Written by: WACAC Administration

The Wyoming Area Creative Arts Community Songwriters in the round series continues...

On March 29, the Songwriters in the Round Series continued at the Hallberg Center for the Arts. Starting at 7pm, free and open to the public, this concert was performed in the round and featured...

Mother Banjo, Amanda Standalone, Becky Kapell

Mother Banjo, aka Ellen Stanley is a New England raised, Minneapolis based songwriter. Called “an outstanding poet” (Inside Bluegrass), she has been featured nationally on SiriusXM Radio and CMT.com. Her latest album “The Devil Hasn’t Won” is an Americana gospel collection showcasing her all-star 5 piece band.

An engaging live performer, Mother Banjo weaves humorous stories with fun covers and her own original material. She has performed at prestigious local venues like The Cedar Cultural Center and The Dakota Jazz Club as well as toured across North America

www.motherbanjo.com

Amanda Standalone is a writer, folk musician and multi-instrumentalist from Minnesota. Standalone has released two albums, “Millions of Blackbirds” (2010), which bears the Title track “Bird flew Hard” for the HBO documentary ‘Paycheck to Paycheck: The Life and Times of Katrina Gilbert,’ and “Trouble” (2014), funded in part by a grant from the Lakes Region Arts Council and a successful indie go-go campaign. Her music is a soulful blend of acoustic folk/blues strongly influenced by American Roots music. She skillfully attacks the guitar, banjo, and her single stringed washtub, while packing an extra punch with her rich vocals. Currently, Standalone is working on her 3rd album and performing around the midwest.

http://www.amandastandalone.com/

Raised in small town Minnesota, Becky Kapell moved to Portland Oregon in the 1980's and began singing back-up vocals in various bands and eventually fronted her own country cover band there. Along came a husband and kids and eventually a move back to Minnesota followed by a divorce and grown up kids. In 2007, after a long hiatus from music, Becky began teaching herself to play the guitar that sat in the corner of her living room. She knew only a few chords, which she played repeatedly in different combinations and rhythms until much to her surprise, melodies began to emerge and then somewhat magically, lyrics attached themselves to the melodies. She recorded 12 of those songs with old friends in Portland Oregon for her first record titled “For Now”. Sometimes plaintive and spare, sometimes humorous and lively, the songs capture the essence of a particular time of life and the frustration and heartache of unrealized dreams. Since the 2012 release of that record she has continued to write songs and morph her style from folk to her true love, classic country.

A new record is in the works featuring Becky's back up band "The Fat 6" and is slated for release in early 2018.

http://www.missbeckykapell.com/

Written by: WACAC Administration

Jes Lee Shimek, James Martin, and Brittney Turner

An imaginative exhibit of two artists, teaming up to create a series of drawings with intriguing afterthoughts. Brittney Turner and James Martin are the two Twin Cities artists that collaborate on this project in the Main Gallery at the Hallberg Center for the Arts.

Nationally recognized photographer, Jess Lee Shimek will have her unique layered photography in a solo exhibit in the Cube Gallery.

Opening ceremonies for these exhibits take place from 4pm to 8pm on April 19, 2018 at the Hallberg Center for the Arts, which is located at 5521 East Viking Blvd in Wyoming, MN.  This evening is a wonderful opportunity for artists and art lovers to experience a unique exhibit and meet the artists.  Complimentary refreshments will be served at this opening which is free and open to the public.

In this exhibit, James Martin and Brittney Turner team up in their show titled "The Umbran Forest" in the Main Gallery.

Umbra is latin for shadow, it has often been used to describe phantom images, or being the source of darkness itself.

The Umbran Forest is a journey through the shadows expressing the ties between humanity and nature, which also considers the psychological exploration of the human mind. As the artists for this series, we contemplated such topics and tied them into naturalistic creatures stemming from various myths or our own imaginations.

Myths and folklore are stories that are made up by people to express the knowns and unknowns of the natural world.  In doing so, this serves as a junction between nature and the human mind, so we may observe them both together. Nature contains many cycles, and while some may view us as people and nature as separate entities, we are truly as much a part of nature as anything else. We encourage the immersion into the fabricated and fantastical world of the Umbran Forest, hoping to bring to light the tie of humans to the natural world.

Gathering Water and Light is a solo exhibit in the Cube Gallery by Jes Lee Shimek.  In the artwork of Jes Lee Shimek, she layers photographs of our world and composes them into images of new places and realities. She draws a lot of inspiration from cyberpunk novels where characters often find themselves existing in a digital reality that is based on places in our world, but contains layers of other times, locations, and information, and could only exist digitally.

Gathering Water and Light is her current series of images. Humans often surround ourselves with light. Light pollution is being talked about in many ways by experts concerned at its effects on us and our world. Jes observes how we fill everywhere we can with streetlights, solar powered lights, lamps, decorative lights, and the glowing screens of our personal electronic devices. This part of her series shows the light trails we leave behind us in the real world, and imagines what light trails we might create in the digital world. Water has always been critical to our existence. With questions raised about the quality of our drinking water as well as the dangers of rising sea levels, it is a subject that seems on our minds even more. This part of the series imagines landscapes full of water to live with or to cross over.

