UnderStory

Schedule glitches.  We’ve all experienced them.  Sometimes they’re annoying, and other times, simply your worst nightmare.  The library gallery’s exhibit schedule is often booked a full year ahead.  We pretty much already know what’s happening two months from this date in 2012.  But a few months ago, there was a change in the plan that left us with a wide open week in the middle of October.  It didn’t make sense to extend the prior engagement, and we couldn’t think of an exhibit we could (or would want to) load in and pull out in seven days.  Instead, we decided to turn the glitch to our and your advantage and transform the space into The Gallery Theatre.

What that means for the lucky general public is that we’re bringing you three special events for the library’s regular program admission of $no-cost-to-you.

On Thursday evening, 10/20 at 7pm, we have an evening of jazz called Sampling the Scene.  Three local groups, one venue.  Included are:  The River Falls Cultural Project, which can be heard at Emma’s on most any Sunday night; Plus 1 Trio, the Wednesday evening staple at Earth Angels; and Jazz for the Occasion with a new mix of seasoned musicians.  Each group will play for 30 minutes, followed by another half hour of all-out jamming.  How often do you get to see three jazz bands in one evening anywhere, never mind in River Falls?  These groups are excellent; come support the jazz scene and have a great evening.

On Saturday morning, 10/22 at 10:30am, we present Martial Arts Mastery, a demonstration and differentiation of various martial art forms.  Mark Tomlinson will offer a glimpse of t’ai chi.  Greg Garves of AKF in River Falls will demonstrate kyukido and also some judo.  Jeffrey Vorwald and Paul Wachsmuth of the Shaolin Kempo Karate group at UWRF will perform karate and kung fu.  These people will be able to answer questions about the differences between the styles, and literature will be available for area classes.  We very much appreciate their time.  This event is great for all ages!

And on Sunday, 10/23 at 1:30pm, we are proud to bring to the stage fives forms of dance in one afternoon.  Songs of the Body is a gift to the community by six area dance instructors.  Nancy & Gary Sukowatey will perform ballroom dances; Lynne Butenhoff will dance ballet; Jocelyn Gorham will offer Bharatanatyam; Jen Bush will show us Middle Eastern dance, and Mari Kline from UWRF’s dance faculty will close with modern dance.  This is an unusual “recital,” and we are deeply grateful to these performers for gracing our stage.

I hope the place is packed for every one of these shows.  Bring your family, your date, your buddies, your mom & dad, some long-neglected friend.  And it’s tiered seating, so you’ll be able to see what’s going on!

I’m pondering the gorgeous glass that’s currently on display in the library’s lower level gallery.  Twenty four artists with incredibly diverse vision and skill in manipulating one medium to take such a variety of forms.  Having so many great artists in one community is really a blessing.  As the gallery coordinator, I wish more people were visiting the show.  Last week, during a conversation about what draws people here, I threatened to rig up a diverter gate in the lobby to randomly redirect at least 10% of library patrons to the art shows as an experiment.  Well, ok, probably not.  But I do think about this.  One of my questions is whether people in the River Falls area get a little jaded about art, because there is so much of it here.  I confess that, at one point in my life, I had been to so many art fairs for so many consecutive years, that I found myself walking through them without actually looking at much of anything.  When I looked up “jaded,” I found that it means “tired, bored, or lacking enthusiasm, typically after having had too much of something.”  Art as generic, rote experience.  Uh oh.  But I’ll get back to that.

Also, I think it true that people are so bombarded (assailed persistently; subjected to a continuous flow of something) with visual stimulation and information these days, they are simply done in.  And it seems, maybe, as though going to look at art is just more of the same.  The question is, what is the difference between having images come “at” you (social media, tv, etc.) and deliberately looking at real objects in real time?

What if the difference is one of shutting down your attention or opening it up?  What if the difference is between squelching original thought and inspiring your creativity?  Inspiration: stimulation of the mind or emotions to a high level of feeling or activity; the condition of being so stimulated; an agency, such as a person or work of art, that moves the intellect or emotions or prompts action or invention; something, such as a sudden creative act or idea, that is inspired.

People who advocate mindfulness will tell you that it is restorative and restful to pay attention, full attention, to one thing at a time.  Creative people will tell you that deliberately looking at something with fresh eyes and honest curiosity stimulates the creativity of the beholder.  By definition, original artworks are neither generic nor rote.  If we experience them as such, it may be a lack in our attention rather than a deficit in the work.  Certainly, different types of art appeal to people differently.  Very few people like everything.  But the intention to appreciate what’s before us, to look at it with an intention to see it fully, is a fabulous exercise in presence, and great practice for other parts of life.

