Wet Paint
All Around Town
One thing about retail, you usually know where
to find us. Wet Paint is consistently in the same place
at the same time, week after week. What surprises many of our customers
and friends is finding WP (Wet Paint) staff outside the store.
Darin Rinne, WP General Manager,
loves to take his Gocco Printer on the road. This spring he gave a “Portfolio
One on One” Seminar for the AIGA (American Institute of
Graphic Arts).
Minnesota Center
for Book Arts (MCBA) and Wet Paint have a long-standing relationship.
You often see MCBA staff and instructors demonstrating their craft at
Wet Paint. This summer Tim Jennen, WP Marketing Manager,
and Verra Blough, WP Paper Department Manager, staffed
a booth a MCBA’s Symposium celebrating their 20th anniversary.
Wet Paint helps financially support the exhibition program at MCBA and
purchases a deluxe edition of the Winter Book each
year to give to the MMAA (MN Museum of American Art).
Beth Bergman, WP Owner, has
served on the Board of Trustees of MMAA for nearly two years. During
that time the museum has moved into a more visible space and started
offering some pretty streetwise programming. “Art Here
1st Fridays” feature live music and one night art shows.
The Wet Paint staff will exhibit at Art Here 1st Friday, September 2nd.
The Minnesota Museum of American Art just announced their call for entries
for “Minnesota Biennial: 2D II,” and the
deadline is fast approaching on September 2nd. So check out their website for entry requirements.
Krista Kelley Walsh, a former
Wet Paint staffer, solicited the store’s support for the “Landmark:
24 Hours @ at the Stone Arch Bridge.” Check this out
starting at sunrise on August 27th. The programming
includes continuous events, art installations and folly.
This fall the staff will be pretty busy with
botanicals. The American Society of Botanical Artists holds their conference in Minneapolis this year. Beth will give a presentation
on papers and Wet Paint will a have a booth at their trade show. Greg
Graham, WP Floor Manager, and Tim Jennen are
teaching one session in the Professional Preparation Class in the Como Park Zoo & Conservatory Botanical & Zoological
Art & Illustration Program.
Wet Paint’s professional
affiliations keep Beth busy too. The staff actively participates in NAMTA, the National Art Materials Trade Association.
Beth helped found iAMart, an affiliation of independent
art supply stores across the country. Beth also is in the trenches with
the newly-formed METROiba with David Unowsky of the old Hungry Mind/ Ruminator Books. This is a
metro-wide group to support locally owned independent businesses. The
struggle to preserve the Twin Cities’ communities from the onslaught
of big box and nationally owned chains gets closer to home on a daily
basis. And what could be closer to home than Grand Avenue? Wet Paint
has actively participated in the GABA (Grand Avenue Business
Association) almost since the day Beth bought the business.
In recognition of these years of service to our local business community,
Beth was awarded the GABA Doc Chopp Award this year.
Regarding this honor, Beth says: "The
plaque is nice but the biggest thrill was being the Grand Marshal of
the Grand Old Day Parade. To make eye contact with about 50,000 friends
and neighbors on a beautiful summer morning on the street that has been
the center of my life for quite a long time is an experience I find
words really can’t describe. You all made me feel like I’d
hit the home run that won the series for the home team. I believe this
was my 15 minutes of fame, except it happily lasted about two hours."
Wet Paint owner and Grand Marshal Beth Bergman with her always snappily
dressed life partner Jay Torvik and a number of unidentified bagpipers
at the 2005 Grand Old Day Parade.
And these aren’t nearly
all the events we’ve been at recently! So if you happen to see Wet Paint staff at an upcoming event this year, don’t
be surprised!
If you want to know more about
the organizations and events mentioned in this article, here are the
web links. For more resources, visit our
special web page.
American Institute of Graphic Arts, MN Chapter
www.aigaminn.org
Minnesota Center for Book Arts
www.mnbookarts.org
Minnesota Museum of American Art
www.mmaa.org
American Society of Botanical Artists
www.amsocbotartists.org
24 Hours @ the Stone Arch Bridge
www.localstrategy.org
Como Park Zoo & Conservatory, Botanical
& Zoological Art & Illustration Program
www.comozooconservatory.org/education/classes/art.htm
Metro Independent Business Alliance (METROiba)
www.metroiba.org
Grand Avenue Business Association (GABA)
www.grandave.com
BACK
TO SCHOOL 05 NEWSLETTER
TOP
Unless
otherwise noted, all sale prices on this page
valid August 15th thru October 15th, 2005
