Arts News
Community Dance in East Grand Forks November 23 Everyone Welcome
North Country Fiddle and Dance Community Dance
Saturday, November 23rd
2:00 to 4:30 PM
East Grand Forks Senior Center
538 Rhinehart Dr. SE, East Grand Forks
Music by Leatherwood String Band from Bemidji
Caller: Jeanne O'Neil
All ages – singles, couples, families
Reels, squares, circle mixers and more... all dances are taught and easy to learn!
Donations at the door
North Country Fiddle & Dance October 26 Community Dance — Open to All
North Country Fiddle and Dance
Community Dance
All ages/ Families/ Couples/ Singles — Come one and all!
All dances taught, no experience needed.
Saturday, October 26th
2:00 to 4:30 PM
East Grand Forks Senior Center
538 Rhinehart Dr. S.E., East Grand Forks
Music by Tickwood String Band ( Fergus Falls)
Caller: Jeanne O'Neil
Free will donation at the door
North Country Fiddle & Dance Fall Dance
North Country Fiddle and Dance Fall Dance
reels, squares, circle mixers, all dances taught and easy to learn, all ages, families, couples, singles.
Saturday, Sept 7 from 2:30 to 5 PM
With Four Mile Portage – Tom Maloney on banjo and guitar, Brandy Forsman on fiddle and bass, from Duluth and Caller -Jeanne O'Neil
East Grand Forks Senior Center, 538 Rhinehart Drive SE, East Grand Forks
Donations at the door
This activity is made possible in part by a grant provided by the Northwest Minnesota Arts Council through funding from the Minnesota State Legislature with money from the State's general fund.
For more information: northcountrydance.org
Lynx Lynx Concert in East Grand Forks July 22 at 5PM
Lynx Lynx Concert
Enjoy an evening of traditional Nordic fiddle tunes and original music. Vidar Skrede and Patrik Ahlberg join their Scandinavian fiddle forces together in this Norwegian-Swedish folk music duo.
Mon, July 22 @ 5:00 pm
Free will donations to support North Country Fiddle and Dance accepted at the door.
This event is sponsored by North Country Fiddle and Dance, the EGF Arts and Crafts Council, and the EGF Campbell Library.
Artist Spotlight with Jeanne O’Neil and Erin O’Neil on March 28
Watch our Artist Spotlight with Jeanne O’Neil and Erin O’Neil here. This was live on Thursday, March 28 at 10:30 AM on our Facebook and YouTube pages.
NWMAC Staff Trey Everett and Kristin Eggerling spoke with Artists Jeanne O'Neil and Erin O'Neil. They talked about their music and the current exhibit Fiddle Tunes, Fiber Folk & Prairie Prints Featuring Jeanne Griffin O’Neil and Erin Jeanne O’Neil at the Northwest Minnesota Arts Council Gallery at NCTC in Thief River Falls through April 2024. They even played some tunes for the broadcast. Again, watch the recording here.
Jeanne O’Neil explained, “The focus of this show is the celebration of Erin's recently completed book, Twenty of Plenty, in which twenty of her original fiddle tunes are transcribed. We are both folk musicians and visual artists, and it is fitting to bring these forms of artistic expression together, as the tunes and art are both inspired by the rural landscapes we live in.”
The newest prints in this show come from a series of sketches made over the past summers on Jeanne’s land. “Walking the fields and pathways every day, year after year, the colors, contrasts, textures and lines of trees, grasses, sky, river are impressed in my mind, creating an accumulated knowledge of these places. The making of each print creates a deeper knowing and a stronger connection to that knowing.”
Jeanne’s daughter Erin O’Neil created the Twenty of Plenty tune book. This was an effort with a grant from the Northwest Minnesota Arts Council to get some of her tune compositions transcribed so that they could be introduced into wider circles of musicians. The descriptions and illustration throughout the book offer insight into the meaning of the compositions. The cultural influences for these tunes include French Canadian, Irish, Scandinavian, Scottish traditional fiddle music, New England Contra Dance music, Old Time Appalachian music, and Metis fiddle tunes.
Erin also has Rag Folk pieces in this exhibit. The Rag Folk represent preservation of what has been used in everyday life and creating new lives out of old scraps and rags. Erin started creating these pieces with a passion for recycling and reducing waste and a desire to connect with others.
Jeanne and Erin both play in the O’Neil Family Band. Erin plays the fiddle and feet, while Jeanne plays the banjo and concertina. The band holds many community dances in our region.
An artist reception at the gallery will be held at Northland Community and Technical College on Wednesday, April 24 at 6 PM. Everyone is welcome to join us for this free event. The O'Neil Family Band will be performing and refreshments will be served. Many pieces of art in this exhibit are for sale. You are welcome to purchase at any time and pick up when the exhibit ends.Please join us for the conversation! Let us know if you have questions!
