26th Annual Art and Artists Celebration

Please join Franconia staff, board and our 2022 Artists-in-Residence for an afternoon and evening of not-to-be-missed art and performances. Parking during the event is $5/car and all events are free and open to the public unless otherwise noted.* 

Salsa Spot and MN Nice Cream will have food trucks on-site during the event. A variety of beverages will be available for purchase, including beer by Eastlake Craft Brewery and wine from Alexis Bailly Vineyards.  

Timeline of Events

12pm-1pm: Land Art Tour by Franconia’s Executive Director & Chief Curator

Join Franconia’s Executive Director & Chief Curator Ginger Shulick Porcella as she gives a guided-tour of the land art featured in the inaugural 4Ground: Midwest Land Art Biennial at the park. The tour will start at the entrance to Franconia Commons.

1pm-2pm: Artwork Unveiling of Imprinted Wave #1 with Ryan Fontaine and musical guests Reflecto

2022 Visiting Artist Ryan Fontaine is pleased to unveil Imprinted Wave #1 (Magenta b/w Black Carpet). The opening celebration will include a musical performance by ambient musicians Reflectors (Crystal Myslajek & John Marks) to inaugurate the sculpture. Fontaine’s Imprinted Wave series of sculptures are modeled on the elegant pattern of the wave – movement, light, sound and energy. 

2pm-4pm: Workshop & Performance by 2022 Franconia Fellow Maria Adela Diaz

Join artist Maria Adela Diaz for a hands-on workshop in Franconia Commons where participants can create and take home their very own sustainable rain stick inspired by Diaz’s installation “Nostalgia” at Franconia. Directly following the workshop, audiences are invited to play “Nostalgia”, a kinetic interactive sound installation created with 30 rain sticks.

 3pm-5pm: Opening Reception for Tornado on the Map in the Mardag Gallery at Franconia Commons

Franconia Sculpture Park is pleased to present Tornado on the Map, a group exhibition featuring the work of Interact Gallery artists Daniel Metchnek, David Wright, and Matt Zimdars. This exhibition presents Metchenk’s ceramic animals alongside Wright’s whimsical drawings and Zimdars’ WCCO series, a diligent recording of WCCO severe weather reports in the Midwest over the course of several years.

4pm-4:30pm: Performance by DSAMN’s “The Group”

Join artists and performers from the Down Syndrome Association as they create a new, site-responsive work inspired by the Interact exhibition Tornado on the Map. This work will start in the gallery space and move to the outdoor gathering area behind Franconia Commons.

4:30-5pm: Mural Unveiling for FSP Artist Billboard Project with Thomasina TopBear

Join members of the Twin Cities art community for the unveiling of the latest FSP Artist Billboard designed by Thomasina TopBear, a self-taught Santee Dakota & Oglala Lakota muralist. TopBear has been a member of the international all female street art crew Few & Far Women since 2015 and helped found City Mischief Murals, an all-BIPOC mural collective that actively paints large scale community-based murals in the Twin Cities. Thomasina’s inspirations come from her Indigenous culture and graffiti style type lettering, using these influences to express her feelings on community, social justice, culture, feminism, and togetherness.

5pm-6pm: Mexican Institute of Sound in Franconia’s Amphitheatre*

Mexican Institute of Sound (MIS) is an electronic music project created by Mexico City-based DJ and producer Camilo Lara. MIS is part of a growing Mexican electronica movement, encouraging fusions of folk and more traditional music with modern sounds. 

Lara’s work has landed him a Grammy and 4 Latin Grammy nominations, and he has produced artists ranging from Los Angeles Azules (scoring the best-selling Mexican album of the last 25 years, 8 times diamond certified sales), Norah Jones, and Band of Horses. He has collaborated with a wide range of artists including Toots and the Maytals, Gogol Bordello, and Tom Tom Club. He hosts his own radio station on the best-selling game of all time, Grand Theft Auto V. He was the musical consultant for Pixar’s Coco where he even had a cameo, and his music has been featured in Narcos, Breaking Bad, Y Tu Mama Tambien, Californication, and Ugly Betty to name a few. Spanish newspaper El Pais named Lara as one of the “50 Most Influential People in Latin America” and Quien Magazine named him one of the “50 People Who are Transforming Mexico.”

Concert is free with admission; $25 tickets include two free drink tickets and a post-show “meet and greet” with Mexican Institute of Sound. Tickets can be purchased here.

6:15-7pm: Fire Drilling performance by Marcela Torres and Izayo Mazehualli

Fire Drilling is a choreographic work that explores Latinx relationships to tobacco. Marcela Torres and collaborator Izayo Mazehaulli tell a narrative that meanders between rituals honoring the Aztec deity Tezcatlipoca through forms of Mexican dance, beat and smoke that reflects on the power and reverence of fire and ash. The Fire Drilling ceremony defines a new queer embodiment and marks the evolution of our ongoing relationship with our plant parents to honor their inherent spiritual entities. Made with support of the Chicago Dance Maker Forum, Lab Artist Program, music by LA Spacer. This work will employ aromas and smoke as the main character; please be aware if you have allergies that you may want to wear a mask or be seated farther from the stage. 

7pm-7:30pm: Projections by Jody Joyner and Wesley Fawcett Creigh

Convene behind Franconia Commons for two projection mapping projects by previous Franconia Visiting Artists Jody Joyner and Wesley Creigh. Joyner’s “Infinite Lawn” installation was commissioned for the inaugural 4Ground: Midwest Land Art Biennial, and Creigh’s sculpture “The Invisible Line” serves as a projection surface for a short animated film from the series “Love in the Time of Migra”.

7:30pm-9:30pm: Quinn Tessential Presents an Evening of Drag with Jenna Cis, Luc Ami, Myster’EO Cassadine and more!

Join Quinn Tessential for an evening of drag, focusing on platforming performers of color, AFAB artists, kings, and alternative drag artists. 

Limited seating is available; $25 tickets guarantee front-row seating, two free drink tickets, and a post-show “meet-and-greet” with the performers. Tickets can be purchased here.

Image: Judy Joyner