“We’re not just starving artists- we’re freezing too,” Promotional Poster 1996.

Destination “The Soap Factory;” the factory began as a ware house for the railroad and during World War II it became a Soap Factory. In 1995 is became known for a gallery of art, a studio space and a creative area to brainstorm new ideas. This place is something everyone needs to experience especially if you’re interested in creative art.

After a long day of trying to find this place, I arrived. Shocked at the outer building and affects it had. The Factory seemed very creepy and cold, however; the broken down, cold dirty factory became very warm, soft and comfortable in a matter of minutes after walking in.
I walked up to the reception desk and took the little black book. Please, I advice all of you to take this book! This book will guide you through the meaning of the art and why the artist created what they did.

To my right were four circles “Memory Eternal,” placed in the middle of the floor and made from porcelain and light. The design was created by Lauren Herzak-Bauman in 2009, it represent emotion and feeling. I cannot explain to you how this art made me feel or how awesome it really was to see it. You really have to visit the gallery to get the full experience and affect. I can say this though it was a beautiful piece and very touching and it gave me butterflies.

After visiting that gallery, I wondered my way to the next. Stepping over the “Barricade,” to the next gallery room; this piece was my favorite piece of art I have ever seen. “Umbrella Cloud,” by Adam Parker Smith, 2009; this work of art was extravagant. It was art made from umbrellas representing the universe. Smith wrote on his page that I felt best described this art “To understand the universe through a bizarre confluence of real events, daydreams, and pre-existing fables.” Smith’s art went through the whole building and brought a very soft and relax feeling to the atmosphere.

I am sorry that I do not have much to write about this gallery but I can only classify it as a good thing. I am speechless over this art. I found this place amazing and I really strong encourage everyone to see this building to experience your own feelings of emotions when walking through! This is not your ordinary gallery this is one you will enjoy to the very last second you are there and will continue to repeat to yourself, “I will return!”

This week I was instructed to visit Minnesota Center for Book Art (MCBA). Before arriving I did not have much excitement nor did I think the Minnesota Center for Book Art was a museum for art.
Once I walked in I was greeted with the smell of coffee and quite conversation. The walls were covered with beautiful black and white photography by Laura Crosby and many different colors. On one side of the wall were different types of print arts and on the other side of the wall was painted pictures.

Laura Crosby is a photographer who lives in Minneapolis and documents everyday living. Crosby is most known for homeless, physical challenges, youth prostitution, refugee camps and Alzheimer’s. The photos that were being presented where reflected around Alzheimer’s.

I have not had anyone in my family personally with Alzheimer’s but I could imagine how powerful Crosby’s photos could impact a family or person who have been affected and influenced by Alzheimer’s.

The environment of the Minnesota Center for Book Art was warm, relaxing and very unique. I would defiantly say the Minnesota Center for Book Art is a very exceptional place. The gallery is a multi-purpose building that has an exhibit, studio shop, reference library, coffee shop and office space.

The MCBA takes book art to a whole new level from the traditional craft making, letterpress and book binding converting the book into experimental art with self publishing techniques.

The MCBA offers diversity, education and interpretive experiences. I found myself very engaged in the art that was for viewing purposes. As I viewed the art I found Richard Australia Meade, USA the most interesting. Meade art was taken away by a theme that was printed with first letters. For example the art that was being shown was \

O- Open 1987
Q-Quote 1987
R-Rubberstamp 1988
S-Stamp 1988

I found his piece “Art Saves Lives” very interesting. This work of art was a fuchsia color piece of paper that had “Art Saves Lives” printed on it with a rubberstamp underneath his quote was a Trojan condom stapled to the paper. I felt this simple piece of art was very powerful and speaks out to everyone. I also really liked his “I don’t know anything about art but I know what I like.”

As I continued to go through the exhibit I was able to see the different types of presses relief and lithography. I was able to see art that was completed through the burning press. I found this art really neat the way it viewed on paper and the different colors used. I especially liked the way the dye appeared on the paper.

