Kenwood Cultural Understanding Award Goes to Second Grade Teacher
Kenwood Elementary School has awarded the annual Bridging the Gap of Cultural Understanding Award to Lisi Becker, 2nd Grade Teacher. Ms. Becker has taught at Kenwood for two years and previously taught at Jenny Lind. Last summer, she completed a semester of coursework on anti-bias teaching and learning, sponsored and facilitated by MPS and AMAZEworks. She and her grade-level team piloted the AMAZEworks anti-bias curriculum this year.
Through beautifully illustrated, well-curated books, Ms. Becker and her colleagues led students through important conversations that fostered healthy identity development and respect across race, class, culture, gender, ability, beliefs, and other social identities. Principal Heidi Johnson reflects that “Ms. Becker is a well-respected teacher leader who has demonstrated her commitment to equitable practices and joyful learning for all children.”
This is the third annual award that was started in 2018 in honor of art teacher Margaret Zimmerman Swenson in recognition of her remarkable accomplishment of developing a Native American art curriculum through which children learned from visiting Native artists.
The award is chosen by the principal and bestowed upon a member of the school community who successfully bridges the gap of cultural understanding and shares knowledge between cultures. Each year Birchbark Books sponsors the winner with a gift certificate.
Angie Erdrich | Kenwood
Thank you, Josie Owens!
Thank you, Josie Owens, for providing us with the history of the formation of our distinctive neighborhood in the September issue—so refreshing and knowledgeable. It was such a pleasure to read.
Suzanne Prass 54-year resident of Lowry Hill
Greetings from Taos!
Thank you to Josie Owens for her fine article about the always-fascinating history of the remaking of the land that would become our four Hill and Lake neighborhoods by successive generations of European settlers, business titans, and developers (“The Linking of the Lakes: A Municipal Challenge,” September HLP). The changes they wrought would be inconceivable today (think: razing the Devil’s Backbone, lowering Cedar Lake by five feet) but were entirely consistent with the ethos of the time of making nature conform to human needs and visions of beauty. Mention should be made of the Cedar Lake Park Association, champions of saving and rehabilitating the ravaged north and east shores of Cedar Lake.
Definitely worth a read is Neil Trembley’s comprehensive, gracefully written “Cedar Lake Park Association: A History,” particularly the Introduction and first two chapters. It’s available on the CLPA website (www.cedarlakepark.org). Click on “Publications,” then on the green-type link.
Josie Owens touched on the festivities when the Lake of the Isles-Lake Calhoun (now Bde Maka Ska) channel was opened in 1911. It was the largest, grandest civic celebration the city had ever seen, or has seen since. Imagine: 150,000 people crowded around Lake Harriet on July 4 to watch the “Water Parade” and fireworks, and on July 11 30,000 schoolchildren marched down Nicollet Avenue. Such fun!
The official opening of the channel between Lake of the Isles and Cedar Lake two years later, on Saturday, November 8, 1913, couldn’t have been more different. Certainly, the weather wasn’t cooperating––36 degrees at 2 pm with wind gusts up to 40 miles per hour when Superintendent Wirth and the Park Board commissioners pushed off for their inaugural tour of the two newly-joined lakes.
Hill & Lake Press marked the 100th anniversary in November 2013 of the opening of the Kenilworth Channel with an article and pictures of the construction of the two channels and the details of the two vastly different openings. You can find it at www.hillandlakepress.org. Click on “Issues,” then scroll down and click on “Nov 13.”
Michael Wilson Taos, New Mexico
The Isles Ensemble Is Back! Next concert is Sunday, Nov. 6
Here’s something that Hill and Lake music lovers may not all have heard: the musicians of our esteemed Isles Ensemble have resumed their season of Sunday afternoon 4 pm concerts in the heart of our neighborhood, at Lake of The Isles Lutheran Church. The Isles Ensemble’s first full post-pandemic season opened on September 18 and continues on Sunday, November 6, at 4 pm with works by Latvian composer Peteris Vāsks, French composer André Caplet, and Czech composer Bedřich Smetana.
How did we come to have a chamber music concert series right in our own backyard? Well, according to violinist/violist and Lowry Hill East resident Leslie Shank, one fine day in 2004 she and violinist Joanne Opgenorth were walking around Lake of the Isles and were struck by the beauty of Lake of the Isles Lutheran Church as they viewed it across the water. Opgenorth poked her head in the church, Shank recalls, and said, “The acoustic is great. This would be a marvelous performance space for a chamber group.”
Shortly afterwards the Isles Ensemble was born. Each member of the ensemble, as their website states, brings a wealth of artistry and experience to the stage, resulting in an outstanding group the Star Tribune called the “cream of the Twin Cities classical musicians.” The varied performing and teaching careers of the Isles Ensemble musicians include membership in the Minnesota Orchestra, the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, internationally touring string quartets (Lark, Chester, Manhattan) and college and university faculties.
Go to islesensemble.org for information on this season’s programs and on the ensemble members.
Admission is $25 for individual tickets or pay what you can. Children and students are admitted free of charge.
There’s always a reception afterwards with light refreshments to meet and greet the musicians and your neighbors.
