists and to honor the diverse Native and Indigenous communities here. Our call was intended to be open to these broad identities. 

We take concerns from Native community members very seriously. We have decided that the best way forward is to pause this project and reevaluate how to move forward.  All of the finalists have been notified of this decision. We will hire a Native consultant to think carefully through all the issues around Native identity and place that have been brought forward. 

More information will be posted in the coming weeks. We wish everyone peace and light.

Northern Lights.mn supports artists in the creation and presentation of art in the public sphere to imagine new interactions between audience, artwork and place and explore expanded possibilities for civic engagement.

Our largest program is Northern Spark, a free, annual, late-night, multidisciplinary arts festival that takes place in June and draws thousands of Minnesotans each year. In collaboration with arts organizations and community partners, we turn the city into a surprising arts experience.  

For more information about Northern Lights.mn, visit our website: https://northern.lights.mn/.  For more information about Northern Spark, visit https://northern.lights.mn/platform_group/northern-spark/

In 2022 Northern Spark will take place at Saint Paul neighborhood sites including Victoria Theatre Arts Center, Springboard for the Arts, Little Mekong Plaza and Raspberry Island. We seek applicants with knowledge of these neighborhoods whether through living, working, or socializing there.

Since 2011, Northern Spark has created a spirit of adventure and belonging, with the help of hundreds of artists and community partners. One of our goals is to build public artmaking and production skills within the community. Production staff members are part of a dynamic team that works together to produce this beloved event.

Job Description: Assistant Producer

The Assistant Producer works with the Festival Producer to support the production process of Northern Spark. This person will work on advance planning of the festival and will independently manage the event set-up, maintenance and strike at one of our festival sites, Springboard for the Arts.

Qualified applicants should have related experience, which may include: theatrical stage management or production management, project management, event coordination, etc. Technical experience or knowledge not required, but helpful. This is a great job for someone who has live event production experience who wants to take on more pre-production responsibility and/or seeks experience working within a public art or festival context.

Compensation: $5,000

Duration: February 1 through June 30, 2022 (there is possibility of this becoming an annual position)

Estimated hours: Approximately 200 hours. Schedule varies from week to week, estimated 5-10 hours per week with more hours required during site visit, testing and event weeks. Read below for more details.

Reports to: Festival Producer

Advance work may include:

• Attending all Northern Spark staff meetings and production meetings (bi-weekly, weekly closer to event date
• Managing spreadsheets to track equipment, materials, artist information, etc.
• Drafting schedules and coordinating with artists, venues and production team
• Updating contact sheets
• Sourcing/obtaining equipment and materials
• Coordinating plans for infrastructure, amenities, zero waste, etc.
• Drafting, sending and filing contracts for other production personnel
• Attending site visits and project testings with Producer
• Communicating with each artist/project; volunteer; and zero waste personnel to confirm final details before event date
• Communication and coordination with function crew, as necessary
• Additional tasks, tbd

Tasks during the festival include:

• Maintain communications with Festival Producer and Artists, as necessary
• Manage Volunteers and other Production personnel
• Act as public and artistic point-of-contact for event questions or issues
• Maintain production and logistical elements of the event including:
• Signage
• Restrooms
• Trash/Recycling/Organics
• Security personnel
• Audience flow and safety including COVID precautions
• Back of house space
• Retain festival and civil documentation including schedules and permits
• Protect festival integrity by encouraging adherence to event schedule
• Review integrity of projects and communicate status with Producer

Post-Festival tasks may include:

• Compiling information for production reports; finalizing spreadsheets
• Taking inventory of equipment (tents, projectors, etc), with Crew
• Managing returning of materials to vendors and/or storage facilities (i.e. walkie-talkies, signage, tents, etc.), with help from the Crew
• Additional tasks, tbd

Required skills: Must be detail-oriented, organized, and able to respond quickly and problem-solve on-site. Must be able to both work independently on projects and collaboratively with other staff members and artists. Great written and verbal communication skills, self-motivated and able to adapt to changing deadlines. Experience working with Google Suite necessary. Ability to make and read maps and ground plans. Ability to work with a broad range of people within and outside the organization including artists, vendors, city employees, venue contacts, etc. Ability to work with a fast-paced schedule with overlapping project timelines. Experience managing teams of people, whether volunteers, staff members, or a combination.

Desired skills: Basic proficiency with Adobe Creative Suite or similar program to make internal production maps; experience stage managing events; experience with volunteer recruitment and management.