The art that was completed on the burning press was evolved around Genocide and Colonialism, organized by Hans Braumuller, Chile 1991-1992. Hans was involved in dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet and strived to rescue the origins and indentifies of Indigenous cultures. Words cannot explain what these prints look like.

I highly encourage everyone to go and visit the Minnesota Center for Book Art. I feel very confident that one will like it and enjoy their visit. This is a great place to study, converse, and relax.

Next stop the Minnesota’s State Capitol; the anticipation to visit the capitol had never been as strong as it was this time. The last time I had walked up the million steps and walked through the doors of the capitol was in 6th grade. All I could remember was running around and making jokes with my friends. Did I actually listen to the tour guide; did I actually learn anything about the capitol? NO, but this time was going to be different; I am now 23 years old and the appreciation for our state has grown tremendously. I was very excited to see the capitol and to learn about the history on a more personal level.
“Let us develop the resources of our land, call forth its powers, build up its institutions, promote all its great interests, and see whether we also, in our day and generation, may not perform something worth to be remembered,” Daniel Weber. This quote is subscribed inside the chambers of the Minnesota State Capitol and is something I felt reflected the history of capitol itself.
The capitol was designed by Cass Gilbert after beating out forty other contestants in a competition in 1895. The design contained three stories and would be made of stone. The building would include a dome and would resemble previous architecture of the ancient Greece, Rome and the Renaissance period of Italy and France.
Minnesota’s Capitol was an important structure that would resemble the state of Minnesota and announce to the country that Minnesota was no longer a wilderness outpost. Gilbert wanted people to experience the renaissance period through the architecture in the building because the renaissance resembled antiquity in art and architecture. Buildings were considered more elegant and remembered as being fancy during this period.
Gilbert wanted the building to reflect Greece and Rome because of the significance Greece and Rome had on the government. Greece was known for western culture and democracy and Rome was known for the republic. It was very important to Gilbert to have such a building that would show the rest of the world Minnesota was a civilized society and sophisticated to the modern world.
The exterior of the building is created from stone, iron and steel but contains marble, granite and sandstone in the interior. It took 3 years to design the capitol and 9 years to build it. Within the 9 years of building murals were created and expected to show civic architecture. Gilbert was very particular on who he wanted to paint the murals and what the murals would represent to the public. Gilbert picked many new artist to paint the murals and was criticized by the public for not hiring artist who were already famous for their work but because architecture and art was a public symbol people trusted Gilbert’s decision and allowed him to continue his work.
When walking into the state capitol you are welcomed by an extravagant rotunda. The Rotunda is an open space that has many representations of Minnesota’s culture. The floor of the rotunda has a star with 8 points. The star represents Minnesota’s state motto “The North Star,” because the star has 8 points it allows the star to have the letter “M” coded into the design. Above the star is an 8 foot chandler. If I remember right the tour guide had said the last time the chandler had been lowered was in the sixties.
The rotunda allows the viewer to view all levels of the building and the beautiful representations of Minnesota. When a viewer looks above he or she will be greeted with four murals that are painted on the walls of the capitol. These murals were painted by a man with the last name Simmons. Simmons murals represent Legislation, Justice, Government and Liberty aligning a pose of gestures and opposing a symbolic narrative that will grasp the viewer’s eyes around the room.
Throughout the building you will see symbols that are significant to Minnesota’s history and culture; the state flower the lady slipper, bald eagles, corn, wheat, gophers, oak leaves, acorns, and produce. Everything throughout the capitol is symmetrical and contains lots of detail.
You will also be exposed to many other murals that will represent Minnesota’s history and challenges it had to encounter when becoming a state.
The Minnesota state capitol holds many impacting works of art and Minnesotans’ should be very proud of our capitol and murals that are painted throughout the building.
If you have not viewed the Minnesota state capitol I highly recommend it and if possible please take the tour. The tour is free and will give you a new out look at the structure and history of our state. If the weather is nice you will be able to walk the 62 steps to the roof and view the gold coated Quadriga. The Quadriga is a gold coated sculpture that sits at the base of the dome. The sculpture is called “The Progress of our State,” which shows a man in a chariot, two women and four horses that are dashing into the future. The four horses represent Earth, Fire, Water and Air; the two women represent Industry and Agriculture, and the man in the chariot represents prosperity.
I promise you that the experience is worth your time and you will not walk away dissatisfied. No person will be able to tell all of the great things you view and the lesson you will learn. This is something that only yourself can encounter and make final decisions on your thoughts and opinions. I am only here to get your interest in attending and viewing. I have more respect for the state capitol now that I have viewed it and taken more appreciation in the art and each room that you will be able to view.

