By Alex Ness
September 29, 2023
A SHORT PIECE ABOUT A
FAVORITE THING TO DO
It isn't a secret, I've had a love of art for my entire life. I wanted to be an artist, and tried, but I don't have the talent to have merited the expense and time, spending my youth and adulthood upon a skill I did not possess. As an adult I've lost what little I ability I had learned, and what little born talent I possessed. However...
My best friend Rich Chapell and I chat Fine Art quite a bit, and we enjoyed visiting the Walker Art Center when he visited back in 2017. It made me realize how in Minnesota, in the vicinity of the Twin cities of Saint Paul/Minneapolis we are blessed with all sorts of Art, and other sorts of Museums. I've not been out and about since dealing with a lot of health issues, but I follow the new exhibits virtually. I have tried to financially contribute to museums in the past, but more recently that has gone to Animal Shelters. I am going to try by this article to show the readers here a wonderful list of places to visit, and why, and point to why this region is so special.
I suspect you might well find many in your home region, and you should do what I am not currently doing, go to them, be awash in the amazing new worlds art can present. As a historian I am moved by mummies, dinosaur bones, and the history of technological evolution too. But for me that was found in Chicago, hometown of another best friend, Steve Olle (Steve-O for short). The Field Museum and the Museum of Science and Industry were great places to visit. Chicago isn't like the metro of StP/MPLS at all, and I had some unpleasant experiences there as well, but I am not going to ruin this piece with bad memories. Steve-O, Lys Fulda, James Whitlock & more people are reasons for trying to focus upon my good thoughts about Chicago.
THE WALKER ART CENTER
If I were to call this museum my favorite, it wouldn't be wrong. Physically, it has a vast freedom and openness, with open spaces, multi sensory presentations and valuable exhibits that lead you to engage the art it shares. It feels less institutional, less formal, but it is well designed, feels open and has a way of presentation that other museums lack. It isn't huge in terms of number of pieces shared, but it is huge in terms of how it affects my mind.
A favorite place to visit, the Weisman is a place to engage art in a different way than looking at it. It was created as a place to experience art, to feel it, to perceive it not from the ground floor, or other angles but to feel it, to be moved by it. The building housing the art is unique, a piece of art in itself, so when one enters, they are already in the presence of art.
THE MINNESOTA INSTITUTE OF ART
This is a wonderful place, with many exhibits and attempts to curate the viewers experience with a ordered, thoughtful, deep dive into what is art. It is more formal than the previous two discussed here, and you definitely feel yourself in a building that holds art, rather than feeling yourself in a work of art, but it is a wonderful place, and for me, at least one visit contained a mummy's tomb, and it reminds one, that art is life, and reflects our being.
MINNESOTA MUSEUM OF AMERICAN ART
Found in Saint Paul, the MMAA is a celebration of American art, across generations, and throughout the ethnic collection of humanity that we are. It strives to present a world that reflects our experience, and celebrate art that goes beyond being pretty or fun, it creates a visual experience that remembers where we've been, and offers a suggestion of where we are going.
TWEED MUSEUM OF ART
I spent hours at a time in the Tweed museum. Found in the University of Minnesota-Duluth, it beckoned me to see all the new exhibits. A part of the university, so not only not in its own building, but part of a greater institution, it can't help but possess a more formal presentation. But, acknowledging that, I am moved by how it changed my perception of art, and fed my mind at a time when everything was going to hell in my life. It was a center of calm in the tornado of life I found myself living in.
THINGS TO CONSIDER
I am writing more than ever, and I am looking for people to work with, in terms of artists for comics, editors for anthologies and more. If you long to work on projects for little in money but product to sell, and future opportunities, hit me here.
I was asked why I don't share more of my work here. It seems to be an all Alex Ness affair, but it really isn't. I began with various writers helping out, Kurt Wilcken, Marc Kleinhenz, Martin Giadrosich, Rich Chapell, Ted Kilvington and more. If you want a venue to write your views and experiences, your reviews or interviews, hit me up. I try to keep this place all about the popular culture and not about politics. If you can deal with that, please send an email and chat.
Regarding my own work, that people discuss, I have many copies of various works, some rare, others in print, that are for sale. I can give you a price far cheaper than on Amazon or Ebay. Inquire by email and see. For books sets for sale, by other authors, read once or less, find me at my facebook page, my corner of the asylum. *I really hate Facebook. But I still post there as my friends and family are there.
REVIEWS AND STUFF
FINALLY... I
can be found on Facebook, Twitter or through email
Alexanderness63@gmail.com. I accept hard copies, so when you inquire at
any of these places, I'll follow through by telling you my street
address.If you send hard copies for review I will try to always review them,
but if you prefer to send pdf or ebooks to my email, I will review these
at my discretion. I don't share my pdf/ebooks, so you can avoid worry
that I'd dispense them for free to others.
My Creative Blogs:
5k poem blog AlexNessPoetry.Blogspot.Com
Published works AlexNessPoetry.Blogspot.Com/2007/01/My-Work.html
Social Media:
Bluesky
X/Twitter
Facebook
All images are copyright © their respective owners, use is simply as fair use and no ownership rights asserted.
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