MUSEUM WINTR CONCERT SERIES

TAKES ON NEW SOUNDS NEXT SEASON

Artists in the winter Museum Concert Serieswill perform works that bridge westernClassical Music with World Music.

Ying Quartet: Dim Sum — October 23, 2011.These young Chinese performers will play shortpieces by Chinese-American composers.

Gao Hong — December 4, 2011, performingon the Chinese Pipa, with her newest groupButterfly, including Nirmala Rajasekarm aworld-renowned Carnatic veena virtuoso(plucked string instrument) who hails fromsouthern India, and cellist Michelle Kinney.

Violinist Hahn-Bin — January 21, 2012,combines performance art with classical musicresulting in stardom for this young performerwho has become known as the Lady Gaga ofclassical music.

Syrian Clarinetist Kinan Azmeh collaborateswith Sri-Lankan Pianist, Dinuk Wijeratne — February 19, 2012, in a blend of MiddleEastern music and jazz. Composer Azmehrecently released an album of newcontemporary Syrian chamber music.

Dawn Avery, Mohawk cellist and composer,will perform with Percussionist StevenAlvarez (Athabascan, Mescalero Apache) —Date to be arranged. Her concert will drawfrom her North American Indian Cello Project

and her own compositions.

THE MUSEUM IS IN GOOD HANDS: PAPAS ALLInstaller Justin Dalzell with Weston Trevet, Accountant Eric Langenfeld with Selah Mae, and Chef Justin Welsh with Gracie Lou

SUMMER CONCERTS IN THE GARDEN

Lucy Michelle and the Velvet Lapelles — June 21, 2011, 7 pm. Thissix-member group out of Minneapolis plays everything from theaccordion to the cello to the ukelele, creating a truly unique sound.

Charlie Parr –– July 5, 2011, 6 pm, grew up in Austin, Minnesota,in a house filled with his father’s kind of music: field recordings byAlan Lomax released on the Folkways, Harry Smith’s Anthology ofAmerican Folk Music, all reflected in his own music.

The David Wax Museum –– July 12, 2011, 6 pm. Recently anointedBoston’s Americana Artist of the Year (2010 Boston Music Awards),the group has been called “pure, irresistible joy” (Bob Boilen, NPR)and hailed by TIME.com for its “virtuosic musical skill and virtuousharmonies.” Combining Latin rhythms, call-and-response hollering,and donkey jawbone rattling, they have electrified audiences acrossthe country” (The New Yorker).

The Blind Corn Liquor Pickers –– August 2, 2011, 6 pm. Long goneare the days of the Elvis-inspired rockabilly vocals and slap bass. Inits place is an entirely new sound. Beth Walker, the new lead singer,rocks and wails though psychedelia and blues with a raw powerreminiscent of the great folk-rock artists of the 60’s—Janis Joplin,Mama Cass, or Grace Slick.

William Elliott Whitmore –– August 9, 2011, 6 pm. Hailing from ahorse farm on the banks of the mighty Mississippi River, Whitmorehas been building a reputation as an absolutely stirring live performerable to convert crowds with just his banjo and voice.

Hoots and Hellmouth –– August 30, 2011, 6 pm.The Philadelphia-based Hoots and Hellmouth was a crowd favoritelast year. Hoots creates new music for old souls.

Bring blankets and lawn chairs, and buy burgers and hotdogs. Kidsrun freely, often dancing to the music at this family affair.Tickets are $5 in advance, $8 at the door.

North Dakota Museum of ArtNEW EXHIBITION AT THE

NORTH DAKOTA MUSEUM OF ART

JUNE 21, 2011 - SEPTEMBER 11, 2011PUBLIC RECEPTION: Tuesday, June 21, 5:30 - 7 pm.

