The Sosin’s and their four children moved to ...]]> We love that the Northeast Art’s District offers the chance for us to go door to door and floor to floor in large buildings to see galleries and artists creating in almost every medium. But there is something special about walking down 13th Ave. and seeing Sosin Gallery on the corner of Washington St. This welcoming space, gallery and working studio was a grocery store before the former resident turned it into his studio. The current owner, Georgette Sosin, purchased the building with her husband Henry, who passed away in 2009. The artists added walls to make the space an accessible “studio gallery”, where Georgette would work mostly in paint and sculpture while Henry would hand build clay pots in the lower-level work space.

The Sosin’s and their four children moved to Minneapolis when Henry was offered a job teaching in the Department of Surgery at the University of Minnesota. Georgette, born in France, comes from a family of artists and painters. She attended the University of Rochester, New York, and Sarah Lawrence College and received a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Louisville. Her advice to artists looking to make a living with their craft? “Enjoy teaching! Teach privately, teach children, or get your Master’s degree to teach at a University.” This guidance surely helped her two children to both become successful full time artists, one a writer and the other a violinist. Sosin has been working, learning and teaching art her whole life as her extensive resume demonstrates, “art, it’s just what I do.”

The residential area surrounding the gallery is very different from the theatres, restaurants, shops, breweries and warehouse spaces within the district. Georgette feels a strong sense of support and belonging, but doesn’t see other artists on a daily basis. “In an independent building the sense of an artist community is abstract”, she explains, “but if you’re an artist, you’re an artist no matter where you are.” She describes Northeast as vibrant and varied and frequents establishments unlike those near her Minnetonka home. Often she meets friends at local cafes, brings her dog to the Northeast Petsmart, visits the Ritz down the street, has dinner at Emily’s Lebanese Deli on University, and finds several other small ethnic restaurants invaluable and unique to the area.

Through her art, Georgette hopes to share what she has learned throughout her life with those open to it. Her art is “about what I believe, but that’s not only one belief.” Prominent themes include the cosmos, astrology and faith. Her work is often three dimensional; it varies in size, shape and texture. Her past work as a sculptor can also be seen in her pieces. Though none are scheduled for the near future, Sosin Gallery holds events, private classes, group workshops, collaborative showcases and houses visiting artists work. Visit the gallery’s website for updates or call Georgette at 952-473-0754 to schedule an appointment. Enter the gallery, view a short interview with Georgette Sosin and take a Sosin Tour.

The name evokes different images: “Flow, like the creative flow you get once you get started on something. And like the flow of the Mississippi River just a couple blocks away.” An artist herself, Melissa lives and works in Northeast Minneapolis and her gallery displays art in several mediums including scratchboard, digital print, mezzotint, fiber, oil, acrylic, ink, watercolor, photograph, ...]]>

“Owning an art gallery is not as glamorous as you might think,” says owner of Flow Art Space Melissa Metzler, “but the hard work is completely worth it at the end of the day; It is what I love to do.” Melissa opened the gallery just over a year ago, in the lower level of the Keg House Arts Building, to celebrate art and ideas showcasing local and national artists.

The name evokes different images: “Flow, like the creative flow you get once you get started on something. And like the flow of the Mississippi River just a couple blocks away.” An artist herself, Melissa lives and works in Northeast Minneapolis and her gallery displays art in several mediums including scratchboard, digital print, mezzotint, fiber, oil, acrylic, ink, watercolor, photograph, copper, aluminum and mixed media assemblage.

Her concurrent shows, “Ruminate and Create” and “Never Before”, examine work formed over several years and showcase pieces never seen outside of the artists’ work space. “This is my biggest show yet with 34 pieces.” Melissa explains, as there is nearly no free space on the gallery walls, “Artists from all over the country submitted their work. There is even a piece from an artist based in Hong Kong.”

Flow Art Space is unique because artists are involved with every aspect of the selling process as they set their own prices and handle their own transactions. They then have the chance to establish ongoing relationships with buyers.

“People are always amazed to learn about this part of town, the arts as well as the businesses and restaurants. My husband and I are addicted to El Taco Riendo on Central, I love stopping by Diamonds Coffee Shoppe and having SiP Coffee Bar just upstairs is very convenient.” Living in Northeast Minneapolis, Melissa encourages residents and out-of-towners alike to make a night of it when visiting Flow.

