Celebrating 50 Years of the Northfield Arts Guild

In celebrating the 50th year of the Northfield Arts Guild, local businesses have been invited to participate in the “Just 50″ project, featuring fifty unique works of art on canvas completed by fifty local artists.

On Thursday, October 22, the NAG hosted a reception for local business representatives (see the photo gallery above, with photos by Bart DeMalignon) who were invited to choose one of fifty canvases for display in their office or business. Each 12″ x 12″ canvas is unique and includes the name of the artist and a table easel suitable for counter-top display or wall-mounting. The artworks will be on loan at no cost to the business for six weeks. The canvases will return to the Arts Guild to be displayed for Winter Walk on December 3, and then will move to Carleton College to be exhibited at the Beaux Arts Ball on December 19. The canvases will be offered for sale at a silent auction in March 2010, with proceeds benefiting the NAG.

The Northfield Arts Guild Visual Arts Committee developed this project to showcase talented artists who live in the Northfield community and have benefited from the services of the Northfield Arts Guild.

View the full list of participating artists and businesses.

From now until the Beaux Arts Ball [December 19: buy your tickets now!], this blog will be featuring the ten portraits created by photographer Craig Perman for the Voices from the Northfield Arts Guild project. Each of the subjects was photographed in a setting appropriate to their artistic discipline and asked to answer the question: “How has the Northfield Arts Guild enriched your artistic life?”

We’re beginning the series with Myrna Johnson, one of the founders of the NAG in 1959.

“The Northfield Arts Guild not only has enriched my artistic life; it made possible my dreams of being involved in all aspects of theater.”
– Myrna Johnson

Fifty years ago, a group of individuals in a town named Northfield came together to form a community arts organization and staged a production of Ah, Wilderness! This year’s production is one way for us to thank those people who were integral in the forming of the Northfield Arts Guild, and to look back at a slice of our history as a community. This revival production is an important part of the Northfield Arts Guild’s celebration of its 50th Anniversary year.

Eugene O’Neill’s Ah, Wilderness!, written in 1933, is a sweet remembrance of simpler days. The action takes place over the Independence Day weekend of 1906 in an idyllic small town. The play offers a tender retrospective portrait of small town family values, teen age growing pains and young love. Filled with interesting characters and relationships, this play is sure to please audiences today as well as it did fifty years ago.

Tickets, $15 for adults and $10 for students and seniors, can be purchased online, by phone (507-645-8877), or in person at the Northfield Arts Guild’s Center for the Arts at 304 Division in Northfield. Performances will be at the NAG Theater at 411 West Third Street in Northfield, October 16, 17, 23, 24 at 7:30 pm and October 18 & 25 at 2:00 pm.

A new exhibit opens Thursday in the Northfield Arts Guild’s downtown gallery. This show, titled “Beginnings,” celebrates the work of early visual artists at the NAG. Many founders, teachers, and students from the first 20 years of the Guild’s history will be included in this diverse show.

Stop by the opening reception on Thursday, October 1, from 7 to 9 pm for a first look at this intriguing exhibit, and for a chance to talk with many who were intrumental in the Guild’s early years. This exhibit will continue through October 31. (Image by Dean Warnholz.)

On Dec. 19, Carleton College’s Great Space and Great Hall will add light to the night of the year when lucky ticket-holders don evening wear from the elegant to the fantastical and celebrate the Northfield Arts Guild’s 50th Anniversary with the Beaux Arts Ball. This centuries-old homage to the “beautiful arts” is a themed appreciation of the creative, to do with what you will; this year we present “Fire and Ice.” So, whether you light the night with shimmering crystals or lend a glow with your ruby red, do join us for a night of fanciful finery and delectible fare, dancing to the Bend in the River Big Band, original performances and visual works of art. It’s a celebration of the arts–for the artist in each of us.

According to Rob Schanilec, co-chair of the event, “This is going to be a wonderful evening you won’t want to miss. Our caterer is crafting an over-the-top menu, we’ve hired a 19-piece big band that’s sure to entertain across the generations, and our decorations committee is hard at it dreaming up ways to bring ‘fire and ice’ to Carleton’s wonderful space. To top it off – it’s a dress-up affair that you can, if you want, get a little crazy with – and you know it’s going to be a very well-attended event.”

Tickets are $60 ($50 for NAG members), limited and available in the box office during intermission and after each performance of Jesse, Sept. 4-6 and 10-12, and through the Northfield Arts Guild, 507-645-8877 or www.northfieldartsguild.org.

A play unique to the Northfield Arts Guild Musical Theater will be staged anew in September as Jesse returns to the NAG as both part of the annual Defeat of Jesse James Days and in celebration of the year-long commemoration of the NAG’s 50th Anniversary.

Performances are set for Sept. 4-6 and Sept. 10-12 with all shows at 7:30 p.m. except for a 2 p.m. matinee on the 6th.  Tickets are $10.

First staged in 1976, Jesse was principally developed for the Northfield stage through the collaborative effort of Bob Moulton, Vern Sutton and Myrna Johnson, who has been the director for five of the six shows—in 1977, 1986, 1994, 2001 and this year. Moulton directed the show in 1976.