Rena Effendi — Pipe Dreams

A pipe dream is a fantastic hope that is regarded as being impossible toachieve. This exhibition is dedicated to the people of Azerbaijan,Georgia, and Turkey, linked by the oil pipeline and their fading hopesfor a better future. – Rena Effendi

Born in 1977 in Baku, Azerbaijan, nineteen-year-old Rena Effendi’s firstjob was as a translator for the Azerbaijan International Oil Company, aconsortium of some of the world’s largest oil producers. In 2006, shereceived a commercial assignment from British Petrolium to follow theBaku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline segment in Azerbaijan. Her imagesresulted in a corporate calendar outlining the achievements of BP’s socialresponsibility programme. In the course of her assignment, however,Effendi was confronted with the reality that the majority of people hadnot benefited from the oil wealth flowing under their feet. This motivatedher to conduct her own independent investigation.

Rena Effendi’s series, Pipe Dreams, explores the lives of people livingalong 1,000 miles of pipeline through Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Turkey.The result is a fascinating collection of black and white images whichreflect the harsh realities of life as well as moments of unexpected beautyamongst the bleak landscape.

This social documentary photographer began shooting in 2001. Herinternational awards include the “Fifty Crows” DocumentaryPhotography award and the Getty Images Editorial grant. Sheparticipated in the World Press Photo Joop Swart Masterclass in 2005and 2007. She was chosen by PDN magazine as one of thirty emergingphotographers to watch. In 2008, Rena Effendi won NationalGeographic’s “All Roads” photography competition. Her work has beenexhibited worldwide, including the 2006 “Visa Pour l’Image” Festivalof Photojournalism in Perpignan, France; the 52nd Venice Biennale; andthe Istanbul Biennial (2009).

She lives with her family in Cairo, Egypt and is represented by theINSTITUTE for Artist Management Worldwide and the Moscow-basedAgency.Photographer.RU.

Rena Effendi. Female farmer in Tifnik village, one-and-one-quarter miles from the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhanpipeline. Erzurum, Turkey, 2007.

Rena Effendi. Fisherman with his nets in Bibi-Heybat oilvillage. Baku, Azerbaijan, 2006.

NEW EXHIBITION AT THE

NORTH DAKOTA MUSEUM OF ART

JUNE 21, 2011 - SEPTEMBER 11, 2011

LAURA LETINSKY — THAT WHAT MATTERS

My last two extensive projects, To Say It Isn’t So, and an earlier series,Hardly More Than Ever, are comprised of still-life color photographs ofarranged objects such as wrapping paper, plastic containers, Styrofoamcups, cans, leftover food bits, and found trinkets. I began this work in1997 as observations of forgotten details, remnants of daily subsistenceand pleasure. For many years I had been intrigued with Dutch-Flemishand Italian still-life paintings whose exacting beauty documented shiftingsocial attitudes resulting from exploration, colonization, economics, andideas about seeing as a kind of truth. I began this work in East Berlinwhere the unfamiliar context made me intensely aware of my owncultural and material relationship to food. I continued this project at myhomes in New Haven, Rome, Berlin, and Chicago.

The still life genre is unavoidably a commentary on society’s material-mindedness and the way images promote a kind of promise ofattainability. I am not interested though in the allure of the meal thatawaits an unseen viewer’s consumption. Instead, I photograph theremains of meals and its refuse so as to investigate the relationshipsbetween ripeness and decay, delicacy and awkwardness, control andhaphazardness, waste and plenitude, pleasure and sustenance.Throughout my long-term photographic practice I wish to engage thephotograph’s transformative qualities, changing what is typicallyoverlooked into something splendid in its resilience. I want to look atwhat is “after the fact,” at what (ma)lingers, at what persists, and byinference, at what is gone. These projects are part of my ongoingphotographic exploration of intimacy as the homely and the beautiful.

Laura Letinsky is a Professor and Chair at the University of Chicago,Department of Visual Arts. Museum and gallery exhibitions includeCanadian Museum of Contemporary Photography, Ottawa; CasinoLuxembourg; Yancey Richardson Gallery, New York; Monique MelocheGallery, Chicago; The Museum of Modern Art, New York; The NederlandsFoto Institute; and The Renaissance Society, Chicago. Collections includethe Art Institute of Chicago; Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago;Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; and San Francisco Museum of ModernArt. Recent publications include After All, Damiani, 2010; and HardlyMore Than Ever, The Renaissance Society, 2004. She is represented byYancey Richardson Gallery, New York.

