Open Field, Walker Art Center, Northern Spark 2012. Photo: Cameron Wittig for Walker Art Center.
Deborah Miller, MURMUR, Northern Spark 2011. Photo: Nicole Larson.
Janaki Ranpura, Egg & Sperm Ride :: Hide & Seek, Northern Spark 2011. Photo: Patrick Kelley.
The Notion Collective, Station Identification, Northern Spark 2011. Photo: Patrick Kelley.
Revolver, Write Fight, Northern Spark 2013. Photo: Jayme Halbritter.
Piotr Szyhalski, Permanent Labor, Northern Spark 2013. Photo: Jayme Halbritter.
John Keston, Instant Cinema: Teleportation Platform X, Northern Spark 2013. Photo: Jayme Halbritter.
Seitu Jones, Amanda Lovelee, Colin Harris, and Emily Stover, Create: The Community Meal, Northern Spark 2013. Photo: Erin Smith.
Northern Spark Kazoo Band, Northern Spark 2013. Photo: Erin Smith.
Christian Jankowski, Rooftop Routine, Northern Spark 2013. Photo: Olga Ivanova.
Hamza Salim, Dunya Alwan, Islam Shabana, and Hend Kheera, Underpass of the Eyes of Freedom, Northern Spark 2013. Photo: Olga Ivanova.
Chris Larson, Celebration/Love/Loss, Northern Spark 2013. Photo: Olga Ivanova.
Jennifer Newsom Carruthers and Tom Carruthers, The World Is Rated X, Northern Spark 2013. Photo: Dusty Hoskovec.
Pritika Chowdhry, Empty Time, Northern Spark 2013. Photo: Dusty Hoskovec.
Monica Haller, can you listen to the same river twice?, Northern Spark 2013. Photo: Nick Knouf.
Aaron Dysart, Celebrate, Northern Spark, 2012. Photo: Jayme Halbritter for MIA/MCAD.
Eunsu Kang, Diana Garcia-Snyder, and Donald Craig, Shin’m Piñata, Northern Spark 2012. Photo: Dusty Hoskovec.
Jim Campbell, Material World, Northern Spark 2012. Photo: Dusty Hoskovec.
Trylon Microcinema and The Poor Nobodys, The Black Pirate, Northern Spark 2012. Photo: Dusty Hoskovec.
Keetra Dean Dixon, Swing Hall, Swing All, Northern Spark 2012. Photo: Jayme Halbritter for MIA/MCAD.
Jenny Schmid, Drew Anderson, and MAW, nightdemons, Northern Spark 2012. Photo: Rik Sferra for WAM.
Jim Campbell, Scattered Light, Northern Spark 2011. Photo: Dusty Hoskovec.
Piotr Szyhalski, Empty Words (so that we can do our living), Northern Spark 2011. Photo: Patrick Kelley.
Michael Murnane, Under Ice, Northern Spark 2012. Photo: Patrick Kelley.
Aniccha Arts, In Habit: Living Patterns, Northern Spark 2012. Photo: Patrick Kelley.
David Goldes and Jonathan Bruce Williams, THE Northern Spark, Northern Spark 2012. Photo: Patrick Kelley.
Open Eye Figure Theater, The Two Wheel Tour: A Parade of Oddities, Northern Spark 2012. Photo: Patrick Kelley.
Lauren McCarthy and David Wicks, Bumps in the Night, Northern Spark 2012. Photo: Patrick Kelley.
Wil Natzel, Night Blooms, Northern Spark 2012. Photo: Patrick Kelley.
Capitol HILL Shanty, Northern Spark 2012. Photo: Patrick Kelley.
Sketching the Night, Northern Spark 2012, Photo: Adrianne Mathiowetz.
Molly Balcom Raleigh, FEED/FEED, Northern Spark 2012. Photo: Sean Smuda.
Ben Johnson and Elizabeth Johnson, PixelTron150, Northern Spark 2012. Photo: Sean Smuda.
Open Field, Walker Art Center, Northern Spark 2012. Photo: Cameron Wittig for Walker Art Center.
Deborah Miller, MURMUR, Northern Spark 2011. Photo: Nicole Larson.
Northern Spark 2014
Northern Spark is an all-night arts festival that lights up Minneapolis on June 14, 2014.
On the second Saturday in June each summer, tens of thousands of people gather along the Minneapolis riverfront and throughout the city to explore giant video projections, play in temporary installations in the streets, and enjoy experimental performances in green spaces and under bridges. From dusk to dawn the city surprises you: friendly crowds, glowing groups of cyclists, an unexpected path through the urban landscape, the magic of sunrise after a night of amazing art and experiences. Northern Spark is the one-night arts event people talk about for the rest of the year.
In 2014 our theme is “Projecting the City.” All too often the city feels fixed, a stolid entity that we as individuals have little opportunity to affect. We asked dozens of artists to project onto Minneapolis—onto its architecture and its infrastructure—their idea of what the city could be, might aspire to be, never should become. These projections are literal or imaginative and take many forms, from video to dance to music to interactive events. We invite you to participate in this reimagining of the city, whether by performing as a Folkopolis singer, posting a missive into the night, attempting to solve the great Northern Spark murder mystery, visualizing the Minnesota Orchestra play in a new light (or conducting your own gossip orchestra), adjudicating a friendly Write Fight, rebalancing your life on a seesaw, or even projecting yourself on the iconic Gold Medal silos or the Minneapolis skyline.
We welcome you to keep reimagining the city with us throughout the year by helping to sustain Northern Spark—as an artist, volunteer, advocate, or donor. Sign up for our newsletter, help out with a donation, do what you can to stay in touch and add your support to the growing community that makes Northern Spark happen each year.
This is your city. What will you make of it? This is your community. How will you participate in it? This will become our future. How will you shape it? What will you discover at Northern Spark that encourages you not only to see the city in a new light but to act on it, every day?
Northern Spark is presented by Northern Lights.mn, a nonprofit arts organization with the mission to transform our sense of what’s possible in public space. Northern Spark is one night, but Northern Lights.mn shines throughout the year with projects such as the Giant Sing-a-Long at the Minnesota State Fair, Art(ists) On the Verge, and permanent, interactive public art for Saint Paul Union Depot. For more information, visit us at http://northern.lights.mn.
