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Art to Change the World (ACW) is a diverse non-profit coalition of change makers employing the arts in service of positive social change.
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Message from the Director
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What is an ACTIVE ACW member?
As often mentioned - ACW is a collective. If everyone does a little, we can accomplish a lot. We hope you support and understand that we are trying to create an equitable organization where the people who contribute to the health and success of ACW are the people who benefit. We are trying to create a model which is sustainable. So often a few people do all the work, burn out and then the organization falters. We do not want this to happen to ACW!!
What is an ACTIVE ACW Member?
1. Must have your ACW membership current. Check with Natalie McGuire nmcguirestudio@gmail.com
2. Must have attended at least 3 ACW events, including ACW Artist openings. Post to: Natalie McGuire nmcguirestudio@gmail.com
3. Must create social justice-themed work and be willing to write an artwork statement that will fit in a 5” x 7” frame. This will also include your contact information. Check here for examples: https://www.arttochangetheworld.org/acws-art-treasures-gallery/
4. Must have contributed Time, Treasure, or Talent. Examples (to be voted on at the next Task Force Meeting):
*Completed 6 hours of volunteer work a year (not paid) for ACW. Report to/Check with Natalie McGuire nmcguirestudio@gmail.com
*Help with the build-out and care for our new World Headquarters at 699 Lowry Ave NE.
*Clerical Work. Database updates and entry.
*Social Media campaigns
*Install and uninstall artworks
*Working a welcome table at an event
*Graphic design work
*Photography services
*Transportation of people and art
*Help set up events
*Help clean 699 Lowry
*OR Treasure: Membership over $200. $500 gets you an invitation to the Annual Big Donor Chowdah Feed! https://www.arttochangetheworld.org/2023-chowdah-party
The photo is of Frances, Anna, Barbara, and Kelly in the Front working on the kitchen renovation.
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"CONNECTION TO PICASSO- BUT NOT TOO CLOSE"
Can we separate the man from the artist? - the latest debate. I think, yes.
I think...
Holly Tappen and David Feinberg present their art show at Ambiente Gallery at 505 1st Ave NE Minneapolis
RECEPTION: MAY 10, from 5 to 8 p.m.
The show runs May 1 to June 21, 2024
Info@ambientegallerie.com or call Holly 651 399-3278
Mentored in a direct line to Picasso, Holly Tappen and David Feinberg's fearless new art show explores the methods, techniques, and motifs found in Abstract Expressionism.
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Art To Change the World’s New Space is Open for
Art-A-Whirl at 699 Lowry Ave NE
May 17-19, 2024. Hours: Friday 5-9, Saturday 12-8, Sunday 12-5.
ACW will be hosting an expansive card-making activity using our new die-cut machine!! Acrylic markers, beads, exotic papers, and more will also be available.
We will have snacks and beverages and a lounge area to kick back and relax. Most importantly, we will be the Art Passport Parade headquarters. Read on to find out how to enter for a $500 art spending spree.
If you are not a participating artist in Art-A-Whirl we need your help to staff our space!
Please reach out to Barbara to sign up for a shift. drb@bridgescreate.com
The photo above was created for the Chili Cookoff Best Table award for the Sailfest Fundraiser in Zihuatanejo, Mexico.
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ART PASSPORTS ON PARADE – Chance to Win $500 OF ACW ARTWORK
Every year Art-A-Whirl draws over 40k visitors to the NE Arts District, which was
voted the number one arts district in the country for the last two years. This year the non-profit, Art to Change the World, will be introducing Art Passports on Parade as an opportunity to visit artists who belong to Art to Change the World, in their studios during Art-A-Whirl May 17-19, 2024. Hours: Friday 5-9, Saturday 12-8, Sunday 12-5.
You can pick up a FREE Art Passport at the new ACW office and meeting space at 699 Lowry Ave NE. Upstairs. Follow the ACW signs. NOTE! Room to park your car there on Monroe St! Construction in the area. Check Google Maps.
There will be a FREE shuttle, driven by Eric Boyum from Boyum’s Enlightening Art Services, looping around from Lowry/Monroe to Solar Arts and the Carriage House at Casket Arts Building all three days. Once you are at Casket Arts, it will plug you into the Art-A-Whirl trolly route. Click here for the map:
https://nemaa.org/art-a-whirl/getting-around/#art-a-whirl-trolleys
Next, you will visit at least 10 of the participating ACW artists in Solar Arts, The Casket Building, The Carriage House, The California Building, The Northrup King Building and Flux Arts to see their work, interact with the artist, scope out what work you might choose if you win and have them stamp your Art Passport. Most ACW artists will also host activities in their studios.
