Virgil the Watercolorist
Tomorrow evening, from 5-9 pm, I’ll be hosting Salon Ad Hoc, an experiment in community. I’ll be featuring the watercolors of Virgil Delegard and the jewelry of Marianna Padilla. I wrote about Virgil in an earlier blog.
Salon?
Anyone who knows me knows that spontaneity is not one of my strong suits. When I have an idea I tend to mull it over for a long, bring it up in conversations, and then procrastinate. I am constantly bombarded with ideas and this process helps me determine which few are truly worth pursuing.
The salon idea, providing space to display my creative work and that of friends and acquaintances, has appealed to me for a few years. I first thought of it while reading a history of the French Impressionist painters and how they struggled to get there work before the public. The early photographers faced a similar problem in getting photography recognized as a fine art.
These revolutionary movements appealed to me because they were vibrant communities, held together by shared visions of the arts and communication. I imagined the evenings in the cafes filled with lively discussions and sharing sketches.
I wondered if it was possible to create a similar environment today employing the resources of my community.
I feel very fortunate to live in the King Field neighborhood: particularly being so close to the corner that hosts Patisserie 46, Cafe Ena, and Kings Wine Bar. Also, my neighbors are engaging and open: often stopping and chatting when we see each other. In addition, this area of town has a concentration of people involved in creative professions and there is an inherent interest here.
I decided that winter, when everyone is indoors and looking for a reason to go someplace, is the perfect time to try out the salon. My decision was reinforced by conversations that I had with several other people who had similar ideas but didn’t know how to start. Who knows, it may be that this is the early stage of a new King Field tradition, a season of intimate salons illuminating the cold, dark, Minneapolis winter nights.
Salon Ad Hoc?
I use Ad Hoc to mean impromptu: improvised and implying a spontaneous relaxed atmosphere. The goal being an evening where you can stop by for a few minutes or hours, look at the creative work of a local artist(s), have something to drink, snacks, and enjoy the company of friends and neighbors.
Over the months that I pulled the this event together I encountered a couple challenges, what type of hanging system for the pictures and how to light them. The most elegant solutions were also the most expensive. I would get wrapped around the axle as I pondered what to do. At some point I reminded myself that this salon as an ad hoc affair which freed me up to look for more creative and less expensive solutions. It is ad hoc and all the better for it: community rather than perfection.
How is this going to turn out? How many people will show up? How will folks get along? Will it be too crowded, too empty? Will we have enough/too much wine, cheese, crackers, etc.? Will it be what I hope that it will be?
I haven’t a clue. This is an experiment, a work in progress.