So, the other night was amazing! One of the best nights ever and a great opening gallery reception. I went down to the cities this last Thursday with my family for the Foot In The Door exhibition at the MIA. It didn’t start until later that night, but we spent the whole day down there which was a lot of fun. We got to visit some friends and family and went to the Northrup King Building, which is a four story warehouse that was renovated into a couple hundred artist studios, all before the show that night. Some of the artists were in their studios working and we were able to talk to them and see their work. It is a pretty cool place, here is a link to their website, it is worth checking out.

Northrup King Building | Arts District

Ok. Now to what we have all been waiting for, the important stuff. Foot In The Door 4. I am going to tell you all about the show. So, when we got there right when you walked in there was a video being projected on the wall, it was still images of every piece of artwork (all +4,800) going really fast along with time laps video of the week long installation. It was a pretty cool video to watch, and I actually video taped part of it so I will post that later on so you can check that out. We were lucky that we got there fairly early and got right into the galleries without having to wait, it was still a little tight shoulder to shoulder, but we got through just fine. It took some time but we found our pieces and our friends pieces and took pictures by them. There were three gallery spaces that were filled with the artwork. Almost floor to ceiling along with huge tables in the middle for sculptural pieces. We went around about two or three times looking at everything, first to see everything on the wall, second to see all the sculptures on the tables, and third to see what we missed and things we liked again. Wow, I still can’t grasp how much stuff there was in there, it was so overwhelming. I am looking forward to going back in a month or so with some friends to see the show again, the crowds should be a little smaller around this time. When we finally left the galleries there were still people pouring in. There were two lines to get in, one was through the lobby down the stairs going outside and the other wound its way through the museum towards the front entrance. Some of my friends came a little later and had to wait in line for awhile. It was nice to be able to see them and talk for with them while they waited in line. Three of them, Marisabel Bautista, Travis Kleve, and Joanna Green all had pieces in the show that we had brought down with our own paintings. We hung out on the third floor above the Foot In The Door galleries listening to the band Lucy Michelle and The Velvet Lapels and took some pictures on the red carpet before we left for the night. When we left the line was still very long and many people were waiting to get a chance to see their artwork on the walls of the MIA. The show was supposed to go to 9:00 that night, but my friends said later on that they stopped the end of the line at that time and everyone that was still in line got to still view the show. I am sure that they were open very late that night.

Here is the link to the MIA Foot In The Door website. It tells everything you could ever want to know about the show, you can see every piece that is in the show, and also view the video submissions that were added this year.

Foot In The Door | MIA

“Head, Not Foot” By Martin Nelson

Acrylic on canvas

10x10

February 2010

Foot In The Door 4

So, this last week has been kind of busy getting things ready for the the Foot In The Door show at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts. It has been nice to be able to get back into the studio and do some work again, after being away for a little bit. My dad and I finished are paintings the other night and took them down to the cities today along with some pieces from three of my my friends.

My dad, friend Travis Kleve, and myself all entered acrylic paintings. Both of my friends Marisabel Bautista and Joanna Green entered pieces done with a technique called photo transferring.

We stood in line for about 45 minutes today to drop off our artwork. We got a chance to talk to some other artists while waiting in line and see some really cool artwork before it got put up in the show.

I am looking forward to the reception on February 18. More updates on that coming soon. I will also put up a picture of my piece that I entered.

Here is a little more information about the Foot In The Door show taken from the MIA website.

Every decade since 1980, the Minnesota Artists Exhibition Program (MAEP ) and the Minneapolis Institute of Arts (MIA ) have co-hosted “Foot in the Door”—the state’s largest art exhibition—showcasing thousands of works of art by artists living in Minnesota. “Foot in the Door 4” is the fourth exhibition in the series and will be on view from February 19 through June 13 in the MAEP galleries.

The “Foot in the Door” series has established itself as a marker of the diversity and enthusiasm of Minnesota’s strong visual arts community. This unique exhibition introduces a wide public to all generations of artists living and working in the state of Minnesota. Anyone who considers himself or herself an artist is encouraged to submit a work of art. The only requirement for inclusion is that each work of art must fit within a one-foot cube.

Christopher Atkins, MAEP coordinator, said, “Ten years ago, the MAEP galleries were packed with work by 1,700 artists. This year we’re expecting even more people to participate. I’d like to remind people that with “Foot in the Door,” everyone’s an artist and I hope you’ll submit your masterpiece to our show.”