Once you have collected 10 or more stamps you may turn the survey page into the ACW
Office at 699 Lowry Ave NE, Upstairs, to be entered into a drawing for $500 worth of art from an Art Passports on Parade participating ACW artist of your choice.
There will only be 100 Art Passports so be sure to get yours early.
The winner will be notified by May 26, 2024. Questions? Contact Anna Karena at
annakarena@mac.com.
Ask one of these Participating Artists for an Art Passport OR Get One at Flux Arts/ACW World Headquarters at 699 Lowry Ave NE (Second Floor)
Must Drop off Art Passport Flux Arts/ACW World Headquarters
Flux Arts
Josh Blanc, Tile Artisan, 2505 Howard St NE
Layl McDill, Mixed Media and Polymer Clay
Kelly Frankenberg, Painting and various others
Barbara Bridges, Sculpture and Mixed Media
Rebecca David, Paintings, Mixed Media
Solar Arts -2nd Floor
Natalie McGuire, Mixed Media, Photography, mosaic stained glass art Studio 205
Lucy Schroepfer/Luce Quilts, Textile Paintings/Patchwork Necessities Studio 215
Debra Ripp, Mixed Media
Madeline (Lin) Boemer, Acrylic/Digital Painting
Fox Den Gallery – ACW Group Show
Rose Cooper, Painter
Catherine A. Palmer, Painting, Drawing, Mixed Media Studio 205
Frances Bates, Found Object Sculptor
Carriage House / Casket Arts
Anna Karena, Painting, mixed media Studio 200
Sara Hanson, WOW Mobile Metal Lab/cast metal
Northrup King Building
Paul Kellett, Mixed Media Abstract Painting 210
California Building
Candy Kuehn, Art Yardage – Iphotography art prints 200C
Marko Fields, Ceramicist, Musician, Mojo Coffee Gallery Owner
Thank You to our Passport Sponsors: East Side Food Coop, Central Ave Liquor, and MPLSART.
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Call for Art !
Common Bond Communities May Be Interested in Another Partnership with ACW.
Since the early 1970s, CommonBond Communities has provided homes and supportive services for those most in need. They create equitable housing that’s affordable for all. CommonBond’s mission is to build stable homes, strong futures, and vibrant communities. They have purchased over $6,000 of social justice related art from our ACW artists to hang in their Lumin building space for their residents and visitors to enjoy! They survey their residents and then select artworks they want to buy. See what they purchased at ACW Art Treasures Gallery link: https://www.arttochangetheworld.org/acws-art-treasures-gallery/
NOTE: Common Bond buyer commented, “I really appreciated the artwork statements”. We may be onto something! We are inviting the viewer to share our process. Create your statement to fit into a 5” x 7” frame.
As often mentioned, ACW is a collective. If everyone does a little, we can accomplish a lot. In order to be eligible for this next call, which will have a May 15 submission deadline, you must be willing to meet the ACTIVE ACW member criteria. We hope you understand that we are trying to create an equitable organization where the people who contribute to the health and success of ACW are the people who benefit. What is an ACTIVE ACW Member? See Director’s message above.
Please send up to three works formatted like the example following to Barbara Bridges at info@arttochangetheworld.org by May 15, 2024. Prints of original works and more than 50% AI assisted are not eligible.
Read more about CommonBond here: www.commonbond.org
The photo is Layl McDill hanging Paul Kellett’s work at CommonBond.
Submission Example. ONE email, please:
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The Art Shanties, #3 SOLD
Owen Brown
Acrylic on canvas
15 x 15
$200
Every year since I arrived in Minnesota I have gone to see the Art Shanties, on a frozen lake. I made several paintings from my visit last year: I was entranced by the swiftly changing light, and the green grays from Lake Harriet’s frozen surface. This is a painting of a family enjoying themselves; perhaps the viewer can see that they’re not your expected “white” Minnesotan group. But race, sexual preference, whatever: in an ideal world there shouldn’t be barriers for happiness. And the Art Shanties, for a moment, approximates this.
Owen Brown was born in Chicago, trained as a classical musician, took his first art class at 23, and much of what he’s wanted to do since then has been paint.
Brown holds degrees from Yale College and the University of Chicago, and was a degree student at California College of the Arts. He lived for over 30 years in San Francisco, where he was represented by Meridian Gallery. He now lives in Minneapolis. owenbrownartist.com owenbrownartist@gmail.com
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Collect Call 5
Opening Reception: Saturday, May 11, 6-9 PM
Exhibitions Runs: May 11 - June 21, 2024
Collect Call is Soo Visual Arts Center’s exhibition series that invites Minnesota collectors to share artwork from their private collections with the public on our gallery walls. This presents an opportunity for the public to view works, signifying a commitment to the arts and the artists that have ignited their passion for collecting.
