Big River Continuum: Cohort Conversations

It is one thing to know about a river, and yet another altogether to consider the river itself as a way of knowing. The Big River Continuum is a Mississippi-long artist residency exchange that amplifies the interconnectedness of cultures, research, water and land through collaboration between the multimedia artist KAREN GOULET (WHITE EARTH OJIBWE) from the Mississippi headwaters region, and social practice artist MONIQUE VERDIN (HOUMA) from the Delta. Over the past three years, the artists have been exchanging visits and having conversations about ways in which the Big River’s headwaters and the delta have been in conversation with each other for thousands of years. Over the past year these conversations have been expanded to include the UMN researchers, students and folks from Louisiana through support from the Institute for Advanced Study collaborative. This event marks the culmination of the Big River Continuum collaborative’s work, and an outlook towards the artists’ exhibitions in the coming summer at the Watermark Art Center, Bemidji, MN and the Target Studio for Creative Collaboration at WAM. Meet the artists and hear more about their projects during the Open House  in WAM’s Riverview Gallery from 4 – 5:30; then stay for the panel conversation beginning at 6 p.m. in the Shepherd Room. 

Image credit: Design at top by Monique Verdin

Open House

MAY 4, 4 – 5:30 P.M.
RIVERVIEW GALLERY, WEISMAN ART MUSEUM
FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC

Join us at the Open House, prior to the evening’s panel conversation, and have individual conversations with the artists and collaborators about their work:

• RIVER STORIES: Monique Verdin and Karen Goulet invite the public to share with them their personal river stories. The shared stories will be woven into the summer exhibition at Weisman and Watermark Art Center.
• THE TINY MUSEUM: Microbial Scientist Jonathan Schilling will share his way of observing the wonderful world of small animals. Please bring a well charged phone.
• SOIL CHROMA: Gabriela Hidrobo will share her experience with Soil Chromatography: a unique photographic process used by farmers to learn about the health of their soil.
   

Panel Conversation

MAY 4, 6 – 8 P.M.
SHEPHERD ROOM, WEISMAN ART MUSEUM
REGISTRATION REQUESTED >>
FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC

The evening’s discussion will begin with a series of brief prompts by the artists and their collaborators: PROF. JONATHAN SCHILLING, Director – Itasca Biological Station; GABRIELA HIDROBO, graduate student – Applied Plant Science; artist KAREN GOULET; and REBECCA DALLINGER, the Big River Continuum project’s guest curator. The prompts will be followed by a public conversation moderated by artist MONIQUE VERDIN.

Big River Continuum is an initiative of the University of Minnesota’s WEISMAN ART MUSEUM and ITASCA BIOLOGICAL STATION and Tulane University’s A STUDIO IN THE WOODS. It is supported by funds from the NW and Central Regional Development Sustainable Partnerships. Itasca Biological Station, Weisman Art Museum, and by the 2021 Institute for Advanced Study Collaborative Grant.

Full event details available on the Weisman Art Museum website.