St. Croix Falls Material Culture Museum

2008-07-23T08:58:00.004-05:00

Hey, I think its time for this blog to be finished. This has been my first blog and its been great. I will make more. This one will remain for a while, perhaps through September or so. Thank you for checking it out, I know many have been following along. Stay tuned for more Jean blogs on future projects/transitions! aloha for now-

2008-07-22T10:26:00.005-05:00

This new space is referred to as "the market" at the sculpture park. It is a small building off of the public parking lot and its one of the first buildings you see as you drive onto the property off of HWY 95. It is a bright open airy space that I like very much. I think this little building was originally a fruit and vegetable retail space. You can see on the exterior image below that I have placed the hand-made FOR SALE sign we made at the previous space on the front of this building. This building is not for sale so it will be interesting to see what happens! Will the realtor get called? Will people generate rumors about the whole property being for sale? Will anyone notice at all?

New Space...

2008-07-21T17:06:00.004-05:00

Previous space...

2008-07-21T17:06:00.000-05:00

Winding Down

2008-07-21T08:40:00.006-05:00

This project is over and now its time to transfer the residue to the Market building at the sculpture park. I hope to leave tomorrow, Tuesday. Its been a great summer in Minnesota and a great expansive experience through Franconia Sculpture Park. I am now moving into another transitional phase of moving to yet another completely unknown place (to me): Columbus, Ohio. Hopefully I will be able to stay there awhile and actually call a place "home"?

Jonas's House

2008-07-19T08:58:00.003-05:00

Jonas, the sculpture park manager sleeps in this hut on the property. He has been out east delivering his work to an exhibition there and was due to fly back last night. He will be greeted with this practical joke when he arrives- the crew put his boat on top of his hut! Its too much fun to have really bright funny people combined with large pieces of equipment to move things around with!

When there is no TV in the center of the house...

2008-07-19T08:51:00.003-05:00

...you manage to find lots of better things to do and interact more with the people you live with and really get to know them better. Here some kind of game is happening with Robin, Betsy, Paul and Pavel.

Haircut

2008-07-19T08:49:00.003-05:00

Mary and Kate cut Felicia's hair after dinner at the big house at the sculpture park. It turned out really great!

Great Evening

2008-07-18T13:51:00.003-05:00

Last night's panel was pretty great. Mike, Michael, LaMoine and I really enjoyed it and so did the audience, it seemed. Lots of thought provoking dialogue, questions, comments and ideas were exchanged. Then we all walked through town and had a reception at the museum and headed over to karaoke across the street at the St. Croix Tavern where Mike belted out "A Whole Lotta Love" (Led Zep) which made a very serious biker dude come up to him and say: "I gotta shake your hand, man, that was so real...". I think there might have even been a tear in his eye! Mike, I think you might want to consider joining a Led Zep cover band; I think I could find you a nice wig?

Ocean & Woody

2008-07-18T12:17:00.001-05:00

Is this too deep for my head?

2008-07-15T19:42:00.005-05:00

4-year old Zane asks this question and I think its a great question to ponder. Often, many things are just too deep for my head. Can I please find a 4-year old to live with me 4 ever so I can be reminded to not go too deep for my head?!

T W I S T E R !!!!!

2008-07-15T19:23:00.001-05:00

Welper

2008-07-15T19:02:00.005-05:00

Paul's tool, he brought it in to the Museum, or actually the Museum came to Paul this time. Have you ever known a Museum to make a house call? Well, this one does...it was the very first tool that he bought exclusively for use in sculpture so its pretty special to him- he is an incredibly talented young sculptor interning at the Park right now. He has helped me with this project.

Busy time!

2008-07-15T18:59:00.000-05:00

Super busy day today, many new accessions including this beauty.

2008-07-15T18:56:00.004-05:00

I love this sign on HWY 8 EAST. I mostly love that it is multipurpose, not only is it a sign but it also functions as a home for birds. The spelling reminds me of texting...I went to visit LaMoine and was able to capture it photographically- been meaning to for weeks now!

Final Week

2008-07-15T02:52:00.005-05:00

So far, so good! This is my last week and I am pleased with what has gone down. The pace of my projects reflect the pace of my places. They are portraits in every way imaginable. This delights me to no end. There is no wrong answer, ever.

Being the Berries

2008-07-15T02:50:00.001-05:00

now raspberries; before, strawberries!

Jarid and Karen

2008-07-11T12:08:00.003-05:00

Neighbor Karen brought in her grandson, Jarid. Her grandkids are most precious to her. It was great to sit and chat with them and to take this picture of them. I am finding that the most preciousness and value around here are usually the people in peoples lives and you know, I have to agree, this is very true! While this young man is technically not a "material" object, its up to the individuals who come through to decide for themselves.

