Walk with Me WARM

Come to St Kate's to see the WARM show!

Information about Walk with Me walks below!

http://gallery.stkate.edu/exhibitions/

My career as an artist and as a curator has always been in line and surrounded by feminist work.
It is a safe haven for me. And it is the one place I have found consistent support for my art. After doing the Women's Art Institute at MCAD in 2007, I immediately went out and got a WARM mentor. While I worked on my art to get into graduate school, I met with my mentor.

I was jazzed after being in the WAI. I kept making work and applied to schools.
Honestly, WARM was bit of a blip for me. I left for LA and moved on from Minnesota for awhile.
While in LA, I assisted in the curation of Doin' It In Public, an exhibition about the Woman's Building in Los Angeles. I was the producer of the opening events and was very involved in the creation of the catalogs that went with our Pacific Standard Time funded show. I met Lily Tomlin, Phranc, Judy Chicago, and so many more amazing artists.

When the Woman's Building was going on so was the beginning of WARM. Judy Chicago visited St Catherine's in the early 70s and in my mind the strong feminist bent of Los Angeles and Minnesota are connected in many ways.

What stuck from the Women's Art Institute was a connection to Pat Olsen and a thread to the community in Minnesota. That thread helped me come back to Minnesota and literally weave together a fulfilling life and artistic time. First by being in the Feminist Art Show at St Kate's in 2014. Exhibiting my performance piece, Walk with ME. Then hosting me as a guest lecturer at WAI. And even helping me connect to a job at Wet Paint.
Part of my WetPaint family is shown below:

So here we are. It is 2018 and we are honoring WARM and all it has done. Along with my Meditation Work which is a new project for me. I am showing the first book made from Walk with ME. So when I met with Heather Carroll the curator, I said "Why not do some walks for the exhibit also?" She loved the idea. So here I am. Looking for people connected to WARM to walk with. I like to also connect Women's Art Institute to these walks. As I see WAI as an extension of/adjacent experience to WARM. It is all about women artists. And more broadly if you identify as a woman or as non binary but haven't felt comfortable to enter a space labeled women in the way WARM is, I would love to walk with you too.

Email me at walkwithmeart@gmail.com
These are the dates I am walking from the gallery at St. Kate's:

Saturday November 10 from 11am-3pm (Noon spot is already spoken for)

Monday Nov 26 11am-3pm

Sunday Dec 2 2pm-6pm

I want to thank Beth Bergman for her support. Since moving back to Minnesota, I can say she is one of the biggest supporters of me and my work. She told the curator to contact me to be in this show. Unbeknownest to either of us, we were making art that would look fantastic next to each other! Both working abstractly, we both meditated. She on symbols of the goddess and wings. Myself on the breath itself. I am so fortunate to have worked for Beth at Wet Paint before she retired.

One last sidetone, Women's Art Institute at a fundraiser at this opening. And it seems I can't resist a WAI fundraiser. It was how I bought my first Gregory Graham piece. And now I snagged a Joyce Lyons piece. I am obsessed with light and shadow through window blinds. Even made a video of it once in grad school. So I had to have this piece!

Come on, come all. Artists! Walk with me! Thanks for reading and visit the show at St Kate's!

Walk with Me: Art Amplifies

Hi all! It has been awhile. 
Can you all believe Walk with Me has been going on for five years now?
Time flies! 

Though I haven't done any official walks since being at Vital Matters in 2016. 
There has been a few things going on. Mainly, one of the organizers of Vital Matters used the Walk with Me title to sell a piece of art work to a museum. 

It was a winter of feeling rather invisible. Someone I thought supported my work. Someone who did a Walk with Me walk. Forgot that it was the name of my work and instead of amplifying my work or lifting it up. Came up with excuses for why from a list of other titles she couldn't change the title. 

In this life, as a woman, as a woman that queers life by questioning social structures, I have a lot of opportunities to feel invisible. This situation made me feel so invisible, it heightened my depression to a point that my co-workers were concerned. As I asked for what I needed, the artist to change the title. I ended up getting the title changed but I lost a friend and I feel even more invisible than I did before. I realized if I can't be seen in this situation. I want to help other artists be seen. 