Letinsky received her BFA from the University of Manitoba in 1986 andher MFA from Yale University 1991.

The artist will attend the opening on June 21 from 5:30 - 7 pm followedby Lucy Michelle and the Velvet Lapelles kicking off the SummerConcerts in the Garden.

“A STARRY, STARRY NIGHT” TURNS INTO AN ICELANDIC ADVENTURE

By Shana Wiley

LAURA LETINSKY photographs Top: Untitled, #80,

”Hardly More Than Ever” series, 2003.Middle: Untitled, #77,

“Hardly More Than Ever” series, 2003.Bottom: Untitled, #2,

“The Dog and The Wolf” series, 2008.

Years ago, I used to play the lottery. I bought Powerball tickets and $1.00scratch-off cards. I’d hold my breath a little as I scraped a coin across thecard hoping to find three matching dollar signs, money bags, or bananashidden beneath the shiny film. After many lottery tickets, sighs ofdisappointment, and notable lack of increase in my net worth, Iabandoned games of chance entirely. This new financial strategyincluded raffles.

Fast forward to the evening of February 5, 2011, and the North DakotaMuseum of Art’s Benefit Dinner and Silent Auction. Maybe it was thetheme of “A Starry, Starry Night,” maybe it was the good company andfine artwork, or maybe it was the wine; regardless, I purchased one raffleticket for a trip to Iceland with NDMOA’s Art Odyssey group. Much tomy surprise and delight, I won. I was going to Iceland!

The Icelandic adventure began on May 18th when a group of six of usdeparted from Grand Forks and drove to the Minneapolis airport en routeto Reykjavik. The trip ended with our return on May 24th. A memorabletrip, indeed. What probably left the greatest impression on me was thegraciousness and sincerity of the Icelandic artists. Several artists from the“Into the Tussock” exhibition, which was organized by the Museum inthe summer of 2010, as well as others invited us into their studios, theirhomes, and their country with open arms and wide smiles. They tooktime to give us countryside tours, household receptions, and delicioushome cooking. One of the artists upon seeing that our luggage had beenlost in transit provided us with coats and sweaters, which we greatlyappreciated given the chilly temperatures.

From waterfalls, geysers, and oceanic waves, to volcanoes and lavafields, to plush moss and biting wind, Icelanders are never far from theimpact of nature. Seeing the landscape helped me better understand theIcelandic artist, his/her art, and the interdependency of the two. A lessonreinforced by a volcanic eruption during our visit.

My trip with the NDMOA Art Odyssey group was as fun as it wasinformative. I’m very appreciative to Laurel, who inagurated the annualtrips years ago to introduce trustees, staff, and interested others, and theNDMOA staff for making this trip a reality. Just one question. . .

When is the next Powerball draw?

Note: Shana has been a member of the Museum since 2005 and oftenvolunteers at events or the Information Desk.

SAVE THE DATE:Autumn Art Auction: November 12, 2011

Benefit Dinner and Silent Art Auction: February 4, 2012

Summer Art Camps are completely full except forone space in Kim Fink’s Teen Painting Camp.

Shana Wiley joins the Museum’s Art Odyssey trip to Iceland.

The Museum Foundation proposes to build “TheGarden Path,” a meandering stone walkway in theMuseum Garden where peonies grow, summerconcerts take place, and sculpture finds a home.

Work will begin this summer as individual stonesare engraved and placed in the garden. Two sizesare available. The engraved message might includenames, company logo, or be anonymous.

Gifts to The Garden Path Endowment Fund willsupplement the Museum’s general operating needs,another step in securing financial stability for theMuseum today and the generations that follow. Theprinciple will be invested in perpetuity by theMuseum Foundation; only income from the Fund’sinvested assets will be transferred to the Museum.Your gift may be eligible for a North Dakota taxcredit of 40% in addition to the usual deduction onyour Federal taxes.

