Artists' Pipeline #51 - January 31, 2006

Six Minnesota artists have been awarded $1,000 grants through the VSA arts of Minnesota Artist Recognition Program. The tenth annual competitive grant, funded by a Jerome Hill Centennial Grant, recognizes excellence by Minnesota artists with disabilities. Selected from 35 applicants, the grantees are:

Shoshana Elana, Minneapolis, Visual arts;
Alissa Hullett, Faribault, Visual arts;
Raymond Luczak, Minneapolis, Writer;
John T. Medeiros, Minneapolis, Writer;
Christine A. Sikorski, Minneapolis, Writer;
Leili Tajadod Pritschet, Minneapolis, Performer/Choreographer

The Recognition Grants were awarded following a jurying process conducted by individuals with extensive backgrounds in the written, visual and performing arts. Panel members included:

Patsy Dew, Northfield Arts Guild program director;
Steve Downing, Grand Rapids, executive director, MacRostie Art Center;
Sarah Fehr, St. Paul, executive director, Eastside Arts Council;
Jarod Santek, Minneapolis, director of programs for writers, The Loft;
Julianna Skluzacek, Owatonna, artistic director, Merlin Players; playwright;
Norman Steere, Stillwater, Theatre Associates of Stillwater, fiber artist.

For more information, contact VSA arts of Minnesota.

Applications to produce a show for the 2006 Minnesota Fringe Festival (August 3-13) are available for download at Minnesota Fringe (www.fringefestival.org). To have a copy of the application mailed or emailed, call the Fringe office at 612-872-1212. Completed applications and refundable $400 fee must be physically inside the Fringe office (528 Hennepin Ave., Suite 503, Minneapolis MN 55403) by Tuesday, January 31, 2006 at 6:00 pm. Mail applications arriving on February 1 or later will NOT be accepted. Detailed show information is not required at the time of submission and show title and description can be changed at a later date. Applications are drawn entirely at random without regard to specific content.

Two lotteries to select shows will be held on Monday, February 6 – the first to select shows for Kids Fringe, Teen Fringe, artists of color, national and international companies, and the second to determine the remaining 90+ shows of the 2006 Minnesota Fringe Festival. Shows not selected in the first lottery will also be eligible for the second lottery.

The next Artists With Disabilities Alliance (AWDA) meeting is Wednesday, February 15, from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. at 1350 Nicollet Mall, #607, Minneapolis. The agenda will include introductions, discussion, announcements, and a program coordinated by Tony Wentersdorf, facilitator. He invites performers (poets, musicians, storytellers) to share their work and talk about how to get into various performing venues: coffeehouses, open stages and other opportunities. Visual artists are invited to share places open to exhibits: coffeehouses, churches, community centers, small galleries, etc. We'll distribute a beginning list of open stages and open mics.

The next World Jubilee sale is Saturday, March 25 at Gloria Dei Lutheran Church, 700 Snelling Avenue S. in Saint Paul. Artists and other volunteers are needed to staff the AWDA table. World Jubilee takes 9% of sales, and your voluntary contribution to AWDA is 10%. You need to sign a short form saying you are responsible for any sales taxes. The last World Jubilee was quite successful for several artists. To participate, contact Pamela Bottoms at 952-937-5745.

The meeting will also hear a report back from VSA arts of Minnesota on guidelines for their new program to award small grants to artists with disabilities in need; summarize recent and upcoming arts activities; and select date, location & facilitator for next meeting.

Directions: 1350 Nicollet Mall, apartment 607, is a circular complex between Nicollet & LaSalle, Grant and 14th. Entry to the taller West Tower is on Grant, near Ichiban’s and Ping’s. Park at meters on a street or in a lot at 15th & Nicollet, or for free in the Emerson School lot off 14th & LaSalle.

For more information: Facilitator Tony Wentersdorf, 612-872-0233, tonywentersdorf@hotmail.com. Minutes of past AWDA meetings are included on the Artists With Disabilities Alliance website (www.Angelfire.com/mn3/awda). If you know someone who would like to receive postcard or email notices of monthly meetings, please contact Jon at VSA arts of Minnesota: 612-332-3888 or 800-801-3883 ext. 4, voice/tty.