With a list of restaurants that are in walking distance on her website, and as a member of the Northeast Minneapolis Arts Association (NEMAA), it is her hope that guests will “Maybe attend a class, go to a show or an opening, visit Flow then get dinner at a nearby restaurant, all in the Northeast Arts District.” Events like the annual Art-A-Whirl and the Fall Fine Arts Show have been integral in her exposure as well as enjoyment of the local arts; she strongly encourages the involvement of these to other local artists and spectators.

Though only a year old, Flow is always looking to grow and create more in depth, thought provoking work, ideas and conversations while displaying art. Admission to Flow Art Space is always free.  Artists keep 100% of sales from pieces sold and the gallery regularly announces new calls for art on the website. Melissa is also open to inquiries about hosting private events and meeting space at the gallery. Flow Art Space newsletter is released monthly and artists are highlighted on the Flow website along with more information about past, current and future shows.

www.flowartspace.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/FlowArtSpace

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Flow-Art-Space-LLC/238663166156445

Lower Level of the Keg House Arts Building, 34, 13th Avenue NE, Suite B002B, Minneapolis Minnesota 55413.

Hours are Wednesday, Thursday and Friday 1-6 pm,  Saturday 12-4 pm or call 612-564-3569 to schedule an appointment.

Other Keg House Tenants:

Brain Injury Association http://www.braininjurymn.org/

Clay Squared to the Infinity http://www.claysquared.com/index.php

Consortium Books http://www.cbsd.com/

Max It Pawn http://www.cashnpawn.com/

Power Massage http://www.powermassagemn.com/

SIP Coffeebar http://sipcoffeebar.com/

Share/Save/Spend http://www.sharesavespend.com/

Vava! Veve! http://www.vavaveve.com/

Web of Life http://www.weboflifemn.co/

Yunker Associates Architects http://www.yaarch.com/

Nearby Bars & Restaurants:

1029 Bar http://www.the1029bar.com/

331 Club http://www.331.mn/home.php

Anchor Fish & Chips http://theanchorfishandchips.com/

Dusty’s Bar http://dustysbaranddagos.com/

Element Pizza http://www.elementpizza.com/

Erte http://www.ertedining.com/

Modern Cafe http://moderncafeminneapolis.com/

Northeast Social http://northeastsocial.com/

Psycho Suzi’s http://www.psychosuzis.com/

Sample Room http://the-sample-room.com/

Icebox Studio began as a shared studio space for Howard Christopherson and Dan Havel in the old Century Camera building that has since been torn down to make way for a parking lot connected to the then newly constructed Target Center. The many artists with studios in the building were sent scrambling for ...]]> Named for an old refrigerator in a shared studio space, Icebox Quality Framing and Gallery is practically an institution in the Arts District. The first official gallery to situate it’s self in North East Minneapolis, Icebox has exhibited an incredible number of artists over its 25 years of existence. Owned and operated by Howard Christopherson, Icebox caters to up and coming experimental artists from all over and has helped to jump start the careers of many artists.

Icebox Studio began as a shared studio space for Howard Christopherson and Dan Havel in the old Century Camera building that has since been torn down to make way for a parking lot connected to the then newly constructed Target Center. The many artists with studios in the building were sent scrambling for other workspaces. It was at that time that Howard and Dan discovered “a dusty basement space on Central Avenue in an area of N.E.Minneapolis they knew little about.” It was in this basement that they hosted what would be their first and ultimately pivotal exhibition “Crystallized Phantoms”.

Crystallized Phantoms was a collaboration between 11 friends exploring a variety of spiritual inspirations, in various media. The suggestion of a collaborative piece resulted in a rather unusual chess set:

“I had them all make their own chess pieces,” Howard said. “ I assigned them what pieces to make, (i.e. pawn, knight, etc.) but no one had any idea what anyone else was making. The first time the chess set was fully assembled was on the night of the opening.”

The Pieces were made of a number of materials, including found objects and a mish-mash of multimedia. Howard ended up submitting the chess set to the Minnesota State Fair as a group collaboration in sculpture where it won a blue ribbon.

In July of 2003 Icebox moved about one mile south of the original location to the fourth floor of the Northrup King Building at 15th and Jackson Street NE.  It was in this location that things really started to pick up.  Howard began his Quality Framing Business which would ultimately support future exhibitions at Icebox.

“I make it happen.” He says, “I know what I want to show and I know what I don’t want to show. You know what they say, You don’t want to pick green apples, wait ‘till they’re red.”

