Behind the Scenes / Chroma Artists at MSP Airport

Now in its second year, Northeast Artists at MSP Airport has become a staple of the Arts District’s programming. Here are the people who helped make this year’s exhibition happen:

Mike Curran, Program Manager

Mike Curran is an arts writer and independent curator living in Minneapolis. From his time organizing Chroma, he greatly appreciated the opportunity to work directly with the Arts District’s multigenerational community of artists.

Remo Campopiano, Program Webmaster

Remo set up the online application process and the web display systems for Chroma. He is a conceptual artist currently focusing on public art commissions. As an arts organizer, Campopiano co-founded ARTPAPER in the ’80s; led a digital art movement in NYC called ARTNETWEB in the ’90s; and currently he is a board member of the Northeast Minneapolis Arts District.

Leslie Palmer-Ross, Overall Program Support

Leslie has represented the Northeast Minneapolis Arts District Board since the inception of Northeast Artists at MSP Airport, overseeing the process from start to finish. She serves as the Director of Art Services for Art Force, which provides art and art services to businesses and organizations of all types.

Leslie Palmer-Ross

Margo Ashmore, Historic Context and District History

Margo Ashmore compiled, designed, and selected photos for the historical panels featured in the exhibition that explore the history of Northeast Minneapolis. Formerly a curator for Franklin Bank and longtime publisher of the Northeaster community newspaper, Margo’s arts are photography, writing and organizing.

Margo Ashmore

CURATION OF JURIED EXHIBITS

In selecting curators for Chroma, we sought out dedicated artists and art workers from a range of perspectives. Composed of artists, curators, and critics, this cohort brought a deep level of attention and care to selecting and arranging artwork.

Raye Cordes

Raye is a queer, Puerto Rican-German visual artist and sculptor based out of Minneapolis, MN. She has attended residencies at Franconia Sculpture Park in Shafer, MN, Kimmel-Harding-Nelson Center for the Arts in Nebraska City, NE, Vermont Studio Center in Johnson, VT, and is currently a PF Studios Incubator Resident with Public Functionary in Minneapolis. Her work explores intersections between natural and artificial processes, functions, and aesthetics that create new contexts and connections between these two seemingly opposed worlds through the use of mixed-media. She is continuing this exploration while evaluating varying impacts of consumerism.

Keisha Williams

Keisha is an independent curator and arts administrator at the Minneapolis Institute of Art. She holds an MA in Visual Arts Management and Curating (2017) and an MA in Art Gallery and Museum Studies (2015). She is curator of “Joe Horton: Vessel” (2019), co-curator of “Mapping Black Identities” (2019-2020) and “Mapping Black Identities: 3 Films” (2019) exhibitions, and co-founder of the Curatorial Advisory Committee at Mia. She is a contributing author to the Routledge publication “Accessibility, Inclusion, and Diversity and Critical Event Studies”, 2019. She currently serves on the Board of Directors at Highpoint Center for Printmaking. 

Sheila Dickinson

Sheila Dickinson, PhD, is an art critic and curator, who has published in Artforum, ART News, The Brooklyn Rail, Hyperallergic, MNArtists, InReview, Hong Kong’s Artomity, among others. She is currently Visiting Assistant Professor in the Art and Art History Department at Macalester College. Most recently she held the position of Artistic Director of the Rochester Art Center where she curated art from a number of Northeast Minneapolis artists.

MANY THANKS TO OUR PARTNERS AT THE AIRPORT

Sam Fuentes | Exhibitions Coordinator, Arts@MSP, Airport Foundation MSP

Ben Owen | Director, Arts@MSP, Airport Foundation MSP

Website: https://airportfoundation.org/programs-services/arts-culture/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ArtsatMSP/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/artsatmsp/

As Arts@MSP’s Director, Ben has championed the Northeast Artists at MSP Airport program from its conception. Sam Fuentes provided truly invaluable insight and support from start to finish, from providing feedback and offering innovative solutions, to leading the preparation and installation of artwork. The exhibition would not have been possible without his expertise and dedication.

 

Sam Fuentes
Ben Owen

ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF OUR SPONSORS

Exhibition support was generously provided by Artspace, the American Craft Council, the Harlan Boss Foundation for the Arts, and Mike Vennewitz in honor and memory of State Representative Diane Loeffler, a longtime supporter of the arts in the Northeast Minneapolis Arts District and statewide.