The Wyoming Area Creative Arts Community is totally funded by grants and donations and is currently looking for sponsors for these remarkable exhibits as well as other collaborative exhibits.  Interested sponsors are asked to contact Board Chair, Eric Peterson at (651) 238-0245 for more information about sponsoring an exhibit at the Hallberg Center for the Arts.

Two and a half years ago, with the establishment of the art center, the Wyoming Area Creative Arts Community has brought new exhibits of artist's work to the area almost every month.  This past year, the organization interviewed artists from throughout the region and has now booked the main gallery with new exhibits into 2020.  Today, the organization has over 180 members not just from this area, but throughout the Twin Cities, up through Princeton and Mora, down through Mankato and into Stillwater and western Wisconsin.  

Volunteers are at the heart of the organization putting in countless hours. The organization has no paid staff and everything they do is through donations, grants, and many dedicated volunteers.

The Wyoming Area Creative Arts Community encourages personal growth and discovery, providing mentorship for artists through presentations, performances, displays, classes and exhibitions.

WACAC Mission:

(adopted April 19, 2012)

Our mission is to encourage creative expression, promote networking of local artists of all ages, and champion a learning environment that builds community participation in the arts.

Find out more about the Wyoming Area Creative Arts Community at:  https://WyomingCreativeArts.org

Written by: WACAC Administration

Hallberg Center for the Arts Introduces More Songwriters

Songwriters in the Round Series Continues

Two years ago, local songwriter and co-founder of the Wyoming Area Creative Arts Community, Andrew Spreck thought of the idea of bringing songwriters into the Hallberg Center for the Arts to perform their own, original music.  He arranged for three area songwriters to perform in the round.  For an hour and a half, these songwriters took turns performing their original pieces, telling the audience a little about the song and interacting with each other between songs.  Every now and then, backing up their fellow artists during the performance.

Two years later, this Songwriters in the Round series continues.  An accomplished songwriter himself, every other month Andrew reaches out to songwriters across Minnesota and western Wisconsin, matches the artists with other artists that compliment each other, and schedules performances at the Hallberg Center for the Arts.  

Later this month, for the first time, Andrew (also the MC of the show) will introduce three women songwriters that include Mother Banjo, Amanda Standalone, and Becky Kapell.  This 13th in the series will take place at the Hallberg Center for the Arts starting at 7pm on Thursday, March 29, 2018.

Here's a little bit about this songwriters...

Mother Banjo, aka Ellen Stanley is a New England raised, Minneapolis based songwriter. Called “an outstanding poet” (Inside Bluegrass), she has been featured nationally on SiriusXM Radio and CMT.com. Her latest album “The Devil Hasn’t Won” is an Americana gospel collection showcasing her all-star 5 piece band.

An engaging live performer, Mother Banjo weaves humorous stories with fun covers and her own original material. She has performed at prestigious local venues like The Cedar Cultural Center and The Dakota Jazz Club as well as toured across North America.

Amanda Standalone is a writer, folk musician and multi-instrumentalist from Minnesota. Standalone has released two albums, “Millions of Blackbirds” (2010), which bears the Title track “Bird flew Hard” for the HBO documentary ‘Paycheck to Paycheck: The Life and Times of Katrina Gilbert,’ and “Trouble” (2014), funded in part by a grant from the Lakes Region Arts Council and a successful indie go-go campaign. Her music is a soulful blend of acoustic folk/blues strongly influenced by American Roots music. She skillfully attacks the guitar, banjo, and her single stringed washtub, while packing an extra punch with her rich vocals. Currently, Standalone is working on her 3rd album and performing around the Midwest.

Raised in small town Minnesota, Becky Kapell moved to Portland Oregon in the 1980's and began singing back-up vocals in various bands and eventually fronted her own country cover band there. Along came a husband and kids and eventually a move back to Minnesota followed by a divorce and grown up kids. In 2007, after a long hiatus from music, Becky began teaching herself to play the guitar that sat in the corner of her living room. She knew only a few chords, which she played repeatedly in different combinations and rhythms until much to her surprise, melodies began to emerge and then somewhat magically, lyrics attached themselves to the melodies. She recorded 12 of those songs with old friends in Portland Oregon for her first record titled “For Now”. Sometimes plaintive and spare, sometimes humorous and lively, the songs capture the essence of a particular time of life and the frustration and heartache of unrealized dreams. Since the 2012 release of that record she has continued to write songs and morph her style from folk to her true love, classic country.

Free and Open to the Public...

These performance are free and open to the public, but you might want to get there a little early as there is only seating for about 70 people in this intimate setting surrounded by original artwork by regional artists.

Just minutes north of the Twin Cities on Interstate 35, the Hallberg Center for the Arts is located at 5521 East Viking Blvd in Wyoming, MN. 

The Hallberg Center for the Arts, owned and operated by the Wyoming Area Creative Arts Community, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, this facility is rapidly gaining recognition for it's continuously changing exhibitions of fine art by premier artists from across Minnesota and western Wisconsin.

Find out more about the Wyoming Area Creative Arts Community and upcoming events, calls for artists, and classes by visiting https://WyomingCreativeArts.org.

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