The Mid-Career Artist Makes Art Amidst a Career

Where about this whole thing started...

...and where it seems to be taking me.

What is this Wondrous Place?

I spent the weekend outside of Ely, MN at a lodge on White Iron Lake. It's a pretty amazing place. I could sit in a kayak on that lake forever. But it was, after all Independence Day weekend. So of course, there was a parade as well.

Even saw some Twin Cities friends on the parade route!

Pride Parade in the Celebration Capital: New Orleans

We saw brass bands, cajun dancing, a flash mob, and the epicenter of daily news reporting in NOLA...and then it was Pride day....

Who is Jason Dottley, anyway?

An Education: The Lexicography of Katrina

Each year - usually in June or September, my colleague Becky Olstad and I head to New Orleans with a group of student photographers and filmmakers.

This is a tremendously gratifying teaching experience, because one gets to watch the students gestate over the week into more confident, skillful and artful practitioners. As a Chair of both Film and Photo prog

rams, this is also a golden time for me to understand the usefulness, or lack thereof of equipment, the efficacy of the curriculum, and to get meaningful feedback about the programs through simple observation of work practices and verbal abilities.

We plan little trips here and there to immerse them in...well, New Orleans. One of those trips is to the Times-Picayune. Every year the Photography Department generously allows our student s(and the two instructors) to meet them, and shadow their assignment for a half day.

Yesterday was that trip. we always split up...A couple of students and I went with photo-journalist John McCusker. Who was on assignment to cover the ground breaking of the new WYES tv studio. We learned that sometimes the best pictures to be made are those that don't conform to the camera-ready moments created to be photographed. John made a great picture of the station's general manager in the doorway of the soon-to-be demolished original studio (built in 1957). We also had the privilege of meeting Dave Walker, who was writing the accompanying article.

After the assignment, John drove us to Gentilly, and walked us up on to the bridge over the London Avenue Canal (very near where one of my tree pictures was made on Warrington), explained the levee breeches to the students, how the levees were built and why they failed, and shared his own story from the massive failure of the Federal Government built levees in 2005.

I learned something too. Language is important. It seems simple, but I think John might have cleared his throat a little if I'd said, "Katrina" just now. Understanding that the language of even description and problem-solving (especially the dismissive lack of compassion in saying something aloud like the very oft stated, "Well it's a swamp, what did they expect.") in a community living with the impact of catastrophic disaster and the PTSD that comes with it, can be the most damaging wind of all.

This bit of monologue, delivered by John, stuck with me most of our whole conversation: "Three days after the levees failed, people are still dying in their houses, and the Speaker of the House said, "I'd have to think long and hard about rebuilding that place. Looks to me like a lot of that place could be bulldozed." That's the speaker of the House. So the first words out of his mouth aren't compassion for the dead, compassion for the 100,000 plus people who are homeless. The first words out of his mouth are, "well we've gotta think about what we're going to do...." Now, is that the sickest thing you've ever heard?"

He also spoke to the students about the term "Media"..."What does media even mean?!" He rattled off far more than I can recall (I had video to aid in my last quote), but he said the disks we record are media, the news we watch--get specific was his urging. I guess that is journalism, isn't it? Scratch away at the surface of everything you hear, get specific, ask questions, keep at it until you get down to that kernel of truth. Think. And never ever say the events of August 2005 were a natural disaster.

So thanks, John, for the schooling. You are a mean driver of both a car and the truth.

PDN Photo of the Day!

This happened yesterday. But even cooler was hearing from an arborist who, after Katrina, relocated from New Orleans to Eureka Springs, AK with his family. He took the time to email me and say that the work touched him. It meant a lot to have someone who was from New Orleans, and an arborist, take the time to get in touch and say he liked my work.

It also reminded me about my end-of-the-year contribution to Parkway Partners NOLA. As artists, I know many of us are focused on that check to an arts-related non-profit, etc. This is an organization that is partnering with the Parks Department of New Orleans to re-plant the city. They are a solid organization with a hopeful purpose, so if you too are thinking about donations at this time of year, I urge you to consider Parkway Partners. Let's face it, a lot of us are cutting one down for Christmas. Why not help plant one back where it will really count?

Happy Holidays.

A Week of New Experiences

I got back Friday from a week in New Orleans with my colleague Becky, and nine students. When your week starts like the below, it would seem hard to top. But this Second Line was followed by Cajun dancing at Tippitina's, fishing villages, Walker Evans, Times-Picayune ride-alongs, and fried catfish served on a shaded porch. I want to thank my students who through their projects, everytime we do this, teach me more about this city that has taken my heart.

In the DVD of Your Art Life, What are the Extra Features?

I seldom reminisce about being in school. You might think this may be because five days a week, I still go to school. But mostly it's because I don't miss the sleepless nights, reading things I don't want to, or tuition. This is true until I have a day like today, when I get to go back to school. I was selected to participate in one of the Creative Capital professional development trainings on maximizing presence on the internet.

When I received the bios on our seminar leaders last week, I was floored by the people who were going to be leading the training, Steve Lambert, Brad Lichtenstein, and Dread Scott.

I started my day across the table from a guy with a ball jar full of what I imagine was wheat grass juice next to a dogeared black portfolio case--it was like an episode of "The Next Great Artist" on Bravo. But Miles was nowhere to be found, and stereotypes really were few and far between. And you know, I don't mind pointing out the ironic. The truth is, we need a heck of a lot more representations of artists like the people who led this workshop today, and a lot less of the caricatures TV is delivering to the greater non art making public.

What was really spectacular about the day was that the 30+ people in the room were visual artists, composers, musicians, performance artists, and writers, and we were as diverse in their knowledge of how to market ourselves, particularly in the multitude of vehicles the internet has to offer-- and in spite of that, Steve, Brad, and Dread managed to keep it interesting and followable for all levels.

The hard part of the day for me was goal setting. I'm terrible at it. But I managed to eke out a manageable goal: I want to have an average of 50 hits per day on my web site by June of next year. Time wise it seems manageable. And at a current rate of one to six hits per day (in spite of my fifteen minutes a couple of months ago thanks to Tinsley Mortimer), it's a stretch to get to 50. And criterion three, falsifiable? Heck yeah.

Of course, with all the superb interlinking of Facebook, Twitter, use of an aggregating program for efficiency, and strategic friending and following, who knows? It could get to 53. There were far too many take-aways to share here, and still get a tweet in before sundown, but the stand outs were Brad's philosophy on privacy settings issues: "Keep what you want private off the internet." Then there was Steve trying to get us to think about ways we can create what was referred to as a "sticky web site": Figure out what the extra features are going to be if your web site is a DVD of your art practice. I think it was also Steve who, in trying to get us to think about the idea of small giveaways--be they limited edition art or tips and tricks, "Stealing artist techniques from the internet is not a great way to steal money. There are no Nigerian scams to steal money with directions on how to construct a video game cabinet."

Anyway, all in all, I've come away really rejuvenated by the day, and wish I had been accepted into more of the available seminars. All of this was funded by the Legacy Funds approved through a Minnesota constitutional amendment to create a small sales tax increase through 2034. What an amazing gift. Thanks MSAB, Springbord for the Arts, neighbors, legislators, and tourists. If this one day helped me get so much further along in the marketing of my work, I cannot imagine how many lives these funds will touch thousands of artists here over the next 24 years!