Open Eye Figure Theatre (Michael Sommers and Susan Haas) has purchased a building at 506 24th Street East, Minneapolis. Located near I-35W and Franklin Avenue, it was the original location for Patrick’s Cabaret. In preparation for their grand opening in December, featuring their latest figure work, "Snow Man," they are seeking volunteers to help make the new theater space a reality. For more information: openeye@bitstream.net or Open Eye Figure Theatre (www.openeyetheatre.org).

Plays fresh off the playwrights' computer are given weekly readings at the Playwrights' Center, 2301 E. Franklin Avenue, Minneapolis. The Roundtable for General Members is a cold-reading experience in which actors bring to life new scripts and audience members respond to what worked, what didn't. It is a great way for playwrights to gain a better understanding of their script's performance power. Roundtable readings take place in the Rehearsal Hall (rear entrance) at 6:30 pm each Wednesday from September through May. Doors open at 6:00 pm. For more information: 612-332-7481 or The Playwrights' Center (www.pwcenter.org).

• February 1 - Todd Hughes
• February 8 - Ray Dull
• February 15 - Chris Kidder
• February 22 - Greg Bonine Giles
• March 1 - Ed Leschke
• March 8 - Helene Turnbull
• March 15 - Maureen Berg
• March 22 - David Berg
• March 29 - Carol Ann Hough
• April 5 - Jayne Benjulian
• April 12 - Erik Brogger
• April 19 - David Meth
• April 26 - Dan Pugh
• May 3 - Therese Kunz
• May 10 - Aaron Toronto
• May 17 - Laura Owen
• May 24 - Claudia Haas

This year is the 11th anniversary of the Midwest Dessert Competition and fund-raiser for the Bloomington Fine Arts Council. A Taste of Chocolate, will be held Sunday, March 19 from 1:00 to 5:00 at Bloomington Center for the Arts, 1800 W. Old Shakopee Road. Tickets in advance are $20, at the door $25. Besides the dessert and coffee-tasting, a raffle will be held. For tickets, call 952-563-8587 go to Bloomington Art Center (www.bloomingtonartcenter.com) or send check to BFAC, 1800 W. Old Shakopee Road, Bloomington, MN 55431.

Interact Theatre will host an Open Rehearsal and Discussion of The CRASH Project on Tuesday, January 31 from 1:00-3:00. A new play that will open at Interact on April 14, the Crash Project is a collaborative of 15 artists who have experienced and survived Traumatic Brain Injury. After the rehearsal, audience responses and insights will help the company identify opportunities for new themes, characters and collaborations. Conceived and directed by Lola Lesheim, Interact performing arts director, the project also involves Interact Staff Artist Scott Reynolds, Audio Collage Artist Jonathon Nelson, Set Designer Faith Farrell, and the Interact Artists. Interact is located in the Minneapolis Warehouse District at 212 North Third Avenue, one block off Washington Avenue. For more information: 612-339-5145.

Mankwe Ndosi has been chosen to steward the Center for Independent Artists (CIA), succeeding Zaraawar Mistry, who founded the organization five years ago. This small nonprofit artist service/ creative incubator is located in the Instituto de Cultura y Educacion at 4137 Bloomington Avenue in South Minneapolis.

The CIA nurtures independent artistic vision, fosters diverse cultural perspectives and seeks to build an enlightened citizenry. It particularly supports original work, the work of artists from diverse cultural groups, and the development of projects that offer under-represented or uncommon perspectives. The Center has a professional 60-seat black box theater, access to gallery space, and equipment for duplication, dubbing, audio editing and more. Upcoming events include:

Saturday, February 4, 11:00 am - Walker Free First Saturday performance with Minneapolis-based musician Douglas Ewart, poet Mankwe Ndosi, dancer Roxane Wallace, and percussionist Steven Goldstein in the William and Nadine McGuire Theater. 1750 Hennepin Avenue, Minneapolis, Phone: 612-375-7600.

Sunday, February 5, 2:00 - The Blake School Reading Series features spoken word artist Mankwe Ndosi and jazz great Douglas Ewart will perform at 504 Kenwood Parkway, two blocks west of the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden. The event is free and open to the public.

Sunday, February 12 - Libby Turner and Friends at the C4IA; more info To be announced.

Saturday, March 4, 8:00 pm - Walker Art Center hosts Douglas Ewart & Inventions Clarinet Choir in the William & Nadine McGuire Theater. Called "A genre-defying band that sounds like nothing else on this planet...easily ranks among the more ferociously effective septets in jazz" by the Chicago Tribune, Ewart's group will include Ed Wilkerson, Jr., Mwata Bowden, singer/poet Mankwe Ndosi, bass Darius Savage, guitar Jeff Parker, drummer Dushon Mosely. The concert opens with the rhythms of bassist William Parker and Hamid Drake.

