Como Park Conservatory

Frederick Nussbaumer had an ideal public park for Saint Paul and it was the Como Park Conservatory. He wanted to attract visitors to the park and share with people a variety of modern artistic styles of art. He expanded the greenhouses to provide more room for plants and education for students in school to learn horticulture and aquatic plants. The Como Park Conservatory got its name in 1915 when the glass dome was built. It was built in Renaissance style. It has the dome, columns, and a staircase going up to an arched entrance. The top and sides of the conservatory are made of clear glass. Walking pass the building, you can see through the windows. When I’m going up the stairs the building looks huge and beautiful. It has an elegant and exotic look.

The inside of the building is very warm. The plants were separated into three areas, the fern room, the Sunken garden and the North garden. The North garden was like an exotic tropical rainforest. It has many plants, flowers, and trees that came from tropical forests all over the world. There are huge palm and banana trees. The tallest was the palm tree that reached all the way to the top of the dome. There were all different kinds of colorful fruits such as the pineapple, oranges, papaya, mango, chocolate, tamarind, sugarcane, and bananas growing. All different kinds of herbs were growing. There were colorful exotic flowers such as the orchids in purple and bright magenta, the miniature fishtail palm, macaw flower, and Annatto that is used for making lipstick color. The tropical trees, flowers, and plants were planted according to how they’re used for in medicine and what plants we can eat. The signs by the plants explains what the plants are used for which is very helpful. There was a Koi fish pond that was very nice. There is a statue of a monk by the pond. It is a renaissance style monk. It creates a peaceful atmosphere with the monk there. The Koi fishes were very active, big, and beautiful. I like that there is so much variety of tropical trees, flowers, and plants that I’ve never seen before.

The Fern room which is in the middle of the dome was amazing. The signs say that the ferns that grow at the conservatory were the same ferns that grew during the dinosaur ages. There were a variety of ferns and palm trees. The plants and trees were arranged so that the tallest trees were in the center and the shorter plants were on the outside. Being able to see how high the fruits and palm trees were helped give me an idea of how tall the conservatory really was. There was a bronze sculpture that was made by the artist Harriet Frismuth. The theme is “Crest of the Wave.” It has a girl that looks like she is dancing on top of a fountain. It fits the dome because the statue is playful and creates a fun atmosphere for any visitor who comes to the conservatory.

The Sunken garden was like a magical garden. There were cabbage flowers and a variety color of chrysanthemum flowers. It had a Koi fish pond in the center of the room with yellow lotus flowers growing on top of the pond and chrysanthemum flowers surrounded on the outside. The room looked bright because there were no tall trees. There was a bronze statue of a girl that is touching a toad with the tip of her toes. It was made by the artist Harriet W. Frishmuth. It gives the atmosphere of the garden a more relaxed and happy feeling. The statue is acting playful and she is happy. The theme is “Play Days” and it fits well with the garden because I saw people bring books to read there. Others were just sitting and talking there admiring the garden.

In 1915, Como park was just a park for visitors to take walks, be in nature, have picnics, enjoy the forests and flowers. Until people all over the world started having glassed conservatories that they grow their tropical plants in. People were having high standards for public art and Fredrick took the opportunity to expand his greenhouses since he didn’t have enough room for his plants. Renaissance architecture and mosiaculture was popular during the 1900’s. The idea of mosaiculture originated in Germany, where Frederick was born and from renaissance gardens. Having the conservatory dome structure and its glass windows gives the twin cities an identity and history. The displays of the flower and plants at the Como Park Conservatory are significant because it provides education and extravagantly romantic settings for social events or a place to just hang out. Memories can be made just by being in these beautiful gardens because people also come here to get married, have picnics, and take family pictures.

Intermedia Arts & Soo V. A. C.