“The show came from a theater ‘book’ that Bob and his wife Maggie had written,” Myrna explained. “It had played at The Stagecoach, where I had worked with Bob (longtime theater professor at the University of Minnesota). I thought it would be a perfect fit for our Northfield Theater, and Bob and Vern, who had many connections with us, agreed.”

Moulton, who often has been referred to as a “consummate” theater person—in addition to teaching theater, he was a dancer, actor, choreographer and director—did all the staging; Sutton, a noted Twin Cities performer, music professor at the University and a regular on Garrison Keillor’s “Prairie Home Companion,” wrote the lyrics for all the show’s songs and assisted with the staging.

The music was written by William Huckaby, Music Director of Western Opera Theater, the touring company of the San Francisco Opera. Donna Paulsen, who has been musical director for all six stagings of the show, took Huckaby’s melody line and expanded it to include complete accompaniment, “formally” writing all the music as a score, and developing what is called “underscoring,” an old-time melodrama style.  “It’s a melodrama written for and done in presentational style. We share it with the audience.”

“It is really a fun show, both to do and to watch,” Johnson said. “The wording is very clever, and the thing is it is based on Jesse’s life. It’s not a hoax or based on legends, but on fact. And, while the bank raid is part of it, it’s not as much about that as about Jesse himself.  It’s his own history beginning when he was a young man in the Civil War up through his assassination by Bob Ford.”

Myrna said that what also makes this a truly “Northfield” production is that both the Moultons and Sutton wrote the play with Northfield people in mind.  “They had certain people and their voices in mind.”  One of those was Charlie Black as Jesse. This year will be the first time that Black has not played the role. Jim Hansen, a faculty member at St. Olaf College and veteran of the Northfield stage, will have the lead in this production.

The cast also includes Jim Stenglein as Frank James, Ruth Sylte as Jesse’s wife Zee, Pauline Jennings as Cindy Ford, Kathy Doran-Norton as Ma Samuels, Bob Bruce as Dr. Samuels, and Nathan Kuhlman as Bob Ford.

Kathy Rush will be assistant director and Lucy Sweitzer the choreographer.  Noel Stratmoen and Chuck Sandstrom are designing the set, Alvin Ho is doing the lighting, and Ruth Legvold is handling the costuming. All have been involved in past stagings of the show. The show, prepared with two separate grants, is one of only two that were ever written for the NAG. The other, Donata’s Gift, also will be staged during this 50th anniversary year—during December.

“I really felt this was an appropriate time to do this show because it’s such an integral part of our theater’s history,” Johnson said. “It should be valued by all Northfielders,” Rush added, “because it’s such an important part of the history of the Arts Guild and its theater tradition.”

The Northfield Arts Guild announces auditions for Ah, Wilderness! This play, a revival of the first play that the Northfield Arts Guild staged in 1959, is an important part of the 50th Anniversary Celebration at the Arts Guild.

Ah, Wilderness!, a sweet remembrance of simpler days, was written by Eugene O’Neill in 1933. The action takes place over the July Fourth weekend of 1906 in an idyllic small town. The play offers a tender retrospective portrait of small town family values, teen age growing pains, and young love. Filled with interesting characters and relationships, this play is sure to please audiences as well today as it did fifty years ago. The performance dates for Ah, Wilderness! are October 16-25, 2009.

The characters in this play include people from age 8 and up. This play has roles for many generations! These auditions are open to all interested persons, regardless of experience. First time actors are encouraged to audition! Auditions will be in the Northfield Arts Guild’s Center for the Arts on Sunday, August 23 from Noon-3pm and on Monday, August 24 from 7pm-10pm. Those auditioning should be prepared to read from the script.

Perusal scripts for Ah, Wilderness! are available at the main office in the Center for the Arts. To sign up for an audition, please call 507-645-8877.

A detailed plot synopsis may be found here:
http://www.bard.org/education/studyguides/ahwilderness/wildernesssyn.html

A detailed description of the characters may be found here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ah,_Wilderness!#Characters

Art in the Park was a smashing success! Thanks to everyone who came out to enjoy the day. Please take a moment to enjoy this slideshow of 20 images from the event. (Click through to the Flickr photoset to view the photo captions.)

See more Art in the Park photos on the NAG online gallery.

The Summer Soirée is your chance to dress up and spend a fanciful evening under the stars celebrating the Northfield Arts Guild. Please join us Saturday, August 16 from 5:30-10:30 pm in Central Park (following the Art in the Park celebration)!

Here’s the evening’s schedule:

• 5:30-6:45: heavy hors d’ouevres from the Ole Cafe
• 6:00-6:30: Harpist Sarah Swan-McDonald provides background music
• 5:30-10:30: cash bar – beer and wine from Froggy Bottoms (soft drinks also available)
• 7-9:15: performance of Midsummer Night’s Dream
• 9:30-10:30: post-performance treats:
  • Desserts from Ole Cafe, Salty Tart, Quality Bakery, Cocoa Bean
  • Coffee from Goodbye Blue Monday
  • Mingle with the cast, hear a few words about the play from the director, Susan Carlson

There are still a few tickets left for the event. Purchase yours now!

Today’s edition of the Northfield News featured a cover story and a multi-page feature on the Arts Guild’s 50th Anniversary. You should really read the print edition to see the wonderful photos, but you can read the story here (along with the text of the sidebar features) on the paper’s web site.

(Photo courtesy of the Northfield News)