After last weekend, you might be thinking there couldn’t possibly be any art or culture left in the Capital City. Okay, I guess you know better than that. For a lot of young people, this is the first full week off from school and the weather has been cooperating—except for a couple of rained-out baseball games and a picnic—and everyone needs to be out of the house and busy. This week’s TWISP (This Week in Saint Paul) is the fix.
The Saint Paul Almanac is pleased to announce the ninth in its 2013–2014 season of acclaimed Lowertown Reading Jams, which celebrate the rich literary history of Minnesota’s capital city and the widely popular genre of spoken word. “In the face of progress we have given up many things. Those we have given up unconsciously are the most disturbing. So busy moving forward, we fail to see what we have dropped along the way. We have left the rivers, forests, and soil to fall into neglect. We have traded the night sky and stars—for what? Why? We have given up walking, knowing the names, stories, histories, and uses of places, animals, and plants. Other things, not all necessarily related to nature, have also been left behind.” Featuring performances by Ben Weaver • Heid Erdrich • Kara Olson • Brad Zellar • with emcee Robert Karimi
I have been thinking about this week for some time. I have been wondering what I would say, what I would tell you about, and have been feeling overwhelmed. The summer is busy and is even more so this weekend with the Light Rail Transit Green Line Opening on June 14. With free rides from Lowertown to our neighbors in Minneapolis, there’s a lot to see, with activities, entertainment, and art at each stop. The Saint Paul Almanac will be at the Victoria Station with our Storymobile. Hopefully, we will see you there as well as a few other places this week.
June is a busy month for the Saint Paul Almanac. There are a lot of dates you should save: June 3, June 14, and June 27, to be specific. We have been telling Saint Paul’s story in many ways for many years. We still are looking for more stories, more voices, and new ways to collect them. On Tuesday, June 3, we will be celebrating at the Amsterdam with our new look. On June 14, we will show off our new Storymobile at the Victoria Green Line station for the Green Line Opening.
TOO BLACK, a graduate of Ball State University, is a poet and spoken word artist from Muncie, IN. The name TOO BLACK developed from wanting to challenge the perceptions of blackness and humanity in general. Influenced by a wide variety of artist and historical figures, from Malcolm X to George Carlin, TOO BLACK brings a versatile perspective to the stage.
SAINT PAUL, MINN. (May 28, 2014) – June 14 marks the rollout of Saint Paul Almanac’s Storymobile. Storymobile is a moveable community engagement tool that makes it easy to share, display, collect, and generate the narratives that make Saint Paul the vibrant and diverse city that it is. Look for this multimedia, solar-powered roving art space throughout the summer. This “stories on wheels” is on a bicycle trailer with ready tools—iPads, microphones, amps, and keyboards, as well as good old paper and pencil—to share and record stories.
If you did not notice last week, festival season is upon us. As you make your way through these festivals, remember, you are not only making memories and stories, but you are also making history. Who knows what you will see this summer, and the Saint Paul Almanac will be doing its part to join the fun including taking time to roll out our new Storymobile at the opening of the light rail Green Line on Saturday, June 14!
Last Wednesday, May 14, The Saint Paul Almanac took home the top prize in the Travel category at the Midwest Book Awards. We were finalists in the categories of Culture, Midwest Regional Interests: Text, Reference, and, thanks to our awesome web man Nigel Parry, Publisher’s Website. The Almanac has won previous Midwest Book Awards for Travel (2012) and Culture (2013). This is the fruits of a great community, an Almanac family that is proving its value in a lot of different corners of the our Saint Paul world, and beyond. We are proud, not so much for the awards, but more for the unique and amazing work we do with a rare assembly of community members who continue to create something special.
Last Wednesday, May 14, The Saint Paul Almanac took home top prize in the Travel category at the Midwest Book Awards. We were finalists in the categories of Culture, Midwest Regional Interests: Text, Reference, and, thanks to our awesome web man Nigel Parry, Publisher’s Website. This is the work of a great community, an Almanac family that is proving its value in a lot of different corners of the our Saint Paul world, and beyond. We are proud, not so much for the awards, but more for the unique and amazing work we do with a rare assembly of community members who continue to create something special.
Featuring performances by David Mura • Chantz Erolin • Nikko Sencer-Mura • Dorothy O’Berry • Malanda J. Simba • Dane Verrett • with emcee Robert Karimi. In recent years a whole new generation of poets, spoken-word artists, and rappers have appeared on the Twin Cities’ art scene. Their work explores the issues of race and identity and the changing demographics of our area. Some of the young writers on this bill come from the Voices Merging program of the University of Minnesota. Some are connected with the independent local hip-hop scene and the rap producer Julian Fairbanks.
Last week, some of us celebrated National Train Day and the first train to pull out of Union Depot since the early 1970s. I imagine a day when I can walk out my door, take a generous walk to the Light Rail, and wind up not far from my sister’s house in Chicago without having to set foot in a car or a plane. In a month, the Green Line will be able to take us close to many arts happenings around our city, whether along University Avenue, in Lowertown, in Downtown, or just a few blocks either direction of the tracks. We don’t need to wait for the train to enjoy the art now. The weather is great. Let’s get out!
Spring arrives slowly, but Saint Paul hasn’t slowed down. We had a busy Saint Paul Art Crawl two weekends ago, Cinco de Mayo on the West Side, and the Festival of Nations in Downtown this past weekend—and maybe some weather dampening the heels of our festiveness. The momentum and better weather will carry us into more opportunities to keep up the process of thawing and warming up, and art is the star we’re following in the brighter heavens. Here are a few ideas.
Help us to SAVE OUR STORIES by supporting Saint Paul Almanac’s literary and visual artists, and filmmakers.
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