This will be the fifth iteration of this innovative series, in which over 37 art patrons have exhibited selections from their collections. Each collection offers a variety and richness derived from the diverse personal visions of each collector.
Our own ACW Board Member, Herman Millegan, will be exhibiting part of his collection.
See you May 11! Read More about Soo Visual Art Center: www.soovac.org
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Grand Opening
The Clay Squared Gallery located in the Flux Arts Building at 2505 Howard St. NE, Minneapolis MN is celebrating its grand opening on May 10th from 6:00 to 8:00
Mixed media sculptor Layl McDill will be expanding her gallery and studio. The newly renovated storefront space at Lowry and Monroe will showcase Layl’s sculptures of all sizes and shapes. Come in to see a life size bison made of found objects and polymer clay! Check out her latest teapots that have transformed into birds and whimsical worlds. Take your time searching the bead collection to find just the perfect grouping for a personalized bracelet.
Clay Squared will also be offering classes, parties and workshops in this new space. We have several newly trained instructors so classes will be offered regularly. You will learn amazing magical techniques and then create a finished project such as a vase, frame or switch plate cover. Take it home and bake it in your own oven or let Clay Squared bake it for you.
The new gallery space will be open Monday-Saturday from 12:00 to 5:00 or by appointment or chance. Direct entrance is located at Monroe and Lowry or enter at the main entrance of the Flux Arts Building, 2505 Howard St. NE, Minneapolis, MN
Join us at the Grand Opening May 10th - 6:00 to 8:00pm
for door prizes and snacks. Stop and play with some clay too! Also open in the Flux Arts Building will be: Clay Squared to Infinity tile showroom and studio: https://claysquared.com/; Potek Glass: https://potekglass.com/ Art to Change the World - Non profit social practice arts organization new offices on the second floor: https://www.arttochangetheworld.org/mission/ Barbara Bridges, Sculptor https://www.arttochangetheworld.org/barbara-bridges/
Kelly Frankenberg, Painter/Illustrator http://frankenbergart.com
Read More:
http://laylmcdill.com/clay-squared-gallery
https://fluxartsbuilding.com/
Image: ReUse On the Range, mixed media sculpture by Layl McDill, 55"x100"x9", 2023
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ACW Assistant Director Kelly Frankenberg Makes The News!!
She was asked by Union Depot to promote the St. Paul Art Crawl on Kare 11 and WCCO the last weekend in April. When asked why art is important, she stated that it can heal trauma, inspire, and actually change the world. And she emphasized that we need to support our local artists if we want to continue to see art in the Twin Cities. This has always been an important part of ACW's mission.
See the WCCO segment here:
https://www.cbsnews.com/minnesota/video/union-depot-is-the-place-to-be-to-find-your-new-favorite-art-piece/#x
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ACW Climate Team has been busy!
We’re changing the meeting format – becoming in-person event based on random dates with quarterly Zooms to catch up with those who need the Zoom format, and to plan further activities. We may offer our own events or encourage members to go to events by other organizations, in order to cross-pollinate. The name has changed from ACW Climate Change Action Affinity Group to ACW Climate Team, for ease in promoting. Website link will not change. We would like to consider all artists who address environmental issues, as linked to this group - please reach out to get on the email notifications.
Eight from ACW played the collaborative “Daybreak” climate change solutions simulator game on March 28, evening. While we did not finish the game in the allotted time, it was a good introduction to how it works, and would like to play it again (or with others) with an earlier start or on a weekend. It helps sort out a most complex and pressing issue. Big hint: Concentrate on replacing dirty energy with clean energy and collect resilience tokens of all sorts. Neil Granlund (pictured above) will lend us his copy of the game “anytime.”
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Four from ACW toured the Better Futures Reuse Warehouse Store at 2620 Minnehaha Ave., Mpls. 55406 on April 10. Layl McDill bought a used sink for $25 that would have retailed for $149 new and a file cabinet. She saved hundreds of dollars and kept those materials out of landfills. The store specializes in building materials donated or obtained through deconstruction of houses and small commercial locations. For info: Margo Ashmore margo@margoashmore.com
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Art Speaks: Sports vs. Art
Art WILL change the world and it starts with US! “Art Speaks” is written by Kelly Frankenberg and represents her personal viewpoint, not the policies of ACW. For more info about Kelly and her art, go to http://www.kellyfrankenberg.com
Would you rather watch a sports game or visit an art gallery? One is boring to some people, and the other one is equally as boring to another group of people.