Come down to the lower level gallery at the library.  The glass exhibit runs through the remainder of this week, and there are truly remarkable things to see.  It’s hard to leave this exhibit without feeling a little bit of wonder, without feeling just a little tweak of your own aspiration to be creative, in whatever way it is that you are an artist in the world.

I think often about local resources.  With some frequency, I drive to the metro area [not local] for cultural events, and occasionally covet an even wider cultural playground.   I drive an imported car [not local] because it was economical to purchase and it complies with my gas-miser requirements.  I drive it more than I should, given the radius of my daily life.  I eat produce from other states and continents [not local] with embarrassing and unintentional regularity.  I think about all that, and wonder how to tighten my geographical range without feeling experientially deprived.

This week, I attended a fabulous community potluck and presentation on increasing our community’s local foods sufficiency.  The idea is elegant, sustainable, and tribal.  Grow it, distribute it, prepare/preserve it, and consume it right here.  Reduce the carbon footprint of human life, dramatically; increase the nutritional value via freshness; reduce our dependency on faraway places; reduce our susceptibility climate crisis/fuel crisis; support local economy.  How can a person argue with that?  And compare your body’s honest reaction to fresh produce from a local garden on a hot day in August, or a hot stew from kept carrots and potatoes in mid-winter, with trying to look a mango in the eye on a sub-zero day in January in Wisconsin.  No comparison.  So why do we make things so much more complicated, so much less elegant and less sustainable, than they need to be?   Wendell Berry had it right, as do all the folks involved in our regional coalition, named after his poetic statement; what we need is here.

And in the lovely gallery of the River Falls Public Library – my here – I ponder the upcoming all-community art exhibit, which is an annual and lavish outburst of local [local!] talent.  I am proud of this facility, grateful to the people whose vision made it happen, and happy to be part of regularly helping locally grown art to be celebrated in a visible way.  We are rich, here.  There are many, many artistic folks, doing creative things in all kinds of media.  And like tribal cultures, where art is inherent in daily life, where art belongs to everyone, and where everyone is an artist, River Falls has a deep hospitality for the creative impulses of each of us.  Art helps us see.  It helps us grow.  It engages a creative way of thinking that makes us expansive and more capable of addressing problems in innovative ways.  We celebrate that here, locally, where it lives and grows.

So join us for the upcoming all-community show, Indigenous Resources.  Whether you’re a seasoned artist, an emerging artist, a closet creative, or a cheerleader for someone else’s art; help us make this a great show.  Local food for heart & soul.  It starts November 6^th with submissions due November 1^st & 2^nd.  Call 715.426.3496 for information.  Show up.  Show off.  We dare you.

Nursery rhymes, sonnets, limericks, epics. Poetic expression is diverse and poetic license is almost without limits. In 1996, the Academy of American Poets succeeded in declaring April poetry month, and so it’s been since. Given our assignment as a literary hub, the River Falls Public Library heeds the call of the month by hosting several poetical evenings. We’ll bracket the month with two open mic evenings on Thursday, March 31st and Thursday, April 28th, both at 7pm.

Open mic events grant democratic access to the limelight and the microphone. We invite participants to sign up on arrival, and to read/recite original work when their turn comes. Depending on the size of the group, a loose time limit of 5-7 minutes per poet is usually observed. Readers may bring a poem from another poet, provided they also read their own work.

Emerging & seasoned poets are enthusiastically called to the floor. Poetry is the perfect form for sharing in this fashion. Poems tend to be distilled and loaded with meaning, imagery and symbol. An hour of assorted poetry is condensed nutrition for the imagination, a master key to puzzles of the soul, and a dare to the intellect. Or, at least, good fun and economically responsible entertainment.

If you write, bring it on. If you don’t, why not? And if you still won’t, then let the work of others tickle your fancy, rattle your cage, smooth your feathers, start your hair on fire, cradle your heart€¦

The motto at our open mic events is: check your reticence at the door.

Also for poetry month, we are thrilled to welcome Dr. Jennifer Brantley, UWRF English Professor, who will read from her recent work In Memory of Strangers. This collection was inspired by found photographs. She will be here on Thursday, April 7th at 7pm.