Broken Equipment = No Products

Bummer. The fancy smancy plasma cutter is on the cutting block. It's been out of commission for almost 1 month now. What does this mean? No neato lizards, butterflies, etc. This also means we don't have a huge inventory. So, we had to cancel our spot for the St Paul Craftstravaganza. But please still check it out tomorrow!

2nd Annual St. Paul Craftstravaganza

Saturday, April 28th, 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM

Minnesota State Fairgrounds Fine Arts Building

Admission and parking is FREE!

Free swag bags to the first 100 shoppers.

NE Mpls Arts District

I just came across this website about the NE Mpls Arts District. It's a great site with tons of history and tidbits about our neighborhood. Come for a visit sometime!

Calling All Art Teachers

A few years back, I saw a posting on one of my list serves regarding the need for art students to make children's books for kids in Uganda. Having lived in Kampala for a month and having volunteered at the Kamwokya Christian Caring Community (KCCC), I decided to forward the message to my sister who teaches at a high school. The art students at her school ended up making a bunch of books and they were received by kids abducted by the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA). Check out some pictures from the delivery in Kampala and Gulu.

The project I'm referring to is the Books of Hope program, which is a part of the Memory Project. Art students of all levels create entertaining and educational books for kids in Uganda and India. High school and university art students can also create portraits of orphans for the Memory Portrait program. Students receive a photo of an orphan and then create a high quality portrait. The project works in Honduras, Egypt, Mexico, Guatemala, Ecuador, India and Uganda, among others.

I forgot about this project until the other week when I received an update from my sister. As it turns out, the founder, Ben, is from my hometown. He also has spent time at KCCC as they have been recipients of books. Ben is currently delivering portraits and books in Egypt. He emailed to say that the greatest need is for more schools to participate for the next school year. Teachers can sign up on the website.

If you are an art teacher, please consider this project in your lesson plans for next year. Or if you know one, please forward on this information! If you are in the Minneapolis area, I would love to brainstorm ideas about a gallery showing of the portraits.

St Paul Art Crawl This Weekend

Please join us this weekend for the St Paul Art Crawl.

Crane Ordway

Community Room

281 E 5th St

St Paul, MN 55401

(#9 on the map)

Friday, April 20th at 6-10pm

Saturday, April 21st at 2-10pm

Sunday, April 22nd at 12-5pm

We will be showing with other artists including Kevin Showell. Hope to see you soon!

Snaps from the Studio Opening

Spring!

Spring has finally, maybe, arrived in Minneapolis. And I must say the move into the Q.arma Bldg was a great decision. I hope to have snaps soon of the collaborative pieces between Rabi and building mate Kevin Showell. In the meantime, check out their piece in progress.

In the Q.arma yard.

Rabi

Kevin

And yummy chicken. More on the Webers to come too!

Upcoming Film & Theater Events

The continent will be making quite an impression on Minneapolis this month! Check out some of these events in the next few weeks.

Gangbé Brass Band
AfricaNOW: Currents of a Continent
April 14th at 8pm
Cedar Cultural Center
$22 ($18 for Walker or Cedar members)

Bamako
Minneapolis/St Paul International Film Festival
April 19th at 7pm
Riverview Theater
$16.36

Opening Night Gala with Danny Glover, actor/executive director of Bamako
April 19th at 9:30pm
Riverview Wine Bar
$25 with film

Vieux Farka Touré
April 22nd at 7:30pm
Cedar Cultural Center
$18

Konono #1
April 25th at 7:30pm
Cedar Cultural Center
$23

We'll be attending some of the shows. Please come out and support these artists!

Barak Woussougo

Dear friends and new acquaintances,

Rabi and I would like to express our deep gratitude for supporting us at our studio opening reception last Friday. We had a wonderful time visiting with all of you, and hope the evening was fun and inspiring.

Special thanks to our entertainers for the evening, Foxy and Christian; Peter and the A-Project; NEED magazine for the preview copies; Dane and his mates for the excellent brochettes; Jamie at Altered Esthetics; and Jono.

We hope to continue to offer quality original artwork by Rabi, and handicrafts from his country, Burkina Faso. Again, thank you for attending and we’ll see you at future events!

Barak woussougo,
Rabi and Nancy

PS, we hope to have photos of the night posted shortly as well as a clip of the African dancing and drumming.

Reminder: Studio Opening Reception

Don't forget to join us for the studio opening this Friday!

Yarbi Design Studio Opening Reception
Friday, April 6
6-9pm

Q.arma Bldg
1224 Quincy St NE Suite B25
Minneapolis, MN 55413

Look for the Big A as an indicator of our building.

Again, there will be an African dance and drumming performance at 7:30pm. Rabi’s winning piece “You of Little Faith” will also be on display.

And don't forget to visit the 1st floor to see Rabi's piece "Peter Tosh" in the “Art Reincarnated" show at Altered Esthetics.

If you need directions, please let us know. Hope to see you then!

Ritz Theater

The NE Mpls Arts District isn't only about visual arts. It's also about the performing arts! It's been years since I've been in the theater scene so I decided a few months ago to offer my serves as a volunteer at the Ritz Theater. What a better way to become more involved in my community and to see the shows coming through?!

I attended my first performance at the Ritz Theater on Sunday, Lost in the Stars. The musical is sort of based on the novel Cry, the Beloved Country. I have to admit, I didn't really connect the musical with South Africa, where it takes place. It seemed more of story about race in America than apartheid in South Africa. Maybe it was the music, which did not have the drumming beat that I have come to associate with the continent. Don't get me wrong, the storyline was great and I would recommend seeing it. But it was a bit of a mismatch to me.

But back to the Ritz. It's been open now for almost 1 year. The Ballet of the Dolls is the resident performing company. I haven't yet seen a performance by the company, so I can't give my 2 cents. But they've been around for 20 years. The Ritz still needs a bit of cash to complete it's capital campaign, so check out their website if you want to support our neighborhood!