Mainspring Arty Block Party
Sat, Sept 19, 2-6 pm
FREE and open to all
Mainspring is thrilled to announce the second annual Mainspring Arty Block Party, a celebration of our rural community and art! The Arty Block Party will happen on Saturday, September 19th from 2 – 6 pm at Mainspring; this event is free and open to all.
The Mainspring Arty Block Party will feature a variety of arty festivities, including live music from Mike Munson + Pat Keen, skateboarding demos from Anthem Skateshop, all-levels yoga flow, family friendly art activities, food, beverages, and more!
Mainspring is a community art and cultural hub that provides meaningful opportunities for Houston County residents to connect, inspire, and be inspired. The 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization celebrates and invests in Houston County’s community, culture, and creatives through events, education, and shared resources. www.mainspringmn.org
Mainspring Vintage & Makers Market
Sat, Oct 17, 9 am – 2 pm
FREE and open to all
Mainspring is excited to announce the seventh annual Vintage & Makers Market of vintage and locally made goods on Saturday, October 17th from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. at Mainspring in downtown Caledonia (404 E. Main St, Caledonia).
The market will take place during Caledonia’s Fall Fest and Hot Air Balloon Rally, bringing visitors and residents together for a fun weekend of fall adventure and local finds. This year will feature ten vendors and two musicians. All of the vendors are regional makers dedicated to hand-crafted, artist-designed, well-made items, as well as beautifully cared for vintage home and clothing items.
This is a great event to get a start on holiday shopping, or to find unique, one of a kind items for all. This event takes place during Caledonia’s Fall Fest and Hot Air Balloon Rally, so be sure to check out all of the family-friendly fall festivities happening in town that weekend.
This event is free and open to the public.
Mainspring is a community art and cultural hub that provides meaningful opportunities for Houston County residents to connect, inspire, and be inspired. The 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization celebrates and invests in Houston County’s community, culture, and creatives through events, education, and shared resources. www.mainspringmn.org
This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts & cultural heritage fund.
Mainspring Announces Local Artists Selected for the Houston County Artist Mentorship Program
Mainspring is thrilled to announce the local mentees chosen to participate in the second cohort of the Houston County Artist Mentorship Program: Eliana Babinski, Matthew Pearson, and Brooke Perry. The Houston County Artist Mentorship Program is a six month stipend-paid program providing tailored mentorship for these Houston County emerging artists.
Eliana Babinski is currently focused on creating work with ink pen, some digital designs, and felt landscapes. She has a small business selling stickers and prints called Rainbow Rose Art. Ela focuses on making small things that make her happy. Right now her inspiration is coming from getting to be outside exploring the local area and finding patterns within nature. She’s excited for the artist grant and is looking forward to learning from other artistic people.
Matthew Pearson received a degree in creative writing with emphasis in poetry, and has spent a lot of time being taught the linguistic arts. He is mostly self taught in all forms of visual art, and is an illustrator and designer of characters. He has self-created his own comic books; his style lies in the cosmic, and Mathew is interested in capturing ideas such as consciousness and space in his works. Matthew’s art embodies power and emotion, along with a promotion of the inner self without shame. His art expresses his political beliefs and views of the world through imagery of machines, people, and characters that appear in his works.
Brooke Perry is a self taught emerging artist. She is currently in an experimental stage and enjoys working with mixed media and currently developing her watercolor and soft pastel work. Through her artwork, she hopes other people can look at and experience an emotion and an understanding of the world around us.
About the Artist Mentorship Program: The Houston County Artist Mentorship Program will train the mentee artists over the course of six months through 1) art workshops taught by regional mentor artists; 2) tailored art career mentor sessions in both cohort and individual settings; 3) artist career training courses taught by leading Midwest arts organization Springboard for the Arts; and 4) a culminating group art exhibit at Mainspring in December.
The participating artists will be mentored over the course of the program by regionally established mentor artists.
Mainspring is a community art and cultural hub that provides meaningful opportunities for Houston County residents to connect, inspire, and be inspired. The 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization celebrates and invests in Houston County’s community, culture, and creatives through events, education, and shared resources. www.mainspringmn.org
This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts & cultural heritage fund.