Howard goes on to talk about some of the crazy exhibitions of the past, including the time they covered the whole gallery floor with sand, or the time they displayed a full carousel that had to be assembled in the gallery.

A few years ago we all might have been reeling from Icebox’s Darkside exhibit, the first of which happened in 1992. A precursor to the Soap Factory’s Halloween exhibition, Darkside was a way to feature “dark” art and ran for 5 years. A hugely popular event, Darkside featured artwork and interactive elements that ranged from the 2D to displays of electrocution and surgery. Howard recalls a performance by an artist who pulled real animal intestines out of their “surgery” dummy and says he still owns the 14 foot skeleton that used to usher people to the gallery. Sadly, with the economy being as it is and the shear strain on Howard’s personal resources, financial and emotional alike, the Darkside was discontinued after a five year run.

I strongly recommend browsing the gallery Archives on Icebox Gallery’s website as there are more incredible shows to be seen that we are capable of fitting into one blog post. Erica Stone, John Cohen and Sid Kaplan have all displayed at Icebox. I especially recommend looking into the War and Peace show, which was hugely popular.

ICEBOX Gallery Video

I was fortunate enough to be able to sit down and chat with Howard Christopherson for a short while, a life decision I would encourage everyone to follow as he is an excellent conversationalist. Here are a few snippets of our conversation:

Q: If someone was looking to display their work in Icebox, what do you look for?

A: I love one person shows. If you have no place to show your work, you are welcome  here. I also like to dream up group shows, and I am actually working on coming up   with something for our 25th anniversary. (Sorry, no spoilers.) It’s great because I don’t rely  on anyone but myself to get it up and running. I don’t need to just fill space, I can extend a show as long as I need to until something else catches my attention.

Q: Do you often display your own work?

A: I do display my own work from time to time, but I get tired of “tooting” my own horn. I have been lucky enough to have my work shown in both Italy and Japan. Although I must say that Japan make me feel like I was in the movie “Lost in Translation.”

Q: We have to ask, where is your favorite place to eat in North East?

A: Holy Land Deli. It started up about the same time as Icebox, but back then it was just a dinky little shop with a large man behind the counter.

Q: Any upcoming shows we should know about?

A: Drive-By Shooting by Sid Kaplan opens on November 2nd and runs through February 2, 2013. It’s going to be a great show, the photos where all taken from a moving car. Hence the name.

Q: Any advice for people looking to start up their own gallery?

A: Yes. Start and Ice Cream store instead. People love dipped cones.

For more information on Icebox or for a full history of the gallery please check out their website at http://www.iceboxminnesota.com/index.html or like them on Facebook

Icebox Quality Framing and Gallery is located at 1500 Jackson St. NE #443 Minneapolis, MN 55413 on the 4th floor of the Northrup King Building.

Fall Fine Arts

Sponsored by the Northeast Minneapolis Arts Association (NEMAA), the Fall Fine Arts Show is an exhibit of more than 130 of our members’ work. It’s a great opportunity to view and purchase a vast collection of painting, photography, sculpture, mixed-media art, and much more — all in one location — the new Solar Arts Building!

Don’t miss this special annual event! The opening reception and exhibit hours are free and open to the public.

View exhibit hours, location, opening reception details and more at the NEMAA website – www.nemaa.org.

Northeast Riverfeast

The inaugural Northeast Riverfeast will take ...]]> This weekend brings two fantastic events to the Northeast Minneapolis Arts District – NEMAA’s Fall Fine Arts show and the First annual Northeast Riverfeast!

Fall Fine Arts

Sponsored by the Northeast Minneapolis Arts Association (NEMAA), the Fall Fine Arts Show is an exhibit of more than 130 of our members’ work. It’s a great opportunity to view and purchase a vast collection of painting, photography, sculpture, mixed-media art, and much more — all in one location — the new Solar Arts Building!

Don’t miss this special annual event! The opening reception and exhibit hours are free and open to the public.

View exhibit hours, location, opening reception details and more at the NEMAA website – www.nemaa.org.

Northeast Riverfeast

The inaugural Northeast Riverfeast will take place on Saturday, September 22, 2012 at the historic Grain Belt Brewery Complex in Northeast Minneapolis!

Attendees receive a free beer, Grain Belt or Nordeast, or a glass of wine with admission. The first 250 attendees will receive a free complimentary glass.

Northeast restaurants including: Jax Cafe, Kramarczuk’s, Mac’s Industrial Sports Bar, Stanley’s Northeast Bar Room and Stray Dog Catering will be serving some of their very best items. Local bands performing include Joey Ryan & the Inks, The San Souci Quartet and Romantica.

