REVERIE: Featuring Luke Callen
Saturday, March 9, 2024 at Mainspring
$25 Tickets – PURCHASE HERE
*Ticket includes beverages and hors d’ouevres
Mainspring is pleased to announce the second iteration of its cozy benefit concert REVERIE featuring the new folk music of Luke Callen on Saturday, March 9th from 6:00 – 8:00 pm.
REVERIE will be a special evening celebrating the nonprofit Mainspring. The event will feature the “new folk” and “strange country” sounds of Luke Callen and his band, as well as feature a temporary Houston County High School Art Show hosted by the Mainspring Youth Art Collective, in addition to current exhibition “Homecoming” from artist Melissa Wray.
There will be a social hour from 6:00 – 7:00 for viewing art exhibitions. Luke Callen and band will perform from 7:00 – 8:00 pm. Tickets are $25, and include hors d’oeuvres and beverage for each attendee. They can be purchased online in advance of the show or at the event.
Schedule of Events
- 6:00 pm: Doors Open, Community Social Hour, Art Viewing, Appetizers
- 7:00 pm: Performance by Luke Callen
- 8:00 pm: Toast & Good Night!
About Luke Callen:
On February 2nd – Luke will release his latest studio effort – “Also Going Nowhere” – Produced by Erik Koskinen (Charlie Parr, Dave Simonett, Long Mama, David Huckfelt) – featuring Lauren Anderson (J.S Ondara, The Last Revel) on bass and harmony vocals, Chris Gray (Portal iii, Charlie Parr) on drums and Franky Moscow (Jaedyn James, TSTBST) on organ as well as Koskinen himself on additional guitars. It features 11 songs that both reflect and contribute to the evolution of American folk – rock and balladry – moving between each with a sense of purpose and groove.
In an age of quick fixes, flashing screens, and pop ‘songs’ that are more formula than art, an album that takes its sweet time is a radical act. “Also Going Nowhere”, Luke Callen’s third full-length effort is just that – a collection of songs that spread out through time and space, dripping with honest Midwest charm and a mischievous glint. It’s music that you can relax into, paired with lyrics you’ll want to chew on and savor, that ask something of their listener. These songs are proof and reminder: you don’t actually have to go anywhere at all to, you know, get somewhere.
This no-frills arrangement style is like a drink of water for those of us who crave something real and honest to listen to. The sonic palette pays homage to a whole plethora of elements endemic to the American music tradition without feeling derivative or landing too hard on any one side of the genre question. Sure, fans of John Prine, The Band, or Randy Newman will undoubtedly hear traces of Callen’s biggest influences, but there’s a modern assessment within the music that is the distinct voice of an artist coming into his own and sharing stages with fellow pickers and balladeers like Charlie Parr and Margo Cilker.
REVERIE will happen at Mainspring at 404 E Main St, Caledonia, Minnesota. Ticket purchase includes hors d’ouevres and beverages.
This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a grant from the Southeastern Minnesota Arts Council thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts & cultural heritage fund.
Mainspring Youth Art Collective
Upcoming YAC Meetings: Sunday, January 28th & February 25th, from 1-3 pm
YAC Capstone Event: Saturday, March 9th from 5-7 pm
All meetings are FREE, snacks provided! All teens are welcome; registration is not required.
Mainspring is pleased to offer this free program to create a fun and inclusive environment for creative rural youth in Southeast MN. The Mainspring Youth Art Collective (YAC) kicked off its first gathering on Sunday, June 11 and has continued to meet once monthly since. Mainspring hosts these monthly gatherings where teen artists can do hands-on art projects, learn from professional artists, and co-create programming and events. Mainspring will provide all art materials and snacks.
Instruction will be led by professional artist and educator Mary Beth Magyar. Magyar has decades of experience working with teens in schools all over the United States, and is the creator of smallärt, a series of mini galleries similar in size and stature to a Free Little Library. These galleries allow a low cost entry point for emerging artists, and offer the public a free and accessible way to view a variety of art. Through the YAC program, YAC teens will work with Magyar to program the smallärt gallery in Caledonia!
This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a grant from the Southeastern Minnesota Arts Council thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts & cultural heritage fund.
