(serene music) - [Voiceover] The following program is a production of Pioneer Public Television.

(serene music) This program on Pioneer Public Television is funded by the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund, with money from the vote of the people of Minnesota on November 4th, 2008.

Additional support provided by Mark and Margaret Yackel-Juleen, in honor of Shalom Hill Farm, a non-profit, rural education retreat center in a beautiful prairie setting near Windom in Southwestern Minnesota.

Shalomhillfarm.org.

The Arrowwood Resort and Conference Center, your ideal choice for Minnesota resorts, offering luxury town homes, 18 holes of golf, Darling Reflections Spa, Big Splash Water Park, and much more.

Alexandria, Minnesota, a relaxing vacation or great location for an event.

ExploreAlex.com.

Easy to get to; hard to leave.

(serene music) - Welcome to Postcards.

I'm Dana Johnson.

Today, we take a road trip along the Upper Minnesota River Valley for the annual Meander Art Crawl.

This unique tour features over 40 artists in our region.

Let's take a look.

- The Meander Art Crawl is an art crawl in the five counties of our region: Big Stone, Swift, Lac qui Parle, Chippewa, and Yellow Medicine.

It's a time for people to go around to all the studios and see what our artists are doing in our region.

We figure about 2000 people are meandering during the weekend.

Some studios report around 500 people that come through.

Some of the main spots have reported up to 1200 people, We know that not everybody can get to every single studio, so we figure around 2000.

It's an art crawl where you pick and choose out of 35 sites, maybe 45 artists, and you choose what you're interested in seeing.

It's many miles that are covered, but it's gorgeous miles.

It's usually in the fall, and you can see the farming and the crops.

And then it goes from prairie to River Valley, so it's interesting in that way, too: that you, over three days, can choose your own pace, what you wanna see, and what you wanna do.

- We pay so much, the artists, so much a year, which helps with the advertising.

You're juried in.

They try and, I think, keep it at about, the number now, 40, 40-somethin' artists, and in a close proximity to, a line from Ortonville to Granite Falls, not too far off that line.

There's a lot of artists out here; it's amazing.

- I think this, our Meander art festival, or art tour, is different from others because it is more studios that people can go visit, and it's a quite large area that they can go.

- The Meander is a beautiful name to describe what this is, which is an arts crawl.

The idea is based on visiting artist studios and traveling from studio to studio, but the brilliance of the Meander, we think, is that it's based on Upper Minnesota River Valley, which is a very meandering river.

We've gone to art fairs for years, and we had no idea this was gonna be successful, really.

So it was kind of amazing that it was and is, and gets bigger all the time.

- We've been a part of the Meander since it started nine years ago.

We were among the original collective of artists who organized it, and many of whom are still a part of the Meander.

I created the artwork of "We Celebrate the River" for this year's Meander cover art.

It's on the poster.

We also made some little books with the calendar art, which was inspired by Florence Dacey's poem of the same name, "We Celebrate the River."

In January, I locked myself up in one of our, we have a variety of small buildings here, and I went out and used one as a studio and just started making meandering lines.

I would like some of them, and others I would just throw the paper away.

Just doing lots and lots of them.

As I worked, some of them began to look like hands, and some of them began to look like rivers, and some of them began to look like the burr oak leaf, which is one of the foundation species of prairie woodlands.

So I combined all those lines to make this image.

I think it's artistic; I also think it's an enchantment.

It's a way to romance people into the countryside.

- I just get a kick out of driving past somebody who stopped on some gravel road, poring over a map, looking for their next destination; that it is a bit of a treasure hunt, finding your way around these river roads.

It's a wonderful way to view a landscape that is kind of opaque to outsiders, otherwise.

- I think that's a good way to put it, that they meander through and see the area.

It helps set the mood for the whole tour, and like I said, it's always beautiful weather.

We had rain one year, but otherwise it's beautiful weather, and they just really enjoy the camaraderie with their friends.

It's just a neat little setting.

- [Voiceover] It's a great way to find your way around to the different studios and drive along the rivers, and see the farm fields and see the agriculture and the wildlife, and all the things.

And drive around with a lot of other people, sort of in community, and you can see what's goin' on in our region.

- We have such beautiful landscape, and at this time of the year, it's gorgeous.