So I need all of your help. Walk with Me is not just about me finding connection. I want it to be about all of us work a day artists that don't have parents on the boards of museums, or money to quit our day jobs to find connection. Let's amplify each other's work. Using this blog as a platform maybe you can find collaborators? Or feel seen and heard. Maybe you can find inspiration to do the projects you have been holding back on.

This fall into next year. I want us to go on walks, hold hands, talk about our art work (we all are doing creative work of some kind take this time to talk about it) and then use this blog as a platform to share that work. 

Here is the plan:
1)Find a painter, dancer, weaver, actor, hobbyist, etc to walk with. 

2)Hold hands (even if you are wearing gloves)

3) Talk about your art work, your hopes and dreams (even those who see themselves as non artists have dreams! we all are creative)

4) Document the experience. Take a photo of your hands, take a selfie, write down your thoughts, draw something)

5) Send photos and type up your thoughts to: walkwithmeart@gmail.com

6) I will then post this info to the blog.*


***PLEASE INCLUDE WEBSITES, instagrams, ETC of artists so I can AMPLIFY your work***

*As the manager of the site I have the right to not post anything I find inappropriate. I want to post documentation of actual walks and real connection between two (or more!) people*

A soft launch of this project is happening in connection with the show:
http://gallery.stkate.edu/exhibitions/roots-and-fruits

I will be doing walks with WARM artists (or any local artist who signs up) these days:

Saturday November 10 from 11am-3pm

Monday Nov 26 11am-3pm

Sunday Dec 2 2pm-6pm

Sign up for walks here:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1x_5lCq-YLlZrROKrh91-0WMTk-8j7lO8m3yJTAGDIgg/edit

I am asking WARM artists to walk together and learn about each others work. And then email me about their walks. But hey, everybody, near and far! Let's walk together and connect around our collective creativity. 

And I want to use this fall time to get us all walking together. Let us amplify the creative work of others.

Thank you!!!! And Happy Fall!

Walk with Me: Frogtown: Adam #8

Everybody knows Frogtown is one of the best parts of the river. :) It's path has been there a long time and it is maintained and is scattered with adorable spots. After the highway noise of Glendale...it was practically idyllic in Frogtown. Adam picked me up from Ktown, just like he used to pick me up for work. We had so many lovely chats as we carpooled to work. Adam is an artist that started as a photographer and is now an artist that fits less into a box than he used to. Glitch art is what is thrown around. But what I like about Adam the best is that he is exploring and he doesn't seem to care what you artist box you put him in. I resonate with that feeling too. Artists are artists. Tools are tools. Use all the tools you want. Don't get stuck in categories or boxes.

I drew an orange sun like circle and a green line as my icon for this walk. And it really explains the calm and enjoyment I have with Adam. Everything was a smooth continuation from where we left off. The path was practically empty. We enjoyed this bit of calm in this big city. We may have spotted a spiritual ceremony across the river with a feathered staff and people walking in some meaningful path. That is the thing about Adam there is this mystic feeling to his cyber explorations. A bit trickster. A bit shy man. He looked the part of LA art student in the perfect retro long sleeved shirt and cool glasses.

We walked by so many interesting homes and studios. With chickens. With a man repainting a large metal fence with enamel black paint. The river was the background against a thriving creative neighborhood. There were studios filled with cement statues. A studio or two that looked like movie props. Every backyard held something exciting. It was cloudy but hot as we walked and as we tried to take photos of our walk both of our ailing samsung galaxy threes gave us issues. I had to ask him to take photos as my phone froze, just to have it revive in time for me to snap our faces into memory.

The neighborhood had so many colors of flowers along the path.  Adam had never seen the river though he has been in LA for 4 years. That is the thing about LA. So much to discover and nature seems to take a back seat. Or at least the more momentous nature seems to be where we go. The ocean. Adam loves the coastal towns. Or the mountains. Not this dinky river that runs straight through the city.

