Within the gothic chapels of Avignon’s Palais des Papes, Eva Jospin carves parallel narratives tinged with enchanting ecologies. The Parisian artist, who’s known for her large-scale sculptures and installations made of corrugated cardboard, positions her architectural works inside the cavernous papal residence, juxtaposing her cut columns and archways with the historic surroundings.

Titled Palazzo, Jospin’s exhibition features several works created within the last few years, many of which contrast the human-made with the natural through scenes veiled with mystery. Vines descend in dense clusters in “Cénotaphe,” a monumental memorial with fantastical details, while the luminous “Nymphées” evokes crumbling geological formations and jagged, rocky openings combined with elements of an ancient Roman fountain. The theatrical “Côté cour côté jardin” structurally mimics a stage or city square with walls of vegetation, as it questions the relationship between inside and out and considers what remains hidden.

In each piece, Jospin draws on art history and antiquities, exploring interactions between differing spaces. Her use of a humble, recyclable material to depict grand scenes in states of ruin emphasizes fallibility and the inevitability of change, as she explores shifts in relevance and power over time.

Palazzo is on view through January 7, 2024.

“Cénotaphe (Grande chapelle)” (2020)

“Côté cour côté jardin (Grande chapelle)” (2021)

“Forêt Corinthienne, (Chambre antique du camérier)” (2023)

Detail of “Nymphées (Grande chapelle)” (2022)

“Petite folie (Chapelle St Martial)” (2023)

“Galleria (Chambre de Parement)” (2021)

Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member today and support independent arts publishing for as little as $5 per month. The article Eva Jospin’s Vegetal Growths and Enchanting Architectural Ruins Transform the Gothic Palais des Papes appeared first on Colossal.

Explore readers, we made it! 

It’s Labor Day weekend, the unofficial end of summer, and we survived multiple 100-degree days and wildfire smoke. 

Labor Day is a federally recognized holiday, observed the first Monday every September. It celebrates American workers.

Many people travel during the holiday weekend or stick close to home for one last blast of summer fun. 

Whether you’re sticking to the Yakima Valley or getting out of town, be safe and enjoy your weekend. If you are sticking around, though, here are some things you can do:

Beer Grows Community

Once a month, Single Hill Brewing Company, 102 N. Naches Ave., hosts Beer Grows Community. The brewery partners with a local organization for a presentation and 50% of all draft beer sales for that day are donated to the presenting organization.

This Thursday, Aug. 31, Single Hill and The Seasons Performance Hall partner up for the August edition of Beer Grows Community.

Staff from The Seasons Performance Hall will be available in the taproom from 5-7 p.m. to share information about the organization.

Packwood Flea Market

Twice a year, the town of Packwood opens its streets and free spaces to vendors and visitors looking for a great deal.

The Labor Day weekend flea market will take place Friday through Monday. Hundreds of vendors set up shop with antiques, clothing, household items, novelties, décor and more.

Just about an hour and a half drive from Yakima, you’ll travel about 70 miles westbound on U.S. Highway 12.

Art studio tours

More than 30 local artists are participating in this year’s Labor Day Weekend Artist’s Studio Tour from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday and from 10 a.m.-noon on Monday.

Six studios will host artists and guests to celebrate art, meet artists, tour studios, watch the creative process, purchase art and join a mini art class.

Participating studio locations include Artebella Gallery, 2103 W. Yakima Ave.; Rachel Dorn, 203 S. Eighth Ave.; John Barany, 2302 Laban Ave.; Yakima Maker Space, 16 S. First St.; Studio 909 Gallery, 909 S. 30th Ave.; and Yakima Valley Artists Association at St. Timothy’s Episcopal Church, 4105 Richey Road.

Tickets cost $10 per person and allow each person into each studio all three days.

Tickets can be purchased at Better Now Coffee, 4001 Summitview Ave., Suite 22A; Shopkeeper, 3105 Summitview Ave.; John Gasperetti’s Floral and Design, 5633 Summitview Ave.; Stems, 399 E. Yakima Ave.; The Larson Gallery, 1606 W. Nob Hill Blvd.; Yakima Valley Tourism Visitor Information Center, 101 N. Fair Ave.; and Oak Hollow Custom Framing and Gallery, 601 N. First St.

Tickets can be purchased by email or phone by contacting Pamela Searcy at 206-915-4663 or pamelasearcy@iinet.com.

Visit www.artebellagallery.com/studiotour for more information about participating artists.

Granger Menudo Festival

Granger will host its 18th annual Menudo Festival on Sunday from 10 a.m.-6 p.m. at Hisey (Dino) Park, 505 Main St., Granger.

The menudo festival consists of a menudo contest and is open to anyone interested in participating. The registration fee is $20; contact Israel by calling 509-305-6040.

Menudo judging will begin at 12:30 p.m. and winners will be announced at 2 p.m. Judging will be a blind taste test.

The daylong event will also include a car show, volleyball tournament and vendors.

The volleyball tournament starts at 8:30 a.m. and costs $175 to participate. Interested teams should contact Angel Golob at 509-840-4898 or amgolog@gmail.com. Players must be 18 years or older and two players on the court must be women at all times. The top three teams will receive T-shirts and plaques.

First Friday

It’s First Friday, and several downtown businesses, organizations and other downtown spaces are offering specials to highlight art, culture, dining and shopping in downtown Yakima.

