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More than 40,000 people. Over 200 artists. Wondrous art made from light, amazing temporary sculptures, once-in-a-lifetime performances. Friendly crowds, food trucks, late night adventures. It's your city as you've always known it, but for one night in June it becomes a magical place that shows you its secrets and possibilities through art. Northern Spark is designed for the whole community to enjoy together, bringing contemporary art out into the streets for all to see. And it's free.
But something as good as Northern Spark is definitely not free to produce. We need your financial support. Your contribution today is essential to help build the solid foundation that will keep Northern Spark a vibrant part of our summer arts landscape for years to come.
My Night is a feature that lets you create a customized list of the projects you want to see at Northern Spark. You can add (or remove) projects using the "My Night" button — look for it on the Artists & Projects list (below each project image) as well as on individual project pages. Your "My Night" list can be printed, shared, or transferred to the festival’s mobile app.
Up close, an owl feather is much more than just a specimen—it’s an amazing work of art! In action, it’s a soft and silent tool. We’re diving into the world of the wings of the ultimate night creatures—owls! Examine their feathers under microscopes or craft your own owl feather!
After we imagined a better world, an old man and his machines dream until time runs out. A shadow piece in the spirit of R. Buckminster Fuller.
Performances will begin in the dome at 8:58 pm, 10 pm, 11 pm, and 12 midnight.
Presented by Springboard for the Arts and Irrigate
Celebrating generosity, vegetables and friendship, Farmers Market Review presents a series of musical, homiletical and graphic works under the shelter of the Saint Paul Farmers’ Market Shelter.
See a full-size replica of the historic Saint Paul Marcel Breuer house before it goes up in flames. Historic documentation about the house, including letters from Breuer, are on display in the Waiting Room.
Sing from a shape-note tunebook in use since 1844. We are not a choir, and this is not a performance, so come sing! Join us for a singing lesson and for Gospel after Dark in the Waiting Room (see schedule) or at any time throughout the night.
Presented by Minnesota State Sacred Harp Singing Convention
The three String | Felt | Theory artists will lead art-making projects based on their installations for all-night outdoor interventions on Fourth Street, between Robert and Sibley Streets.
Noah Keesecker, Andrew MacGuffie, Peter Haakon Thompson
Union Table
8:58 pm - 5:26 am
Union Depot
214 E 4th Street
Union Table is a multi-use ping-pong table that acts as a place for entertainment, a tool for creating conversations, and an interactive musical instrument for exploration and expression.
Step into a virtual time-traveling device, located in the state’s largest TV studio. Vintage footage appears on translucent panels while motion-sensitive cameras overlay live footage of onlookers.
Minnesota Historical Society makes a film about train travel in an era before Daylight Savings Time existed: Arriving/Departing in Central Standard Time.
suddenly Petunia Pig wasn’t a thing: a movie installation by VidTiger + Chris Strouth. Like Rear Window but creepier and without Jimmy Stewart. Presented by VidTiger, supported by CoCo coworking and collaborative space.
A not-to-be-missed exhibition at Saint Paul’s only art museum that will open at sundown on June 8 and be on view through July 28, 2013. The museum is open all night during Northern Spark!
Come hear and see demos of a harpsichord and fortepiano. Bring your own music or use ours and tickle the ivories at Gate C. Half-hour concerts by professional musicians at 10:30 pm and 5:15 am.
After we imagined a better world, an old man and his machines dream until time runs out. A shadow piece in the spirit of R. Buckminster Fuller.
Performances will begin in the dome at 8:58 pm, 10 pm, 11 pm, and 12 midnight.
Presented by Springboard for the Arts and Irrigate
Create travel-themed posters with local artists at a working print shop. Personalize arrows on evolving signposts and receive handmade souvenir prints.
MNKINO38: Arrivals & Departures is a video screening that invites participants to share personal stories about coming and going. Submit your film at www.mnkino.com
An arrangement of glass vessels inspired by the collection of the American Swedish Institute investigates the power of language as a container of emotions.
Join astronaut spirit academy fantasy space camp! Blast off with intergalactic training and take an imaginary joy ride with twelve artist designed rockets.
Seitu Jones, Amanda Lovelee, Colin Harris and Emily Stover
Create: The Community Meal
8:58 pm - 2 am
Farmers' Market
E 4th St & Wall St
Share your food stories with Seitu Jones, sit at Amanda Lovelee and Colin Harris’ Big Table, and sample urban-farmed fruit sauce made at Emily Stover’s CooKit.
Existentia… a personalized travel agency… linking you to your dreams. Free consults. (Side effects may include wanderlust, inertia, and philosophical disorientation.)