The trees are colored, the farmers are in their fields, and each area is different.

Ortonville area is rocky and hilly.

We are more of a prairie, but we have rivers and lakes and things that people may not be aware of, and we just like to show it off.

- Our anniversary is on the 3rd of October, and for a special event for the day, we still do like to travel the Minnesota River, just on the back roads.

We'd stop at wherever we could find a place to stop and look at the river, and maybe take a picnic lunch or whatever, and spend the day.

We were doing that, and we saw a Meander sign.

We thought, "Hmm, I wonder what that's all about?"

So we checked it out and found it very interesting, and followed the signs wherever we could find 'em from place to place, and came home from a very special road trip, and that happened to be the first year of the Meander, I'm quite certain.

We hadn't heard of it before; I didn't know anything about it.

We enjoyed it so much, and it happens to fall on the weekend of our anniversary, so we continue our river run, only with a purpose, that we go on the Meander.

- It was a great drive out here today to see this.

It's very widespread out here, so you get to see a lotta the countryside and different cities out here.

It's a great way to spend a weekend and get outta the cities and come and see art in all of its glory.

- [Voiceover] If people wanna come out to our area and they haven't seen Western Minnesota, it's a great way to do that.

We have statistics that people are coming from all over the place.

I would say there's about 40% that are coming within our five-county area, and just meandering within the five-county area, but then there's 60% of the people are coming from either Minneapolis, St. Paul, or the rest of Greater Minnesota.

We also have a lotta people coming from out of state.

- We've had people from Illinois.

My cousin's come from Oregon, for just about every other year.

so yeah, it's just friendly.

I think anybody that really has a persuasion to enjoy the arts and learn more about the culture of other people enjoy coming to the Meander.

- It's up to eight states, I think, we have seen in our visitor's book, and I especially think that we notice the Eastern side of the state wanting to get over here.

We see Red Wing, Stillwater, Duluth, Hastings.

Some of those folks are anxious to see what happens on the Western side, and we appreciate that.

- We've had foreign exchange students, and that's coming a long way for Meander, and they were from Sweden.

That's been a few different cases of that, where we've had people, even out of the country, coming to Meander.

- It brings people from all over the state, even people from all over the country.

We have people from different states; all over.

It brings the artists from the region together.

Relatives, neighbors; all kinds of people come together for the Meander.

- As somebody that was just here told me, he said, "This Meander is great because we had no idea "that you people were out here."

So it's working, and it's bringing people into the area from outside what would normally be our exposure area.

- One year when I first started, on Friday night, I think I had 23 people, and 20 of 'em were from out of state.

They came from Iowa, South Dakota, and there was a couple form North Dakota.

So it was like, out of all the people that came, they were all from out of state.

That helps our community, 'cause they're bringing in dollars and they're eating in our area, or maybe staying overnight.

So it's very good financially too, for the businesses here.

It also gives them an idea of what we have to offer: our rural way of life.

So it's very interesting for them to see, too.

- [Voiceover] It does bring a lot of tourism out; it brings people out.

They're eating, they're buying, they're purchasing gas.

Our sales are good, but we know that, also, they're shopping around the towns and eating at the restaurants and looking for other things to do.

- We know that what it does for the artists themselves, and that's what we structure the Meander around: the artists who are making a living in our region.

We know that they bring in probably about $100,000, collectively.

It's been anywhere from $60,000 to $80,000, which is really great.

- The anecdotal evidence would suggest that it's good for a growing number of businesses, beyond just the artists around which it is centered.

It seems to be working really well, especially in the last few years, as the word is getting out and the advertising is getting broader all the time.

- There's a lot of creative people in the rural area, and you can be an artist at any place in your life or any station in your life, and just finding that excitement about being in the country.

- [Voiceover You'd be amazed at what your neighbors and at what people can do.

The variety of things that people can do is amazing.

The things that come out of people's minds... You wouldn't imagine people out in the middle of on the edge of the state are doing these things.

- A lotta times we don't realize what people do around the area, and it gives us a chance to see what people are doing.

I've always done a lotta crafts, and so I have to come and get ideas.

- [Voiceover] The thing that I've noticed when people visit that are from the area is that they're proud to have something like this happening in their home area, 'cause they don't have to travel to a bigger urban community to do an exciting art (indistinct).

