Stewy's on Main
New Restaurant in Downtown Red Wing: Stewy's on Main
Another restaurant has opened in Downtown Red Wing. Stewy's on Main will serve breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and provide a full bar offering.
Stew approached us a month ago and gave us free rein (with his final approval) to design attractive wall images. It was decided to focus on local iconic scenes, with a focus on both sides of the Mississippi River.
Panel prints are used. This is a print on hardboard mounted with a reverse frame to create a wall stand-off and laminated with a linen finish. The beauty of this product is that it is very contemporary, pool-table flat, no glass is used, and it creates a very nice drop-shadow effect. Each image is either 40"x40" or 27"x40".
The first grouping of three are all Downtown Red Wing photos, with the common denominator of the violin-playing model. These were printed with a brown sepia tone.
The second grouping is from the Maiden Rock Flood Run in 2004. Same image tone, different effect.
One wall is all about elegance and grace, and the other wall is all about machines and chrome.
Yin and Yang. Joanie loves Chachi.
Mr. Pin-up
Spotlight on Dan Murphy's Illustration Art Collection
The Minneapolis Star-Tribune featured a wonderful story today about Dan Murphy and his illustration art collection. We had the pleasure of working with Dan and Sarah on two different occasions: once in 2007 for The Dream Girl exhibit and again in 2008 for The Cream of Wheat exhibit.
Dan has an impressive collection and is a recognized expert in this genre. I look forward to working with Dan again this year, possibly on a pulp men's magazine (think True Detective) or a science-fiction exhibit.
The War on Poverty
Steve Liss: Photojournalist and Humanitarian
Steve Liss is a highly accomplished photojournalist, with an impressive 43 Time Magazine cover photos to his credit.
However, it is not just his professional success that Liss takes the most pride in. Steve Liss is a humanitarian who uses photo essays to shed light on tough topics. His subjects have included poverty in the Mississippi Delta, runaway youth living on the streets of Hollywood, and studies of the Nuns of Mankato and Alzheimer's disease. He has been honored with the Soros Justice Media Fellowship for his work on juvenile justice and the Alicia Patterson Fellowship for his work on domestic poverty.
We are thrilled and honored to be invited to participate in his latest project, titled In Our Own Backyard: U.S. Poverty in the 21st Century. This unique poverty awareness initiative is being undertaken by more than 15 preeminent American photojournalists. The project's goal is to utilize the visual power of large-format documentary photography to elevate the discussion of making the fight against poverty a national priority.
This project is in partnership with Catholic Charities and their campaign to cut poverty in half by 2020. Starting in the fall of 2009, nine major photographic and multimedia exhibits, each featuring 50 emotionally moving large-format photographs, will tour throughout the United States.
The project will kick off at a leadership summit on April 20, 2009, at the College of St. Catherine in St. Paul, MN. For more information, you can register here and view the invitation postcard here.
Poverty has many faces, and it is impossible to ignore when seen up close and personal. It is projects like this that make our work feel less like work and more like purpose.
This building has historical bones
A Journey Through Time: The History of The Lidberg Studio
1894 - Andrew Lidberg, an immigrant from Jarpen, Sweden, builds and opens The Lidberg Studio at 443 W. 3rd Street, Downtown Red Wing, Minnesota (the corner of W. 3rd Street and East Avenue), right next to Charlie Wah's Chinese Laundry. The Daily Republican on April 9, 1894, writes, "Mr. Lidberg opened his gallery today, and it is a fine one. He will employ only competent workers and work at the lowest living prices."
1899 - Upon graduating from Red Wing High School, Andrew's son Edward joins the studio full-time. The Lidbergs begin producing the first series of colored souvenir postcards of Red Wing and the surrounding area. The photos are exposed on glass plates and developed at the studio. Negatives are then sent to Germany to be lithographed into color postcards. These postcards are now collector's items with a passionate following.
1902 - Local businessman T.B. Sheldon donates money to the City of Red Wing to build the country's first city-owned theater. To make room for the Sheldon Theatre, The Lidberg Studio is moved across the park mall to 312 West Avenue, where the building is located today. A glass wall is oriented to the east to provide natural light for portrait photography.