My first adventure was to view the Frederick R. Weisman Art Museum. The museum was created by Fredrick O. Gehry; it contains four floors the first two floors are parking, the third floor is the exhibits and the fourth floor is designated for office and viewing purposes. The museum uses natural lighting to enhance the viewing of the art and to give the viewer a more explicit experience.

The museum’s architecture is phenomenal it is created from stainless steel and uses it space by using different angels in the architecture. For one to really be able to view and picture the museum I highly recommend visiting the building. Depending on the weather and how high the sun is in the sky the colors and shadows the museum contains on the outside can vary.

I found the architecture and the view of the city from terrace the highlight of this experience. Even if one does not like to view art, I still would highly recommend a onetime visit. Words cannot explain the view of the city and architecture in words that will be able to justify the building itself.

Due to the museum only having one showing floor it will only hold five percent out of fifteen of their art at one time. In other words the museum will have two famous exhibits at once showing. The two exhibits I was fortunate enough to view were photographs taken by Abdi Roble of the Somalia-American culture and Robert Raushenburg’s currents.

Raushenburg’s art was created through news paper clippings and silk-screening them onto a board that showed many memorial moments of history. Many of the news paper topics were of issues that still remain issues today and have made an impact in today’s public disputes. I found this exhibit very interesting and I would best describe it as a history lesson. It seemed to me that Raushenburg used his techniques to remind the pubic of issues that are not always brought to ones attention but still exist.

I found a lot of his pictures were revolved around marijuana and war. I did not find a particular painting that stuck out in my mind that I was considering a favorite. I feel all of the pictures played an important role of helping out each other and creating one big master piece. I would say the one thing I walked away with was how memorized I was on the topics he was showing from the clippings of 1969 and how many of the topics are still be repeated today. “History does repeat itself” ran through my mind over and over as I viewed this gallery.

Robles photos were memorizing to me. The photography of the Somalia’s culture in the U.S. was remarkable. Roble used everyday living in her photos, she captured school days, children, adults, ultra sounds, different people coming to the U.S. with only their material goods on their back and she captured water supplies and homes of the Somalia’s culture. I feel the photos did an amazing job of capturing facial expression and space. The photos were created in black and white and gave a since of exhaustion in my perspective.

The one photo that stuck out the most to me was the water supply and how the Simians retrieve their water for their everyday living. The photo showed buckets being filled with water from a pipe that was stuck in the ground. The pipe was surrounded by mud and clay and many insects. This photo was very real to me and brought out a different perspective of the culture and how lucky we are in the U.S. to have running water from a facet and how little American’s think about the water and how lucky they are to be able to determine the temperature of the water.

I was only able to give a small glimpse of the museum and how the galleries being shown today are impacting to our everyday living styles. I would highly recommend viewing these exhibits’ as well as the museum itself. The museum is free to the public and is located on the U of M campus in Minneapolis, MN. Depending on how intrigued you are with the art shown will determine how much you will pay for parking. I ended up being at this museum for a total of two hours costing me $6.00 to park.

If you do decide to visit the museum please go to the top floor and walk out the terrace and see the sky scrapers and Mississippi River. I promise you that you will not be disappointed from your own viewing and perspectives.