For more information: email c4ia@c4ia.org or go to Center for Independent Artists (www.c4ia.org).

Congress recently finished appropriations for the year. The final FY06 National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) funding is $124.4 million - an increase of $3.2 million, or 2.6 percent over FY05. The National Endowment for Humanities (NEH) received $141.02 million for FY06, an increase of 2.15 percent. The Office of Museum Services (OMS) is funded at $30.98 million, an increase of $700,000. Funding for the US Department of Education Arts in Education program is $35.28 million; a cut of one percent (level-funding, with the rescission), or $357,000. This program funds VSA arts, the John F. Kennedy Center for Performing Arts and other programs.

Minnesota's Arts Advocacy Day will be Thursday, March 9, 2006. For more information: Minnesota Citizens for the Arts (www.mtn.org/mca). Arts advocates will meet first at the Minnesota History Center and then in teams visit legislators at the State Capitol. Volunteers are needed to help prepare Advocacy Day invitations and materials on these days at the MCA offices in Saint Paul (The Wright Building, 2233 University Avenue #355): Tuesday, January 31 from 9:00-8:00; Wednesday, February 1 from 9:00-5:00; Thursday, February 2 from 9:00-5:00. To volunteer at one of these times, RSVP to Kate Hannaher at MCA, 651-251-0868.

National Arts Advocacy Days will be March 13-14. A broad cross section of America’s national cultural and civic organizations will join hundreds of grassroots advocates to underscore the importance of developing strong public policies and appropriating increased public funding for the arts. Monday, March 13, will offer guest speakers and training sessions about current arts issues and how to lobby Congress for increased public funding for the arts. On Monday evening Pulitzer Prize-winning author and political columnist William Safire will deliver the 2006 Nancy Hanks Lecture on Arts and Public Policy. On March 14 attendees will head to the hill for meetings with members of Congress. To join the Minnesota Citizens for the Arts team to D.C. and make appointments with our members of Congress, call Sheila Smith at MCA, phone: (651) 251-0868 or email: mca@mtn.org. For more information: Arts Advocacy Day 2006 (http://capwiz.com/artsusa/mn/utr/1/EDNZFJXRYS/GETCFJXSGK/585791626).

Duluth will be taking applications until March 1 for the newly created post of Duluth Poet Laureate. The two-year position requires applicants to have been a Duluth resident for five of the past 10 years, and to have a 48-page volume of work that wasn't self-published, among other things. There is a $2000 stipend. The city created the post in direct response to Gov. Pawlenty's veto of a bill that would have created a state poet laureate. A Saint Paul Pioneer Press article on the search can be found at: Pioneer Press, There's good rhyme and reason for state poet laureate (http://capwiz.com/artsusa/mn/utr/1/EDNZFJXRYS/JDOVFJXSGJ/585791626).

Ohio State University will be hosting a series of cross disciplinary events examining the role of narrative in understanding disability in ourselves, our work and our world. This is because storytelling cuts across the diversity of human experience and is important to the creation and application of knowledge across the entire range of disciplines from humanities to the sciences.

February 16-17, 2006 - Disability, Narrative and the Law - "All members of the legal community - lawyers, judges, legislators - must confront the stories that the law constructs and authenticates and accept greater responsibility for the legal realities we help to establish when we tell or accept one legal story rather than another." (Richard K. Sherwin).

For more information: Moritz College of Law - Center for Interdisciplinary Law and Policy Studies - Events (http://moritzlaw.osu.edu/cilps/events.html).

April 17-18, 2006 - Personal Perspectives & Social Impact: The Stories We Tell - The Sixth Annual Multiple Perspectives on Access, Inclusion & Disability - "Storytelling enables the individuals in an organization to see themselves and the organization in a different light, and accordingly take decisions and change their behavior in accordance with these new perceptions, insights and identities." (Steven Denning).

"Identity is formed by social processes. Once crystallized, it is maintained, modified, or even reshaped by social relations... Conversely, the identities produced by the interplay of individual consciousness and social structure react upon the given social structure, maintaining it, modifying it, or even reshaping it" (Berger and Luckman).

