Target Free Thursday Nights at the Walker Art Center in June are highlighted by the launch of the community initiative Open Field—the summerlong program (June 3–September 5) that invites the public to help transform the Walker’s big green backyard into a cultural commons. Open Field is envisioned as a place to celebrate and share in the cultural assets, creative spirit, and collective knowledge that abound in the Twin Cities. It all kicks off on Thursday, June 3, 6 pm, with Opening the Field: A Conversation and Celebration to share ideas and pose questions about the notion of a cultural commons. Other Open Field events during Target Free Thursday Nights in June include the Drawing Club, at which visitors can doodle and sketch at workshops led by local artists (June 3, 10, 17, 2–5 pm), and a special session with Guillermo Kuitca, the subject of the upcoming exhibition Guillermo Kuitca: Everything—Paintings and Works on Paper, 1980–2008 (June 24, 4–5 pm); a workshop led by local computer recycling group Free Geek Twin Cities (June 10, 6–9 pm); a discussion on Community Supported Art, a project organized by mnartists.org and Springboard for the Arts that allows the public to buy shares in the work of local artists (June 17, 6–9 pm); and a social networking activity led by D.E.M.O. (Design Education Modus Operandi) (June 24, 4–7 pm).
Other highlights in June include a screening of Greta Olafsdottir and Susan Muska’s Edie and Thea: A Very Long Engagement (June 10, 7:30 pm), which draws on a wealth of photographs from infancy to adulthood to create a mosaic of two women’s lives, painting a kaleidoscopic picture of pre-Stonewall gay life. The screening is presented as part of the series Queer Takes: Alt Families. Also, Sound Bites gallery talks are offered throughout the month on select Thursday evenings at 6:30 and 7 pm, illuminating an artist or work of art from the Walker’s world-class collection or one of its special exhibitions.
Target Free Thursday Nights
June 3, 10, 17, 24
Galleries open 5–9 pm; special events follow.
Free
Open Field Events
Thursday, June 3
Opening the Field: A Conversation and Celebration
Social hour begins at 6 pm; Cinema program, 7 pm
Bazinet Garden Lobby
Free tickets available at the Bazinet Garden Lobby from 6 pm
What’s to come during the Open Field’s summer-long experiment? Join us for a social hour, followed by a chance to share ideas and pose questions about the cultural commons. What constitutes a community of shared ideas, artworks, and other resources? How do age-old ideas about the commons translate to today’s digital world? Guests for this conversation present ideas from an array of fields, including new media, philosophy, education, law, and history. Afterward, head outdoors for drinks and a “collective DJ” mixed playlist at the Open Lounge.
Thursday, June 3, 10, 17
Drawing Club, 2–5 pm
Walker Open Field
The first rule of Drawing Club: What’s made at Drawing Club stays at Drawing Club. Here’s how this collaborative drawing experiment works: The public is invited to doodle and sketch during sessions hosted by local artists to add to a pool of collectively created artworks. Art supplies are provided on large tables in shaded areas of the Open Lounge. Start a new drawing or select one in progress from the table. Slide it back into the pool, pass it around, and alter, edit, or amend it until the group declares it complete. The finished works will be collected weekly and added to the Open Field Flickr page. All ages welcome.
Thursday, June 10
Workshop: Free Geek Twin Cities, 6–9 pm
Walker Open Field
Join an interactive happening with Free Geek Twin Cities, a group that aims to bridge the digital divide and reduce electronic waste through technology education and computer rebuilding workshops.
Thursday, June 17
Discussion: Community Supported Art, 6–9 pm
Walker Open Field
Explore alternative economies for artists with mnartists.org and Springboard for the Arts, and help celebrate the “Community Supported Art” project, which adapts the increasingly popular agriculture model as a way to distribute local art. Join us for a fun night of food, art, and music by Davina and the Vagabonds.
Thursday, June 24
Drawing Club: Guillermo Kuitca, 4–5 pm
Walker Open Field/Bazinet Plaza
Artist Guillermo Kuitca, whose exhibition Guillermo Kuitca: Everything—Paintings and Works on Paper, 1980–2008 opens June 26, joins a session of the Drawing Club.
Thursday, June 24
Activity: Making Connections, 4–7 p
m
Bazinet Plaza
Participate in a low-tech, hands-on approach to social networking made popular by sites like Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter. Have your photo taken and added to a wall of portraits. Using string, link your image to the people you’ve connected with over the course of the evening to create a real-time record of interaction on the Open Field. Led by D.E.M.O. (Design Education Modus Operandi).
Open Field sponsored by Target.
Major support for Open Field is generously provided by Margaret and Angus Wurtele.
Queer Takes Film Screening
Thursday, June 10
Film: Edie and Thea: A Very Long Engagement, 7:30 pm
Directed by Greta Olafsdottir and Susan Muska
Cinema
Free tickets available at the Bazinet Garden Lobby from 6 pm
Sharp and spirited, Edie Winsor and Thea Spyer met in New York in the 1960s and have spent the next 43 years in a committed relationship, but they long for the acceptance that would come through marriage. The directors (The Brandon Teena Story) have created an intimate and lively portrait of two women striving for civil rights. 2009, video, 67 minutes. This film is presented as part of the series Queer Takes: Alt Families.
Sound Bites: Short Talks About Art
Thursday, June 10, 17, 24
6:30 and 7 pm
Meet in the Bazinet Garden Lobby
Be a part of this fresh take on contemporary art. Participants meet up for a 15-minute chat in the gallery, where guides offer an insider’s view of a particular artwork, artist, or exhibition.
