LoLa Art Crawl 2015

Article and photos by MARGIE O’LOUGHLIN

The League of Longfellow Artists (LoLa) Art Crawl took place in mid-September on a gem of a weekend. Dozens of familiar yellow and pink lawn signs announced artist stops throughout the Longfellow neighborhood, as they have been every summer since the crawl began in 2009.

Photo left: Brendan Farley (and son Alex) works in acrylics, oils, and mixed media. His collage work, especially, brings together his interest in art and science. Farley had several 6 x 6” square collages for sale that were a combination of 1920’s newspapers (old insulation) pulled from the walls of his home and detailed animal drawings.

Artists had a chance to sell their wares including jewelry, glasswork, painting, collage, photography, textiles, pottery, sculpture and more. 115 artists participated this year at 62 different homes, studios and businesses.

Photo right: Kate Ellis, of Old Mill Candles, filled her porch with dozens of handmade beeswax candles in the shape of birds, pine cones, pears, snowflakes and graceful tapers. She and her family are fourth generation owners of a farm in Barrett, MN (near Alexandria). They raise bees there, and their numerous products include raw honey, honey hand balm, beeswax crayons, candles of all shapes and sizes, and beeswax bars for fixing anything that creaks or squeaks. 

The “biggest little art crawl in the state of Minnesota” almost didn’t happen this year. The all-volunteer led event was in need of new leadership and seemed to be on its last breath. A core organizing group of seven artists came forward, chaired by David Holliday, and brought the event back to life.

“We did several things differently this year,” Holliday said. “Changing the weekend from August to September turned out to be a no-brainer. The weather was fantastic, and we weren’t in competition with the State Fair. I heard really good feedback from artists and customers about the ‘I bought art’ buttons. Several of our neighborhood sponsors offered discounts to crawl visitors wearing them.”

LoLa is planning to have more events throughout the year. There may be a holiday art sale, a mid-winter art sale, and other opportunities for artist-community building.

If you have questions, comments or would like to be involved as an artist or community member, send inquiries to longfellowartists@gmail.com.

Photo left: Emily Madlund, a jewelry maker, set up shop in the parking lot of Peppers and Fries at the corner of 39th Ave. and E. Lake St. A school social worker by day, Madlund turns to jewelry making for escape, creative engagement, and pleasure.