The exhibition at Intermedia Arts exhibits different kinds of art from twenty-eight women from all over the world. The art exhibit uses Hip-Hop visual art to bring education and inspiration to all women globally. It has all kinds of colorful arts ranging from photography, acrylic paintings on canvas and skateboards, drawings, collages using spray paints, terra cotta under glaze and glazed plates, and giclee printed illustrations. The theme that connects all the artists and their work is the Nefertiti Remixed art by the featured artist Lauri Lyons. Her artwork is a homage to the history of women’s greatness in culture specifically Egyptology.

The first artwork that I chose is “Knock Out” by the artist Shannon Joyce. It was acrylic on canvas. I liked that the title of the artwork had a double meaning. The artwork has an attractive looking woman in very short shorts, a tank top, and long black hair which makes her a knock out because she is attractive looking. She is holding chains in one hand and a bat in the other hand like she’s going to knock the viewer out.

The second artwork that I chose is “Luxury Problems” by the artist Motel 7. It was acrylic on canvas. I liked how the artist portrays luxury as a problem in her own unique way through art. The artwork has a teary eyed girl in a princess dress that looks like a strawberry pie. The girl’s stomach area has a face with its mouth open letting gray ghostlike steam going out. The girl has tattoos on both her arms and is holding two balloons in her hand. One balloon is round and happy. The other is sad and seemed to lose most of the air inside. There is a gingerbread house and a grave with bones behind the girl on the left side and a rainbow on the right. The artist seems to portray that money can’t buy happiness and sweet food can’t fill a person’s appetite for happiness.

The murals outside the building were either spray painted or aerosol painted and very colorful. The front of the building has a bridge with colorful hands representing different nationalities holding up the bridge. There is a line of people running across the bridge. The theme is “Build bridges not fences”. I like the theme because there is so much truth to it. On the side and back of the building have all sorts of graffiti arts and tags. They’re very colorful and huge on the building’s outside walls. I liked this artistic expression because they’re announcing that they are artistic women who are making history on the walls with their graffitis. Everyone who drives by or walks by the building will see the colorful graffiti artwork. Those who are interested by the artworks will want to come and see what all the colorful graffiti is about and who the artist is that made them. It is also a way to get more people aware of what Intermedia Art’s mission and purpose is all about for artistic women all over the world.

The Soo Visual Arts Center exhibits Greg Gossel and Amy Rice’s artworks. The artwork by Greg Gossel titled “Worthless” shows a color comic book man who seems to be leaning forward to kiss a teary eyed girl on her right cheek. There are pieces of magazine pictures and comic book word bubbles as the background. Greg’s artworks are layers of comic book characters, tabloids, and magazines. I like Greg’s artworks because they are creative and unique.

The artwork by Amy Rice titled “Paperboat” shows a girl rowing herself on a life size paper boat. The river and paper boat has written words on them like a love letter does. The background is red trees in a teal sky. I like this artwork by Amy because she has so much wonderful childhood memories and a great imagination.

All the artworks that I saw at Intermedia Arts and Soo V. A. C, made me realize how unique each artist is independently. No one else has the same visual imagination and expression. Each artist has their own unique and creative way of expressing who they are as their own person. It’s like they are each making their mark in art history and showing to people in the future that their style of art is their own. It amazes me how art history can be portrayed in so many different ways and styles.

The Museum of Russian Art

The museum of Russian Art exhibits Russian art paintings. It’s amazing how they can turn a Spanish Colonial Revival style church into a three level Russian art exhibit. The church building with so much history fits nicely together with displays of Russian paintings. The main gallery I would say is the room where people in the past sat in rows of benches. The altar would be at the end of the room where there’s a big arch. The basement would be the lower level where the “Photography of the Tsar” is. The museum of Russian art is historically beautiful on the outside and inside.

The dates of a few artist paintings are more than a century old and most of the paintings are this century. Most of the Russian artist’s paintings are realism art. Almost all of them depict real people in real life.