What is intresting is right now the river is a rocking river. With all the rains LA has had it is completely different from when Adam and I walked it. I would love to get some photos of what Frogtown looks like right now.

Thinking about this walk. I am filled with hope. Cause I have no doubt that Adam will teach art and continue to be an artist his whole life. It gives me hope that I can manage the same. Adam is just as tired as I was in grad school. Just as "I have no idea where this is taking me." But knowing Adam and his many cities and his awesome art ideas. It makes me hope that we can keep struggling and making decisions based on the need to explore. The need to create. The need to be awesome people. Hope. Adam with his queit ways and his persistant art making and exhibiting is an inspiration to me. And he is cute to boot. :) His wit and humor are unique. He may look hipstery. He though, is the real deal, a genuine person with a heart of gold and creativity to spare. His ideas are his own and though a bit shy has no problem talking to people about art and technology or just about anything at all. Or at least he is that way with me. Ahhhhh what a great late morning with Adam on the river.

Walk with Me: Downtown: Cathy #7

Wow this is my 100th post. I am imagining confetti being popped from confetti guns above me as I hit post.

Things have been crazy in Paige land with my day job getting more stressful and more stressful. I have been working on the lino cut pamphlet book for this project and slacking on posts. As I sit here in Minnesota, I keep hearing the national news about the rains in LA. I must say it fills me with angst as I see all that potable water turning into a polluted mess as it streams into the ocean. I keep thinking CATCH THAT WATER LA. CATCH IT. TAKE ADVANTAGE of what nature is giving you. You were WAITING for water, now you are WASTING it. And it's that the main theme. Waste. The mask or the facade of a city as more important than it's structure.

Well, along came an article about a revitalization of the LA River http://www.kcet.org/socal/departures/lariver/confluence/river-notes/la-river-restoration-plan-unanimously-approved-in-dc.html. And I just thought to myself what would Cathy think of this article? Cathy is one of the people behind Play the River LA. She is one of the founders and of course that made me a little nervous to walk with her. But I had already had two walks that day and I just couldn't be so nervous when I was already so tired. :)

Cathy was nice enough to pick me up form the apartment I was staying in Koreatown. And we went right down town to the 6th St bridge. Walking with mothers, is a great thing for me. Because they never are self conscious. They know the power of hand holding. Cathy was full of inquisitive knowledge. As we talked around concrete, a movie crew, and up urine soaked steps. The conversation was a out a memorial that Cathy was going to. Skirting around the emotion of memory sharing stories. While both of us observing the forces of gentrification on a gritty downtown.

We walked down to the concrete river where tourists and LA-ers went to look at the river. She pointed out some beautiful graffiti. We mused on holding hands. Down the river there was a video crew IN the river bed. Cathy told me this is VERY common place that people buy permits to shoot commercials and movies in the concrete area that is the LA "river." Cathy knows a lot about different parts of the river and we chatted about those. Cathy wrote about how the environment downtown has little to do with the river. That you can't really define it has such, "'River' is more like it."

Unfortunately, I can't read what Cathy wrote on her piece of paper easily. But I can decipher that this was a more intimate experience than she was expecting. That holding hands broke through the stark industrial environment she meant to show me. I spoke freely of how hard it is to be a working artist. Cathy thought I still lived in LA. That I was just visiting Minnesota. And well, who knows...maybe I am. :) What is residence? What is it to be owned by a place? Cause in many ways I was owned and still am owned by LA. As a serious observer. As someone who likes to get mixed up in heady complex issues. There is no place like LA. And Cathy represented someone who is making it in that crazy landscape. With a family. A vibrant career. But that sure as hell means she has the same problems that all us struggling artists and creatives have. She and her husband though got lucky and bought property when two working people could buy something without having a million dollars.