Physical requirements: This job involves physically active work for sustained periods of time and staying up late and alert on the event date! Applicants must also be able to lift and move objects of up to 30 lbs.

Schedule: Weekday schedule to be determined with supervisor. Some evening and weekend availability is necessary. The following dates are required:

• Production and Staff Meetings (mostly virtual): Mondays from 1-3pm (subject to change)
• Artist Cohort Meetings (virtual): February 9; March 9, April 13, May 11 (evenings, approximately 6-8pm)
• Project site visits (in person): TBD evenings, February 21 – 24
• Project test dates (in person): TBD evenings the week of May 23 – 26
• Telethon Fundraiser (in person): April 20 (all day rehearsal + evening live event)
• Production week (virtual and in person): Must be available full time June 6-10
• Festival weekend (in person): TBD hours / all day June 11 until approximately 4am on June 12

Required equipment: Computer with reliable internet access for virtual meetings and independent work. Must have reliable transportation for travel between festival sites across Saint Paul and to run errands.

COVID requirements: with abundant caution and care for our community, all festival staff must show proof of vaccination (including boosters, as applicable) and be prepared to wear a mask when the team collectively determines it’s necessary during the shifting state of the pandemic. Please consider this prior to applying. 

To apply: submit cover letter, resume or CV, and 3 references by December 21 to erin@northern.lights.mn

Deadline for this application has closed

Download Job Description PDF here.

​​Your support raises us up! 

We believe that art is what the world needs now. By supporting artists, we’re investing in opportunities to come together, explore ideas, heal, and grow.

In 2021 our mission looked like: 

• A world premiere of an animation and soundscape by Moira Villiard and collaborators in 8 degree winter weather on a 400 ft long wall of the St. Anthony Falls Lock.  
• Four emerging artists of Art(ists) on the Verge demonstrating incredible tenacity in steering their public projects to completion despite a state shut down and social uprising. 
• Seven artists of the 4th generation of the Northern Spark Artist Council empowered as curators and creative planners
• A reimagined, hybrid in-person, online, in-the-mail Northern Spark festival for 3 weekends and 2 weeks in June that closed with an 8 hour overnight alchemic experience of poetry, song, dance and birds singing at dawn on another continent.
• The launch of a call for augmented reality projects by Native artists to lend us visions for the “future river.”  (Coming to the Mississippi river near you in Fall 2022).   

Your support helped us adapt our work in the last year, and we need you with us as we move into 2022 and beyond.

To get there, we have a $5,000 goal for Give to the Max Day 2021. Your tax-deductible donation makes a big difference for the coming year, helping us to reach more people, support more artists and sustain Northern Spark annually. 

Support us on Give to the Max Day, Thursday, November 18, here.

Thank you for your support! 

 

Photo credit: You Change Me by Lelis Brito and collaborators at Northern Spark 2021 in front of Victoria Theater Arts Center. Photo by Bruce Silcox.

A.P. Looze (they/them) is a multi-disciplinary artist who surrenders to the unknown and believes in the healing power of the divine. For AOV11, Looze will expand upon a practice derived through the pandemic by creating a month-long immersive ceremony that will illuminate ancestral, descendant, and earth wisdom channeled through the medium of a flower: the rose. Stay tuned for information on how to sign up for a private session in the installation during the month of September. 

Here are a few questions we asked A.P Looze to get to know a little more about him and his project.

1.How does your Artist on the Verge project intersect with your larger body of work and artistic interests?

I feel like my work spans a wide spectrum of emotions and styles, but at the core of each of my pieces is a devotion to healing through embodiment and love.

Right now I am invested in using my artistic practice as a platform to tend to the wounds of intergenerational trauma inherited through the disembodying and loveless violences of whiteness. I ask myself: what do I need to do to interrupt the trauma?

2.How can the act of making art work and the work itself serve as that interruption?

One element of that process for me is creating space for ritual that tends to this pain, and that calls forth love as a healing force. My AOV project is essentially the culmination of a daily ritual of beading rosehips and invoking the wisdom of my ancestors and the wisdom of roses. I learned that the love of my ancestors is always around me and that the rose itself symbolizes love. In Catholicism the rose is a symbol for Mary.  And if you dig deeper into history, Mary is a representation of mother earth. Stringing these rosehips, ingesting the water they soaked in, and administering a daily dose of wild rose flower essence has been an embodied experiment in channeling love.