The first art I chose in the Russkiy Salon on the main gallery is the painting “Sunday In The Village” by Nikolai Dmitrievich Dmitriev-Orenburgsky made in 1884. He painted using oil on canvas. I like this painting because the painting shows what ordinary people do on a normal Sunday in the country. He paints adults dancing by a man playing an accordion, children and adults watching, a woman breastfeeding, homes in the background, and a church. When I look at the painting it looks real as if I was there watching these people have fun. If you look closely at the painting it is very detailed in the faces of people and their clothing. I like this artist because he is very talented visually and detailed.

The second art I chose in the Mezzanine gallery is “A Day in Autumn” by the artist Aleksei Mikhailovich Gritsai made in 1995. He painted using oil on canvas. I like this painting because the painting shows a Russian forest landscape during the fall when the leaves are turning a yellow color. This realism painting makes you feel like your seeing a colorful forest by looking out a window. The paint texture of the yellow leaves brings out the realism of the leaves being blown down by the wind. I like this artist because he’s very precise in painting the beauty of nature during one of its changing season.

The third art I chose in the Mezzanine gallery is “Milkmaids, Novella” by the artist Nikolai Baskakov made in 1962. He painted using oil on canvas. I like this painting because the Russian milkmaids look like they are having fun on a sunny day at the farm. The painting shows three milkmaids on a farm during a work break. The milkmaids are sitting in the grass and two of the milkmaids are laughing hysterically as if one of the three had told a joke. You can tell they are milkmaids because they have two large milk cans next to them and about four cows behind them. This is a good realism painting because the facial expressions of the milkmaids and every detail are very real. The painting made me feel like I was there and I could feel how funny the joke was. I like this artist because he captured the three Russian milkmaid’s happy moment very well.

The exhibit “Photographer to the Tsar” down in the lower level of the building were pictures of people in their everyday lives in central Asia taken by Sergei M. Prokudin-Gorskii. Sergei was one of the first photographers who was able to advance his camera to capture color in photos. He is unique because he was able to take color photography while he was traveling in Russia and central Asia. The lower gallery displayed the lighted photos in square frames. Each photo had a number under it and an exhibition guide was provided. The booklet had more information of what the photos were about and where they were taken. All of the photos were very colorful. Being able to see the colors from that time period was very fortunate for me. Not too many photos in that time were colorful. I can see what colors their fabrics, clothes, food, and buildings are. The colors show more detail in what color the clothing and jewelry are like between rich and ordinary people. The colors also show what kind of culture, nationality, climate, and type of landscape the people live in. I’m glad I got to see these colorful photos taken by Sergei.

The Northern Clay Center

The Northern Clay Center in Minneapolis is a place where ceramic artists use the spaces at Northern Clay Center to exhibit, sell, and create their ceramic artworks. Classes, workshops, and programs are offered to adults and children to learn about clay and ceramic art.
When I walked through the entrance, I saw lots of ceramic artworks displayed on shelves, windows, and floors. Some were for sale. To the right, past the receptionist desk, was the Regis Masters Ron Meyers and Patti Warashina exhibits.
Ron Meyers artworks are mostly made out of earthenware which is a ceramic material. His earthenware artworks are of plates, bowls, baskets, yunomis or teacups, jars with covers, and platters. Ron Meyers paints birds, bulls, frogs, chickens, pigs, dogs, and a woman onto his ceramic artworks. The colors he uses are brown, red, yellow, black, light blues, and whites to give color to his artworks. Most of his work are painted and glazed. The rest are either wood-fired stoneware or salt-fired stoneware. Although these stoneware artworks are brown and less colorful, they have the same expressionism as his painted ceramic artworks. Ron Meyer's expressionism is to make the animals faces look humanly alive. The animals each have their own facial expression which shows what the animal is feeling at the moment. Ron Meyers paints facial expressions especially focusing on the eyes and mouth of the animals. Some of the mouths of the animals is curved up or down. Some showing teeth, some not. It's the same with the eyes, the eyes are slanted or straight. Depending on the shape of the eyes and mouth makes the animals look angry, sly, happy, shy, serious, and or scared.
He also has drawings in charcoal and pastel of farm animals grouped together, grouped fishes, chickens, teapots, bowls, and other pottery tableware. He doesn't use much color in his drawings. The colors he mostly uses in his drawings are black and white. The other colors he uses are red, brown, yellow, blue, and green. Again, his drawings focuses on the facial expressions which looks humanly alive. Some animals are looking at us and some are looking at other animals. The animals either look angry, sly, happy, shy, serious, and or scared.