Phoenix and I clean up the whole block!

2008-07-09T14:00:00.002-05:00

This is Phoenix and she lives upstairs with her mom. She is a really good sweeper. We had a lot of silty sand all over our sidewalk on our block (from the flood) so we swept it really well all morning long. It was a real blast and our neighbors were pleased so everyone won. We talked about all sorts of things like environmental issues, moving alot, manners and etiquette and lemonade. We ate popcorn.

A Perfect Nectarine, TRULY

2008-07-08T15:06:00.001-05:00

Flooding, but not the museum

2008-07-08T15:01:00.004-05:00

All my neighbors here on main street experienced some flash flooding overnight from the storm but the museum seemed none the worse for wear. Its lovely today- not too hot and lots of bright clear sunshine. I have been drawing quite consistently for around 5 hours and loving it. Lots of visitors but only one person brought in an object (BUT what an object it was!!). I am really fine with this, I am far more interested in the quality than the quantity. There will be two weekends coming up of major events/festivals and I know I will be very busy then so I am working hard in the drawing realm now, while I can...

Closed Mondays

2008-07-07T11:30:00.007-05:00

Here is the township of Franconia. Its like a little museum village on the St. Croix River. It is perfect in every way and this makes me a little uncomfortable because its very Stepford/Norman Rockwell. I swam in river water the color of watered down blood. It is so different to swim in Lake Michigan/Superior, The Baltic Sea, the Pacific/Atlantic Ocean and now this river- the variety is shocking, all of them fascinating.

Best sign in town

2008-07-06T11:14:00.003-05:00

At the Parade, Lake, River?

2008-07-04T14:51:00.009-05:00

Dead town! But I got a lot of drawing done from the accessions from yesterday and they are looking good. I had to miss the Franconia 4th of July parade because of work. This is a great parade because no one stands on the side to watch; everyone is IN the parade!! There is an incredible potluck of food afterwards, too. The unincorporated village of Franconia is now practically a museum village of carefully restored homes right on the St. Croix River. I will include some pictures sometime when I go down there to swim. I keep asking myself: Where is the ocean? Its got to be around here somewhere...I will need to head east to find the closest one (for real gsb, I will be picking u up along the way although we will need to stop to do the motorcycle and meet the bunny thing or can we take the bunny on the motorcycle to the ocean?!).

Its great to be back on the mainland in order to properly roadtrip again. I have already made plans for a Thanksgiving trip to visit friends in upstate NY, its so wonderful to know I can get in the car and drive drive drive and not just in small concentric circles around a tiny island in the middle of the ocean.

2008-07-04T14:46:00.002-05:00

I love this high school ball field in St. Croix Falls, WI. It is so perfectly balanced. It is minimalist and elegant. The lawn in front is totally flawless. I love the microcosms of precision that exist in how some people take care of their lawns, yards and public parks/fields.

2008-07-03T17:11:00.007-05:00

Busy day, I am exhausted! Tomorrow is the 4th of July and in a small town, this can be a big deal although sometimes if there is not a local parade, it can make for a dead main street as everyone goes to where the parades are. I will see what its like at my "main street museum" and if its busy or not. Today a woman brought in her old family bible. It was all in Swedish. She was told by her mother that it was brought over from Sweden when her ancestors came to America as settlers. At one time, however, she looked closely inside and noticed that it was copyrighted through a publishing company in St. Paul!! HA- she said: NOT from Sweden! Nonetheless its a really beautiful leather bible filled with her ancestral information of births, deaths, even pressed flowers from funerals.

When did bibles become repositories for family history and geneology, I wonder? Why?

Thank you for the great poster, Woody!

2008-07-02T14:37:00.005-05:00

I got to work some system bugs out today thanks to Audrey and her Nordic hiking poles- go Audrey and happy birthday!

Tomorrow I OPEN!

2008-07-01T07:09:00.000-05:00

A non-sign sign goes up

2008-07-01T07:03:00.003-05:00

I often like to work in reversals and took this opportunity here to do so, as well. I have a logo, a "name", but to put it up on the large sign at the front top of the whole entrance was too predictable. To simply make a sign and install it was not very interesting to me, as an artist. I chose to cover the frame with a single piece of fabric rendering it a minimalist shape, instead. A reversal is to do the opposite of what might be expected/anticipated. To NOT put a sign up where the sign "should" go is a reversal. Thanks to KcKeever and Jamie for their installation expertise.

Dave at Hardware Hank in St. Croix Falls

2008-07-01T07:00:00.001-05:00

This man has been very helpful in addition to being highly entertaining. Not only is he a Hardware Hero, he is also a photographer.