Homecoming: A Poetry & Quilt Exhibition from Melissa Wray
Exhibition Opening Reception: Friday, Feburary 2nd, 6-8 pm
Exhibition Open Hours: Saturdays from February 3rd – March 16th from 10 am – 2 pm
Related Events:
Community Quilting Bee: Sat, Feb 10, 10 am – 2 pm
Maker’s Circle: Sat, Mar 9, 10 am – 2 pm
Mainspring is pleased to announce the organization’s second visual art exhibition, “Homecoming”, featuring an intimate collection of story quilts and poems from artist Melissa Wray that explore the concept of “home” as a physical place and an emotional sensibility. The show opens with a reception and short poetry reading on Friday, February 2nd at 6:00 p.m. at Mainspring in Caledonia; light refreshments will be served.
The exhibition will be open on Saturdays only from 10:00 am – 2:00 pm from February 3rd through March 16th. In conjunction with this exhibition, there will also be two free events offered: a Community Quilting Bee on Saturday, February 10th from 10 am – 2 pm, and a Maker’s Circle on Saturday, March 9th from 10 am – 2 pm. More info at mainspringmn.org.
About the exhibition:
Homecoming is an exhibition of poetry and story quilts from Caledonia-based artist Melissa Wray, exploring the idea of home. The three story quilts and accompanying poetry chapbook chronicle Wray’s own journey back to her rural hometown after 13 years in the Twin Cities. The work centers around three physical homes that Wray has lived in from her divorce until now, and explores the kinder, softer, and more resilient internal home Wray has built within herself since then. The work touches on themes of mental health, rural-urban complexities, toxic anger, divorce, and radical healing.
The pieces embody the vulnerability of the places we claim as home, the grief when we leave them behind, and the ways we build safe places internally.
“Ultimately,” Wray says, “these quilts and poems chronicle my journey of coming home to myself.”
About the artist:
Community and storytelling are at the heart of Wray’s creative practice, rooted in writing and textiles. After over a decade in the Twin Cities area, she moved back to her small hometown of Caledonia, MN in 2019 to collaboratively start a nonprofit arts and community center called Mainspring in a vacant church building on Main Street. In addition to her art, she is the founding director of Mainspring and program director at Lanesboro Arts. She received the 2022-2024 Rural Regenerator Fellowship from Springboard for the Arts, through which she launched the Mainspring Community Quilt Project. She completed her Masters in Arts & Cultural Leadership from the University of Minnesota in 2018. Wray and her partner Riley live in Caledonia with their three dogs.
The Details At A Glance:
The exhibition will be open to the public from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm on the following Saturdays: February 3rd, 10th, 17th & 24th, and March 2nd, 9th, and 16th, 2024.
There will be two free events offered through this exhibition as well:
- February 10th, 10:00 am – 2:00 pm: Mainspring Community Quilting Bee
- Join us for a Community Quilting Bee to help sew together the Mainspring Community Quilt Project quilt tops, as well as hand-quilt them!
- March 9th, 10:00 am – 2:00 pm: Maker’s Circle
- Bring any creative project you’re working on and work alongside other artists and makers!
This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a grant from the Southeastern Minnesota Arts Council thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts & cultural heritage fund.
Mainspring Community Quilt Project
The Mainspring Community Quilt Project is an ongoing series of events and community involvement that will culminate in a collection of Community Quilts that will function as sound-absorption panels for Mainspring’s performance hall.
COMMUNITY QUILT SUBMISSIONS: Community members can submit their squares for the Community Quilts. The squares will be assembled into quilts that will then be used as sound absorption panels on the walls of Mainspring. We are looking for the following:
- 10 in x 10 in squares
- Mix of solids & patterns
- All colors accepted, but special preference for color schemes using: blue, red,
yellow, purple, and white to match Mainspring’s windows! - Submit your square(s) by mailing to Mainspring (404 E Main St,
Caledonia, MN 55921) or by bringing to any Mainspring event
COMMUNITY QUILTING BEE – Saturday, February 10th, 10 am – 2pm
This will be a moderated generative discussion around topics facing rural communities today, all while hand-quilting together.
This project is made possible due to the Rural Regenerator Fellowship received by Mainspring Director Melissa Wray, through Springboard for the Arts – Fergus Falls.