To the right of the room are the artworks of Patti Warashina. Her ceramic sculptures are all made of white ware with underglaze and glaze. Her artworks are humorous and sarcastic. She expresses humor and sarcasm through mini human sculptures, birds, dogs, shapes, facial expressions, and colors. Her sculptures have very human like expressions on their faces that after you read the title you can easily understand what Patti Warashina is portraying. Her ceramic sculptures are about two to three feet tall that looks like little people but with a large head, shorter arms, hand, legs, and feet. The mini human like sculptures are naked with protruding chests. Most of them have oval like shapes and triangular cones on top of their heads. For her naked sculptures she uses a whitish pink color for skin tone. She paints shapes and patterns onto the bodies using mainly the colors black, red, and blue. The sculptures are mostly underglazed but only some parts of the shapes on the sculptures are glazed such as parts on the arm, legs, and certain shapes on the body.
Patti has four framed drawings, that uses monoprints, drypoint etching, and copperplate etching. Her colors, again she sticks with red, black, and white. Both in her drawings and sculptures, she is using surrealism art showing how people think and showing certain forms of problems in life that people have. I noticed that the eyelids of her mini human sculptures are thick. They look like they are sleepy or tired. I believe she is depicting humor and sarcasm by putting her sculptures in imaginary environments like in a lucid dream states.
Before Patti starts to make her sculptures, she puts her ideas and images in a drawing or painting first. Patti always likes to try different ways in ceramics because she liked the challenges in ceramic sculpting and that is why she made her paintings in solid forms by sculpting 3D figures.

Patti Warashina's work at the Northern Clay Center reflects her background because she learned a lot about ceramics technologically from schools like the Northern Clay Center that does workshops and tours around the country. It also affected her work as an emerging ceramic artist because she was able to see a lot of artists that influenced her artworks. Back then, during her times as an emerging ceramic artist, ceramic was not considered an art. It's because of schools like the Northern Clay Center that helped make ceramics part of the art culture.
Patti Warashina's artistic philosophy is that art or clay can be anything you want it to be. She has a unique way of looking and seeing things. Especially, the way she is able to bring humor to faux pas and tragedies in real life. That's where she usually get her ideas from. She has a strong independence where she believes that artists should be able to say what they want to say or express it however they desire in their artworks.

In the College Bowl II/09 exhibition, the first ceramic object I like was the artist Emily Bardwell from Macalester College. The artwork titled, "Lace 1 & 2." The artwork was made of earthenware. I liked it because they were rounded perfectly like a ball but with beautiful patterns. One ceramic pot was a pretty light blue in color with white flowered pattern that had a texture that reminded me of clam shells. The other ceramic pot background was white with navy blue colored flower pattern that was stamped or carved into the surface. Looking at both pots far or near was still beautiful.
The second ceramic object I like was the artist Anne Scott Plummer from Winona State University. The artwork titled, "Reclining Couple." The artwork was made of stoneware. I liked it because it has a curvy woman sitting on top of a man in a loving reclining position. The color is orangy white, the arms and legs of the couple are angled, and the woman's got her hand in the man's hair like they are in love. I think the artist's is portraying the sculpted couple as having a "sensual" moment. Anyways, I think it's a great gift for couples who are still in love on their anniversaries.