This program, Northeast Artists at MSP Airport, has been in the works for nearly two years. From concept to reality, what a fantastic journey it has been! Here are the people who made it happen:

Denise S. Tennen, Program Manager

Website: http://www.denisetennen.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/denisestennen
Other: https://artawhirl.org/artists/denise-tennen/

Denise brought the idea for this project to the Northeast Minneapolis Arts District board in 2019. She took the lead in managing all aspects of the program from writing the program proposal, recruiting artists and curators, and reviewing the work for the web pages, slideshow and historic context display. She is a sculptor, public artist, arts educator, writer and community organizer since 1988.

“I dreamed of this exhibit ever since Arts@MSP first called for curated shows. I wanted to work with a large group of artists, to promote their work both regionally and internationally through this venue. Working with the Northeast Minneapolis Arts District, I became familiar with the work of hundreds of artists, and had the opportunity to work with a terrific group of curators and tech experts.”

Denise S. Tennen

Remo Campopiano, Program Webmaster

Website: https://remocampopiano.com

Remo set up the online application process, web jurying technology, the three web presentation systems for Slideshow, Abstraction and Passages. He came up with the Banner Art idea to use slideshow images for this website’s banners, and in essence did the tech-work for everything you see on this website. He is an installation artist, painter and conceptualist. As an arts organizer Campopiano co-founded ARTPAPER in the ’80; lead the didgital art movement in NYC called ARTNETWEB in the ’90; and currently he is a board member of the NECDC, AKA, the Northeast Minneapolis Arts District.

When I take off my oganizer’s hat, I am inventing new art machines. Since covid, I dedicated myself to creating a machine to help painters paint. When I get  back to the studio in June (or whenever I get my covid vacine) I will be looking for collaborators to take my invention on a test drive.  

 

Remo Campopiano / Painting Machine

Leslie Palmer-Ross, Overall Program Support

Website: https://artforce.org

Leslie represented the Northeast Minneapolis Arts District Board and oversaw the process from RFP submission to fruition. She currently is the Director of Art Services for Art Force, which provides art and art services to businesses and organizations of all types.

“I have been involved with artists in the District for a couple of decades and I am continually delighted and impressed by their talent and creativity. Seeing this project through renewed my sense of wonder and encouraged me to re-engage with artists known to me and reach out to those who are new to me or the District. I hope that those traveling through MSP are revived, relaxed, and inspired to connect with the rich artistic resources in Northeast Minneapolis.”

Leslie Palmer-Ross

Margo Ashmore, Historic Context - District History

Website: https://MyNortheaster.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/margo.ashmore

Margo Ashmore compiled, designed, and selected photos for the history “A quarter century of arts — Northeast Minneapolis.” As a board member of Northeast Community Development Corporation/Northeast Minneapolis Arts District, she was a project liaison with Leslie Palmer-Ross. Formerly a curator for Franklin Bank and longtime publisher of the Northeaster community newspaper, Margo’s arts are photography, writing and organizing.

“As a newspaper publisher, I am ingrained in a smaller format. It was fun learning to work in a larger format. It’s fascinating how organizations and cities promote themselves and explain their histories. Knowing that this history was destined for the airport required communicating to outsiders what is to us so familiar, and allowed a synthesis of social history others have observed and written at different scales and covering the broadest possible timeline.”

Margo Ashmore

Alyse Emanuel, Video Slideshow Designer

Website: https://alyseemanuel.com
Instagram: https://instagram.com/alyse.emanuel

Alyse compiled over 700 individual images of varying sizes and, through the thoughtful organizing of the sequence of the artwork as well as placement on backgrounds, designed them into the powerful presentation that is our Slideshow Video.

“I have been living and working in the Northeast Minneapolis Arts District for almost 5 years and working on this project has brought me so much joy. I felt so connected to this wonderful community while putting together the video and getting to know each piece. These artists and their work are truly inspiring!”

Alyse Emanual

CURATION OF JURIED EXHIBITS

In selecting curators we sought individuals to create beautiful, high-quality and engaging exhibits to represent our Northeast Minneapolis Arts District at the MSP airport. The intent has been that each curatorial pair, by virtue of age, gender, and cultural backgrounds, would provide a rich mix of viewpoints through which they would collaborate to select the work for each exhibit. Curators for our exhibits were given these Guidelines for selecting work.

CURATORS FOR THE ART OF ABSTRACTION

The co-curators for Passages are Christopheraaron Deanes and Maggie Thompson.

Christopheraaron Deanes

Website: https://www.christopheraarond.com
Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/christopheraarondeanesart/
Gallery: https://www.galeriadobeijaflor.com

Curatorial Statement:
As a curator, Christopheraaron Deanes is interested in exploring the ways that people make connections through culture and communication, seeking fresh narratives that embody empathy and social capital. For example, people of color have been displaced through the absence of communication due to broken languages as well as misunderstanding. Language and its perceptions are derived from subcultures fueled by human migration.

