Robyn Hill Hendrix

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Red, Hot, and Interesting.

July 23, 2012 By Administrator

I am participating in the Red Hot Art festival this weekend. First outdoor festival I have ever done!  I will be in a tent. Should be interesting. So far, the preparations I’ve imagined I will do for this involve re-bubble-wrapping the art hanging on my walls and pulling out the rest from the closet, reprinting the signage I used for Art-a-Whirl but replacing the word “Art-a-Whirl” with “Red Hot Art,” carting everything over there with various supplies that I can use to rig up some sort of hanging system, and more or less winging it. Good plan, yes? I have a stash of temporary tattoos leftover from AAW to sell as well.

The when: Saturday, July 28th from 11am-7pm and Sunday, July 29th 11-5

The where: Stevens Square Park is located just south of downtown Minneapolis, between 18th / 19th Street (one block north of Franklin Avenue) and Stevens / 2nd Ave (two blocks east of Nicollet Avenue, one block west of 3rd Avenue).

A list of artists to be found and musicians to be listened to throughout the weekend can be found at redhotart.org.  I’ve only heard of maybe two of the bands, I think?  So that should also be interesting.

Filed Under: art Tagged With: art festivals, Minneapolis, red hot art, stevens square park

Digesting Inspiration

October 10, 2011 By Administrator

Giant Steps: So much food for thought, my brain has a tummyache.  In a good way.

What is Giant Steps?  Giant Steps is a remarkable one day conference for creative entrepreneurs of all types, founded by Susan Campion of Camponovo Consulting and M.anifest.  It brings together creative professionals, artists, foodies, business owners, consultants, freelancers, nonprofit and/or arts administrators, musicians, dancers, photographers, filmmakers, and anyone else who wants to be at the table.

Better put: it is a fountain of insight from people you normally might not think to or have the opportunity to interact with in a professional way.  The variety of background and experience of people on the panels and as participants ran the gamut, from hip hop artists, to a eco-and health- conscious sex shop owner.  From Robyne Robinson (Fox news anchor, jewelry artist, recent political candidate, former gallery owner…), to a guy who started painting athletic shoes for fun as a teenager and turned it into a business.  You see a professional dancer on the same panel as the owner of a company two people big that makes bitters in Milwaukie.  Local spoken word artist Desdamona moderated a panel that included photographer Wing Young Huie who has documented the everyday faces of Lake Street, Frogtown, University ave, etc, along with Sameh Wadi owner of Saffron, a middle eastern restaurant in Minneapolis which has now branched out into the food truck biz.  Another plenary included stories from David “TC” Ellis about growing up with Prince, being on the streets, and eventually getting sober and founding “Hip Hop High.”   On the same panel we heard from May Lee-Yang, a Hmong writer and theater performer who made the excellent point that when people say Hmong actors aren’t as good as Guthrie actors, she responds “Yeah, no shit!” because the Hmong community doesn’t even have a long history of written language, much less have a history and background of theater to build from.  You start where you’re at.

What you take away from listening to these incredible people fills the spectrum:  Perseverance. Humility.  That it is possible to accept failure and move forward from it.  You can push through, and be a better person for the obstacles you’ve gone through.  Finding balance.  Staying true to your needs and vision.  Figuring out when to say yes, when to say no, and when you need a contract in writing.  How to do your friggin’ taxes.  How to think about currency, assets, and value in a new way.  How to get famous using the internet (apparently; I didn’t actually go to that breakout session, ha).  How to share your message.  How to explain why your message and project matters – who cares?  Why here, and why now?  Building relevancy.  Finding a collaborator who will push you to get to the next level, rather than just giving you praise & validation.  Making something together that’s better than what you could have made individually on your own.  Maintaining vision.  Remembering infinite growth is probably not really your goal.  Think more about slow growth.  Local growth.  Growth doesn’t have to mean expansion; it can mean digging in deeper to what you’re already doing, like Danny Schwartzman’s decision to literally dig in and build a garden behind Common Roots café and start a catering service out of their Lyndale Ave. location instead of expanding to a whole new restaurant in St. Paul.

Other highlights & quotes:

“Take the leap because sometimes that freefall is what you need.”  -I’ve actually lost track of who said this; I think it was either Robyne Robinson or David “TC” Ellis

Hearing TC Ellis talk about trying to get Prince to give him a hand getting into the music biz by rapping in his face every time he ran into him at the club.