So I think that's really fun.

- I think it just gives everybody in the community an opportunity to see how many creative people there are in this area, and it's just a great way to showcase that and get people out and about.

- There's a lot of quality art here.

If you look in the brochure, you get to see what each artist is doing.

You can decide before you go around to all of the artists what you're really interested in and what you wanna see, and I think there's terribly talented people out here who are very lucky.

- [Voiceover] Even if you're from the area or you come back year after year, it's always new, because it's three days and there's such a variety of different types of artists and different things that you can do.

There's other little things that they also add on, like the opening night; or in Dawson, they have the music concerts.

So there's always some other things that are added to the mix, which is kinda fun.

- The Meander is really great, because it shows a lot of opportunities for people to see a lotta variety of work that they may not ever see before.

There's a lot; there's 45 different artists that show their work: from painters, from sculptors; there's a huge variety of different art media that one can see here.

- The thing about the Meander is everybody has to be rooted in this area, so it's artists who have either grown up in this area, or have moved to this area.

So you'll see a lot of the art of this area, or directly reflecting this area.

I was fortunate to start doing the Meander since it started in 2004, and living out here as an artist, it has pushed me to do more art every year.

- I would say that, for my art, it just put me on a different schedule, is the main thing.

I'm used to doing more of my art projects in the winter, 'cause we farm, so having a deadline that falls right at the same as the end of our farming season and our big harvest time of the year, it's really changed the kind of art that I can do.

- The people who live here have a different way of thinking because the way they're here.

I'm sure it's affect their art, and that's why, probably, for people from another area will be interesting to see.

Because each of us express our personality in our art.

- As far as being inspired by living in a rural area, I never thought of it that way, but you see in my artwork a lot of rural-type things.

I did the Meander brochure cover last year, and it was a windmill with some purple coneflower-type flowers in front of it, which you see in a rural setting.

A lotta my artwork is lakes, which we have a lot of in this area.

As far as preparing for the Meander, I typically start painting probably three months before.

I'm gettin' as much as I can, because people wanna come, and if they wanna buy somethin', they don't wanna say, "I want a painting like that."

They wanna take it home with them, so they really want artwork or something to buy, and you have to have enough inventory so that people are interested.

If you only have one thing to look at, they've driven all this way and looked at one painting.

So I try and have as much possible.

Typically, I have 20 to 25 new paintings every Meander.

- [Voiceover] It's a great thing; it takes a lot to prepare for it, especially when it's in your home.

- [Voiceover] I think, mentally, you're always preparing for it, so as this season is ending, I'm already thinking of what I might wanna do for next year.

- This is actually my wood shop, and it wasn't set up as a gallery or a studio, so I had to do a lot of housecleaning and revamping and setting up just to accommodate it.

- I always try to do new things for the Meander every year, so I spend a lotta time going through images and picking out images, and then asking people what they think.

- I would say while it is a bigger job than I've ever had to face before, getting ready for the Meander, it's also such a good feeling, knowing that people will come.

I think that the Meander provides the perfect opportunity to get out and make different kinds of connections in your community.

There's so much beauty to take in, both in the studios and just in the interactions with the people.

And for the most part, I've just gotten closer with lots of people in the community that I wouldn't otherwise get to have this kind of exposure to.

- This is a way for me to express what I do, and it's just a fun show because you meet a lotta people that come back year after year after year, and a lotta new faces as well.

There you go.

- [Voiceover] Thank you.

- Yep, you're welcome.

- [Voiceover] Beautiful work.

- Oh, thank you.

- I think we want to keep it local and to show more local art, and to prove everybody that being away from the huge cities is making us more creative than being there, because we are free here.

We have beautiful nature around us, and we have wonderful friends, a great group, and very supportive group.

- Next, we meet with Bradley Hall, a local artist who designed the first Meander calendar.

Bradley shows us his linoleum block printing, and gives us an inside look at his art studio in Granite Falls.

(slow guitar music) - Hi, I'm Brad Hall.

We're in my studio here in Granite Falls.

(upbeat guitar music) It was originally a church built in 1889.

It wasn't very successful as a church.

It became the town library in 1920 and it was the town library for 50 years.

When I bought it, it was abandoned, and the city basically gave it to me for a dollar.