3. What was your favorite part of envisioning and working on this project?

This project has taken so many twists and turns throughout the pandemic. Things began to settle for me when I realized that this beading practice was potentially a practice of my long ago European ancestors–I’m talking pre-christian, even paleolithic. Long long ago, beads made from flowers and seeds were strung to honor the mother goddesses. Something sent chills up my spine when I made that connection. The contemplative nature of the practice allowed messages and songs inspired by my ancestors and the rose to flow through me. I will be incorporating those messages into the installation in a couple of ways.

Through further research, I came to understand how much paganism and more ancient earth-based spiritual practices survived covertly within the Catholic church. While in christian religions it is more customary to pray upward toward a transcendental god, or upward toward statues of Mary etc., the rosary feels counter to that. It is held in your hands when you pray. The overall energy of prayer feels downward and internal. Even portions of the Hail Mary prayer are derived from pre-christian times. It feels like an ancient earth-based relic that miraculously survived the violent expansion of the Catholic church. And, as I was beading one day, a voice came through that said, “it’s all about touch.” I’ve literally touched every part of this project–I’ve harvested the rosehips from bushes in my neighborhood, I’ve strung every single rosehip, I harvested the rose flowers to make flower essence. There’s something about being in literal contact with the earth that is so essential for healing my relationship to this place and to my white lineage.

4. People are invited to view your installation on xx September xx from 5-7:30.  What do you hope people will take away from the piece?

While I can never control what people will think, my hope is that people may walk away with their own thoughts or reminders of how to connect to their own ancestors. I hope people may think of rituals that they wish to practice that connect them to their lineage and this earth. Perhaps this will inspire people to connect with a specific part of the land in a reverential way.

Kelley Meister (ze/hir) is an interdisciplinary artist who uses drawings, sculpture, and time-based art to build transformative experiences and environments that encourage empathy through a shared emotional experience or exploration. Stay tuned to hotzone.kelleymeister.com for updates, to learn more, and hop on the ride!

Here are a few questions we asked Kelley Meister to get to know a little more about ze and hir project.

1. How does your Artist on the Verge project intersect with your larger body of work and artistic interests?

Over the course of the extended AOV Fellowship, the world shifted in unexpected ways. Fear and uncertainty became ever present in my life. It began with watching the shelves rapidly empty in the stores. As an artist who has worked with and about fear for over a decade, I knew my work had something to offer to this moment. But for much of the fellowship period, I was paralyzed and unsure. I couldn’t access the distance I realized was required in order to find the artistic antidotes for myself, to find the ways to work through and with the fear. I felt immense guilt for not showing up on my studio days week after week as the pandemic wore on followed by the uprising that shook the cities. Eventually last winter, I found a new working pattern, one that was slower, more introspective, and deeply personal.

Drawing on much of what I created in the first year of AOV work, I exhibited Fallout Shelter, a site-specific subterranean installation at Hair+Nails Gallery in April 2021. In the installation were over 100 canned good ceramic replicas (13 of which were created by co-fellows and our mentors during the first AOV critique), wallpapered photo-collages of over-sized cans taken during the the first few months of the fellowship while overseas, a VHS video and sound piece, and a collaborative Fear Scale created through audience-participation (also created for the first AOV critique). Three large painted wall texts acknowledged our collective contemporary and ancestral grief, ongoing fear, and gratitude to the Dakota and Anishinaabe for stewarding the land on which the gallery and my home are located before, throughout and despite the ongoing occupation of white settlers, myself included. These Acknowledgments were workshopped with the care and feedback of my AOV cohort.

For the culmination of the AOV project, I am launching a long-term investigation of the 100-mile stretch of land and water between the two nuclear power plants in Mni Sota, so-called Minnesota, at Prairie Island and Monticello. 

First, there is a sculptural component of windsocks that call attention to the wind that moves particulates, smoke, dust, pollen, seeds, insects, and more through the 100-mile space. The wind disperses what is here, while also depositing small artifacts from along its route. These windsocks will be installed at various points throughout the 100-mile HOTZONE area throughout the month of September. A trio of windsocks will also be installed at Patrick Eagan Park in Eagan, MN, from Sep 11-Oct 28.