Lovely Lettuces in the Garden

2008-06-29T22:43:00.000-05:00

Cooking

2008-06-29T21:03:00.003-05:00

Pavel, McKeever and Betsy in the kitchen cooking dinner for all of us- it was delicious, thank you!!

Summer at Franconia Sculpture Park

2008-06-29T21:01:00.005-05:00

Its summer in rural Minnesota and its so perfect today. Kate is sitting outside working on a costume, its cool and everyone has worked and played hard.

LOGO: Thanks Terri!

2008-06-28T05:31:00.004-05:00

This is my project logo adapted from my previous project. Terri Wada designed this logo and refashioned it. Poster and handbills coming soon via Woody McBride. Interior painting is finished, next its time to deal with the big exterior sign with the help of Jamie and McKeever. I am going to order chocolate cupcakes from the St. Croix Cafe for the July 17th project panel discussion/town hall meeting, I think. Cupcakes, coffee, lemonade, speakers, discussion, a little history of community-based rural arts initiatives in Wisconsin, etc. More on that shortly.

Going from Freelance to 9-5 (actually more like 7-9?)

2008-06-27T06:54:00.002-05:00

I just accepted a position at the Wexner Center for the Arts in Columbus, OH; its a part of OSU and I will be moving there at the end of August. I am very excited!

How to Make Do/Repurpose

2008-06-24T03:56:00.006-05:00

Here are Betsy and Nung Hsin, superstar interns from Franconia Sculpture Park. Nung Hsin continues to work on signs (and replicas of signs!) and Betsy can solve any problem large or small from changing smoke detector batteries to creatively making window screens with whatever she could find like scrap cloth and old wire fake christmas greenery. We talked about how interesting it is to be able to "make do" with any materials you have instead of needing to go buy new. Also, how this keeps clutter down, incorporates recycling, saves gas and money! Sometimes its great to have strict material limitations as a structure for showcasing one's creativity. I found a hand made 1940's child's shirt in a thrift store today and the inside plackets and shoulder linings were made from old sugar sack cloth as interfacing. I thought it was such a beautiful and loving use of recycled materials.

SIGNS

2008-06-22T22:43:00.000-05:00

2008-06-22T22:26:00.002-05:00

SIGNAGE SIGNSsignagesigns

2008-06-22T21:50:00.003-05:00

Today Nung Hsin helped me with signage. I cleaned and scraped and sanded and taped. It was a great day- tomorrow I begin to paint walls.

The KEY

2008-06-19T16:40:00.003-05:00

Today I actually took temporary possession of 109 South Washington Street in St. Croix Falls, Wisconsin! Now, I have a massive amount to work to do to get ready to open to the public but I have the help of some incredible visiting interns at Franconia Sculpture Park, a special thank you goes to Robin for his blogging tutorial and advice. Alison helped me alot today!

Also, Woody McBride has agreed to help me with some graphic design work even though he is in Australia right now as one of the most in-demand dj's of the universe. Never assume that people who live in small rural "fly over" communities are somehow out of touch with the rest of the world...more soon, stay tuned!

Welcome to St. Croix Falls, Wisconsin, USA

2008-06-06T19:11:00.002-05:00

WHAT IS “MATERIAL CULTURE”?

The material means by which humans adapt to the world

The “object” part of culture, the tangible possessions of a culture

Any material item that has had cultural meaning ascribed to it- past and present

What do you treasure? Is it something that you own or may have had for a long time? Is it a person (like your grand daughter) or an object (like your favorite tool or utensil)? What is the story of what you treasure and why is it so valuable to you? Did you make it or did an ancestor make it or collect it?

Whatever it is, it is a special object that is a symbol of YOU and says something about you. It’s a part of your life story. It does not matter whether it is new or old. Whether you made it or bought it or someone else did and gave it to you. It might not be worth anything to anyone else. All that matters is that it worth a lot to you. Examples from previous projects include family heirlooms, electronic gear such as cell phones, computers and ipods, vehicles like cars, bikes, tractors and motorcycles, tools like a comb, mixing spoon, hammer or sawzall, garments, jewelry, people, toys, books, their own hair, a dance move, a story, a trophy, a photograph, etc.

Everyone is welcome to participate. A child can bring her favorite toy, for example. Any size, shape or configuration from anyone is welcome.

Please share your treasure with me. I will take a picture of it, measure it and carefully write down the full story you tell about it. Then you take it back home for safe-keeping. I will catalog all the items brought in and create a database that will become a time capsule. I will make a drawing of your object, display it and give it to you when the project is completed. Your treasure will join other peoples and will form a very accurate and personal snapshot of the material culture of St. Croix Falls, Wisconsin in the summer of 2008. You can choose to remain anonymous or not, its up to you.