Happy New Year, my nerds! It’s been a long, chilly break, but at long last we are ready to kick off the new year at our NEW VENUE!! While we will always be thankful to the Gastropub for their years of support, the time has come to level up our game with our new hosts at the Cellar at Front Street Taproom!
We’ve been hard at work figuring out tech/ lights/ sound, as well as rounding up some choice speakers + topics to kick off our 2024 season! Details:
When the Past is Present: Wet Plate Collodion Photography
Learn about the amazing Victorian wet plate collodion process invented in 1851, what a tintype and ambrotype is, the basic steps of creating an image, and how Kary will be using this amazing form of image making to bring the past into the present at historical sites across the Dakotas in 2024.
Kary Janousek: After modeling for a series of ambrotypes photographs in Bismarck, I fell in love with this beautiful technique. I studied the wet plate collodion process and took my first image in the Autumn of 2019. I live in Fargo North Dakota where I operate my natural light Victorian studio part-time and sell vintage and antique hats. I have had eight solo art exhibitions in the last four years of practice.
Fin-de-siècle Cabaret Culture in Paris: The Highs and the Lows
This talk addresses the transformation of Paris in the late 19th century. From a medieval city with cramped streets lacking basic infrastructure such as modern plumbing, Paris became a modernized cosmopolitan spectacle, a city that offered pleasure and entertainment. We’ll examine some contemporary artworks depicting popular establishments that featured drink, music, dance as well as risqué encounters for well-heeled locals and international (male) tourists. Central to understanding these establishments are the people who worked there- from servers to performers—whose own lives were often fraught with economic and social challenges.
Anna Sigrídur Arnar received her PhD with Honors in Art History from the University of Chicago. Her research has been supported by awards from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Samuel H. Kress Foundation, and the Robert Motherwell Book Award from the Dedalus Foundation in New York, among others. She has taught History of Art at MSUM for over twenty years. Later this summer, she will serve as Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art at the North Dakota Museum of Art in Grand Forks.
I’m Fuzzy, Round, and Cool
(This is the first time someone has sent a picture as their teaser. I like how succinct it is LOL.)
Daryl Ritchison is the Director of the North Dakota Agricultural Weather Network (NDAWN). He spends his time on research, public outreach, development, and enhancement of tools for NDAWN, a network of 193 weather stations in North Dakota, Minnesota, and Montana. He is a well-known public speaker on various topics including short and long term weather forecasts, NDAWN usage, weather risk management, and climate.
In addition to our new venue, we’re also undergoing a slight schedule shift- Nerd Nites will now be on the third Thursday of each month (excepting this month bc there was a conflict) at 7PM, which is great for me because a Friday hangover is easier than a Thursday one. 🙂
SO see your beautiful faces on Thursday, January 25th, 7PM (doors at 6:30) at our fabulous new venue for some drinks, some laughs, and some learning. $10 at the door, or get your tickets in advance on Eventbrite (same price either way- we eat the fees because we love you. And because we’re hungry).
🙂 T