“Every time I thought I was bored I was actually really afraid of something [that I needed to do].” – Dawn Mikkelson.  This one hit me so hard!  So true.  She went on to say “I’m scared of it, that means I need to do it.”  I was having a lot of insight like this in the spring.  It’s so easy to become complacent again, or to move forward but then get caught up in things and lose focus or direction.

Many quotes from Robyne Robinson:  “I got 240 rejection letters before I got my first job.”  “If nobody wants this I’ll take it and make it into something incredible.”  “Fear is the mind-killer.”  “I did everything I could possibly do to get my foot in the door.”

“One of the challenges is I have too many passions.” – I Self Divine

“You’re blessed if you know what you want to do early in life.  And you’re also cursed because then you have to do it.” –Wing Young Huie

“Inspiration is for amateurs.” – Chuck Close, quoted by Wing Young Huie

“When you’re saying ‘I need money’ maybe what you really need to say is ‘I need barley.’” – My awesome friend Noah Keesecker from Springboard presenting with Betsy Altheimer, warping our brains about how to think about assets, value, and currency exchange.

We were asked to create our own “dollars” that represented one item or skill we could share, and then find someone in the room who would either buy that thing/skill with a real dollar bill, or trade their own invented “dollar.”  I traded “one funky drawing that doesn’t make sense” for “supporting verbage: a good reason or rationalization for doing something.”  We were then asked to shout out our perception of how much value we held in our hands after everyone traded; answers got up well into the hundreds or perhaps above a thousand.

Anyway, continuing with quotes from the day:

“I don’t get out of bed without a contract.” – Nick Kosevich (the guy who makes bitters)

(Paraphrased) “You have to figure out how to get taken seriously even though you’re talking about buttplugs, and at the same time remember not to take buttplugs too seriously.” – Jennifer Pritchett, owner of Smitten Kitten

Also, ran into friends & colleagues I knew would be there, but also artists I’d never met in real life before (like Kate), as well as someone I’d met 9 months ago at a Springboard community art projects workshop who I also ran into again at Seward coop two days after the conference, and lots of new people who I hope to reconnect with in person and online in the future.

I think my brain is still digesting.  Which is okay; I don’t want it to fade away too quickly.  I’m content with ruminating on all of this for a long while.

Giant Steps Trailer

Filed Under: art Tagged With: artists, business, conference, entrepreneur, giant steps, inspiration, Minneapolis, minnesota, professional development, springboard for the arts

Hypothetical weekend mnfringe schedule

August 5, 2011 By Administrator

For those of you who already expressed interest in coming to see a fringe show with me, and for those who have not yet expressed this but are keeping it bottled up inside for whatever reason, here are my potential (not set completely in stone) plans for these first couple days of fringe:

Tonight, Friday, it’s all about Uptown.

5:30  Red Hamlet by Red Theater at Theatre Garage

Break for house managing; i’ll be facilitating box office goodyness over at Cult Status Gallery for the BYOV show The 612 by Rogues Gallery Arts.  Sounds really interesting.  Come buy a ticket from me; see 4 short plays plus a gallery show of visual art!

10:00  Deadline: A Choose Your Own Adventure Story by Interplanetary Appeal at Bryant-Lake Bowl  (I saw these guys do choose your own adventure improv at Huge Theater a few months ago, it was really funny.)

Friday will probably finish up with some drinkinating & socializing at Moto-i (this year’s Fringe Central location).

Tomorrow, Saturday, big day on the West Bank:

1:00  Once Upon a Time in the Suburbs by Ferrari McSpeedy Theatrical Productions at U of M Rarig Thrust

2:30  Buckets and Tap Shoes by 10 Foot 5 Productions at U of M Rarig Proscenium

4:00  TBA!  Too many amazing companies in this timeslot!  If I think I can get there in time:  Fletcher & Zenobia Save the Circus (by Edward Gorey) by Live Action Set at Mill City Museum.  Or if i can’t: Disney Dethroned or Brain Fighters or Underneath the Lintel.  Crapola.  Please, someone tell me that you want to come see one of these shows with me and make the decision for me.  I will, for the most part, yield to accompanying friend’s preferences (especially since you’re paying for a ticket and I’m not)

5:30 maybe  Our Freaking Kids Show by Mainly Me Productions at U of M Rarig Thrust, or maybe taking a break, getting some food and lying in the grass somewhere.

7:00  Callahan and Lingo presents: The Last Ditch by ACM Productions at U of M Rarig Arena or possibly another attempt at getting over to Mill City for Fletcher & Zenobia & will try plan to see Allegra* & Rob’s show later in the week.

