This Saturday at the Theatre! May 19; 8pm
Peter Mayer
$20 advance /$22 day of show


"His guitar work is breath-taking, his lyrics mind-spinning, his singing soul-soothing and his feet-on-the-ground optimism nothing short of healing." --Marilyn Rea-Beyer, music director, WUMB Radio, Boston

Peter Mayer’s songs have been compared to Shaker furniture – clean and light, yet hardly simple. Mayer guitar skills make playing his music seem deceptively easy.

Mayer’s songs are about interconnectedness and the human journey; about the beauty and the mystery of the world. But there’s plenty of humor, too, in songs like, “Snuffleupagus,” and “Fake Plant.”

Peter began playing the guitar and writing songs when he was in high school. He studied Theology and music in college, and then spent two years in seminary. After deciding that the priesthood wasn't for him, he took a part-time job as a church music director for 8 years, while performing at clubs and colleges, and writing and recording his music. In 1995, he quit his job and started touring full-time. Since then, Peter has gradually gained a dedicated, word-of-mouth following, playing shows from Minnesota to Texas, New England to California. He has nine CDs to his credit, and has sold over 70 thousand of them independently.

Mayer is an artist of relevance and insight whose music is not to be missed.

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Camp Highlight! Giving our youth the life-altering gift of creativity...

Creative Roots
Drawing with Artist Sarah Nygaard
Five day session: $138
Grades 2-4: Mon-Fri, July 9-13, 1-3:30pm.
Grades 5-8: Mon-Fri, July 9-13, 9:30am-Noon.
(Combine with Comic Book camp for a full day of camp! Supervised lunch.)

Drawing is at the root of many art forms, but the root of drawing well is having fun, unleashing your creativity and finding out how to make an interesting drawing. There are lots of ways to use your pencil, and more things to create than you may imagine! We’ll find inspiration in our inner visions and encourage experimentation and imagination.

We’ll also give you the skills to share what’s in your mind’s eye and put it on the page the way you want viewers to see it, with lessons covering fundamental tools such as seeing shapes, creating dimension with shading and creating perspective. We’ll explore different ways to make marks for a variety of values and textural and shading effects.

If you can see it or imagine it, you can draw it!

Camp Instructor Sarah Kenyon Nygaard loves to draw and paint. She is a seasoned drawing instructor, and just finished illustrating her 2nd children’s book.

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Classes coming in June!
See the 'class schedule' page for more!

Pen and Ink and Watercolor Workshop
Weds, June 20 & 27: 7-9pm. Both sessions/$48 + $20 materials fee (optional if you have your own supplies*)
Painting Whimsical Acrylic Animals
Tues, July 10 & 17: 6:30-9pm. Both sessions/$48 + $20 materials fee (optional if you have your own supplies*)
New! Enhancing Elements of Craft: A Series on Technique
Level: Beginning to Advanced Writers; All Ages
Sats, June 30 through July 21, 10am-1pm.
$35, or all 4 classes for $112 ($28 per class).

In this four-part series we will discuss aspects of craft using practical techniques. We will study examples as well as create some of our own. Students will take away examples and instructional packets from each session that include writing prompt exercises they can use to explore what they have learned.

Course is not genre specific and will benefit writers from all skill levels. Each session will tackle an aspect of craft.

June 30: Setting/Place/Storyworld
We will discuss what it means to create a storyworld. We will look at examples and complete setting-oriented writing exercises. We will focus on what Setting/Place contributes to storytelling and how we can best use it to serve our work.
July 7: Character Description/Development
In this session, we will explore methods of capturing character through details, surroundings, body language, metaphors and dialogue. We will look at profiling our characters and learn techniques on how to track their development. We will also complete several exercises on character.
July 14: Story Structure/Beginnings and Endings
We will examine how story works on a mechanical level. We will look at the pitfalls and benefits of traditional and unconventional story structures. We will also look into potential ways to begin and end our work and study examples. Participants are encouraged to bring in a piece of their writing to examine.
July 21: Editing/Revision
This session will focus on how to enhance our writing through rewriting. We will look at how to receive criticism and where to get it. We will do an example editing exercise to get your inner critic revved up. Real writers are revisers. Come to this session and get hooked on revising.
Instructor Emily Urness, MFA has been all shades of writer from poet to playwright and everything in between but she considers her genre of choice to be Creative Non-Fiction. She has worked as an editor for several literary publications. She strongly believes all you need in life is a pen, a piece of paper and a sense of humor. Emily is currently working on a collection of Creative Non-fiction Essays about her wacky family and her father's journey through MS.

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Stop by to visit our May Exhibit~
Ivan Whillock
woodcarvings
Harold Grabitske
paintings and drawings, prints

Friends in Art: Harold Grabitske, Ivan Whillock Reunite for Exhibit

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Call for Artists
On the Edge
July 2- 31, 2012
click here to read more!

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::: Concert Schedule :::
see all upcoming concerts on the 'concerts and events' page

Sat, May 19, 8pm		Peter Mayer Next door at the State Theatre in Zumbrota Minnesota Folk singer/songwriter; songs of whimsy and humor
Fri, May 25, 8pm		Pieta Brown sultry vocals and bright, poignant lyrics
Sat, June 9, 8pm		Monroe Crossing Next door at the State Theatre in Zumbrota classic bluegrass, bluegrass gospel, and heartfelt originals
Sat, June 23, 8pm		Alison Scott with Kevin Bowe soulful, organic indie fusion
Sat, June 30, 8pm		The Revolution 5 Next door at the State Theatre in Zumbrota "Some are Dead and Some are Living" A Beatles Tribute show

Cool item spotlight

Mary Lingen, oil painter
at left: "Oak 2"

"I’m not interested in theories. My painting is a compulsion and a meditation.

I’ve found calm in walking in the woods and seeing the world around me, observing its changes, looking forward to the way the light looks at certain times.

This is what I paint. It is a place that I know well and yet it often seems a strange land to me, as if I’ve never been there before.

Impressionists used a dash, pointillists a dot, Cezanne a rectangle, and Chuck Close goes wild within a grid—-and yet our minds can easily translate these shapes into a representational image. It occurred to me that any shape can be used and that shapes have expressive potential. It also illustrated that one can view a painting from a distance and have one experience, and have a totally different experience when viewing it up close. Representation and abstraction coexist in the same work.

My paintings are executed with thin, flat paint. Brushwork and texture are absent, as they interfere with a clear reading of the shapes, lines and colors. My focus is on the complexity within the landscape, and on connecting the parts into a whole. Each painting is a universe onto itself, with a distinct visual logic.

People see all sorts of things in my paintings, some of which isn’t intentional on my part. It reminds some of stained glass, mosaic, quilts, maps of city streets, or digital technology. By putting my work out in the public, I let go of some control. People bring their own experiences and intelligence into viewing art."

20% off all Mary Lingen paintings, this week ONLY!
(Save $260 on Oak 2)

 

. t. h. a. n. k. y. o. u !. . . . . . . . . . .