“THE GARDEN PATH”BUILD A GENERAL OPERATING ENDOWMENT

NEW EXHIBITION AT THE

NORTH DAKOTA MUSEUM OF ART

JUNE 21, 2011 - SEPTEMBER 11, 2011

LAURA LETINSKY — THAT WHAT MATTERS

My last two extensive projects, To Say It Isn’t So, and an earlier series,Hardly More Than Ever, are comprised of still-life color photographs ofarranged objects such as wrapping paper, plastic containers, Styrofoamcups, cans, leftover food bits, and found trinkets. I began this work in1997 as observations of forgotten details, remnants of daily subsistenceand pleasure. For many years I had been intrigued with Dutch-Flemishand Italian still-life paintings whose exacting beauty documented shiftingsocial attitudes resulting from exploration, colonization, economics, andideas about seeing as a kind of truth. I began this work in East Berlinwhere the unfamiliar context made me intensely aware of my owncultural and material relationship to food. I continued this project at myhomes in New Haven, Rome, Berlin, and Chicago.

The still life genre is unavoidably a commentary on society’s material-mindedness and the way images promote a kind of promise ofattainability. I am not interested though in the allure of the meal thatawaits an unseen viewer’s consumption. Instead, I photograph theremains of meals and its refuse so as to investigate the relationshipsbetween ripeness and decay, delicacy and awkwardness, control andhaphazardness, waste and plenitude, pleasure and sustenance.Throughout my long-term photographic practice I wish to engage thephotograph’s transformative qualities, changing what is typicallyoverlooked into something splendid in its resilience. I want to look atwhat is “after the fact,” at what (ma)lingers, at what persists, and byinference, at what is gone. These projects are part of my ongoingphotographic exploration of intimacy as the homely and the beautiful.

Laura Letinsky is a Professor and Chair at the University of Chicago,Department of Visual Arts. Museum and gallery exhibitions includeCanadian Museum of Contemporary Photography, Ottawa; CasinoLuxembourg; Yancey Richardson Gallery, New York; Monique MelocheGallery, Chicago; The Museum of Modern Art, New York; The NederlandsFoto Institute; and The Renaissance Society, Chicago. Collections includethe Art Institute of Chicago; Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago;Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; and San Francisco Museum of ModernArt. Recent publications include After All, Damiani, 2010; and HardlyMore Than Ever, The Renaissance Society, 2004. She is represented byYancey Richardson Gallery, New York.

Letinsky received her BFA from the University of Manitoba in 1986 andher MFA from Yale University 1991.

The artist will attend the opening on June 21 from 5:30 - 7 pm followedby Lucy Michelle and the Velvet Lapelles kicking off the SummerConcerts in the Garden.

“A STARRY, STARRY NIGHT” TURNS INTO AN ICELANDIC ADVENTURE

By Shana Wiley

LAURA LETINSKY photographs Top: Untitled, #80,

”Hardly More Than Ever” series, 2003.Middle: Untitled, #77,

“Hardly More Than Ever” series, 2003.Bottom: Untitled, #2,

“The Dog and The Wolf” series, 2008.

Years ago, I used to play the lottery. I bought Powerball tickets and $1.00scratch-off cards. I’d hold my breath a little as I scraped a coin across thecard hoping to find three matching dollar signs, money bags, or bananashidden beneath the shiny film. After many lottery tickets, sighs ofdisappointment, and notable lack of increase in my net worth, Iabandoned games of chance entirely. This new financial strategyincluded raffles.

Fast forward to the evening of February 5, 2011, and the North DakotaMuseum of Art’s Benefit Dinner and Silent Auction. Maybe it was thetheme of “A Starry, Starry Night,” maybe it was the good company andfine artwork, or maybe it was the wine; regardless, I purchased one raffleticket for a trip to Iceland with NDMOA’s Art Odyssey group. Much tomy surprise and delight, I won. I was going to Iceland!

