Arts Minded: Starting off a new year with new events

Talk about it

Happy New Year! Let’s sip a cup of gladness now that we are on the back side of the solstice and, this week only, basking under the brightest, closest full moon of the year (only a little more than 222,000 miles away).

This is the substrate for dreams. No matter what the sphere of endeavor, dreamers are by nature artists. These times beseech us all to join in the artistic revival that must accompany change. There is so much that can be done to alleviate our collective troubles.

Martin Luther King’s birthday arrives this month in close conjunction with the inauguration of America’s first African American president, Barack Hussein Obama. What a demonstration of the dream’s ability to journey into reality.

In celebration, the River Falls second annual MLK breakfast event will begin just before sunrise on Monday, Jan. 19 and feature a speech by General Colin Luther Powell simulcast from the Twin Cities, the RF Gospel Choir and poetry by local young people (details below).

What’s in a middle name? I purposely include them because they deepen the identities of their recipients. Historical, biblical, romantic, fanciful or other connections our parents assign to us are often embodied in our middle names. As children we train our emotional microscopes on names, our own and others. lt’s essential to growth and development. And it’s an exercise in life’s elemental, creative effort, the forging of the self.

So, here’s to Luther, Hussein and, incidentally, Ruth. That’s me.

A sampling of events and opportunities follows. Please check details for accuracy.

Continuing through Feb. 1: In Black and White: Photography by River Falls area photographers at the River Falls Public Library. Many of the pieces are available for purchase. For more information, call 425-2402.

Continuing through Feb. 15: Photovoice: Using photography to hear voices of mothers raising children in St. Croix County; at The Phipps Center for the Arts, 109 Locust St., Hudson. For more information, call 386-2305.

The following events are at The Phipps Center. For reservations, call 386-2305

Continuing through Sunday, Jan. 18: “The Belle of Amherst” starring Linda Kelsey.

Saturday, Jan. 31, at 2 p.m.: Jelani Eddington in concert on the Wurlitzer organ and the Baldwin grand piano.

Thursday, Jan. 15, 7-10 p.m.: Art and Music Project; an evening of civil rights era songs in honor of Martin Luther King Day and the coming presidential inauguration at the Dish and Spoon Café (formerly Lighthouse Coffee), North Main Street, River Falls; hosted by Thea Ennen and Sue West; for more information, call 426-9392.

There will be Thursday Art and Music Project concerts on Jan. 22 and 29, 7-10 p.m.

Thursday, Jan. 22, 7 p.m.: Free informational meeting about the Artist Loan Fund program coordinated by Springboard for The Arts at The Phipps. Preregistration requested. Call 651-292-4381 or go to www.springboardforthearts.org.

Saturday, Jan. 31,9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.: Introduction to Painting in Pastels with instructor Denise Bunkert, an award-winning pastel artist at UW-RF Kleinpell Fine Arts Center; fee $49; for more information, call 425-3256 or go to www.uwrf.edu/outreach.

Wednesdays, Feb. 4 and 11 and March 4, 11, 18 and 25: Drawing From Nature with instructor Vera Ming Wong at the Great River Road Visitors Center, Prescott; fee $18 per class or $96 for all six classes. To register call 715-262-0104.

Ongoing classes and workshops are held at Dragonfly Spirit Studio, 2017 O’Neil Road, Hudson; for more information, call 715-781-0287.

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