A structure spanning between two real-time images. A participatory artwork for an urban scale. Come play in the overlap of real and projected space, meet your neighbor, and let the sparks fly.
The Traveling Art Emporium is a pop-up art station with a carnival vibe. Visit the Emporium for take-home art activities, collaborative projects and demonstrations by local artists!
LBS is hosting a secure bicycle parking lot and bicycle “first aid” station. Come lock up or stop by for any quick fixes or adjustments before your ride home!
Forever Young will bring its Uptown dance party to Northern Spark. You can dance to the music of the 90s and 2000s, just like in your friend’s parent’s basement years ago. Bring headphones.
Peripatetic is a roving alternative space on wheels that is at once a model – a scaled down representation of a gallery – and an actual cultural institution with a full schedule of exhibitions.
Created in collaboration with Molly Reichert, Nicholas Knouf, Jonathan Zorn, and Nona Marie Invie, “Can you listen to the same river twice?” is a listening station that invites viewers to bring their ear close to the river, settle down alongside the rushing water, and see what’s passing by and what has been here all along.
Post Office Building facade and Union Depot Train Deck, N Sibley Street and 2nd Street
Originally created as a live event for the Performa 07 Biennial, this video features hula hoop routines performed on rooftops. Join in with hula hoops on the train deck.
Request a love letter, to whomever you wish. It will be typed for you on a Smith-Corona Classic 12 while you wait or while you go to see other exhibits at Northern Spark.
Empire Builder is a new music-theater piece about Sky, a Native man called back home by his dying grandfather. Look for five-minute performances around the Union Depot from 9:30 pm until 10:45 pm.
The Women of the Dark Carnival: Mystery, Intrigue, and Beauty in Movement
9:45 pm - 10:05 am, 11:45 pm - 12:05 am, 12:30 am - 12:50 am
Union Depot
,Black Dog Coffee & Wine Bar
214 E 4th Street
StudioSendero presents The Women of The Dark Carnival. Mystery, intrigue, and beauty in movement. Look for 20-minute performances at 9:45 pm, 11:45 pm, and 12:30 am!
After we imagined a better world, an old man and his machines dream until time runs out. A shadow piece in the spirit of R. Buckminster Fuller.
Performances will begin in the dome at 8:58 pm, 10 pm, 11 pm, and 12 midnight.
Presented by Springboard for the Arts and Irrigate
Come hear and see demos of a harpsichord and fortepiano. Bring your own music or use ours and tickle the ivories at Gate C. Half-hour concerts by professional musicians at 10:30 pm and 5:15 am.
The Northern Warehouse will become a palette for shifting colors and patterns through the use of LED technology. Come see the effect and try your hand at additive color mixing.
After we imagined a better world, an old man and his machines dream until time runs out. A shadow piece in the spirit of R. Buckminster Fuller.
Performances will begin in the dome at 8:58 pm, 10 pm, 11 pm, and 12 midnight.
Presented by Springboard for the Arts and Irrigate
The Women of the Dark Carnival: Mystery, Intrigue, and Beauty in Movement
11:45 pm - 12:05 am
Black Dog Coffee & Wine Bar
StudioSendero presents The Women of The Dark Carnival. Mystery, intrigue, and beauty in movement. Look for 20-minute performances at 9:45 pm, 11:45 pm, and 12:30 am!
After we imagined a better world, an old man and his machines dream until time runs out. A shadow piece in the spirit of R. Buckminster Fuller.
Performances will begin in the dome at 8:58 pm, 10 pm, 11 pm, and 12 midnight.
Presented by Springboard for the Arts and Irrigate
The Women of the Dark Carnival: Mystery, Intrigue, and Beauty in Movement
12:30 am - 12:50 am
Union Depot
StudioSendero presents The Women of The Dark Carnival. Mystery, intrigue, and beauty in movement. Look for 20-minute performances at 9:45 pm, 11:45 pm, and 12:30 am!
Gossip Orchestra is an interactive music performance that allows spectators to assume the role of conductor as they direct a twenty-piece orchestra using a variation of lighting cues.
Come hear and see demos of a harpsichord and fortepiano. Bring your own music or use ours and tickle the ivories at Gate C. Half-hour concerts by professional musicians at 10:30 pm and 5:15 am.
4:00 am - 5:26 am, board starting at 3:30 am (first come, first served)
Lambert's Landing
N Sibley St & Shepard Rd
Join a sunrise detour of the upside-down river. From The Last City of the East to The Center of the Earth, see what might have been, what allegedly is, and what could be next – if you want it.
Presented by Works Progress
Lambert's Landing
4:00 am
5:26 am, board starting at 3:30 am (first come, first served)