For more information: ADA: Conference - Multiple perspectives on access, inclusion, and disability (http://ada.osu.edu/conferences.htm).

Laura Littleford

Laura Littleford will perform Wails Wales Whales, her one-woman show about coping with chronic illness through humor, outrage and creativity. The Friends of the Saint Paul Public Library are sponsoring a free performance on Wednesday, February 15 at 7:00 p.m. at Highland Park Brand Library, 1974 Ford Parkway, Saint Paul. For more information: Highland Park Library, maps and directions (www.sppl.org/locations/highlandpark.html#directions).

Leslye Orr

Leslye Orr will perform Women Who Drink on Friday and Saturday, February 17-18 at 7:00 pm at Northern Vineyards Winery, 223 North Main Street, Stillwater. The show will be audio described and ASL-interpreted, but seating is very limited, so call early. Toasted by critics as the "Best Solo Performance of 2000" and a two-time Star-Tribune "Critic's Choice," the comedy follows Orr playing 14 loopy ladies named after their drink of choice. You won't want to miss her "Beer" lady bark, "Ya know, Bob!" in that familiar Minnesota bar "Tak" with barmaid Kathleen Sullivan. Dinner discounts at cooperating restaurants available. Tickets, $15 for adults, $12 for students or AD/ASL patrons, are available at 651-439-0993, Valley Bookseller or Northern Vineyards Winery.

Minnesota craft artists who wish to participate in the 34th Annual Minnesota Crafts Festival, June 23 - 25, 2006 at the Minnesota History Center, have until February 1 (or February 6 online) to submit their applications. This year the Minnesota Crafts Council (MCC) has joined with 37 other shows utilizing the Zapp application system - a one-stop, universal online system for both MCC’s shows. Once an artist creates a profile and uploads their images, application to multiple shows is just a click away. Jury fees can be paid by credit card online or check. MCC encourages artists to prepare digital images and apply online. If you are unable to do so, call 612-333-7789 or e-mail mncraft@mtn.org to request a paper application. Artists may complete and submit the paper application with slides and MCC will digitize your images and create a Zapp profile for you for a fee of $45. To apply online:
1. Visit Minnesota Crafts Council Home (www.mncraft.org) and click Zapplication website;
2. Create your online artist profile;
3. Prepare and upload your images (see Image Preparation);
4. Complete online application and submit before midnight (CST) 2/6/06.

The 3rd Annual Bloomington Writers' Festival will be held on Saturday, April 1, at the Bloomington Center for the Arts, 1800 W. Old Shakopee Road. Sponsored by the Bloomington Art Center's Literary Council, the event of classes, readings, book signings and a keynote address is for writers of all levels - authors in training, published, those who want to start writing and people who just love to read.

Four 45-minute workshops will be repeated three times in the morning (at 9:30, 10:30 & 11:30 a.m.), enabling you to attend at least three of them plus the afternoon session. Workshops include Beginning Life Stories with instructor Laraine Tracy; Strategies for Getting Your Work Published with instructors August Blegen and Jim Koepke; Magazine Freelance Writing, and More About Life Stories, (instructors to be named).

The afternoon from noon to 4:00 will include opportunities to meet authors, attend book readings & signings, hear the keynote speaker and mingle with other writers. Workshops (including afternoon session) are $8 each, 3 for $20 (when reserved at same time). To register for 3 or more workshops or to receive the discount, call 952-563-8587. Suggested freewill offering at door is $3-5. For more information: Bloomington Art Center, Writer's Festival (http://www.bloomingtonartcenter.com/Pages/Writer%27s%20Festival.htm).

Springboard for the Arts has a new schedule of workshops, opportunities and grant deadlines on its website. For more information, to get mailings, or to register, call 651-292-4381, go to Springboard for the Arts (www.springboardforthearts.org), or write to 308 Prince Street, #270, Saint Paul, MN 55101-1437.

A new Ramsey Center for Arts Gallery opened in Lake Elmo on January 7 with more than 100 people attending the ribbon cutting and open house reception. The Ramsey Center for Arts, which also has a gallery in Shoreview, is at 3585 Laverne Avenue North in Lake Elmo, just off Highway 5 in the residential district next to the park.