Additionally, I am creating a participatory online platform that explores our proximity to nuclear waste through data collection, drawing and visual observation, bicycle rides and other mobile endeavors, environmental radiation monitors, and connections between people. You can find it at hotzone.kelleymeister.com and submit your own drawings/photographic observations there. On Saturday, September 25, I will host an informal gathering for others to join me in looking closely at the ecosystem in a small oak savanna lying adjacent to the Hahawakpa / Gitchi Ziibi / Mississippi River. From 2-4pm, come anytime to sit and draw. Bring a camera, drawing materials, something to sit on (if desired) and water/snacks for yourself. We will be looking closely at the plants and small creatures of the habitat, creating a document of their lives in this location on this date, to be added to the website. Look out for future gatherings and ongoing updates on the website (hotzone.kelleymeister.com) or on my social media (IG: @__kel.ley__, FB: @kelley.shipwreck).

More details:

WHAT: HOTZONE: Observe & Draw Together: a small, informal gathering to look closely at the plants and sessile (limited movement and/or immobile) creatures (e.g., bugs, insects, macroinvertebrates, etc.) in and near the river

WHEN: 9/25 (Rain date 9/26) 2-4pm

WHERE: Oak Savanna at East 36th St and W River Parkway in Minneapolis

BRING: something to sit upon if you want (sheet, portable chair, etc); drawing materials*; water/snacks for yourself

*small notebooks and pencils will be provided if you want/need one

COVID PRECAUTIONS: outdoor social distancing should be easy to manage, masks are encouraged especially when talking to others

LOOK FOR: windsocks

2. What was your favorite part of envisioning and working on this project?

I have appreciated all of the ways that I am becoming more familiar with the land, water, and people of this 100-mile stretch. It is a slow process that engages my full senses. I have long had a fondness for the great river, Hahawakpa / Gichi Ziibi / Mississippi that travels a long path from the northwoods down to the gulf. It holds many stories in its waters, provides drinking water for millions, and has drawn people to it for millenia. The river also tells the story of the white supremacist industrial captialism on which this country was built. Along the shores of this great river are numerous power plants, factories, and our homes, all polluters. Oil and gas pipelines criss-cross it, with more continuing to be built. 21 nuclear power plants stand alongside it and its tributaries; 2 here in Mni Sota. All store 100% of their radioactive waste onsite. I am humbled by the magnitude of the river in so many ways. And I am excited to explore the minutia, the details, the smallest parts of it right here as part of this project.

3. People are invited to submit XXX, XXX, and XXX to your website. As the project grows, As the project grows, what do you hope people will take away from the piece?

People are invited to submit drawings, photos, and Geiger counter readings to the website (hotzone.kelleymeister.com) via email: hotzone@kelleymeister.com and/or tagging them on social media with #MNhotzone – directions are also on the website. Include location and date/time with the photo/drawings.

I hope that this work brings new awareness to our environment and to the delicate microcosm around us. Many people are surprised to hear that there are 2 nuclear power plants just outside the Twin Cities along the Hahawakpa / Gichi Ziibi / Mississippi River. By taking time to look closely at the ecosystem along the river, I hope this work opens up space for deeper observation and contemplation. As we gather data within the HOT ZONE, I hope that we can use this information to be proactive in our efforts to protect the river and the life around and within it. Observation is one tool in the toolbox that will help us gather data and learn more about the threats to our environment, from pipeline and railroad chemical, oil, and diesel spills to radioactive releases from the nuclear power plants. Over time, the effects of these damages may become clearer, and I hope that this will empower us to call for a change in course as well as to come together as a community to devise potential ways to protect ourselves and our environment from these threats.

Photo ID: Blue water rushes over a small, flat waterfall and spreads out to the edges of the image. An arched bridge and tall buildings sit in the background and green trees line the left edge. Photo credit: Mississippi National River and Recreation Area.

The Future River: Call for Augmented Reality (AR) Project Proposals

Find a downloadable version of this call here.

Phase 1 deadline: 11:59 pm CST, October 31, 2021.
This call is closed. 

Introduction

Northern Lights.mn with long-time partners Mississippi Park Connection and the National Park Service are excited to announce a new opportunity for artists to engage with the Mississippi River and Owamni-yomni/St. Anthony Falls in downtown Minneapolis in the creation of an Augmented Reality work. 

This call is a new iteration of our commissioning platform previously called Illuminate the Lock. We aim to build on this project history by expanding the artistic forms we support and invite artists, particularly Native artists, to engage with broader sites along the downtown Minneapolis riverfront. 