These narratives can be heard differently and spoken differently because of colloquialistic dialogue. What if we question what we understand and press for a future language and understanding that is more inclusive of all the people in the world?

The history of portraits and the painting of people have traditionally stood on the foundations of understanding through a singular lens: European genres. Deanes expands the lens to include the migration of culture and how we communicate the diverse cultural connections that come from the transitory movement of humans, including the emotional expression of that result.

Reflection on this Exhibit:

“I aim for fresh ways of being inclusive and introducing thoughts about being: what are the ways people make connections? 
This exhibit speaks to the migration as well as integration of body and spirit, a deeper exploration of human conditions as people move through time and space and across cultures. Co-curating with Maggie led me to see the works in surprising new ways.”

Christopheraaron Deanes

Maggie Thompson

Website: https://makwastudio.com
Instagram: https://instagram.com/makwa_studio/

Curatorial Statement:
Maggie Thompson (Fond du Lac Ojibwe) was born and raised in Minneapolis, MN. She received her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Textiles at the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) in 2013. As a textile artist and designer she derives her inspiration from the history of her Ojibwe heritage, exploring family history as well as themes and subject matter of the broader Native American experience. Thompson’s work calls attention to its materiality pushing the viewer’s traditional understanding of textiles. As an emerging curator she is drawn to work that has strong conceptual narratives and that is visually engaging through its construction or composition. Being emotionally transparent is a fundamental value in her own work and is also something that she seeks out in the work of others.

Reflection on this Exhibit:

“While curating this exhibit I really enjoyed seeing how the Artists interpreted the meaning of passages conceptually through their different mediums. I wanted to highlight work that emphasized the many ways in which people move through physical space, emotions, identity and psyche within a lifetime.”

Maggie Thompson

CURATORS FOR PASSAGES

The co-curators for The Art of Abstraction are Ta-Coumba Tyrone Aiken and Sarah Nicole Knutson.

Ta-Coumba Tyrone Aiken

Website: https://www.ta-coumba.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tacoumba
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tacoumba/

Curatorial Statement:
I create my art to heal the hearts of people and there communities by evoking a positive spirit. In my service as curator I look for quality, truth and the creators’ authentic visual voice.

Reflection on this Exhibit:

“My goals as curator are to find strong visual voices that represent the theme and the artist’s ability to share their unique vision. The exhibition space is always critical to determine what does or does not work. Through this curatorial collaboration and understanding of our aesthetic process, we present to you: The Art of Abstraction.”

Ta-Coumba Tyrone Aiken

Sarah Nicole Knutson

Website: https://sarahnicolestudio.com
Instagram: https://instagram.com/sarahnicolexxo

Curatorial Statement:
Sarah Nicole is an artist and curator based in Minneapolis. Her emphasis on an overall beautiful but poignant aesthetic evokes a sense of empathy or thoughtfulness for visually implied meaning. After receiving a BFA from the Minneapolis College of Art & Design in 2018, she began producing exhibition opportunities and community events – taking inspiration from her contemporary research. Sarah currently works at the Minneapolis based gallery, Public Functionary, and maintains a studio practice in Studio 400. She participates as an artist and curator annually during Miami art week in conjunction with Art Basel.

Reflection on this Exhibit:

“It was a great experience to co-curate this exhibit with fellow curator Ta-Coumba Aiken and the exhibit organizers. I appreciate the diverse modes of making present in the Northeast Minneapolis Arts District. I hope the selected works engage travelers and employees of the airport to stop for a moment and think about creativity and expression.”

Sarah Nicole Knutson

Many Thanks to our partners at the Airport:

Sam Fuentes, Exhibitions Coordinator, Arts@MSP, Airport Foundation MSP
Ben Owen, Director, Arts@MSP, Airport Foundation MSP
Website: https://airportfoundation.org/programs-services/arts-culture/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ArtsatMSP/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/artsatmsp/

Sam held our hands from start to finish: from giving feedback on our initial proposal, covering the cost of all our printed materials within his exhibition budget, receiving artwork from our exhibit artists in a COVID-safe manner, to installing our exhibits based on the layouts provided by our curators. Thank you Sam for helping make our exhibits sing!

Ben leads the arts and culture program at both Terminals 1 and 2 at MSP International Airport. He provided oversight on this project to ensure that the subject matter of all images included is appropriate for the airport’s all-ages, all-cultures audience.

Additional Thanks to
Mike Vennewitz for providing funding for this project in memory of Minnesota State Representative Diane Loeffler, a longtime supporter of the arts in the Northeast Minneapolis Arts District and statewide.

Sam Fuentes
Ben Owen