Allie Rykken, Ruby Thompson and Madeline Harpell each designed a Transition
NOW! shirt to wear at Northern Spark on June 10-11. Photo by Pat Thompson
Northern Spark, the free all-night arts festival that happens each June in the Twin Cities, will be moving down the Green Line from 8:59 p.m. (sundown) Saturday, June 10, to 5:25 a.m. (sunrise) Sunday, June 11. This year’s theme is Climate Chaos/Climate Rising.
One of the largest art events in the Twin Cities, nearly 70 art projects will take place at seven locations along the Green Line, and a group of St. Anthony Park residents will be among the featured artists.
The community is invited to help the artists with their Northern Spark project at a free event Saturday, May 20, 6-9 p.m. at the Minnesota Center for Book Arts, 1011 S. Washington Ave., Minneapolis.
Book artist Regula Russelle, graphic designer Pat Thompson and illustrators Ruby Thompson, Madeline Harpell and Allie Rykken—all of whom are involved in the St. Anthony Park group Transition ASAP—have joined forces on a project called, “TransitionNOW! Twin Cities.” The St. Anthony Park Group is collaborating with other Twin Cities Transition groups, including one in the Minneapolis Longfellow neighborhood and in Northeast Minneapolis.
Transition Town ASAP and other similar groups are community organizations that are working to find a local response to climate change through creating a smaller carbon footprint and community cooperation.
The project will involve glowin- the-dark t-shirts, Russelle’s signature tiny books and an installation of a grove of trees where the community can engage the question, “What will I do this year to live more sustainably?”
At the May 20 event, participants can:
• Get a free t-shirt and customize it with the help of volunteer screen printers.
• Work with Russelle to prepare tiny books for distribution during Northern Spark.
• Help make leaves that will be part of the Grove of Life installation in Lowertown, St. Paul on June 10.
Children are welcome at the event. You can find more information on the Transition ASAP website, www.transitionasap.org.
Northern Spark 2017 will follow the Green Line, starting at “the Commons,” or U.S. Bank Stadium in downtown Minneapolis, and include installations in Cedar Riverside/West Bank neighborhood of Minneapolis, the Weisman Art Museum on the University of Minnesota’s East Bank, and then into St. Paul with installations at Little Africa at Snelling Avenue, Rondo at Lexington Parkway, Little Mekong at Western Avenue and then to Lowertown and the Union Depot.
Since 2011 thousands of Minnesotans and visitors have enjoyed the video projections, temporary installations and experimental performances at Northern Spark. The festival is produced by Northern Lights.mn. Find out more at 2017.northernspark.org.