This event is family friendly and kids 12 & under receive free admission. Partial proceeds from the event will benefit the Northeast Community Chest, a consortium of community-based charities focused on improving the quality of life in Northeast Minneapolis.

Ticket and event information can be found at: northeastriverfeast.com

Not only do we love this part of Minneapolis for it’s awesome history, restaurants, and microbreweries, Northeast is also home to over 400 studios and working artists. We’re home to a number of fantastic galleries and exhibition spaces as well!

We’re also home to three great nonprofits (if we do say so ourselves!) The Northeast Minneapolis Chamber of Commerce, Northeast Minneapolis Arts Association and Northeast Community Development Corporation work to help make our community fantastic – providing services for businesses, coordinating artist resources and spearheading great events like the annual Art-A-Whirl open studio tour, the Northeast Parade, and the Northeast Ride – a cycling tour of Northeast.

Our collaborative (the Trifecta of Awesome, as we like to say) recently received a grant from the City of Minneapolis’ Great ...]]>

Not only do we love this part of Minneapolis for it’s awesome history, restaurants, and microbreweries, Northeast is also home to over 400 studios and working artists. We’re home to a number of fantastic galleries and exhibition spaces as well!

We’re also home to three great nonprofits (if we do say so ourselves!) The Northeast Minneapolis Chamber of Commerce, Northeast Minneapolis Arts Association and Northeast Community Development Corporation work to help make our community fantastic – providing services for businesses, coordinating artist resources and spearheading great events like the annual Art-A-Whirl open studio tour, the Northeast Parade, and the Northeast Ride – a cycling tour of Northeast.

Our collaborative (the Trifecta of Awesome, as we like to say) recently received a grant from the City of Minneapolis’ Great Streets program to help us as we promote the artists and businesses in our favorite arts district.

Over the next few months, we’re going to be taking you on a virtual blog-tour of some of our favorite spots of Northeast, highlighting some of our best galleries and the cool bars, restaurants and shops nearby.

You can stay updated about these posts and other district activities by liking us on Facebook, following us on Twitter, or signing up for our mailing list. There are lots of great happenings in the Arts District and we mean to keep you well-informed. So stay connected – and stay tuned!

- your friends In the District.

Hello artists and residents of Northeast Minneapolis! Springboard for the Arts helps artists make a living and a life.

They can help you navigate resources for healthcare and health insurance in the Twin Cities. Their free Artists’ Access to Healthcare program offers a Guide to Healthcare for Artists downloadable off their website. The program also provides $40 vouchers to use at five clinics with sliding fee scales in Twin Cities. This year, they’re offering two vouchers for a total of $80.

For more information, please visit springboardforthearts.org/health

You may have noticed that the Arts District website has very recently had a facelift!

Our site was a bit dated, and those of us working on it really wanted to get it updated so that it could be a good resource before Art-A-Whirl. So after a lot of effort, planning, and prep – we did!

While the front end looks quite a bit different, the bigger differences are on the back end.

The site now has a content management system, which it didn’t before. So we can make updates easily and quickly! We can’t tell you how excited we are about that. A LOT.

The site is also share-able and it has a blog which we’ll be posting on more soon. That’s ...]]> hello friends of the Northeast Arts District,

You may have noticed that the Arts District website has very recently had a facelift!

Our site was a bit dated, and those of us working on it really wanted to get it updated so that it could be a good resource before Art-A-Whirl. So after a lot of effort, planning, and prep – we did!

While the front end looks quite a bit different, the bigger differences are on the back end.

The site now has a content management system, which it didn’t before. So we can make updates easily and quickly! We can’t tell you how excited we are about that. A LOT.

The site is also share-able and it has a blog which we’ll be posting on more soon. That’s been on our wish list for years!  The site is also mobile-ready, and we have an updated events manager system It has all the functionality our old calendar did, only now you can add images and locations are mapped automatically. Fancy!

As a guest,  you can submit your district events the same link:
northeastminneapolisartsdistrict.com/submit
Events will be posted pending approval, just like they were before.

We made a round of content updates, taking off some of the information on the old site that was out of date and adding some new information in. If you notice anything we missed, please email us at: info@northeastminneapolisartsdistrict.com.

The design will continue to be refined over time, and we’ll be adding new images and content as we go. In the meantime Happy Arting!

-Jamie and Pati
(At your Arty Service)