Place and Context

Owamni-yomni, also known as St. Anthony Falls, is a changing place. In this moment of deindustrialization, the Army Corps of Engineers aims to shift ownership of the decommissioned Upper St. Anthony Falls Lock, while development along the Minneapolis riverfront focuses on access, connection, recreation and culture. 

In parallel, a growing and past due movement calls for bringing Indigenous lifeways and stories of these places into the mainstream. Projects like Andrea Carlson and Moira Villiard’s past Illuminate the Lock projections, Minneapolis Parks and Recreation’s Owamni Falling Water festival, the official renaming of Bde Maka Ska, and the long-awaited opening of Sean Sherman’s (aka the Sioux Chef) restaurant Owamni on W. River Road are part of this movement. 

Alongside these cultural changes, our shifting climate affects the Mississippi’s human and non-human inhabitants. Project climate change impacts in this area include increased temperatures, heavier rains and floods, as well as more drought stress in the summers from dramatically decreased snow. 

Given these shifts, what is the future of the river? How do Indigenous histories and present ways of being give us vision for what could be next?

We are requesting proposals for Augmented Reality (AR) projects created by an artist or artist team with significant Indigenous leadership to illuminate ideas for the future river. 

Why are we asking for significant Indigenous leadership? Part of the mission of the St. Anthony Falls Heritage area is to combat the whitewashing of the Mill District’s history by developing a meaningful presence for Dakota and Indigenous voices within the Heritage Zone.

For Northern Lights.mn, this project allows us to continue our commitments to working with Native artists and to use our programmatic platforms to support Indigenous storytelling.  

Technology

This is a call for Augmented Reality (AR) proposals. In this context, AR leverages a smartphone or tablet to digitally augment a user’s real world view through their device’s camera. 

The AR experience can include a variety of media including, but not limited to, 2D assets, photographs, 3D assets, animation and sound. AR projects can range from simple imagery to fully interactive and immersive environments. 

For this call, the budget level and production timeline for this project skews toward simpler projects (rather than fully interactive or immersive works). Access to this technology for artists is a high priority for this call; we encourage artists without prior AR experience to apply.

Here are is a small set of examples of AR projects we are inspired by: 

• Dameun Strange, Sol Soundgarden, commissioned for Northern Spark 2021
• Nancy Musingizi and Adam Davis-McGee/AxS GRNTD, AR Tour of Old Cedar Bridge, Bloomington, MN, 2019.  
• X, Augmented Earth, recent Joyce Foundation award with Chicago Public At Group

Applicants do not need to have previous experience with AR to apply.

Artwork in any media can translate into AR — sound, music, video, photography, animation, drawing, painting, etc.  An artist or artist team’s ideas and how they are expressed artistically are more important than an understanding of the technology for the first phase of this call. 

Applications that move to the finalist stage will have an opportunity to work with REM5 Studios to flesh out their final proposals, including polished tech specs and budgets.  REM5 Studios is a local XR experience agency with a mission to break down barriers to accessibility in immersive technologies.  

The winning proposal may continue working with REM5 for production and development of the project, or may choose their own AR developer. 

A key goal of this call is to break down barriers for Native and non Native artists interested in working with AR technologies by providing these supports. 

Eligibility 

The Future River call is open to Native artists or artist teams with significant Indigenous leadership. Applicants will be asked to describe their leadership team in the application.

Companies or nonprofit organizations are not eligible to apply. 

Artists do not need to reside in the Twin Cities or Minnesota, but must be available for periodic site review throughout the process as well as during the launch of the project’s public presentation, with a limited travel budget. 

Applicants do not need to have previous experience with AR to apply (see above).  

Place 

The site of focus for this project has many names: Owamn-yomni in Dakota, Gakaabika in Ojibwe, St. Anthony Falls in English. It is where the Mississippi river flows through Minneapolis, near it’s downtown core.  

We are looking for projects to be activated within a portion of the Saint Anthony Falls Heritage Zone. Specifically, projects must be sited within the areas between the 3rd Ave bridge to the 35W bridge on the West side of the Mississippi River. 

Eligible areas highlighted below: 

Proposals must follow these site requirements:

• No permanent structures in the project area
• No obstruction to any pedestrian or vehicle passage

Read more about St. Anthony Falls Heritage Zone. 