*I have to put that in, Allegra’s my Fringeboss 😛

8:30  Minnesota Middle Finger by Ben San Del Presents at Theatre in the Round

10:00  Probably Comedy = Tragedy + Someone Else by The Importance of Being Fotis at U of M Rarig Thrust, or maybe Death Perception by Schroedinger’s Dog at U of M Rarig Xperimental

Phew!  I did it!  I mean, I planned it.  Now all that’s left is to go enjoy.  Sunday I won’t be seeing shows because I will be working as a house manager at the Playwright’s Center all day long.  Food donations gladly accepted.  Hint hint nudge nudge.

Filed Under: Theater Tagged With: Minneapolis, Minnesota Fringe Festival, mnarts, mnfringe, performing arts

summery summary

July 5, 2011 By Administrator

summary of weekend:

  • didn’t know what to do with myself
  • walked around lake calhoun (pretty sure every other person who lives in Minneapolis also did this at some point this weekend)
  • tried not to be too whiny, but kind of failed.  Sorry, Ariel.
  • did not get tacos at calhoun because line was too long (backtrack to preceding bullet point)
  • ate cake flavored vodka flavored cake
  • drank sour milk
  • looked at lots of adorable pictures of kids that fam & friends posted on facebook
  • overconsumption of visual culture via Pinterest
  • made a list of all the clever & ridiculous blogs that make me laugh (see “Giggly Things” in my blogroll to get some lolz)
  • ate a lot of pepperidge farm cookies
  • Didn’t go to a party hosted by a friend of a friend, where I probably would have ended up having this awkward yet funny conversation:

Host: “Oh hello, I recognize you but I can’t remember how we knew each other at Carleton.”

Me: “Yeah, you were a nude model and I used to draw you naked.  Thanks for letting me tag along to your party.  So what are you up to these days?”

  • received a drunken text referring to “people huts” (???) from a friend at said party, in which she somehow managed to make an accidental hyperlink by typing I.am.  I didn’t even know you could put hyperlinks in text messages.  Was disappointed I didn’t get more funny drunken texts from her & still wonder what ppl huts are.
  • called my grandparents to wish them both a belated happy 93rd birthday (both were last week) as well as a happy 4th of July
  • wondered what it would be like to be 64.166 years older than I am now.
  • had some good girl talk about boys (what other kind is there?)
  • saw some boys dancing in patriotic underwear, got coated in citronella, bug spray & pot fumes while overhearing hilarious fireworks commentary from (hipster?) U students next to us, ran into pretty much exactly the people I expected to run into, and guffawed/winced/groaned/smiled at people’s tiny weird video creations at the Soap Factory’s Ten Second Film Festival
  • finished a painting
  • got new business cards in the mail!

Pocket Sized Robyn Art!

4th of July weekend #ftw!

Filed Under: art, regular life stuff Tagged With: 10secfilmfest, 4th of July, business cards, Minneapolis, Pinterest, the soap factory

fungi art…

April 18, 2011 By Administrator

Ready to see the art that came out of that random mushroom inspiration from a few weeks ago?

……..

Mystery Artwork

Too bad!  It’s top secret until the Art 4 Shelter Benefit on May 5th, 2011 at Circa Gallery.  Come to the warehouse district and see if you can figure out which pieces are mine among the hundreds of 5x7s on the wall (I made three).  You can even take one of them home, for only $30!  Supports Simpson Housing Services.

Preview: 5:00 – 6:00 p.m

Sale: 6:00 – 9:00 p.m.

Thursday, Cinco de Mayo, Circa Gallery, 210 North 1st Street, Mpls, MN

(Don’t go to the address on the envelope in the photo!  Oh, wait, it’s a PO Box, so that’s pretty obvious isn’t it.  I’m a lil sleepy.)

Filed Under: art Tagged With: art 4 shelter, benefit art sale, cinco de mayo, circa gallery, events, Minneapolis, mnarts, mystery art, painting, simpson housing services, top secret

update on Intermedia show

March 14, 2011 By Administrator

I now have a list of all the artists participating in The Arts of the Community II at Intermedia arts, opening this friday.  I went for a sneak peak on Saturday and it’s a very diverse show with lots of intriguing stuff.

