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The second annual Saint Peter Art Stroll drew 29 artists and plenty of foot traffic Saturday to 15 sites in St. Peter and nearby Kasota. And this year, it’s a two-day affair.

Event organizers Cheryl Casteen, Bryan Holland and Amanda Malkin heard plenty of praise and ideas from last year’s inaugural event, which surprised many with throngs of visitors. Many suggested expanding the artistic endeavor to a second day because it was difficult to take in each artist.

In 2022, the art stroll drew 24 artists in 10 locations. As was the case last year, most artists’ locations were within blocks of the historic downtown district.

“We wanted to make it two days because there’s more artists and people told us last year that it was hard to get around to everyone,” said Casteen, whose own artistic works were on display at Holland’s studio in north St. Peter.

Holland agreed: “And I wanted to give us a little insurance in case weather’s bad.”

Last year’s cold temperatures, however, didn’t hold back crowds, noted Casteen. And Sunday’s second day of the Saint Peter Art Stroll, which will run from noon to 4 p.m., has the potential for even broader attendance, with a forecast high of 61 and sunny skies.

Malkin, a talented paper conservator, handles much of the marketing and social media presence for the Saint Peter Art Stroll. Casteen and Holland credit Malkin’s creativity and efforts which helped launch the inaugural art stroll and now into year two.

Art Stroll demos

Sculptor and glass-blowing artist Mark Hall had plenty of heat glowing in his historic wooden shop in downtown Kasota. He and fellow artist Dustin Swiers provided one of the featured demonstrations in Hall’s small shed, the community’s former blacksmith shop.

Hall has made quite a name for himself and his Hallmark Glass business, not so much from his glass-blowing prowess but from his ornate sculptures, mostly the result of scrap metals and materials.

“Mark has found inspiration in Native beliefs, which harmonize his,” wrote Malkin in event promotional material. “He prefers to create by utilizing materials that he has on hand, or salvaged from scrap yards (using value-added metals).”

Hall’s finished sculptures now number 13 throughout the Midwest, including his most recent, “Cactus Flower,” which stood outside his Kasota shop and is on its way to Sioux Falls, South Dakota. This year, Hall’s works total four there.

Hall’s first sculpture, the 12-foot “Dream Catcher,” created a little more than 10 years ago, still might be his favorite because it opened the door to a more lucrative art form than his glass-blowing efforts.

“I didn’t mean to get into it,” he admitted. “I just stumbled on to it.”

It was glass blowing that Hall, now 69, featured for years in his Kasota shop.

“A lot of my glass-blowing friends are perfectionists,” Hall said. “They blow every day. They’re really good at it. I’m not serious. And it’s not easy. You’re already walking a tightrope.”

During Saturday’s demonstration, he was joined by Swiers, who said he’s joined Hall’s shop the past four years.

Another art stroll demonstration was hosted by Blue Valley Clay, which recently opened its doors in downtown St. Peter. Four artists — Juana Arias, Stepanie Bove, Nate FitzSimmons and Thomas Prahl — formed the company to better serve a growing pottery culture in the Minnesota River Valley region.

Malkin wrote this about Arias and her Blue Valley Clay venture: “For the last 10 years, Juana’s work is influenced by ideas of body memory, impressions in our physical form. … Her current focus is on applying print methods to create multi-layered images on functional pottery.”

Arias said the name came from the region’s typography, which includes rare blue clay, and it’s also an acknowledgement to the Indigenous people who first occupied this land.

“It’s a ton of work to get a studio running,” Arias said. “But I’ve got a great group of people to work with.”

There’s room for seven renters in the sprawling basement location of the former Nicollet Hotel on Park Row, space that had been vacant for some time, according to Arias.

“We have room to expand, which is great,” she said. “We just wanted it to be much about space.”

Fellow co-owner Bove said she’s excited to be a part of the partnership, noting that the shared space and talents help distribute some of the workload, including the social media and marketing.

Teamwork was cited, as well, by art stroll organizers, as many volunteers also contributed to this second-year event. Casteen said the volunteers allow some needed breaks for the artists, who are now prepping for day two.

Again, Holland agreed: “Personally, I think we make a great team.”

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November is Native American Heritage Month. Several tribe members represent their cultures as entrepreneurs throughout Washington state.

Four Dallas arts organizations producing new works got a funding boost so they can turn imagination and innovation into artistic reality.

On Tuesday night, TACA (The Arts Community Alliance) announced the 2023 recipients of its New Works Fund. Cara Mía Theatre, Dallas Theater Center, Nasher Sculpture and Verdigris Ensemble will share the $125,000 distribution to support the creation of new works that will be seen in 2024.

“Since the New Works Fund’s inception, TACA and our esteemed jurors have identified groundbreaking projects that support local artists, explore new ideas, inspire innovation, challenge traditional thinking, and keep art fresh and relevant, especially among underrepresented artists,” said Maura Sheffler, Donna Wilhelm Family president and executive director. 

TACA New Works Fund was established in 2012 to support the development and performance of new works in Dallas County. The fund has provided $1,112,500 in grants to support 36 new works of art in North Texas.

