‘It’s a different sense of time and space’: New art exhibit aims to help process grief
The Legacy Dream Space gallery experience includes interactive keypads, seen in the foreground, for additional video and audio elements.
Courtesy Danette McCarthy
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Between a pandemic, wars in Ukraine and Gaza and social uprising and unrest in Minneapolis and across the country, the past four years have had Minnesotans thinking about loss and grief a lot.
A new interactive art exhibition opening Thursday in the Prospect Park neighborhood in Minneapolis dares us to begin to process it all. It’s called Legacy Dream Space and it includes video projection, theater, digital art and music.
Craig Harris is one of the artists behind the exhibit. He is a composer, theater artist, writer and producer, and he joined Minnesota Now with a preview and to talk about the inspiration behind the exhibit.
Use the audio player above to listen to the full conversation.
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Audio transcript
CATHY WURZER: The past four years have had plenty of reasons for us to think about life and loss between a pandemic, wars in Ukraine and Gaza, social uprising and unrest in Minneapolis, and across the country. A new interactive art exhibit opens this week in the Prospect Park neighborhood of Minneapolis that dares us to actually begin to process it all. It's called Legacy Dream Space. It includes video projection, theater, digital art, and music. Craig Harris is one of the artists behind the exhibit. He's a composer, theater artist, writer, and producer. He's on the line. Hey Craig, how are you?
CRAIG HARRIS: I'm great. Thank you for the opportunity to be here.
CATHY WURZER: Absolutely. Well obviously, so much has happened stretching back to the start of the pandemic. It feels as though-- my opinion here, it feels as though society has been trying to just quickly move on, really, not stopping to do much in the way of reflection. What's your take on that?
CRAIG HARRIS: I think this is an opportunity for us to come together, pause for a bit, come together, and think about where we've been, where we are, and where we are going, and bring some more consciousness, awareness, intention to what we're doing.
CATHY WURZER: If I'm not-- if I think I'm right here, you had your Legacy Dream Space in Owatonna about a year ago, right?
CRAIG HARRIS: That's right, exactly. A year ago, we had our inaugural exhibition at the Art Center in Owatonna. It was glorious. And we were able to launch this multi-sensory story space there for three weeks. And it was only the actual installation that we launched there. And this is an evolving project. Each time we do it, we're building it, we're growing, we're learning as we go, we're bringing more people into the process.
And so this time, we're bringing in theatrical performance, some video presentations, facilitated gatherings and conversations about the themes of the project, and creative maker environments such as the one we're doing with Ta coumba Aiken on September 21. And there will be other events as well.
CATHY WURZER: I love Ta coumba. So I'm wondering here, because as a culture, we're not one to, again, deal with our loss and our grief-- it's very difficult for many people, how does this exhibit help? How do people feel when they step inside and then when they step outside?
CRAIG HARRIS: Yes, that's a great question. People entering Legacy Dream Space are immediately transformed into a different sense of time and space, to engage-- what we're trying to create is a more holistic sense of ourselves and our world. We experience the presence and shared offerings of those who have been here in the past. We see it in the projected world, we hear it in the audio world, we see it in the written-- handwritten offerings that are placed all around this space, what people have thought about all of these issues.
And so the idea is that we are entering this space with a more sense of our full selves, stepping outside of the normal world that keeps us so engaged in the here and now and the immediate, and places us into a different space where we're more open to exploration, more safe sensibilities to explore these issues alone and together.
CATHY WURZER: Why was it important for you to collaborate with other artists on this? Your wife, Candy Kuehn, is part of this, too. She's a fiber artist.
CRAIG HARRIS: Yes, and digital illustration.
CATHY WURZER: Right, that's right, that's right.
CRAIG HARRIS: Yes.
CATHY WURZER: So what was the importance behind teaming up with everybody?
CRAIG HARRIS: Well, the whole idea is that I have a vision of what I want this to be, but I can't create this alone, and I don't need to or want to create this alone. The original artistic team includes Jim Peitzman, a tremendous video and multimedia designer, in the installation, and also for my performance, Carry the Mantle. Kym Longhi, a fabulous director and theater artist, and she brings her unique vision and experience to help create the environment and to work on my show.
The Center for Creativity and Public Health has done so much to help bring this to fruition, and they're also hosting the Creative Maker events that we already talked about. And they're also facilitating gatherings and conversations about the themes of the show. Art to Change the World, another long-term collaborator, is curating an invited art exhibition.
To me, this is about bringing people together. It's not just presentational, it's about engaging with each other, and we invite other organizations and individuals to join us in this because we are stronger doing this together than alone. And together, we can act as a force multiplier to really dream about the future, what do we want to pass on to future generations and what we wish to leave behind in the dust of the past.
CATHY WURZER: Hmm. So I'm wondering, you've been an artist for a long time. What are you thinking about when it comes to your personal legacy?
CRAIG HARRIS: That's a good question.
CATHY WURZER: Yeah.
CRAIG HARRIS: Well, this is this is a big piece of it. I mean, for me, especially the older I get, it's really more about trying to bring people together like we're doing in Legacy Dream Space, to bring a heightened awareness to what we are doing and work together to create the world that we can be proud and excited to pass on to future generations. Rather than just letting things unfold and be in a reactive mode, I would like us to work together to be thoughtful about what we're handing off to the future.
CATHY WURZER: Mm-hmm. So Craig, if someone wants to come to this exhibit, what happens? Where do they go? Give me the 911 here.
CRAIG HARRIS: Yes. This is being hosted at the Motus Locus Expansion Space. This is at 3338 University Avenue in Minneapolis. It's a very inviting space. And it's also a space that has a very strong social conscious mission. We have regular hours for the standing exhibition. It's like 12 o'clock noon to 6:00 PM, several days between the 12th of September and the 25th.