Speaking of all that gentrification and fighting for a spot. After crossing over the bridge and coming down a different staircase we walked to a new development that is right downtown. You probably know the one. It is white and blue and HUGE. And it was like walking around a ghost town. It is this little oasis of gentrified "safe." We saw affluent folks driving and parking right by the door. (across the street there is street parking made specifically for the building) A few going out to exercise in the neighborhood. Cathy and I agreed on it's dissonance with the neighborhood. Cathy works with LAPD in Skid Row. (check out their work here http://lapovertydept.org/) A group I am very well acquainted with after living with Barbara T Smith and spending a few holidays or parties with Henriette and John. The work is heartening in a sea of not so heartening initiatives in Skid Row and the city at large. It may sound trite but that is when I knew Cathy was truly concerned and linked to LA. That she was all in, in making change for this big unwieldy city. She is passionate about the environment and about making LA a place that is for everyone. Even now, months later, I was impressed by her connection to a city that spits people out. That had spit me out. And I didn't want her to think me an impostor, just because I had left. I still care deeply about LA. So much so I make a bother of myself on social media about my thoughts on the LA River. I SCREAM about saving water and conserving. I am more connected to the art world there than in Minnesota

I was nervous about walking with Cathy cause I wanted to impress her. Instead, I was heartened to meet a woman living her passion. Finding a way through grants, hard work, and passion to make it work being a LA creative. As I make my life in St Paul, where things sure as hell feel easier, I congratulate Cathy for being an activist, a creative, a mover and shaker, a mother, and a genuinely nice human being. It was a pleasure to get to speak of life so bluntly. Cathy and I learned that maybe it isn't just about the river but the lives that make up the river and the bigger social issues that surround it. In the case of this river possibly choke and kill it.

Walk with Me: Ferraro Hills: Walk with Brad #6

So, I had only a few minutes in between my walk with Jonathan and  my walk with Brad. Jonathan gave me a bite of his energy bar so I could be present for another walk. Unbeknownst to me, Ferraro Hills Park hard to get t on a weekend, we think because the zoo is near by. Either way, it was hard to get to and from the park because of some good old fashioned LA traffic. Brad wondered why my last walk Jonathan was still at the park. And it was weird to have the two walks overlap for me. It did feel like to competing boyfriends with how intimate the walks are. And Brad and I did make a joke or two about it being an awkward transition. Both men were a bit territorial, in a good natured way.

I met Brad this January; the last time I was in LA. I had come down a mountain. Cleansed. Having just been in a sweat lodge. I was five pounds lighter and in a very good place. I had sweated out and prayed for my ex. I had lifted myself, my ancestors, my family, and my ex up into the Cosmos. I had let it all go. I had cried, yelled, sweated, let some shaman woman lean on me...cause honey it was 50 degrees hotter in the inner circle. Brad was living with my friend Lara for a few months as he moved downtown later in the year. And Brad had read MY book. Brad had read my "Walk with ME" book. Now I know there are probably a good 50-100 folks that have read it. But the thing is none of them who hadn't been one of the 47 walks had wanted to talk to me about it. Ok, I may be a bit dramatic. But Brad had read the whole darn thing! and he had questions. So after cleansing for 3 nights. Freezing my ass off in a tent. I had a lovely 3 hour conversation about my work with a handsome roommate. We covered lots of ground and talked about some pretty intimate things. Even the book can make that stuff come up. And I felt comfortable talking about my transformation;with running, with the project, with leaving LA. I didn't flirt with Brad because I most definitely consider myself not in the league of the women Brad must date.

So that day, Brad said he would come on a walk with me. Brad, got there on time even with the traffic. Brad is effervescent and yelled out "You ready for the best walk yet?" or something to that effect. Which speaks volumes because within minutes Brad was telling me about how he wanted this to be my best walk. Could I just tell him that it would be the best walk. Brad works in marketing. I work in marketing. I am sure he makes double what I do. since he works in the for profit world. But it means that there are similarities to our personality. We both could move planets if we so chose to do. Brad pulls you in. And he could make many a person do things they never thought they would do with his smile and charm. Much like me that masks a large desire to be liked and desired. I get Brad and I get that we are both learning the blessing and curse of being so god damn charming.