North Country Fiddle & Dance Spring Afternoon Dances April 6 and May 4
North Country Fiddle and Dance Spring Afternoon Dances
Saturday, April 6 from 2:00 to 4:30 PM (East Grand Forks)
O'Neil Family Band with visiting banjo player Jefferson Reynolds
East Grand Forks Senior Center, 538 Rhinehart Dr SE
Saturday, May 4 from 2:30 to 5 PM (Fosston)
Embassy Community Center, 603 3rd Street NE, Fosston
Music by The O'Neil Family Band with Caller: Robin Nelson of Minneapolis
All are welcome, all ages, all dances are taught and are easy to learn
American traditional folk dances- reels, squares, contras, circle mixers
Donations at the door
Community Dance with North Country Fiddle & Dance March 2
Afternoon Community Dance with North Country Fiddle and Dance
Saturday, March 2nd
2 to 4:30 PM
All are welcome, all ages, all dances are taught and are easy to learn
American traditional folk dances- reels, squares, contras, circle mixers
East Grand Forks Senior Center, 538 Rhinehart Dr. S.E.
Music by O'Neil Family Band
Donations at the door
Community Dance with North Country Fiddle & Dance Nov 18
North Country Fiddle and Dance Community Dance
Saturday, November 18th 7:30 to 10:00 pm
East Grand Forks Senior Center, 538 Rhinehart Drive,
East Grand Forks
Music by O'Neil Family Band
Caller - Robin Nelson, Minneapolis, MN
Everyone is invited to a Community Dance with North Country Fiddle and Dance
These events are made possible in part by a grant provided by the Northwest Minnesota Arts Council through funding from the Minnesota State Legislature with money from the State's general fund.
Artist Reception for Figures of Ghosts and Dreams: The Artwork of Stephanie Olson Oct 18 6-8PM
Figures of Ghosts and Dreams: The Artwork of Stephanie Olson Artist Reception Oct 18 from 6-8 PM
Exhibit is Open through Wednesday, November 29
Northwest Minnesota Arts Council Gallery
NCTC in Thief River Falls
Please join us for an Artist Reception on Wednesday, October 18 from 6 to 8 PM at our gallery at Northland Community and Technical College. Everyone is welcome to join us for this free event. There will be live fiddle music and refreshments will be served. Stephanie will be live painting at the event.
Stephanie Olson lives with her husband and kids in rural Thief River Falls. She holds a Writing MFA degree from Hamline University and works as a public-school English teacher. But visual art always calls her back. Her visual work has appeared in a number of group shows, including past exhibits with the Northwest Minnesota Arts Council, two This Week Only exhibits at the North Dakota Museum of Art, and a group show at the Vine Arts Center in Minneapolis.
Figures of Ghosts and Dreams includes 42 pieces of watercolor on paper, India ink on paper, and acrylic on wood, cork, and canvas. Stephanie explained, “This exhibit reflects the art that comes to me. When I sit down with an idea, with a plan, my art fails almost every time. But when I sit down with no intention, it's like a door is left open. In the beginning, my art was more abstract: lines, color, depth. Now, I have these figures. Sometimes they seem peaceful, as if visiting from a dream. Sometimes they remind me of loved ones who have passed on, like visiting ghosts. There are undeniable motifs that I can't escape: houses, snakes, dogs, cats, women. I must let it all come as it is, like the weather. I wouldn't say it's like the notion of a muse taking over, not at all. It's more like a house filling up with guests. I'm never sure how long they'll stay, but this is what I find when I manage to steal time to sit down and paint. It's always a surprise. Try it! You never know who might show up, who you might meet.”
The NWMAC Gallery is located at Northland Community and Technical College in Thief River Falls. The gallery hours are Monday-Friday from 8:30-5 PM and at other times when events are held at the college. Enter through Door B, which is right next to the gallery. Visitor parking is free.
For more information about this exhibit or if you are an artist interested in exhibiting a body of work with NWMAC, please contact Trey Everett at (218) 745-8886 or email NWArtsCouncil@gmail.com. Please sign up for our e-newsletter on our website home page to see the latest news and grant announcements. Email director@NWArtsCouncil.org or call 218-745-8886 to reach our office during regular business hours.
North Country Fiddle & Dance’s Fall Community Dance Oct 28 in Fosston
Come one, Come all !!
Fall Community Dance
presented by North Country Fiddle and Dance and East Polk Heritage Center
Saturday, October 28, 2:30 to 5:00 pm
Embassy Community Center, 603 3rd St. N.E. Fosston, MN
Music by O'Neil Family Band
Caller-Jeanne O'Neil
North Country Fiddle & Dance Spring Dance April 29
North Country Fiddle and Dance
Spring Dance
Saturday, April 29
7:30 to 10:00 pm
Live music with Tickwoods String Band of Fergus Falls
Caller : Jeanne O'Neil
East Grand Forks Senior Center 538 Rhinehart Dr. S.E.
East Grand Forks
All ages -singles, couples, families
Reels, squares, circle mixers and more...
all dances are taught and easy to learn!
Donations at the door. Find them online at northcountrydance.org.
This activity is made possible in part by a grant provided by the Northwest Minnesota Arts Council through funding from the MN State Legislature with money from the State general fund.