Since the last “Foot in the Door” there has been a distinct increase in the influence of technology on artists and their art. In order to accommodate artists working in video and film, there will be an online gallery within the official “Foot in the Door 4” YouTube channel. These submissions will be limited to 1:20 (80-second) total running time.

Registration information is available at www.artsmia.org/maep. Artwork may be dropped off on February 4, 5, and 6, from 10:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., and February 7, from 11:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the MAEP galleries at the MIA . Staff will measure, register, and photograph the work before it goes on display.

Also, MPR did a good story about the show the other day. Here is a link to the article.

Foot In The Door | MPR News

Marisabel and I - BOLD POSE!

Marisabel and I at the Mentor Protege Program gallery reception.

My mentor Bill Gossman and I at the Mentor Protege Program gallery reception.

JJ and I at the Mentor Protege Program gallery reception.

“Southern Landscape” (Detail) By Martin Nelson

Ceramic and Mixed Media

December 2009

“Southern Landscape” By Martin Nelson

Ceramic and Mixed Media

December 2009

“Southern Landscape” By Martin Nelson

Ceramic and Mixed Media

December 2009

This last Thursday we finally had our reception for the mentor protege program. It was very enjoyable just like always. It was nice to be able to talk about my work with others in the community that came to see the show. It was also nice to see a bunch of my friends and fellow student artists that were featured in the show.

A little about the mentor program for those of you that don’t know. The mentor program started back in the fall of 2008. It was created by my college art professor Marjorie Nilssen along with her husband Robert Mattson and has been funded by a grant. The program gives the opportunity for some of the best art students at Ridgewater College to team up with professional artists in the community. The students and the artists work together throughout the school semester on their own time and two shows are put on at the end of both the fall and spring semesters.

The following is a list of the art students and professional artists that were featured in this show and a little about each of their pieces.

Martin Nelson | Bill Gossman

Martin Nelson

My piece is a sculptural landscape. It incorporate ideas from nature and the world around me. Below is my artist statement that describes a little more about the my sculpture.

I have always been fascinated by the world around me, and recently it has become an inspiration for the artwork that I have been creating. The forms and environmental themes that are represented in these sculptures can be seen in the beautiful and vast landscapes all over the world. In this particular piece the southern desert landscape is being portrayed in its most raw and driest state. The form and texture that is created with the clay takes on the natural forms that can be found in the outside environment. These sculptural pieces have a distinct beauty to them, and they show a new dimension to the world that is around us.

Bill Gossman

Bill had a large ceramic pot and plate that he featured in the show. Both pieces were fired in the wood burning kiln. Both of his ceramic pieces were very nice and our work complemented each other very well.

Marisabel Bautista | Robert Mattson

Marisabel Bautista

My very good friend Marisabel has done some amazing work over the last year and the pieces that she included in this show reflected her hard work and creativity. She worked with Bob on drawing and ended up creating an art book and three large mixed media drawings for the show. Both of her pieces had strong similarities but were very different in the way that they were created, the materials that were used, and the ideas and meanings that were behind them. Her book was presented under glass with an image slideshow on a TV screen behind it. At the show the glass was removed and people were allowed to page through the book. The large drawings incorporated watercolor, oil stick, and photo transfers.

Robert Mattson

Bob is a painter and much of his recent work are oil and steel paintings. I find his paintings to be very interesting and thought provoking. These particular paintings are half and half, one side is a sheet of steel screwed to a board frame and the other side is a oil painted canvas.

Paola Pena | Craig Edwards

Paola Pena

Paola worked with Craig Edwards creating ceramic pieces. She constructed and glazed some square shaped plates and made some masks that were molded from her own face. I really enjoyed looking at the masks that she created.

Craig Edwards

Craig is a local potter that lives in New London, MN. He lives near Bill and they have worked together from time to time. He had two small pots in the show, both were very similar, but each had their own textural and color differences.

I was very honored to be involved in this program for two semesters and be able to work with Bill Gossman in his studio. Now that the funding has stopped the program will be coming to an end, but of course that does not mean that I stop working on my sculptures or working alongside Bill.

What is next? I will probably start working with Bill again towards that end of March when things start to wind down a little bit around here. I have many ideas in my head right now along with some sketches that are already drawn up for some new sculptures. I think that I am really onto something with my current sculptures and ideas and i just need to keep working and see where things lead me.