The first exhibit, "Living Creatively," features creative work by visual artists, writers and performers in the Saint Croix Valley who live with mental illness and disabilities, including prominent local artists Sunny Steinmetz and Robb Swanlund. Open daily (except Mondays) through February 10, the show includes acrylic paintings, drawings, pottery, photography, watercolor paintings, even paintings which use vintage doors as canvases - plus poetry readings and music.

If you wish to volunteer at the Gallery, participate in art classes (organized by a new Art St. Croix group), or ask questions, contact Robert Meyer, president, or Daphne Thompson, at 651-256-1407 or RamseyCntr4Arts@aol.com. For more information: Ramsey Center For Arts (www.ramseycfa.org).

Faces of Life is a project in Southern Minnesota involving theatre, art and writing.

The Faces of Life Theater Project will perform Life in Motion, a play written by a transplant recipient. All transplant-related individuals are welcome to participate. Performances are March 17-19 and 24-26 at the BellTower Theater in Saint Clair, southeast of Mankato.

The Children’s Art Project is seeking artwork by children 18 and under to use as props onstage, on letters, flyers and other mailings. First, create an original work of art on an 8 ½ x 11 piece of paper. On the back write the artist’s first name, age, and an explanation of how they are connected to organ or tissue donation. Then send the artwork by February 1 to the address below.

The Elements of Art Project seeks artwork, literature, graphic or computer creations, and other areas of art to communicate insight, educational opportunities, and hope. Artist of all ages are asked to submit artwork by February 1.

The Faces of Life Journal will provide a format for people to express their feelings about organ donation and transplant.

All proceeds from the play will be donated to LifeSource. Money collected through raffle drawings of professional artwork (not the Children’s Art) will be given to The Fairview Foundation to aid in organ and tissue transplants.

To mail submissions, or if you have questions about the Faces of Life Project, contact Anne Wolff, 101 1st St. N., Elysian, MN 56028; kimhae@frontiernet.net, 507-267-4228 or 612-756-2840. She is also preparing an exhibit for the art projects in August in Faribault.

Contributions and other support can be sent to The BellTower Troop, Attn: The Faces of Life, c/o Affinity Plus, FCU, 25 NW 4th Street, Suite 104, Faribault, MN 55021.

The next Open Mike Poetry Night sponsored by the Bloomington Art Center’s Literary Council is Saturday, April 22 at 7:30 pm in the Greenberg Gallery of the Bloomington Center for the Arts, 1800 W. Old Shakopee Road. Come and celebrate April as National Poetry Month in a relaxed and supportive atmosphere. Read your latest poems, or just sit back and enjoy the poetry that others share. Freewill offering at door - $3 suggested donation. If you are interested in participating, call 952-563-8587. For more information: Bloomington Art Center, Open Mike Poetry Night (http://www.bloomingtonartcenter.com/Pages/OpenMike.htm).

Minnetonka Center for the Arts will open a new installation called "Gettin' Above Yer Raisin's" February 16 to March 15. with an opening reception from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. on Thursday, February 16.

"Gettin' Above Yer Raisin's" is a theme-based installation show. Curated by Art Center instructor Monica Sheets, the show includes multi-media works by six artists who work in the Twin Cities. The title comes from an Appalachian phrase that means moving beyond where you are from or ending up someplace different from where you started, Sheets explained. "It describes all of us. None of us started out in the Twin Cities or are from artistic backgrounds."

Sheets teaches photography at the Art Center. One of the other artists, Melanie Van Houten, also taught at the Art Center and now is sculpture professor at the College of St. Catherine. The other artists, Christopher Hauseman, Patrick Maun, Don Myhre and Sonja Peterson, have exhibited in the Twin Cities and nationally. Sheets was inspired to organize this exhibit by the "impressive" gallery space at the Art Center. Our goals were to bring a cutting edge exhibit that you might expect in the city to the Art Center for suburban art lovers, and to utilize the airy gallery space in the unique way that only installation work can. It is located at 2240 North Shore Drive, Wayzata.

What does "installation art" mean? The two artists gave similar definitions of art that invites the viewer to enter and participate. It is usually multi-media, often large enough to enter, and always multi-dimensional physically and intellectually.

For more information: 952-473-7361, ext. 16, or Minnetonka Center for the Arts (www.minnetonkaarts.org).

