Third Place Nights @ Memorial Park

Wednesday, August 17th, 6-8pm

Our infamous and much-loved 3rd Place Nights returns to the shores of Southeast 2nd Street this Wednesday at The BrickHouse.

Essentially 3rd Place Nights is a great opportunity to work, connect, and share with your local community of artists and friends in a fun and relaxed environment. We recommend bringing along your sketchbooks, laptops, guitars, and typewriters, and come to create something fresh amongst the chatter of the rest of us.

Wednesday, July 20th

6-8pm

The BrickHouse

Until then good friends, always keep a full sketchbook, and a sharp pencil too.

The Madison Area Arts Council covered a lot of ground in 2010 with the number of artists, authors and musicians participating in area events. Let’s take a look back at MAAC’s year in review.

Each month MAAC volunteers strive to bring educational and entertaining programs to the community that are free and open to the public. These events are part of the Chautauqua Series program and are aimed at promoting and advocating arts and culture in the Lake County area.

In an effort to continue to produce quality programming for the community, MAAC recently launched its 2011 supporters campaign, Simply Vibrant! Materials to make a contribution can be found in this issue of the Madison Daily Leader.

MAAC started 2010 with a special musical performance by Lauren Pelon. In her presentation “The Living Roots of Music,” Pelon’s instruments and music spanned centuries and came from across the globe. A one-woman show, Pelon impressed the audience by playing more than two dozen different instruments throughout the program.

Music was the focus for many of MAAC’s Chautauqua Series events. The Wentworth youth handbell choir of the St. Peter’s Lutheran Church, Missouri Synod, directed by Julie Gehrels, gave a Saturday afternoon performance at the Madison Public Library.

In July and October, MAAC held outdoor street concerts in front of The BrickHouse Community Arts Center. Musical acts that took the stage at the summertime White Night Festival included the Prairie Repertory Theatre, The Airplane Hanger Band, Kickin’ Analog, The Coltcockers and The Michael Hope Band. To start the festival, a Chamber of Commerce ribbon cutting was held for MAAC’s new facility. Later, painting and screen-printing demonstrations were given by John Green of Madison and Harlequin Studios of Sioux Falls, respectively.

MAAC celebrated its first year in its new building by throwing The BrickHouse Bash! this fall. The Sewer Rats and Jack Rollins performed outside while the Dirty Laundry art show was exhibited in the gallery.

Before John Green participated in the White Night Festival, the renowned Madison artist generously gave his time earlier in the year for an evening painting demonstration at Dakota State University. Audience members watched Green’s painting techniques as he worked on a riverside scene. Carol White was the lucky attendee who won Green’s original painting that night.

Madison native and author Jon Lauck gave a talk on his book Prairie Republic: The Political Culture of Dakota Territory, 1879-1889. His discussion focused on the shaping of Dakota Territory and the beginning of the state of South Dakota.

MAAC brought in several presentations that were made possible by the South Dakota Humanities Council, an affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

South Dakota Poet Laureate David Allan Evans read a number of poems about the Midwest’s people, landscape and weather as part of his program, “Midwestern Themes in Art and Literature.” Stained glass scholar Dr. Barbara Johnson gave a lecture on this art form in South Dakota and spoke on specific stained glass windows in Madison. Robert Kolbe discussed the history of photography in the state from 1840 to 1930 and displayed artifacts from his personal collection, including a photo of John Wilkes Booth. A presentation by Jason McEntee looked at the perception of soldiers in American war films, especially those of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.

A new program for MAAC this year is the open studio evening called 3rd Place Nights. On the third Wednesday of every month, the public is welcome to use The BrickHouse as an artistic work space.

Some new faces have joined the arts council this year. Rounding out the executive board are Chris Francis as president, Cassie Edwards as vice president, Emmeline Elliott as secretary and Mary Francis as treasurer.

There’s a lot going on in your local arts community. Check out what’s coming up for next year or learn how to volunteer by visiting http://madisonareaartscouncil.org/aboutus/connect2-0/

Wednesday, 7-9 pm, The BrickHouse

Join us as we ‘bring our love’ with pencils, sketchbooks, and keyboards too, for our monthly creative and social get-together. Everyone is welcome, and as always, we look forward to seeing new faces.

Chautauqua Series

Featuring Jason McEntee, ‘The Famous, The Infamous, and The Dead - Filming Operation Iraqi Freedom’

Thursday, 6 pm, The Mundt Foundation

South Dakota Humanities Council Speaker, and South Dakota State Professor Jason McEntee, will offer his look at the films of the wars of Afghanistan and Iraq, their impact on society, and their portrayal of these conflicts. This program is free and open to the public, refreshments provided.

Well, it’s alright with us, cause we like things a little different anyhow.

Feel free to join us, and bring your ‘weird’ too, for our next Third Place Nights, which is this Wednesday, from 7-9 pm at The BrickHouse. Third Place Nights have become our monthly get-together, whereabouts we can share, work, and otherwise create, all while enjoying the company of others.

So, bring along your sketchbook, maybe your journal, even an older model manual type-writer, it’s all good, because it’s all fun (and sometimes weird too, and that’s alright, it’s almost the accepted norm anyhow)

We’ll see you this Wednesday, and be sure to bring along a much weirder friend too.

We’re also working out a few of those pesky details of ‘The BrickHouse Bash!’ tonight too, so feel free to join us for that conversation as well.

So bring your sketchbook, and bring a friend too, and we’ll see you all at Third Place Nights!

Yes, we’re going to the lake, as we’ll take 3rd Place Nights to the Madison Waterfowl Production Area, which is just to the west of Lake Madison.

3rd Place Nights is our monthly creative get-together, where just about anything happens, from drawing to knitting, from conversations to song, it’s really just a great opportunity to connect with your community.

As so far as directions, head East from Madison on Highway 34, turn south on Highway 19, continue for about 1 mile, and it’s on the right, that’s almost too easy to find.

Feel free to join us this Wednesday, September 15th, from 6-8pm (note the special time) and be on the watch for those mythical lake monsters too!

We’re headed towards the Maloney Nature Area, which is Madison’s newest nature preserve, which opened this past June. For those who like a little scenery with their art, Maloney features both prairie and woodland trails, with a small pond and gazebo too, for those reflective moments.

What a view for sure, and only a few minutes from home, it’s a rural get-away right out our backdoor. We’re thinking of a great plein-air opportunity for you painters out there. 

Third Place Nights, for those who don’t know, is our monthly get together for us creative-types, and actually anyone who’d like to join in. You’re encouraged to bring sketchbooks,  journals, whatever it is that makes your creative energies jump. It’s always a surprise to see what you all bring along, and that’s what makes it special for sure!

All of this is located off North Harth Ave, here in Madison, which is really easy to find, essentially look for those infamous brown signs and head north. We’ll see you Wednesday, August 18, from 7-9 pm, and be sure to bring a friend too!

Why the change in venue you may ask, well The BrickHouse is basically under seige by the ongoing city construction project, which leaves us looking for a home this week. Besides, we all could use a little more fresh air, and how often do we have the opportunity to work along an actual canal, or at least what passes as one in SoDak.

We’ll look forward to seeing you there, and bring a friend too, we always like to meet new faces!

Third Place Nights, this Wednesday, from 7-9 pm. Always free, always fun, just the way we like it!