Other locations of note in this area: 

Owamn-yomni / Gakaabika  / St. Anthony Falls 

Mill Ruins Park 

Upper St. Anthony Falls Lock and Dam 

Water Works 

Stone Arch Bridge 

Timeline and Selection Process

This call has two phases:  

• Phase one proposals are due October 31, 2021, 11:59 pm CST.
• A committee of stakeholders to be announced will select three finalists in November 2021. 
• Finalists will receive $500 each to create and present full proposals due in January 2022. 
• Based on presentations by the finalists, the committee will select one winning proposal in February 2022. 
• Project launch: October 2022. We aim to support the winning artist(s) to launch their project for the public in October 2022. The duration of the piece will be determined by the artist(s) and the project partners according to the specifics of the piece.  The project’s support staff will create a calendar of milestones with the winning applicant to achieve this goal. 

Key Criteria for Project Proposals 

Project proposals will be evaluated according to clarity and creativity of these primary considerations:

Theme. How does your project relate to the theme of “The Future River?”  

Concept.  What are the ideas, histories, stories, futures you want to get across? What cultural references inform your ideas?  What will the audience experience when engaging with your project? 

(Content that is commercialized or intended to sell a product will not be considered.)

Clarity or Known Unknowns. What is your project? Who will create it? What materials, process and methods will you use? What, if any, knowledge do you have of AR platforms? We are looking for clear project descriptions that showcase a commitment to creativity. If there are parts of your project that are unknown, that’s okay, tell us what they are and what process you might use to figure them out.

Accessibility. How will your project integrate accessibility? We acknowledge that no project can be 100% accessible to everyone. Consider how your project will be experienced by people with differing abilities of vision, hearing, touch, cognition, language, etc.

Site. Where within the activity area are you proposing to focus your project? 

Budget

The budget for the Future River commission includes an artist fee of $10,000 and a materials and technology budget of $25,000.  

For Phase 1, applicants will be asked to sketch out a basic budget that includes major cost categories — artist and collaborator fees, materials, travel and technical development fees. We recognize that applicants who are new to AR may not be familiar with the necessary technical development fees. This is okay! The budget is primarily a sketch of the major components of the project. 

A more nuanced budget will be required for the finalist’s proposals. Budget assistance will be provided to finalists.

Application Materials

Proposals are due by 11:59 pm CST on Sunday, October 31, 2021.

This call is now closed. 

The application process is entirely online. Applicants are required to submit:

• Primary contact information
• Artist or artist team information: brief bios and artistic experience of creative leadership team including relationship to Indigeneity.
• Project concept: A succinct description of the project that addresses the key criteria. May include images or whatever is needed to aptly describe the project concept. 
• Samples of past work (Images, video or audio files). Up to 10 images and 2 videos or audio of past, preferably related work.
• A budget that accounts for the major categories of costs for your project within the budget for this commission. (max 1 page)

Info Sessions

Join us for two optional info sessions: 

Online Info Session 

Wednesday, September 29, 6 – 6:30 pm on Zoom. This session will be recorded and available to watch afterwards. 

RSVP on Facebook 

Walking Tour 

Saturday October 2, 1-2 pm

An in-person walking tour of the project area. Meet at  Meet at Upper St. Anthony Falls Lock and Dam (1 Portland Ave, Minneapolis, MN). 

RSVP on Facebook 

For updates on these sessions, please register here. 

It is not mandatory to attend the info session and tour, but it is highly recommended!

If you would like to get feedback about your proposal, please email futureriver@northern.lights.mn with a draft of your proposal or your questions no later than October 15.

Submissions

The submission process is entirely online using Submittable. This platform requires you to make a free account. There is no application fee. 

Entries are accepted online until 11:59 p.m. CST, Sunday, October 31, 2021. 

Click here for a downloadable document of application questions. 

History

The original program of this partnership, Illuminate the Lock, was conceived as a way for artists to utilize the unique infrastructure of the Upper St. Anthony Falls Lock and Dam, which was decommissioned for navigational use in 2015. Click below for images and descriptions of Illuminate the Lock projects. 

2017

Aaron Dysart, Surface 

Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/northernlightsmn/albums/72157686332016050

Andrea Carlson, The Uncompromising Hand 

Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/northernlightsmn/albums/72157687479800224

2018

Mike Hoyt, Dameun Strange, Molly Van Avery with Ritika Ganguly, Returning the River 

Flicker: https://www.flickr.com/photos/northernlightsmn/albums/72157674820832568

2021

Moira Villiard, Madweyaashka: Waves Can Be Heard 

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IUVI7cTkqEc

About Mississippi Park Connection

Mississippi Park Connection is the charitable, nonprofit partner of the Mississippi National River and Recreation Area. Its mission is to strengthen the enduring connection between people and the Mississippi River by enriching the life of the river and the lives of all who experience our national park, the Mississippi National River and Recreation Area.

