Our next Double Header is scheduled for Thursday February 9th, with Lacey Lee, Jennifer White, and the music of Chad McKinney, check it out, and help us pack the house in appreciation and support of our guest artists, nobody likes coming to an empty house.

For more on the latest regional arts news, events, and awareness, follow us on Facebook and Twitter.

Emmeline Elliott

Weismantel, a 2004 Madison High School graduate, will play a live solo performance Jan. 18 from 7 to 9 p.m. at The BrickHouse Community Arts Center, 106 S.E. 2nd St. The work of regional abstract artists Kevin Bierbaum and Angela Meyer will be displayed at the one-night event hosted by the Madison Area Arts Council. The Double Header art show is free and open to the public, and refreshments will be served.

Weismantel, who now lives in Sioux Falls, has played instruments since middle school, focusing on the guitar, bass and analogue synthesizer. He has been writing and recording music for several years.

“I’m really looking forward to a nice night of art appreciation in my hometown. Art in all forms is important to me, and I’m very excited for the opportunity to promote art in Madison,” Weismantel said.

Local music fans may recognize him as part of the White Waves band. Before that, he played with Welcome to the Cinema for three years. As a solo act, Weistmantel has worked under the name Hippocampus for about 10 years.

“As far as solo performing goes, I have vowed to do my best to replicate the original mood I was in while creating each song as much as I can. I think this is key to good performance,” Weismantel said.

Weismantel will play a number of songs at the Double Header art show. He wrote most of the songs to be played with a full band, but has redone many of them as acoustic covers for solo performance.

Love and emotion is a recurring theme in Weismantel’s songs. Weismantel, who is a pharmacist, said the song “Medicine” is about the metaphor of love as a necessary medicine for everyone. He wrote about falling in love in his song “Shelves,” and “Tired When I’m Sleeping” is about accepting loneliness as a part of life.

Sioux Falls artist Kevin Bierbaum relates to everyday experiences as what inspires his paintings. He said a slight sense of coldness and tragedy is conveyed by his work.

Kevin Bierbaum

Bierbaum is exhibiting pieces at the Double Header art show that explore vertical shapes and composition. His materials include multiple types of paint, oil, acrylic, latex and spray paint.

Angela Meyer

MAAC meetings are held the first Thursday of every month at 6 p.m. at The BrickHouse Community Arts Center. Check out MAAC on Facebook and Twitter for more community art news and events.

We’re really excited about our next Double Header at The BrickHouse this January, as we’re eager to bring home Madison native, noted musician Tom Weismantel. Tom is known for being part of the powerhouse ‘Welcome to the Cinema‘ and now for ‘White Waves‘ and ‘Hippocampus‘, and he’ll be performing live with us for the first time.

Kevin Bierbaum

Also joining us at The BrickHouse will be regional abstract artists Angela Meyer and Kevin Bierbaum, who have been building themselves a well-earned and deserved reputation as artists to watch for in 2012, and we thought there would be no better way to kick off our year with these two hanging on our legendary walls.

Angela Meyer

All Double Headers are free and open for everyone to attend, amazing refreshments are always served, and we’ll look forward to packing the house again this January!

Double Header w/Meyer, Bierbaum and Weismantel

Wednesday, January 18th, 7-9pm

The BrickHouse Community Arts Center

Downtown Madison, 102 SE 2nd St

What a packed house, we hosted well over 60 guests this past Tuesday, probably more, as our guest artists Linn, Cody, Megan, and Joe brought a few great pieces to share with everyone.

We’re thinking about hosting another Double Header event this December, we’ll see if we can get something together yet…

Just a reminder, all Double Header events, like everything else we offer to our community, are free and open to attend, and refreshments are always served.  For more information about the Madison Area Arts Council, become a fan of us on Facebook, and support South Dakota’s original arts council.

Emmeline Elliott

The Madison Area Arts Council is sponsoring two art programs this month, a speaker presentation and an art show.

A program on the history and art of porcupine quillwork and beadwork of the Sioux will be presented by Joanita Kant.

She will speak at 7 p.m. Monday, Nov. 7 at the Madison Public Library as part of the MAAC Chautauqua Series. The event is free and open to the public. This program is made possible by the South Dakota Humanities Council, an affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Kant will highlight porcupine quillwork and beadwork among the Sioux and white settlers during the period from the fur trade through the 1940’s.

She will discuss how changes in the beadwork style and materials reflected changes in the way of life for Sioux and white settlers. For instance, Sioux porcupine quillwork was replaced by glass beadwork after white contact.

Examples of old and new quillwork and beadwork will be displayed.

Kant, of Brookings, is a graduate research assistant and Ph.D. candidate at South Dakota State University and has been a museum director in the state for more than 17 years.

A Double Header art show will take place Nov. 15 from 6 to 8 p.m. at the BrickHouse Community Arts Center, 106 S.E. 2nd St. The one-night show is free and open to the public. Refreshments will be served.

This month’s art exhibit, titled “Double Take,” features work by two Dakota State University professors and two DSU students.

Linn Nelson and Joe Staudenbaur, both professors in the Arts and Sciences department at DSU, are participating in the show.

Megan Pifer is a third year student in the digital arts and design program. She will be displaying a 3-D sculptured Coke dress made up of Coca-Cola bottles with a top corset made of Coca-Cola cans. She will also have a self-portrait trace-mono print. Pifer is from Madison and the art director of Up Agency.

Cody Thompson, another student, has worked mostly with graphite, charcoal and oils and has recently found interest in sculpture. His pieces for the Double Take show are uniquely formatted two-dimensional works that incorporate three-dimensional objects in and around the piece. Thompson is inspired by the human form and much of his subject matter comes from his experience of growing up in a small Wyoming town.

Thanks to Angela Behrends and Emmeline Elliott for sharing, and organizing, another stand-out Double Header.

Emmeline Elliott

The Madison Area Arts Council went to Europe this year.

When MAAC volunteer Angela Behrends took an 11 day trip to France and Italy in May, she brought the MAAC logo with her – a red square and a blue square – and photographed the symbols throughout the visit.

MAAC is celebrating travels in Europe at this month’s Double Header art show, titled “Without Borders.” Photographs and artwork inspired from recent trips across the Atlantic will be displayed for the one night show, held October 11 from 6 to 8 p.m. at the BrickHouse Community Arts Center, 106 S.E. 2nd St. European desserts will be served as refreshments, including gelato ice cream and German kuchen and strudel made in South Dakota. The show is free and open to the public.

Other area artists and residents who will exhibit pictures and artwork from European trips are Alan Montgomery, Noriko Nakamura and Emmeline Elliott. Photos will feature the countries of France, Italy, Germany, Ireland, England and Denmark.

The MAAC logo was held up by Behrends or her travel companions or propped up against something for a picture. She captured the logo in front of landmarks such as the Eiffel Tower and Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris.

“I carried them with me as many places I could,” Behrends said.

In France, Behrends mainly toured Paris. She made stops in Florence, Assisi and Rome while in Italy.

“MAAC went to Europe with me.” Behrends said.

Montgomery will display several mixed media drawings that use collage images of photos he took in France and Italy.

A special collection of pictures and bookmarks from European libraries will be exhibited by Elliott.

The October MAAC meeting is Thursday, Oct. 13 at 7 p.m. at The BrickHouse Community Arts Center. Visit the MAAC Web site at www.madisonareaartscouncil.org or on Facebook for more community art news and events.

Quick change of plans, our monthly meeting, usually held the first Thursday of the month, will be held next Thursday, October 13th, at The BrickHouse. Those interested in participating in our ongoing programming efforts should please plan on joining us beginning at 6pm.