New Bohemia North Dakota

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Welcome to New Bohemia ND from the Mayor, Jon Offutt

 

NEW BOHEMIA ANNUAL MEETING

Hello New Bohemians!

The time has come for us to meet in Rugby, ND, the geographic center of the universe, for our annual symposium. Please forward this invitation along to all your friends and associates.

Our mission is networking, developing and promoting the North Dakota arts community. If you are an artist or an arts advocate, if you're interested in community development or tourism, or if you're just a lover of all things beautiful, read on.

We'll meet Friday, July 13, at 9:00 a.m. at Bob's Pizza Inn in Rugby. Our professional development focus will be electronic communications, and featured speakers include Ben Klipfel who will talk about Culture Pulse, the new statewide arts web site; Amy Schmidt, who will discuss North Dakota Council on the Arts electronic grant submissions; and James Wolberg, who will demonstrate online marketing opportunities such as MySpace pages. Later in the day, the New Bohemia, ND board will meet to elect new officers. (a note of business: Jason and I will be working on the 501(c) (3) on the two days prior to the meeting in Park River, ND, please join us.)

After an evening of socializing (always the best part of our meetings), we'll travel to The International Peace Garden on July 14 to participate in the Garden's 75th anniversary celebration. The day's schedule includes hot air balloon rides, concerts, kite flying, a vintage fashion show, and a tribute to peace.

Several New Bohemia members have secured individual display booths at the celebration, and we've registered for two booths where we'll display members work and do some arts evangelism. Booths may still be available. Visit www.peacegarden.com for more information.

Pat Bye of the Rugby Job Development Authority is again generously organizing our logistics, so please register and get more information about the symposium at rugbynorthdakota.com or call Pat at 701-776-7655.

Through our creativity and energy, we've been able to "talk" New Bohemia, ND, into existence. We've been very successful in creating a statewide "buzz" about the organization and the concept behind it. Our united voice is being heard in many ways. We've been catalyzing many projects, such as the new Crossroads Gallery in Hettinger, the ArtSee event in Grand Forks and the new statewide Culture Pulse website. The media has embraced us. Feature articles in Prairie Business Magazine, The North Dakota Council on the Arts newsletter, and a cover article in the Lake Agassiz Arts Council Art Forum with a color photo of our board member Eloi Cyril at last year's symposium in Rugby are just a few examples.

People recognize New Bohemia, ND as a powerful idea. Our pressing need at this point is to attract people with the skills to help us move our ideas and our vision forward. To succeed in our vision we need help with the kind of things that artists aren't good at: technology, structure, fundraising. We need to expand beyond the arts community and engage our neighbors that possess the talents needed to accomplish our grandiose vision.

Come help us work toward this goal at the symposium! I look forward to seeing you there.

Jon Offutt

 

NEW BOHEMIA ARTISTS FEATURED ON NATIONAL TV SHOW

 

Karen L. Davidson's zippermosaics will be featured in a segment on HGTV's "That's Clever!" show in September.

In spring 2006, several artists across North Dakota, including some New Bohemia members were selected to be featured on HGTV's "That's Clever!" show. The segments are airing on cable tv.

 

Bracken Rourke 4/2

Kay Hilde 5/11

Meg Spielman Peldo 5/25

Sheila Sornsin 5/21

Brad Bachmeier 6/22

James Wolberg

Sharon Eide

Gaylen Peterson

Shawna Davidson 6/8

Pat Mikula

Susanne Williams

Mary Johnson

Jennifer Dahl

Dan Martel 6/29

 

Karen L. Davidson, a mixed media artist, creates zipper mosaics, using metal zipper teeth as the primary medium to create one-of-a-kind abstract surface designs on wooden or glass objects. The colors of the zipper creations come from the actual colors of the zipper teeth and the cloth between the teeth. Her work can be seen at zippermosaics.com.