(upbeat guitar music) I've always did artwork; I started out doing little pen and ink Christmas cards.

I hand-inked the card, then I watercolored 'em a long time ago.

(laughing) 30 years ago.

(upbeat guitar music) My linoleum block prints started out kind of serendipity.

I met Andy Kahmann over in A to Z Letterpress, and he was lookin' for an artist, and I was lookin' for different artwork to do.

I started doin' the blocks, and they've become very successful.

Linoleum block printing is the way the Gutenberg Bible was printed.

It's kind of a lost art; it's the way all printing was done before computers.

Computers put linoleum blocks and letterpress printing out of business.

It's gained a resurgence lately because of the elegance of the hand printing.

When you hand print the block, you get a big, embossed, really different feel and look on the paper than a computer printout.

This is a 1957 Chandler and Price Tabletop Platen Pilot Press; it's the Cadillac of presses for printing tabletop.

(pop music) We put a block in here; this is the block that I'm workin on.

I wanna proof that block.

I lock it in place with the key.

(pop music) There you go; locked in place.

Now you wanna ink up the press.

We got imaginary ink here.

Put the ink right here, and you take the rollers and you do this about 50 times.

You wanna get the ink really nice and change the viscosity of the ink; get the ink really paper-thin, really super-thin and get it real smooth.

Once the ink is all ready to go, it attaches to the rollers and you get a really nice level of ink on there.

You slide in the chase, lock that in place and put the paper here.

The rollers put the ink on the block.

Take it out, and there we got a print.

(pop music) My linoleum blocks have evolved over the years.

I started out doing black and white, and just black and white.

(pop music) I just started adding color the last couple years, and they've really melded together really well 'cause I have a deep love of watercolor and the ink, the stark black and white of the paper for the linoleum blocks.

People ask me, "Are you a linoleum block artist "or are you a wartercolor?"

I think I'm both; I think an artist can create with anything; it doesn't really matter what the medium is.

I have here, on my palette, what you want is a cool and a warm color of each of your colors.

I have a cool yellow and a warm yellow, and a reddish yellow, burnt sienna.

I start out by pre-wetting the paper.

You get the watercolor to blend right on the paper; get some really nice effect that way.

Now the blue and the yellow blend in together, right on the paper.

(pop music) The sky should be drying up.

I can go back in and finish the trees.

A little burnt sienna to darken it up a bit.

(pop music) Hey, lookin' good.

Finally, our trees.

(pop music) The bark.

(pop music) Again, have the watercolor blend in there with the... on the paper.

I love old buildings; I love old architecture; I love the way old methods are done.

The linoleum blocks go well with my watercolors, and my watercolors go well with the linoleum blocks.

People say it's hard to do, but I love every time it's a little bit different.

I can paint the same card; it never comes out the same way every time.

That's what I really like about the variety of it.

Last year, I started hand framing my artwork.

I took apart a chicken coop for my sisters and I cut that up and used that for framing, and that's been hugely successful.

I've been part of Meander since the very beginning; I was the artist that did the very first blocks for the poster and the brochure.

The Meander Art Crawl is fantastic because you get to go into the artist's home and look right where he works and how he works in his studio.

That's something you're not gonna find at any other art fair.

It's been a lotta fun with Meander evolving; Meander involving and me evolving.

That's been nice about it.

Some artwork is hard to part with.

It is kinda like your children: you worked on it for so long; you've been with 'em for so long.

Finally, you're like, "You have to leave now?

No."

(laughing) It's hard to watch 'em go.

(upbeat guitar music) - That's all for this week.

For more information, go to our website.

See you again next time on Postcards.

This program on Pioneer Public Television is funded by the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund, with money from the vote of the people of Minnesota on November 4th, 2008.

Additional support provided by Mark and Margaret Yackel-Juleen in honor of Shalom Hill Farm, a non-profit, rural education retreat center in a beautiful prairie setting near Windom in Southwestern Minnesota.

Shalomhillfarm.org.

The Arrowwood Resort and Conference Center, your ideal choice for Minnesota resorts, offering luxury town homes, 18 holes of golf, Darling Reflections Spa, Big Splash Water Park, and much more.

Alexandria, Minnesota, a relaxing vacation or great location for an event.

ExploreAlex.com.

Easy to get to; hard to leave.

(serene music)