About the Mississippi National River and Recreation Area

In 1988, a National Park was created in the Twin Cities to preserve, protect and enhance the significant values of the waters and land of the Mississippi River corridor within the Twin Cities metropolitan area. Known as the Mississippi National River and Recreation Area, the park extends for more than 70 miles along the river, running directly through the metropolitan area (the park corridor begins in Ramsey and Dayton and ends just south of Hastings). The park provides leadership, acting as a facilitator and coordinator, in promoting a common vision for river corridor management among 25 municipalities and numerous partner agencies and organizations, whose responsibilities intersect.

About Northern Lights.mn

Northern Lights.mn is a non-profit arts organization dedicated to artists working innovatively in the public sphere, exploring expanded possibilities for civic engagement. Northern Lights.mn produces Northern Spark. 

Supported by

This project is supported with a grant from the Saint Anthony Heritage Board and the National Endowment for the Arts. 

This essay was commissioned for the debut of Madweyaashka: Waves Can Be Heard by Moira Villiard in February 2021 as part of Illuminate the Lock.  

Resilient: Searching for Connections through Waves
By Suenary Philavanh 

“Resilience: for a Native woman living in an urban, concrete jungle, what does that look like?”

Where St. Anthony Falls flows between concrete, a lone loon swims in the muddy water. Its eyes—bright, red beads and stark contrast to the man-made walls around it—were reminiscent of nature that has become rare in urban cities. The sound of water crashing into itself, echoing through ripples, can be heard from the nearby falls. The moon uses the water to vocalize that this space, where nature can exist between concrete, is sacred.

Moira Villiard’s Madweyaashkaa: Waves Can Be Heard highlights the strength of Indigenous women and explores ways people find and forge the connection within themselves with culture, ancestors, and nature. Her work reflects on the notion of missing Indigenous women beyond the literal and physical meaning of “missing”: going missing through addiction, assimilation and separation from culture, missing through misrepresentation. It acknowledges the hardship Indigenous women face and calls to celebrate their resiliency. This acknowledgement is especially important to have during a global pandemic, when people are missing connections in their lives. Recently, it has become especially important to find alternative ways to connect with other people, nature and oneself. In Madweyaashkaa, Dakota/Ojibway First Nation elder Millie Richard shares her wisdom on how one can reconnect and learn to heal so that they may become more resilient. 

Offering tobacco

The first sacred medicine the creator gave to the first people was tobacco. When burned, the smoke carried the people’s prayers up to the sky and was heard by the spirits. When set down on the earth or near water, people were able to express gratitude to Mother Earth for the life she gave. Today, tobacco is still used in almost every ceremony and ritual, and it serves as a way for the people to connect with the spirits and ancestors. It may also be given to show gratitude to elders for their wisdom, guidance and healing. This medicine is known to the Dakota as “cansasa” and to the Ojibwe as “assema.” 

Nokomis, the grandmother moon

Nokomis watches the earth and lights up the night, guiding us through the dark. She governs the water both inside and outside our bodies, pulling it—the tides ebb and flow. In the night, it’s easier to find her, for she is the moon spirit that the Ojibwe call “grandmother.” The grandmother moon commands the water that gives life. Women, too, have the ability to give life with the water in their wombs. Because of this power, women have inherited the duties of protecting the water and have a deep spiritual connection with the moon.

Elder Millie says to offer tobacco to Nokomis and ask for comfort and guidance. Her presence can serve as a connection with nature, the ancestors, and with oneself. While many are living in an urban setting, far away from nature, or feeling distant from their connections, Nokomis is always there in the night sky.

The importance of water

In the Dakota language, Mni Sota Makoce (where “Minnesota” comes from) is the land where the water reflects the clouds. The falls known today as St. Anthony Falls are in the traditional homelands of the Dakota. It was used for portage routes, a neutral place for other Indigenous nations to pass through. Traditionally, Dakota women would come to the falls and give birth to the next generations. It was and still is a sacred place to the Indigenous people. To the Dakota, this waterfall is known as Owmani-yomni meaning “whirlpool.” To the Ojibwe, it is known as Gakaabika meaning “severed rock.” 