The Bloomington Art Center will celebrate a private family collection of one of Minnesota's most talented families, artists Anton, Wanda and Flavia Gag with Edward Harm, great-nephew, in The Gag Collection exhibit. Best known for her authored and illustrated children's book, "Millions of Cats," Wanda Gag was not the only artistic member of her Bohemian family. Her father, Anton, made a living as a photographer and interior/mural painter. He and his wife encouraged all seven children to tap into their creative side. Wanda's youngest sister, Flavia, published a number of children's books.

This collection, owned by Bloomington resident Gary Harm, nephew to Wanda and executor of the Wanda Gag estate, will be exhibited February 17-March 24 in the Greenberg Gallery of Bloomington Art Center Opening Reception is February 17, 6:00 - 8:00 pm. A Gag Family Lecture with author Julie L’Enfant will be Tuesday, March 21, 7:00-9:00 pm. L’Enfant, author of "Gag Family: German-Bohemian Artists in America," is an Associate Professor in Liberal Arts at the College of Visual Arts in Saint Paul. Gag publications will be for sale.

The Bloomington Center for the Arts, at 1800 W Old Shakopee Rd, houses both the Greenberg Gallery (main floor) and the Atrium Gallery (second floor). Gallery Hours: Monday-Friday 8 am-10 pm, Saturday 9:00-5:00, Sunday 1:00-10:00. For more information: 952-563-8587; Bloomington Art Center (www.bloomingtonartcenter.com).

Interact Center for Visual & Performing Arts in Minneapolis is participating in an innovative international collaboration with Tutti Ensemble, Australia’s premiere theater for artists with disabilities. Members of Tutti are in Minnesota through February 11 to collaborate with Interact and playwright/actor/ storyteller Kevin Kling in creating a globe-spanning, ground-breaking new Northern Lights/Southern Cross initiative. Emerging from a shared vision to “create compelling theatrical events that challenge society’s view of persons with disabilities,” this project reaches across cultures to explore the emotional terrain of “otherness” that artists with disabilities – and especially disabled artists from minority cultures – know as a daily reality.

Based in Adelaide, Tutti is included in a new publication on organizations serving Australians with disabilities. Members of the company spent time in Northern Minnesota with Wilderness Inquiry, experiencing the Twin Cities art scene, and working with Interact’s performing and visual artists. The new collaborative work is expected to be produced in both countries in 2007. For more information: 612-339-5145 or Interact Center for Visual & Performing Arts (www.interactcenter.com).

Moving Sale and Give-away/Virtual Effects demonstration - Outrageous Media Theatrical Video Producers are selling used props, materials and a nice 6-foot diameter circular stage platform (free). Items priced to move. They will also be demonstrating some TV-based special effects for set-windows for those of you who have not heard of this virtual view technique. This sale will be held at their studio in downtown Saint Paul, 360 Robert Street, basement suite, in the next two weeks or later, BUT you can set up a private viewing with Jon Hyers in January. For directions and details, email karen.hyers@comcast.net.

Ken Moses, an audio describer from Stillwater, will present a talk on "HOT TO TROT: What Should We Be Doing About Public Transportation?" for the Critical Thinking Club on Sunday, February 12, 10 a.m. to noon, at the Kelly Inn, 161 Saint Anthony Road, Saint Paul (off I-94, Marion Street exit, next to Sears near the State Capitol). After an overview of history's experiments with public transportation, Moses will examine the social upheavals brought about by both the automobile and the energy crisis, explore the uses of and needs for public transportation, consider methods that work in other parts of the world, weigh the environmental impact, convenience and cost to users, and outline parameters for deciding what to do about it. The script and visual images have been prepared with blind or otherwise disabled transportation users in mind. To sign up for the talk (voluntary donation) and optional breakfast buffet ($10), contact Lee Salisbury at leesal@comcast.net or 651-430-1091.

While the Guthrie Theater is in the midst of moving to a new location on the bank of the Mississippi this spring and early summer, its prop and furniture warehouse (which will remain at 855 East Hennepin) will be closed. It will be busy with the move and will be used for some temporary storage. The rental business will stop scheduling rental appointments and be closed from February until July. Appointments will be scheduled for the return of items currently out on rental. Word will be sent out once the warehouse is again scheduling future appointments. NOTE: Costume rentals will continue as usual at the same address (612-375-8722, Fax 612-375-8733; costumes@costumerentals.org; or CostumeRentals - www.costumerentals.org). For more information, contact Sarah Gullickson, Associate Prop Manager, Guthrie Theater, 612-347-0464 or SarahN@GuthrieTheater.org.