North Loop Art Walk Set For October 14th
October 2, 2023
Our neighborhood is well-known for restaurants, bars and shops. But to bring attention to one of our lesser-known features–our art galleries–Ellie Kingsbury has organized a self-guided North Loop Art Walk on Saturday, October 14th, 6-8pm.
Visitors will be free to browse and buy art, as well as speak to artists at Traffic Zone Center For Visual Art, Form + Content Gallery, Veronique Wantz Gallery, TractorWorks and 801 Lofts.
Ellie Kingsbury at Form + Content
“It’s kind of a U-shaped walking path that’s a total of about 1.5 miles,” said Kingsbury, an artist who has a showing now at Form + Content. “I’ll provide walking maps at each location.”
The North Loop galleries run the spectrum of business models. There’s the traditional gallery at Veronique Wantz where artworks from national and international artists are displayed. There are two galleries run cooperatively by groups of artists: Traffic Zone and Form + Content. TractorWorks is an office building with an active arts program while 801 Lofts and Tower Lofts are residential buildings with robust art collections. (Tower Lofts will not be able to participate in this event).
Traffic Zone
“The culture of art galleries is very important,” said Kingsbury, “so that would be a great thing for residents to know.”
Below is a description she provided of each gallery:
801 Gallery – 801 Washington Ave. N
801 Lofts, located in the North Loop neighborhood of Minneapolis, presents art openings and artist talks three times a year. The three-story atrium and public space is an art gallery to local Minnesota artists who display their work on an ongoing basis.
The art shows change every four months to display new talent and media. Gallery openings and artist talks offer residents a chance to open their doors to friends, family and others who want to support our local art community. An aesthetic committee curates the shows. All art is for sale and the artists keep 100% of the profits.
801 Gallery is celebrating their 50th art show on October 14th, 2023
featuring works by Jim Ockuly, Ben Gessner and Meleck Davis.
Veronique Wantz Gallery – 901 North 5th Street
Veronique Wantz has been in the North Loop neighborhood for 12 years, with a previous location on 1st Street North.
Veronique Wantz is a contemporary fine art gallery, offering works by local, national and international emerging and established artists. They present artists’ works in a variety of media, in styles from modern abstract to classic impressionism. Their hours are Fridays from 11-3, Saturdays from 11-4, and by appointment
On October 14 they are celebrating Owen Brown’s first solo show “Myriorama”. This will be an experiential show, in that 451 panels will be affixed to the walls using velcro. This allows visitors a way to detach and rearrange pieces as they please.
TractorWorks Building – 800 Washington Ave. N
Ron Ridgeway is an in-house artist in this multi-use building. Ridgeway is a conceptual, site-specific artist working in all media. His large, boldly colored murals are a combination of road signs, maps, arrows, and symbols, giving a nod to our urban setting.
Traffic Zone Center for Visual Artists – 250 3rd Ave. N
Traffic Zone is an artist cooperative, run by 23 mid-career artists. Many are current or past recipients of fellowships and grants from the McKnight, Bush, and Jerome Foundations, as well as the National Endowment for the Arts. These artists organize regular exhibitions in their street-level gallery, featuring member works or outside talents. Their annual One Studio event also allows community members to meet coop artists, and view their artwork in a studio setting.
Featured in the gallery for the Art Walk will be Jodi Reeb’s “A Different View”. This exhibition showcases works created using photographs of pollinator friendly plants as collage, and combined with encaustic and oil.
Form + Content Gallery – 210 North 2nd Street
Form + Content is a member-owned collective that is celebrating their 16th year of operation. This gallery features not only the solo shows by its 12 members, but also maintains a commitment to community engagement by curating two thematic exhibitions by outside artists per year.
Ellie Kingsbury’s solo show “Some Body” will be on display for the North Loop Art Walk. This show starts with photographic images of burlesque performers, with the artist removing them from the stage and collaging them on a plain black background. Kingsbury printed the subjects on silk and plays with the dimension of space and time with them. This is also an interactive show, inviting visitors to pick up the silks, watch how they flutter in the breeze, and arrange them in new ways on a long low table.