Visit downtownyakima.com for more on the following businesses:

• Sewn, 25 N. Front St., Suite 2.

• Stems, 399 E. Yakima Ave.

• Three Sisters Metaphysical Arts, 106 S. Second St.

• Healing Rowan Creations, studio located upstairs from Mama Corie’s Kitchen, 114 Staff Sgt. Pendleton Way.

• Whimsical Details, 30 N. Second St.

• Arcadian Healing Arts, 6 S. Second St.

• The Alignment Co., 12 S. Second St.

• Ron’s Coin & Collectables, 6 N. Third St.

• AntoLin Cellars, 14 N. Front St.

• Schab’s Bier Den, 22 N. Second St., Suite 100.

• Soul Seeker, 108 S. Third St.

• Coffee Cravings, 118 W. Yakima Ave.

• Kana Winery, 10 S. Second St.

• Purrr, 306 E. Yakima Ave.

• The Little Soapmaker, 302 W. Yakima Ave.

• Cowiche Canyon Kitchen and Ice House Bar, 202 E. Yakima Ave.

• Leading Force Energy and Design, 17 N. Third St.

• Sub Shop of Yakima, 20 N. Second St.

• Sports Center of Yakima, 214 E. Yakima Ave.

• Station 1889, 27 N. Front St., Suite 101

• Sweet Sisters Ice Cream Shop, 120 E. Yakima Ave.

• Avenida Cantina, 121 E. Yakima Ave.

• North Town Coffeehouse, 32 N. Front St.

• Single Hill Brewing, 102 N. Naches Ave.

In the late 1870s, barely a few years into existence, the St. James Hotel in Red Wing employed as one of its bellhops one Joseph Parker, who grew up enslaved on a Kentucky plantation. More than 150 years later, Parker’s great-grandson, Seitu Ken Jones, has left his mark on the riverside Minnesota town – literally – as a tribute to another figure of local African-American history.

Jones, a St. Paul-based artist who seeks to create work that “links history to the present,” was a resident at Red Wing’s Anderson Center in May 2022, retracing not only his roots but those of other Black families in the area. This July, he translated his research into the design and installation of an etched-concrete display in front of the downtown Salvation Army Family Store.

Featuring engraved sidewalk squares and an informational plaque, the new work of public art is entitled “Stand in the Shadows,” and it highlights the life and legacy of Jeremiah Patterson.

Born into slavery in North Carolina, Patterson became a student of Julia B. Nelson, the famed Red Wing activist, when she began teaching newly freed slaves in Tennessee. Recently inducted to the Red Wing Women’s Hall of Fame, Nelson also fought for women’s rights and anti-alcoholism through a Christian nonprofit. But one of her most prominent hometown endeavors was actually spearheaded alongside Patterson, who moved to the area in the 1880s and became a close friend.

Together, in 1897, Patterson and Nelson opened The Equal Rights Meat Market, where the Salvation Army store stands today. Its doors opened just over 30 years after the Thirteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution abolished slavery, marking a partnership ahead of its time.

Seitu Ken Jones’ sidewalk etching honors Patterson’s journey: “I was born as chattel,” it reads, “but on this corner I was an owner and bought cattle for The Equal Rights Meat Market.” Next to the words is an engraved silhouette, while Patterson’s picture can be seen on the accompanying plaque.

“The Plum Street location of the Salvation Army Store (is) an ideal site for the shadow of Jeremiah Patterson,” Jones said in his initial project proposal. “This site receives more direct sunlight and (allows) people to stand in the shadow of someone who contributed to the history of Red Wing.”

Funded in part by the Blandin Foundation and the City of Red Wing’s Human Rights Commission, Jones’ artwork also benefited from advisors including Beth Breeden, the Goodhue County Historical Society and Frederick L. Johnson, a local historian who authored the book “Uncertain Lives: African Americans and their First 150 Years in the Red Wing, Minnesota Area.” Their collective research notes that Patterson’s impact did not end at the Meat Market, which stayed open for several years.

The freedman went on to have a fruitful interracial marriage with local Verna Gaylord, producing nine children, including a son, Chester, who became the first Black graduate of Red Wing High School; and two others who enlisted in World War I. Now buried, along with his longtime friend and teacher Nelson, at Red Wing’s Oakwood Cemetery, Patterson wasn’t alone in forging a career and family for himself in the area, even as other African Americans around the U.S. endured segregation and violence.

“In the Reconstruction Era following the Civil War, there were a lot of different Black people working at the St. James,” says Stephanie Rogers, executive director of the Anderson Center. “A large percentage of the service staff was African American. There was a Black-owned barbershop inside. It wasn’t just one or two people. It was a community.”

The Jeremiah Patterson display, Rogers explains, is a notable step toward “combating the erasure of Black stories in history.” Now come the next steps. Rogers hopes that Seitu Ken Jones’ work will inspire further research and conversation about Patterson’s story. But there are also plans to expand the public art into a full series of memorials, including a marker outside of the St. James.

In the meantime, Jones considers it a privilege to have used his own hands to share the history.

“Stories nourish us,” he recently told Public Art Saint Paul. “Stories feed us, both metaphorically and literally. Stories about food, stories about how our family got to the point where it is now, and all of those stories propel me and place this expectation on me to pass on these stories so that they’re not forgotten.”