The Icelandic adventure began on May 18th when a group of six of usdeparted from Grand Forks and drove to the Minneapolis airport en routeto Reykjavik. The trip ended with our return on May 24th. A memorabletrip, indeed. What probably left the greatest impression on me was thegraciousness and sincerity of the Icelandic artists. Several artists from the“Into the Tussock” exhibition, which was organized by the Museum inthe summer of 2010, as well as others invited us into their studios, theirhomes, and their country with open arms and wide smiles. They tooktime to give us countryside tours, household receptions, and delicioushome cooking. One of the artists upon seeing that our luggage had beenlost in transit provided us with coats and sweaters, which we greatlyappreciated given the chilly temperatures.

From waterfalls, geysers, and oceanic waves, to volcanoes and lavafields, to plush moss and biting wind, Icelanders are never far from theimpact of nature. Seeing the landscape helped me better understand theIcelandic artist, his/her art, and the interdependency of the two. A lessonreinforced by a volcanic eruption during our visit.

My trip with the NDMOA Art Odyssey group was as fun as it wasinformative. I’m very appreciative to Laurel, who inagurated the annualtrips years ago to introduce trustees, staff, and interested others, and theNDMOA staff for making this trip a reality. Just one question. . .

When is the next Powerball draw?

Note: Shana has been a member of the Museum since 2005 and oftenvolunteers at events or the Information Desk.

SAVE THE DATE:Autumn Art Auction: November 12, 2011

Benefit Dinner and Silent Art Auction: February 4, 2012

Summer Art Camps are completely full except forone space in Kim Fink’s Teen Painting Camp.

Shana Wiley joins the Museum’s Art Odyssey trip to Iceland.

The Museum Foundation proposes to build “TheGarden Path,” a meandering stone walkway in theMuseum Garden where peonies grow, summerconcerts take place, and sculpture finds a home.

Work will begin this summer as individual stonesare engraved and placed in the garden. Two sizesare available. The engraved message might includenames, company logo, or be anonymous.

Gifts to The Garden Path Endowment Fund willsupplement the Museum’s general operating needs,another step in securing financial stability for theMuseum today and the generations that follow. Theprinciple will be invested in perpetuity by theMuseum Foundation; only income from the Fund’sinvested assets will be transferred to the Museum.Your gift may be eligible for a North Dakota taxcredit of 40% in addition to the usual deduction onyour Federal taxes.

“THE GARDEN PATH”BUILD A GENERAL OPERATING ENDOWMENT

MUSEUM WINTR CONCERT SERIES

TAKES ON NEW SOUNDS NEXT SEASON

Artists in the winter Museum Concert Serieswill perform works that bridge westernClassical Music with World Music.

Ying Quartet: Dim Sum — October 23, 2011.These young Chinese performers will play shortpieces by Chinese-American composers.

Gao Hong — December 4, 2011, performingon the Chinese Pipa, with her newest groupButterfly, including Nirmala Rajasekarm aworld-renowned Carnatic veena virtuoso(plucked string instrument) who hails fromsouthern India, and cellist Michelle Kinney.

Violinist Hahn-Bin — January 21, 2012,combines performance art with classical musicresulting in stardom for this young performerwho has become known as the Lady Gaga ofclassical music.

Syrian Clarinetist Kinan Azmeh collaborateswith Sri-Lankan Pianist, Dinuk Wijeratne — February 19, 2012, in a blend of MiddleEastern music and jazz. Composer Azmehrecently released an album of newcontemporary Syrian chamber music.

Dawn Avery, Mohawk cellist and composer,will perform with Percussionist StevenAlvarez (Athabascan, Mescalero Apache) —Date to be arranged. Her concert will drawfrom her North American Indian Cello Project

and her own compositions.

THE MUSEUM IS IN GOOD HANDS: PAPAS ALLInstaller Justin Dalzell with Weston Trevet, Accountant Eric Langenfeld with Selah Mae, and Chef Justin Welsh with Gracie Lou

SUMMER CONCERTS IN THE GARDEN

Lucy Michelle and the Velvet Lapelles — June 21, 2011, 7 pm. Thissix-member group out of Minneapolis plays everything from theaccordion to the cello to the ukelele, creating a truly unique sound.