When funding stopped for the arts in schools, sporting events were continued to be funded, as they could charge for events and bring in more money than a musical or art event.
Sports build community and a passion for competition. Perhaps it does inspire people to join a team, get healthy and active, or be a fan and cheer for an athlete. But what are you going away with having learning?
An art gallery can teach you something you didn't know before, even something about yourself. The excitement is hidden in the art, the brush strokes, and the color combination. If a picture says a thousand words, then seeing an image can tell you story.
Art makes you feel something: heartache, passion, inspiration.
Can these two different experiences be compared? Tell us what you think on our Facebook page. https://www.facebook.com/ArtToChangeTheWorld
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Reflection on the new ACW World Headquarters at 699 Lowry Ave NE
ACW member Owen Brown, a little bit as a joke, I think, called our new space “ACW World Headquarters.” His whimsy has kind of taken on a life of its own and makes us all smile.
Note from ACW Advisor Tom Fulton- one of the first visitors to 699 Lowry Ave. NE:
Hi Barbara,
It's with great enthusiasm that I'm writing to thank you for the tour of Art to Change the World's new office. I'm very sensitive to the ambiance of places and spaces.
I was thrilled when I first walked into the office and saw how the space was flooded with light from all the windows, with their views of the outdoor world. As a member and supporter of ACW, I felt welcomed and a sense of belonging.
I strongly support the decision of you and the ACW board to take this next step in the evolution of the organization. I was struck that the location of the office is in a neighborhood context, a great addition to the Northeast Minneapolis art district. I found the space, even while a work in progress, very much reflects the values of ACW - individual artistic vision and creativity within the context of community. I appreciated the display of works of art and see the office itself as an emerging work of art.
I expect it will inspire the imagination of those who will share the space, and who will visit and use the office as ACW members and guests.
P.S. The couch was very comfortable, in a pleasant conversational space.
The photo is the ACW Office
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Please Join us for a drawing session at the Schubert Club Museum from 11:30-1:30 and lunch at Afro Deli, 5 West 7th Place,St. Paul, 55102
Lunch is optional and on your own dime
This information is posted on our On Location Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/onlocationdrawing
For further information Email: tobersonstudios@gmail.com
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Next Task Force Meeting is May 28, 2024 on Zoom. This is where ACW decisions are made once a month. Raise your voice! Post info@arttochangetheworld.org if you would like the Zoom details. Check it out as a lurker!
Photo: Paul Kellett just installed this screen donated by the Mill City Museum. Movie Nights in the future!!
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Common Ground
On Earth Day, a delegation watched “Common Ground,” the follow-up to “Kiss the Ground,” film about regenerative agriculture. “Kiss the Ground” was viewed during the cabin fever reliever series, and Common Ground was shown twice on Earth Day at the AMC Southdale theater.
Some Team members have asked to participate in a Friends of the Mississippi River garlic mustard pull on May 25. We’ll hear closer to that time if we’re accepted.
Some attended the Mississippi River Pearl event on April 16 at Columbia Heights City Hall.
Saturday, May 4, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Audubon neighborhood will have its Spring Festival at Audubon Park (1320 29th Ave. at Buchanan St. NE). Theme: Nature, the Mississippi River, and Environment. Volunteers are needed to help with a baby gear swap, from intake the night before, to weighing materials and helping people load/unload during the event. Learn tips and tricks of swap events which keep good materials from being landfilled or incinerated. For info, Margo@margoashmore.com or 612-867-4874.
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Layl McDill Artist Talk at Rum River Art Center
Join Layl to hear about her latest large scale wall piece "Fox's Devours Brings Birds and Flowers" and her other pieces on view now at the Rum River Art Center.
Date: Saturday, May 11th 12:00 to 1:00
Location: Rum River Arts Center
2665 4th Avenue
Suite 102, 103, 108 & 201
Anoka MN 55303
Want to take a class that day too? Layl is teaching a basic Polymer Clay Class at 10:00 on May 11th. Sign up here: https://app.getoccasion.com/p/n/mdrdsg4D/v5
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Just One Life
ACW member Dave Dvorak has written and is producing an original musical, “Just One Life”, showing May 30-June 2 at Hive Collaborative Theater in St. Paul. It tells the compelling tale of a successful young business executive who trades his integrity for career advancement and must then fight to reclaim his soul. This lively musical examines the price of conventional success, as well as healthcare injustice and the human quest for redemption. Music is provided by Dave’s band Zoë Says Go. Tickets are selling fast! Get yours here: https://www.simpletix.com/e/just-one-life-tickets-166262
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