Artists include Barbara Lea, Bouky Labhard, Christopher Anderson, Donna Dralle, Eddie Hamilton, Eyenga Bokamba, Iggy Beerbower, Jane Powers, Jeanne McGee, Jenny Jenkins, Kat Corrigan, Kate Van Cleve, Katie Sherman, Leann Johnson, Lisa Petersson, Megan Moore, Nicole Houff, Pamela Gaard, Robyn Hendrix, Steve Brooks, Maghan Rangitsch, Marcos Montano, Steven Berg, Jessie France, Jeremy Smith and Stephanie Aichinger.

And in case I haven’t drilled it into your heads enough yet:

Opening reception is this Friday, March 18th from 7pm -10pm (I plan to be in attendance for most of the evening, so come check it out and keep me company!)

Here’s the facebook event.

Building Hours are 10am-6pm Monday-Friday and 12-5pm on Saturdays.  Show is put on by the South Minneapolis Arts Business Association and lasts until March 30th.

Filed Under: art Tagged With: events, exhibit, intermedia arts, Minneapolis, mnarts, painting, smarts

all my March event info in one place

March 6, 2011 By Administrator

My mom asked me to post exactly which of my paintings are in which shows in March, since she can’t be here to see them.  And since yesterday was her birthday, I better do what she says (Happy Bday Mom!).  So here it is, all the event info for March all in one place:

Climb, Watercolor on Paper, 16" x 20". Sold.

Climb is on view in the Grain Belt Bottling House as a part of the Women’s Art Registry of Minnesota (WARM) member show Temporality, showing through March 31st. The building is open Mon-Fri 8am-6pm, and is located at 79 13th Ave NE, Minneapolis, MN

Thirst, Watercolor on Paper, 16" x 20"

Seedlings 2, Watercolor on paper, 10" x 13"

Incubators, Watercolor on Paper, 16″ x 20″

Thirst, Seedlings 2 and Incubators will all be showing in the SMARTS Arts of the Community II exhibit at Intermedia Arts March 11th-30th with an opening reception March 18th from 7-10pm.  Intermedia is open Mon-Fri 10am-6pm and Sat 12-5pm.

We had a great turnout on Friday night for the WARM members show Temporality.  Click here to see photos!  I had a great time meeting lots of artists whose names I knew from emails and statements but hadn’t met in person yet.  It’s great to see the excitement & potential of the organization growing.  I have been really impressed with the excellent quality of our members’ work.  We are, for the most part, a very professional and yet very unpretentious group.  In short, we take our art seriously, but don’t take ourselves too seriously.

Now I’m getting ready for the SMARTS show at Intermedia.  Framing in progress:

[portfolio_slideshow]

Unfortunately I made a dumb move yesterday and broke the glass in one of my frames.  The paint on the frame was kind of banged up anyway so I don’t feel too bad about having to replace it (especially since my piece in the WARM show was bought by fellow artist Claudia Poser!  She and her hubby are so adorable, and I really love her artwork, so it makes my heart smile that she’s buying my painting).  So I have two out of three done.  Plus I was reminded why it’s important to know what you really need BEFORE you get the framing supplies.  I ended up with some foam core backing that’s way too thick for the frames.  Oops.  Framing is such a pain, but it’s so exciting to see them all done.  They are like my little babies, and now they are all dressed up and ready to catch the bus to go off to kindergARTen!  Aww.

Filed Under: art Tagged With: events, exhibit openings, framing, intermedia arts, Minneapolis, mnarts, painting, WARM, watercolor, women's art registry of minnesota

march madness

February 28, 2011 By Administrator

The website’s been updated!  Check it. Home page info, resume, portfolio and artist’s statement were all tweaked or added to.

I have had probably the most productive 4-day weekend ever.  And I still have one more day to go.  We got the arranging of things pretty much done today for the Temporality show so tomorrow we have to do a little bit of painting and start hanging things up on the walls.  It’s gonna be a really nice show.  Come see it Friday night!  5-8pm.  I’ve been tweeting and facebooking up a storm for WARM, possibly going slightly mad with multiple personality disorder.  Fun stuff.

I also found out last week that three more of my watercolors were accepted into the SMARTS Arts of the Community II exhibition at Intermedia Arts, which will be up March 11th-30th with an opening reception March 18th from 7-10pm.  So it’s another busy busy March for me, similar to last year.  Love this time of year though, so much going on.  And I’m excited to be showing all new work that’s never been exhibited before.  I so completely adore the three pieces that were chosen for the Intermedia show and can’t wait to see them framed and up on the wall.

Filed Under: art Tagged With: events, intermedia arts, march, Minneapolis, openings, productivity, smarts, upcoming exhibits, visual art, watercolor, women's art registry of minnesota

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