Elder Millie says that St. Anthony Falls can help build a connection with nature and our ancestors. Listening to the tides of the falls can make us present in the moment and with Mother Earth and Nokomis. It can also give us the opportunity to listen to the waves, their spirit, within ourselves and how those tides shape who we are as individuals. When creating Madweyaashkaa, Moira drew inspiration from the tides at the site. She imagined our spirits existing like tides, fluid, constantly moving, ever-changing within us. Humanity mirrors nature, and while we may feel apart from it, we are still deeply connected to nature. 

Jingle Dress tradition

The first jingle dress came to a man in a dream. His daughter had fallen ill, and he worried about her wellbeing. One night, he dreamt of four women in dresses ornamented with metal. When the metals hit one another, the dress created a pleasant sound, like rain falling down to earth. In the Mille Lacs’ oral tradition, the man woke up, recreated the dress and taught the dance to the women in his community before the drum ceremony. On the day of the drum ceremony, the man brought his daughter, weak from illness. The women began to dance the jingle dress song, and as time passed the girl’s condition began to improve. By the end of the night, she joined the women and danced, her health restored.

The tradition of jingle dresses emerged circa 1920 during the global influenza pandemic and is believed to have the power to heal. This was also during the United States’ efforts to assimilate the Indigenous population in the country. Older dresses were created from tops of tin cans that were rolled into cones and sewn onto the fabric. Today, there are many different styles for the jingle dress in terms of colors, types and amounts of metals used, and accessories used with the jingle dress.

The Ojibwe believe that power moves through air, and the air carries the healing sounds of the jingle dress. The jingle dress dancers  typically dance at ceremonies and powwows, but in recent years it has gone beyond those spaces. It has become present in popular protest movements. Jingle dresses first appeared around the time the United States government outlawed ritual dancing in Native American reservations. Today, its tradition as a radical dance and medicine for community healing continues. It has empowered Indigneous people, especially women, and has come to symbolize resilience in their communities. In recent years, jingle dresses have appeared in popular protests to speak out against the pipeline project in Standing Rock, to call attention to the epidemic of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, and to stand in solidarity against police brutality. 

Brief history of St. Anthony Falls

St. Anthony Falls had undergone major changes since the Industrial age. Industries began to appear along the banks to draw power from the falls. The construction of the Eastman Tunnels in 1869 promised to generate more electricity, though severely underestimated the power of the falls. It led to the falls’ collapse, devastating its islands and surrounding land, redirecting the course of the river, taking life with it.

In the falls existed six islands but have since been destroyed by industrialization. Spirit Island was one of those islands, once a nesting site for bald eagles, a sacred site to the Dakota. It became a site of attraction to the local Euro-American as the island was abundant in limestone. It was subjected to quarrying and milling. The total removal of Spirit Island occurred in 1960 to accommodate plans for the lock by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Of the six islands, only Nicollet Island remains today. 

“We are the backbones of our nations. We are the heart of our people, our children, our elders.”

During Moira’s first scouting of the Upper St. Anthony Falls Lock and Dam as a site for her projected animation, she saw a loon swimming in the water. She was curious about the sighting, a small minute detail of her experience at the site that felt personal and sacred. She wanted to pay homage to the loon. In the creation story, Maang, the loon, was responsible for creating the sky. He put the sun, the moon, the planets, and the stars in the sky. Once he finished putting the stars up, the spirits asked Maang to watch the stars and become the leader of the earth and sky. He was able to do so by watching the stars’ reflection in the water at night. Although the creation story did not initially influence Moira’s decision, the loon’s appearance at the site reflects the deeply embedded importance the loon holds in Ojibwe tradition and society to this day.

Madweyaashkaa:Waves Can Be Heard was inspired by Indigenous women’s resilience through going missing and surviving a pandemic. The appearance of the jingle dress in Madweyaashkaa is a visual acknowledgement to the strength of Indigenous women and encourages strength during today’s pandemic. Even in hard times something new and healing can be created and found. While we are in need of finding alternative ways to reconnect with our world around us, we may not actually need to do something different or complex. Instead, the solutions may lie in tradition and in ourselves. 

Illuminate the Lock is a partnership with All My Relations Arts, a program of Native American Community Development Institute (NACDI), and Northern Lights.mn,  Mississippi Park Connection, and Mississippi National River and Recreation Area and is supported through a grant from the St. Anthony Falls Heritage Board.