Charlie Parr –– July 5, 2011, 6 pm, grew up in Austin, Minnesota,in a house filled with his father’s kind of music: field recordings byAlan Lomax released on the Folkways, Harry Smith’s Anthology ofAmerican Folk Music, all reflected in his own music.

The David Wax Museum –– July 12, 2011, 6 pm. Recently anointedBoston’s Americana Artist of the Year (2010 Boston Music Awards),the group has been called “pure, irresistible joy” (Bob Boilen, NPR)and hailed by TIME.com for its “virtuosic musical skill and virtuousharmonies.” Combining Latin rhythms, call-and-response hollering,and donkey jawbone rattling, they have electrified audiences acrossthe country” (The New Yorker).

The Blind Corn Liquor Pickers –– August 2, 2011, 6 pm. Long goneare the days of the Elvis-inspired rockabilly vocals and slap bass. Inits place is an entirely new sound. Beth Walker, the new lead singer,rocks and wails though psychedelia and blues with a raw powerreminiscent of the great folk-rock artists of the 60’s—Janis Joplin,Mama Cass, or Grace Slick.

William Elliott Whitmore –– August 9, 2011, 6 pm. Hailing from ahorse farm on the banks of the mighty Mississippi River, Whitmorehas been building a reputation as an absolutely stirring live performerable to convert crowds with just his banjo and voice.

Hoots and Hellmouth –– August 30, 2011, 6 pm.The Philadelphia-based Hoots and Hellmouth was a crowd favoritelast year. Hoots creates new music for old souls.

Bring blankets and lawn chairs, and buy burgers and hotdogs. Kidsrun freely, often dancing to the music at this family affair.Tickets are $5 in advance, $8 at the door.

North Dakota Museum of ArtNEW EXHIBITION AT THE

NORTH DAKOTA MUSEUM OF ART

JUNE 21, 2011 - SEPTEMBER 11, 2011PUBLIC RECEPTION: Tuesday, June 21, 5:30 - 7 pm.

Rena Effendi — Pipe Dreams

A pipe dream is a fantastic hope that is regarded as being impossible toachieve. This exhibition is dedicated to the people of Azerbaijan,Georgia, and Turkey, linked by the oil pipeline and their fading hopesfor a better future. – Rena Effendi

Born in 1977 in Baku, Azerbaijan, nineteen-year-old Rena Effendi’s firstjob was as a translator for the Azerbaijan International Oil Company, aconsortium of some of the world’s largest oil producers. In 2006, shereceived a commercial assignment from British Petrolium to follow theBaku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline segment in Azerbaijan. Her imagesresulted in a corporate calendar outlining the achievements of BP’s socialresponsibility programme. In the course of her assignment, however,Effendi was confronted with the reality that the majority of people hadnot benefited from the oil wealth flowing under their feet. This motivatedher to conduct her own independent investigation.

Rena Effendi’s series, Pipe Dreams, explores the lives of people livingalong 1,000 miles of pipeline through Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Turkey.The result is a fascinating collection of black and white images whichreflect the harsh realities of life as well as moments of unexpected beautyamongst the bleak landscape.

This social documentary photographer began shooting in 2001. Herinternational awards include the “Fifty Crows” DocumentaryPhotography award and the Getty Images Editorial grant. Sheparticipated in the World Press Photo Joop Swart Masterclass in 2005and 2007. She was chosen by PDN magazine as one of thirty emergingphotographers to watch. In 2008, Rena Effendi won NationalGeographic’s “All Roads” photography competition. Her work has beenexhibited worldwide, including the 2006 “Visa Pour l’Image” Festivalof Photojournalism in Perpignan, France; the 52nd Venice Biennale; andthe Istanbul Biennial (2009).

She lives with her family in Cairo, Egypt and is represented by theINSTITUTE for Artist Management Worldwide and the Moscow-basedAgency.Photographer.RU.

Rena Effendi. Female farmer in Tifnik village, one-and-one-quarter miles from the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhanpipeline. Erzurum, Turkey, 2007.

Rena Effendi. Fisherman with his nets in Bibi-Heybat oilvillage. Baku, Azerbaijan, 2006.