And then if you go to legacydreamspace.com-- this is our website, you can find out about all of the special events that are going to be coming. I've got my show, Carry the Mantle. The Center for Creativity and Public Health is hosting-- doing an event. And these Maker events as well are all listed on the website.
CATHY WURZER: A lot going on. Craig, thank you and best of luck. Thanks for talking to us.
CRAIG HARRIS: Well, thanks so much for having me. I appreciate it.
CATHY WURZER: Craig Harris is a Minneapolis-based artist and the Artistic Director of Interference Arts. The exhibition Legacy Dream Space, as he mentioned, runs September 12 through the 25th, a lot going on there.
CRAIG HARRIS: I'm great. Thank you for the opportunity to be here.
CATHY WURZER: Absolutely. Well obviously, so much has happened stretching back to the start of the pandemic. It feels as though-- my opinion here, it feels as though society has been trying to just quickly move on, really, not stopping to do much in the way of reflection. What's your take on that?
CRAIG HARRIS: I think this is an opportunity for us to come together, pause for a bit, come together, and think about where we've been, where we are, and where we are going, and bring some more consciousness, awareness, intention to what we're doing.
CATHY WURZER: If I'm not-- if I think I'm right here, you had your Legacy Dream Space in Owatonna about a year ago, right?
CRAIG HARRIS: That's right, exactly. A year ago, we had our inaugural exhibition at the Art Center in Owatonna. It was glorious. And we were able to launch this multi-sensory story space there for three weeks. And it was only the actual installation that we launched there. And this is an evolving project. Each time we do it, we're building it, we're growing, we're learning as we go, we're bringing more people into the process.
And so this time, we're bringing in theatrical performance, some video presentations, facilitated gatherings and conversations about the themes of the project, and creative maker environments such as the one we're doing with Ta coumba Aiken on September 21. And there will be other events as well.
CATHY WURZER: I love Ta coumba. So I'm wondering here, because as a culture, we're not one to, again, deal with our loss and our grief-- it's very difficult for many people, how does this exhibit help? How do people feel when they step inside and then when they step outside?
CRAIG HARRIS: Yes, that's a great question. People entering Legacy Dream Space are immediately transformed into a different sense of time and space, to engage-- what we're trying to create is a more holistic sense of ourselves and our world. We experience the presence and shared offerings of those who have been here in the past. We see it in the projected world, we hear it in the audio world, we see it in the written-- handwritten offerings that are placed all around this space, what people have thought about all of these issues.
And so the idea is that we are entering this space with a more sense of our full selves, stepping outside of the normal world that keeps us so engaged in the here and now and the immediate, and places us into a different space where we're more open to exploration, more safe sensibilities to explore these issues alone and together.
CATHY WURZER: Why was it important for you to collaborate with other artists on this? Your wife, Candy Kuehn, is part of this, too. She's a fiber artist.
CRAIG HARRIS: Yes, and digital illustration.
CATHY WURZER: Right, that's right, that's right.
CRAIG HARRIS: Yes.
CATHY WURZER: So what was the importance behind teaming up with everybody?
CRAIG HARRIS: Well, the whole idea is that I have a vision of what I want this to be, but I can't create this alone, and I don't need to or want to create this alone. The original artistic team includes Jim Peitzman, a tremendous video and multimedia designer, in the installation, and also for my performance, Carry the Mantle. Kym Longhi, a fabulous director and theater artist, and she brings her unique vision and experience to help create the environment and to work on my show.
The Center for Creativity and Public Health has done so much to help bring this to fruition, and they're also hosting the Creative Maker events that we already talked about. And they're also facilitating gatherings and conversations about the themes of the show. Art to Change the World, another long-term collaborator, is curating an invited art exhibition.
To me, this is about bringing people together. It's not just presentational, it's about engaging with each other, and we invite other organizations and individuals to join us in this because we are stronger doing this together than alone. And together, we can act as a force multiplier to really dream about the future, what do we want to pass on to future generations and what we wish to leave behind in the dust of the past.
CATHY WURZER: Hmm. So I'm wondering, you've been an artist for a long time. What are you thinking about when it comes to your personal legacy?
CRAIG HARRIS: That's a good question.
CATHY WURZER: Yeah.
CRAIG HARRIS: Well, this is this is a big piece of it. I mean, for me, especially the older I get, it's really more about trying to bring people together like we're doing in Legacy Dream Space, to bring a heightened awareness to what we are doing and work together to create the world that we can be proud and excited to pass on to future generations. Rather than just letting things unfold and be in a reactive mode, I would like us to work together to be thoughtful about what we're handing off to the future.
CATHY WURZER: Mm-hmm. So Craig, if someone wants to come to this exhibit, what happens? Where do they go? Give me the 911 here.
CRAIG HARRIS: Yes. This is being hosted at the Motus Locus Expansion Space. This is at 3338 University Avenue in Minneapolis. It's a very inviting space. And it's also a space that has a very strong social conscious mission. We have regular hours for the standing exhibition. It's like 12 o'clock noon to 6:00 PM, several days between the 12th of September and the 25th.
And then if you go to legacydreamspace.com-- this is our website, you can find out about all of the special events that are going to be coming. I've got my show, Carry the Mantle. The Center for Creativity and Public Health is hosting-- doing an event. And these Maker events as well are all listed on the website.
CATHY WURZER: A lot going on. Craig, thank you and best of luck. Thanks for talking to us.
CRAIG HARRIS: Well, thanks so much for having me. I appreciate it.
CATHY WURZER: Craig Harris is a Minneapolis-based artist and the Artistic Director of Interference Arts. The exhibition Legacy Dream Space, as he mentioned, runs September 12 through the 25th, a lot going on there.
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