1910? - Andrew Lidberg retires. Frank Booth, a graduate of Effingham School of Photography in Illinois, joins the studio.
1915 - Due to the war in Europe, it becomes increasingly difficult to receive color lithographs from Germany. Senator Knute Nelson intervenes to get a production run of postcards released. Production is moved to Chicago (Acmegraph Company) and Milwaukee (E.C. Kropp Company).
1915 - Edward Lidberg begins his real estate career, and the photography business winds down. By 1920, the building becomes a full-time real estate office.
1920-1953 - Very few building details are available. It is believed that from approximately 1920 to 1936, it was a real estate office, and from about 1937 until 1953, it housed various photography studios.
1953 - The Chalet Studio opens. This portrait studio is owned and operated by Ms. Louella Champs.
1972 - Edward Lidberg passes away.
1978 - The Chalet Studio closes, leaving the building in very rough shape with the roof in danger of collapsing.
1979 - The building is repaired and restored by Dick Tittle, becoming home to InComm Realty and Maas Realty.
2008 - The building becomes home to Red Wing Framing Gallery and Red Wing Portrait Studio.
What goes around, comes around—even if it takes 114 years.
The Big Picture
Interview Feature in The Big Picture Magazine
Last November, Clare Baker called for an interview for The Big Picture magazine, a trade journal for the wide-format printing industry. The article focuses on printers who have carved out a niche business providing wide-format, fine-art printing. Wide-format printing is anything larger than 44 inches, and fine-art printing is typically defined as low-volume, high-mix printing with tight duplication standards.
Over several weeks, Clare and I would occasionally talk, but I lost track of the publication date. I was pleasantly surprised to receive the article in my mailbox this week. Clare did her homework and did a terrific job detailing the priorities in wide-format fine-art printing:
Invest in capture, calibration, and proofing technologies.
Push the envelope in new applications and learn from the failures.
Max Becherer update
I was delighted to get a note from Max Becherer this morning. I have planted the seed of thought with Max to begin to prepare a five year retrospective photojournalism exhibit for next year. Max has been in Iraq since the initial days of "Shock and Awe" and has made a career of globetrotting to the hot spots on the planet. But let Max speak for himself:
"Hi John!
So good to hear from you. I hope you are having a great New Year! I am in Cairo, Egypt at the moment but should be heading to Iraq for the Provincial Elections later this month. I also think it will be a good place to be when Obama takes office. I was up at the Egyptian Border with Gaza last week and watched as Israeli bombs blow up the tunnels and as the Palestinian wounded came over on their way to Egyptian hospitals. It was a difficult scene. I was waiting for a chance to enter Gaza but they are keeping a tight lid on things there.
So, your idea sounds great. I would love to do a five year retrospective. There are so many ways we could go with it for sure. I have a portfolio book of images I collected from the last five years.
Last year I started covering the elections in Pakistan. It was interesting and I was even able to head up to Peshawar where the North West Territory begins. What a wild place. In any case, I was in Iraq at the last part of this year for the New York Times and then did an assignment about Samarra for the Smithsonian Magazine which is on newsstands now. This week I head to Baghdad for a month and then in April I will be in Afghanistan where things are expected to be difficult this year. That is all for now.Thanks for checking in with me. I hope we get to see each other soon. Say hello to the crew for me!
Best, Max"
Leah Lundgaard
Introducing 'Art al fresco' Artist: Leah Lundgaard
Leah Lundgaard is the latest 'Art al fresco' artist. We have had the pleasure of knowing Leah for several years and have enjoyed watching her grow as an artist. Leah is a full-time artist, both a painter and a potter.
She typically paints with either a watercolor pencil or oils. A common element in her paintings is a burst of color and activity, such as fall leaves or waves crashing on beach rocks.
Her pottery features an interesting pattern of geometry. I see a Fibonacci sequence in her patterns, a common sequence found in nature. Sunflower heads, honeybee combs, and artichoke flowers are all examples of Fibonacci patterns.
Leah is modest, soft-spoken, and a very genuine person. She clearly has an inner voice that she expresses through her art.