Brad and I walked along the loud Hwy 5 path. Talking about intimacy. This walk was a huge stretch for Brad. He does not hold hands much. And he told me. This walk terrified him. This was a place Brad did not go. Well isn't that the greatest of things. To push someone to open up and be present with themselves even if it fucking hurt. I wanted to tell Brad it was the best walk ever. One because he is super handsome and makes me nervous. But two, because as he was letting go of his charms they still made me want to fulfill his needs.

As for me, we talked about me letting go of what I thought I needed to do and figure out what I WANT to do. Brad called these Big Boy Thoughts. And indeed they are.

Brad calmed down and we had a lovely walk along the river. I let go of my needing to impress Brad and Brad did the same. Brad is trying out some big changes in his life. And there is a part of me that feels like I met him to encourage him to grow as a person. He is such a god damned shining light. And I don't think he knows it yet. But I feel it and see it. And well it makes me realize that maybe I shine that bright for others too. That maybe Brad and I can turn down the charm and just let people in. Even if we are not the best. Even if it isn't perfect. Even if it hurts. Brad and I are going to stop pleasing you and start figuring out what pleases us.

Walk with Me: Ferrero Hills:Walk with Jonathan #5

Well, it seems right that I will try to write my blog about Jonathan and I's walk while being a bit ruffled under the feathers. A little bit stirred up in my soul. Cause that is how Jonathan met me. While I was a little bit stirred up in my soul. I was in LA, living with a woman that Jonathan had emailed through an online dating site. We all ended up at a local eagle rock restaurant with communal seating and Jonathan was ballsy enough to ask Jess if she indeed was the Jess he had met online. It led to the most lovely hour and half long conversation with strangers I had had in a long time. We all really clicked his friend, Jess, himself, and I. And Jonathan ended up helping with my resume and chatting on the phone and through facebook chat to support me through in the end deciding to go home. Since then many a heart to heart has happened through facebook and a few times Jonathan has had to stop me from spiralling by telling me he doesn't have time to talk. I am a worrier by nature and sometimes I need to drag somebody down there with me. Luckily, I know the signs and so do my friends so the worry spiral happens less and less.

ANYWAY, what I am saying is Jonathan is a very spiritual person who also deals with issues of codependency. He is committed to helping others, supporting them, and is interested in the pursuit of a spiritual existence here on earth. Yeah. Jonathan and I are two VERY INTENSE people. Who most definitely vibrate on a similar wavelength.

Truthfully, I was exhausted by the time my morning walk with Jonathan rolled around. I was dehydrated from the day of walking the day before and I had to push myself thinking about how great the walks with Jonathan and Brad would be this morning. Allison dropped me off and I waited for Jonathan to arrive. Slowly eating and drinking water. Jonathan rode up on his motorcycle and I had to smirk. It is so Jonathan to get a motorcycle to express his joy for life. It seems calculated on his part. His idea of freedom.

It has now been awhile since we walked. But it doesn't take away the main feeling. Love. Pretty much open and unadulterated love. We opened up and walked with love. The wind was a bit cool at this time of day but Highway 5 roared by us on this path. But we made the most of it. I could lean into J and feel comfortable. We switched to a more intimate hand holding position. We spoke about Jonathan's latest trips to Deer Park. We spoke of attachments that maybe aren't appropriate. And I mused that that is why we spend so much time on them. Because it is easier to beat yourself up over a love you can't have. Than one that you can have and have to work day to day to have. J and I are romantics. It is much easier to be a romantic over the course of a walk then to be a romantic every day.

I mentioned I had met someone that might be someone new. And overall it felt comfortable to talk about anything. J wanted to know about my new life and I got to tell him how well it was going. With or without a new beau.

We walked incredibly far to a bridge where we took our hand pics. Ironically, the pics of our faces were too close up to catch either of our faces fully. And maybe that is saying something about Jonathan and I. We are so close up. So allowed into each other's space. I can't see him fully and I lose myself too. It isn't good. It isn't bad. But with Jonathan I can let go and just not form my complete self.