Since the pandemic and with the endorsement of its Board of Directors, TACA has refocused the grant to provide support for new works of performing, literary, and visual art in varying stages of development by BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color), LGBTQ+, and female artists.

This year’s distribution was made possible by the generosity of Presenting Sponsor Texas Instruments.

“Just as art from the past provides a window into our cultural histories, new works of art say much about our diverse communities today,” said Andy Smith, executive director of the TI Foundation. “TACA’s New Works Fund helps artists – especially those whose voices are historically unheard – explore and express their cultural identities in new and innovative ways. This is important to keep our arts community vibrant now and into the future. We’re excited about this year’s New Works Fund recipients and how they are expressing their artistic visions of the world around us.”

Additional support is provided by PNC, Rea Charitable Trust, and Anne Davidson, with founding support from the Donna Wilhelm Family Fund. The recipients were selected by a panel of local and national artists and arts managers through a competitive application and review process.

Two productions of new plays are among the recipients.  

Cara Mía Theatre received $25,000 for Yanga written by Jaime Chabaud and translated by Tomas Ayala-Torres. The play will be produced in partnership with Soul Rep Theatre Company from Feb. 17, 2024, to March 3, 2024.

The collaborating Dallas area theaters, working in association with Mulato Teatro from Mexico, will present the world premiere of the play inspired by the real-life story of Gaspar Yanga, an enslaved African Prince who led a rebellion and successfully negotiated an independent territory with the Spanish crown less than 100 years after the arrival of Hernán Cortés in Mexico. Translated into English for the first time, Yanga sheds light on the roots of the Afro-Mexican experience.

Tom Ehrlich

Dallas Theater Center received $10,000 for Jonathan Norton’s: I AM DELIVERED’T, scheduled to be presented Feb. 2-18, 2024.

Good Friday. The New Jerusalem Missionary Baptist Church’s Seven Last Words service is in full swing. But outside – in the church parking lot – another resurrection story is taking shape. This world premiere new comedy by DTC Playwright in Residence, Jonathan Norton, introduces theater audiences to African American church Usher Board culture as it intersects with the jubilation and tribulation of same-gender loving African American Christians. I AM DELIVERED’T is a co-production between Dallas Theater Center and the Actors Theatre of Louisville.

Lara Jo Hightower.

With this production, the Dallas Theater Center launched a pilot program called the “Ambassador Program,” a group of staff and board members traveling around Dallas to specific communities to engage people with the creation of the work, bring more awareness to the play and the institution, and invite newcomers to the theater.

 For the first time, visual arts are among this year’s recipients.

“We’re especially pleased this year to make our first New Works grant for a visual arts piece to the Nasher Sculpture Center,” Sheffler said.

Tim Hursley

The Nasher Sculpture Center received $50,000 for Hugh Hayden: America, planned for September 2024 – January 2025.

The exhibition will feature newly commissioned work by Dallas native, Hugh Hayden. Currently in development, the new sculptural works will invite visitors to examine familiar objects through a slightly sinister, critical lens. The goal of America is to use Hayden’s signature spiky wooden thorns to explore childhood, community, public space, individualism, safety, and, as referenced in the exhibition’s title: the American Dream. This installation and exhibition of new work will be accompanied by robust public programming, including school tours, workshops, and an artist talk.

“The Nasher Sculpture Center is honored to be a recipient of a grant from 2023 New Works Fund,” said Director Jeremy Strick. “This grant—the first of its kind to a visual arts organization—allows the Nasher to present a series of newly commissioned works in the Nasher’s garden and galleries. Hugh Hayden: America, on view beginning in September 2024, is a homecoming for the artist and a chance for us to present his important works to our Dallas community. The New Works Fund is one of many examples of TACA’s important work to support culture in North Texas.”

Richard Hill Photography

Verdigris Ensemble received $40,000 for Mis-Lead, composed by Kirsten Soriano. The choral ensemble will present the world premiere performance of the piece from April 5-7, 2024.

This stunningly sobering account of West Dallas’s lead-infused past shines a light on one of the most impactful environmental challenges in the City’s history. In collaboration with Dallas Free Press – using eye-witness accounts, newspaper articles, city council transcripts, and community conversations – Verdigris mixes bilingual poetry with docu-journalism to chronicle a community in need. This dynamic new work honors the generations of Dallasites affected by lead-smelting, reminding us that the first step to environmental justice starts at home.

Learn more: TACA

Indigenous designers and models will take over the catwalk for the inaugural Native American Fashion Show.

Heritage months give us good reason to seek out new music to expand our personal playlists and discover a new favorite artist to talk up with fellow music aficionados. It’s also a good time to remind ourselves that an effort should be made outside of heritage months to seek new music we may be missing from artists in underrepresented communities. 

This listicle highlights one Indigenous independent band or artist from each of the Four Corners states. In case you need a refresher, the Four Corners states are Colorado, Utah, Arizona and New Mexico. Four Corners is the only place in the U.S. where four states meet. The Four Corners region is 25,000 square miles of Native Land and home to Navajo Nation and the Ute people. 