Michael Wilson on behalf of the Isles Ensemble, Kenwood
Groveland Gallery:
Walking Distance, Artist Justin Terlecki
Walking Distance, an exhibition of new paintings by Justin Terlecki, opens October 22 at Groveland Gallery. Originally from Youngstown, Ohio, Terlecki has exhibited his work regularly in the Twin Cities since moving to Minnesota in 1998. In 2009, Terlecki received a Jerome Fellowship for Emerging Printmakers through Highpoint Center for Printmaking. Terlecki’s work is included in the permanent collection of the McDonough Museum of Art and many local and national private collections.
Terlecki’s colorful depictions of everyday life take the viewer on an intimate tour of the ordinary. Pulling from quiet observation, public spectacle and human relationships, Terlecki’s scenes range from local celebrations and family dynamics to snapshots of the city. As the artist explains, “Common everyday places can easily be overlooked as sources for creativity. In my latest work, I discover inspiration in my own familiar surroundings, such as my living space in Downtown St. Paul, my Lowertown neighborhood of century old stone and red brick buildings, and even my mother’s home in Northeast Ohio. Working through direct observation, when possible, I explore the intricate details of these environments. I study the way natural or artificial light casts shadows and reflections to create a realistic inviting presence.”
The Heavens, Artist Dan Bruggeman
Groveland Gallery is pleased to announce the opening of The Heavens an exhibit of new paintings by St. Paul artist, Dan Bruggeman. For over 30 years his work has been part of exhibitions across the U.S. including the Albright Knox Museum in Buffalo, the North Dakota Museum of Art in Grand Forks, the Museum of Nebraska Art in Kearny, and the Minnesota Museum of American Art in St. Paul. Bruggeman currently teaches in the Fine Art Department at Carleton College in Northfield.
Included in this exhibition will be a new series of landscapes on paper. About this new work, Bruggeman writes, “Melancholia, the contemplation of the dismal plight we are in, has nothing in common with the desire to die… Describing the dismal plight we face contains the possibility of overcoming it (The Description of Disaster by WG Sebald).”
Imposing in its scale, uncanny and mysterious, our upper-midwestern landscape has long been an avenue of transcendence. Its paradox is as compelling as any other in nature, treading that razor-thin edge between threat and wonder, human and divine.
But it also sits against the backdrop of an unavoidable reality: it is deteriorating. That looming sense of loss is the melancholic plot-twist in this otherwise serene theatre. It is the same delicate and precarious balance that, since Eden, has linked Earth and the Heavens.
In these paintings, I’ve sought to explore that connective tissue while paying homage to the melancholy derived from its transitory nature. These tiny vignettes might be playful if not for the suggestion of loss. But still, amid that void, this landscape offers hope that what once existed may live on, and that the sentimental might give way to something eternal.
Both artists will be present at the opening reception Saturday, October 22 from 2-5 pm. The opening reception and exhibition run concurrently. Both shows continue through November 26, 2022. For more information, please call 612-377-7800 or visit www.grovelandgallery.com.
Sally Johnson | Director of the Groveland Gallery, Lowry Hill
New “Wirth Woods Dance Suite”
Bryn Mawr resident Jim Stokes has composed a “Wirth Woods Dance Suite,” an orchestral work in five movements for improvisational dance and good listening. The classic suite (Copyright (c), 2022 by James H. Stokes) can be heard online by entering: SoundCloud.com Jim Stokes Composer.
Jim Stokes | Bryn Mawr
An update from East Isles
The East Isles Neighborhood Association’s (EINA) annual Summer Social was an exciting end to summer as residents gathered at Levin Triangle Park in August. It was great to see the park full of neighbors of all ages. A big
thank you to our amazing friends in East Isles including Deb Altschuler (EINA Board Member) and her team for the behind-the-scenes logistics, Steve Havig (Lakes Area Realty), our music sponsor. Isles Bun & Coffee, shared their amazing treats, and Kowalksi’s provided the ice cream. A brief downpour didn’t dampen anyone’s spirits as neighbors enjoyed catching up or meeting for the first time. And of course, everyone appreciated the cookies, ice cream sandwiches, live music, and the puppet show!
Our East Isles Farmers Market wrapped up their season at the end of September. Market Manager Jenny Breen and her team continue to bring a local farmers, food trucks, live music and more to the market week after week. The market is the result of a partnership between East Isles and the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board.
EINA is excited to announce Cuyler Dinegan has joined our team as neighborhood coordinator! Cuyler brings a wealth of experience working with municipal governments, nonprofits, and graphic design. Please join us in welcoming Cuyler to East Isles!
At EINA’s September board meeting, the board backed a new initiative; the addition of a Safety Block Club that will begin walking patrols in October. The group seeks to improve public safety while providing an opportunity for neighbors to connect. Neighborhood walking groups are being formed in different parts of Minneapolis and in areas they are established have proven to make a difference. To learn more or volunteer email info@eastisles.org.
The EINA board welcomes neighbors to our monthly board meetings. The board meets on the second Tuesday of the month at 7:00 PM at Grace-Trinity Community Church. However, the November meeting will take place on Monday the 7th due to Election Day 2022.
To the entire Hill and Lake Press community, EINA wishes everyone a wonderful fall season!
Quinton Courts on behalf of EINA.