It was hard for both of us to let go of the walk. But I had a walk right after. It felt a little awkward. Like going from one boyfriend to another. And it felt strange the Jonathan was still at the park when I finished my next walk. Someone too close. But that is where I want Jonathan. Too close. Someone to hug. Someone I know will not walk away from me because I have too passionate of thoughts or fall out of line. Jonathan understands my desire for closeness. Jonathan thinks too much and gets caught in his mind much like I do. And I love him for it. I love that if he is someone I love. Then there are men out there who are going to love me. Jonathan is an open loving person. And if I can see that in him. He sees it me. Thank God he sees it in  me. (Yes. I have teared up.)

This was a hard blog to right. Cause what I have been learning is to not share these SO wide open feelings with everyone. I learned that on this walk. I stayed in my center and gave what felt ok to give Jonathan. And here I am telling you all these intimate thoughts on how boundless and contracted Jonathan and I are. How we give immensely but deep down I think we want something in return from everyone we give it to....I think that is what Jonathan and I are trying to let go of as we search for a deeper level of the spiritual in the everyday.

I drew a circular form with a canoe like form underneath it for this walk. And that is what Jonathan is for me. A life boat. That sounds like such a demanding all consuming job but the thing is most of the time we are gliding along and we don't even notice each other. That is how good we are at our jobs. But yes, when times get rough...that canoe, the support is noted, and essential.

Walk with Me #4 with Carol, Downtown from Union Station To Men Oh Ramen

As per usual, I am always trying to jam too much into a day. I am a woman of extremes. One day, I go has fast as I can and then I hit reset by hardly moving. Well on this trip, a trip people call vacation but what artists called "working on our project," i really had packed in the walks. After two walks, I was pretty exhausted but Carol is an artist I have known and really wanted to work with. The thing is we didn't really have to get to the river. It would be sunset soon and I was starving. I decided to walk with Carol anyway. Why? Because it could highlight that two transit users have a hard time getting to the river. I had already had an uber driver look at me funny for getting picked up on Humbolt and 19th after going to the Ed P Reyes Greenway. And the thought of busing or training to a spot on the river so Carol and I could rush through a walk drove me a bit batty. So we just walked to the ramen place Carol was taking me to.

We met at Union Station. A place I had been through so many times as a transit user in LA. It is not a calm place. Carol was in the Starbucks waiting for me. She let me know she had met a new friend in the Starbucks. And we both got looks as we walked out of the station. It makes me made that men are so blatantly...rude. Like Carol's shorts were an invitation. When they so obviously are not. I don't understand why people think it is ok to gawk. Carol walked on without noticing or without giving them the satisfaction to react to their gazes.


The wind had picked up and the sun was going down and it the wind was gloriously cool on my face and shoulders. Carol and I spoke of her future as she finishes school. And ironically we walked right past the detention center downtown. Carol has been doing a lot of protesting and she reminisced about the incarcerated who had shown lights to show solidarity for those protesting the death of Mike Brown.

Carol is a passionate, so bright star of a woman. It was lovely to hold her hand and connect. She tries to live her ideals. Which has led to a great job opportunity in Dallas after school. Dallas is where Carol is from and having myself moved back from where I am from. We have a bit of camaraderie on that also. We inspired a couple to hold hands as we traipsed through the granite pylons that surround the detention center. She mentioned silence in her writings about the walk. That it was like air between or steps. It was really intense for me to be in the noise of LA and to also feel still and understand what Carol means by the silent parts of the walk. LA is so LOUD but the breeze, the cool, and the calm we had between us created a sort of silence in downtown LA.

We reached the amazing Men Oh ramen place and I hydrated up. And caught up with Carol more. I then got dehydrated and was sort of useless when we met up with our mutual friend Hataya. The thing was...getting these three walks done made me feel so accomplished and that I was doing what I said I would do when I came here. Though I am doing so much better not doing work that is about proving that I am an artist. There is still the drive to not let people I work with down. And to strive to be great even if it is just about holding hands along the LA River.