Below you’ll find videos, websites, social media and streaming platforms for each featured artist. Show your support by discovering and following them in the provided links. All artists have new music out and new music on the way so be sure to keep up with their journeys. 

There are many new independent Indigenous artists creating, touring, and contributing to music communities all over and the following are a great start to discovering them. 

Check Out These Independent Native Artists From The Four Corners States:

Xiuhtezcatl Martinez

A globally celebrated hip hop artist and environmental activist born in Colorado.   

Discover Xiuhtezcatl: website instagram tiktok  spotify apple music bandcamp

by Adam Piron

I’ve been thinking a lot about time over this past year. In Western European cultures, there’s the idea that the future lies in front of us and the past lies behind. But for the Kiowa, my own tribe from Oklahoma, it’s something like the other way around. And that makes sense, because we can’t see the future. We’re taught in this country to think of movement through time as analogous to physical movement. The present moment means nothing in physics, as time is merely another dimension, and the whole universe exists “now,” a word that has no meaning. There is no word for time in Kiowa.

Every November, when Native American Heritage Month comes around, we’re encouraged to look back and to celebrate how far our communities and certain luminaries have come, and the paths they’ve forged for us to take on further into the future. This is a noble and worthy sentiment, but I think it would also behoove us to apply a logic beyond the confines of the Gregorian calendar system, one that recognizes and realigns Indigeneity and its accomplishments on its own terms and conditions. Perhaps something closer to an Indigenous concept of time or, at the very least, something shaped to the contours of how it fits across many of our cultures — as something circular, a loop that feeds off of and back into itself.

Throughout the history of Sundance Institute’s Indigenous Program, our support for Indigenous artists has been built on a similar concept of cyclical force. We believe in taking Indigenous artists and their work to Indigenous communities to find other Indigenous artists in need of support, and once their work is ready to be seen then taking it back to communities to continue to circle. Similarly, many of the artists that we have supported through our efforts have gone through other channels of support within our program, within the Institute, and beyond. These efforts have been built over and by generations of other artists and their communities. This continues to be a collective effort, one where we honor the work of others that laid the space for where we are and one where we are also able to form further and without limits.

In kicking off this month, we will further highlight just a few of the many artists and their accomplishments over this past year and just how far they’ve come and will continue to go. We celebrate these artists and their work yesterday, today, tomorrow, and across the boundaryless dimension we’ve come to call time. 

Here are some of the opportunities they have forged for themselves and each other, as well as new horizons our program will add to these efforts:

The seeds for the play were sown long before the controversy surrounding Buffy Sainte-Marie’s Indigenous ancestry, but there’s no denying that Six Nations artist January Rogers’ new work is timely.

The premise of “Blood Sport” involves a fictitious game show in which contestants compete for Indigenous heritage. It was selected for a staged reading on Friday (Nov. 10) at the Weesageechak Begins to Dance festival in Toronto.

The allegations and headlines surrounding Sainte-Marie followed a CBC report last month that she falsely claimed her Indigenous roots. However, Rogers began working on the play well before that.

Coming off shooting her web series “NDNs on the Airwaves” last year, one of Rogers’ frequent collaborators, Yuma Dean Hester, commissioned her to write a play about the subject of people who claim to be Indigenous but aren’t.

Approaching the situation through the lens of satire, Rogers took inspiration from factual experiences “that we see happen in the Native community, more often than not these days,” she said.

The play also touches on the emotional aspects, addressing both what Rogers described as the “ridiculousness of folks who are trying to pass themselves off,” as well as some of the “real, lived-experiences by people who are attempting to come back home in a really honourable, and serious and authentic way.”

That coming home experience is something Rogers herself experienced when she returned to her community of Six Nations in 2019 after spending years living on the West Coast.

While her primary goal in writing the play was to create an effective theatre piece, Rogers said she does hope it will spark others to “have those conversations among themselves and decide for themselves where their knowledge and reactions are going to land with this issue.”

It may even serve as a bit of a tonic or a balm for people who are having a hard time in light of what has been said about Sainte-Marie, said Rogers.

“The feeling of being deceived is never an easy one to get over. And when it’s done on this level, it’s probably even more hard to come to terms with,” she said.

“My heart goes out to those who are struggling with that information and with where they’re going to land with that,” she said, adding “but come on out and have a laugh in the meantime.”

Celeste Percy-Beauregard’s reporting is funded by the Canadian government through its Local Journalism Initiative. The funding allows her to report on stories about Brant County.

A new art exhibit celebrates Native American culture. It’s on display this month at Tulsa’s Gathering Place.

The exhibit is titled “WeAre.” It’s on display in the ONEOK Boathouse at Gathering Place through Sunday, November 26.

It showcases art from 13 tribal artists of the Muscogee, Osage, and Cherokee Nations.

The art includes Native photography, sculpture, pottery, paintings, textiles, woven paper, and more.

There will also be a panel discussion with the artists on Sunday, November 12 at 2 p.m.

News On 6’s Alyssa Miller was live to give us a look.