Artists, start your engines: Midway's Monster Drawing Rally takes off this Saturday

Banner image: work by Rally artist Melissa Cooke Benson. (Artwork available at the Monster Drawing Rally will be decidedly smaller.) All images courtesy of the artists.

 

On February 8, arts patrons will get a rare look at both sides of art: the process and the product. The 13th annual Monster Drawing Rally is about to unleash its fun, affordable-art fundraising event from 2 to 6pm at Midway Contemporary Art. According to Deputy Director Megan McCready, the event is “like a family friendly Monster Truck rally for art — it’s really fun watching all the artists working alongside each other, and having an equal chance to buy a drawing by any of them.”

Artists volunteer their time for the event, in which they are dispatched to create art in hour-long shifts. The audience can then purchase the drawings for $35 each, but they also have to act fast. Proceeds go toward Midway’s exhibitions and public programs, which are always free to the public.

 

Scene from the previous Monster Drawing Rally. Photo by Melissa Cooke Benson.

 

For the uninitiated, Midway is a nonprofit arts organization that produces exhibitions of new contemporary art, runs an independent art research library, hosts artist talks and events, and supports local artists through the Visual Arts Fund, which awards grants to innovative projects taking place outside of traditional galleries and museums. The organization recently moved to a new space on Marshall Ave. and completed the first phase of renovations, so all comers will get a good look at the new space, too. Food from Khue’s Kitchen will be available for purchase, along with a cash bar.

The event is totally free and unticketed; as the original Monster Truck Rally voiceover would say, that deal is because “you won’t need a whole seat, you’ll only need the edge!”

Here’s a peek at just a few of the incredible artists whose work will be created and available:   

 

Melissa Cooke Benson

Melissa Cooke Benson will be going for the triple crown in her third Monster Drawing Rally. But she’s not just a participant — she’s also been a buyer. “The rally really helped start our art collections,” she says. “It’s a great ‘in’ for connecting with artists and to be able to afford pieces from people who may be a little out of your price range.”

Known for her large-scale, photorealistic graphite drawings, Benson says she has had to figure out how to create art in a tighter timeframe while everyone watches.

“There is an interesting performative element of drawing in front of people. It can be a bit nerve-wracking to perform in front of people, especially with something so personal, potentially private — your processes might have element of secrecy to them or sometimes you need solitude for real acts of concentration,” she explains. “Going in the public eye can put you an interesting position to re-evaluate your ideas. One, what are you willing to share, and two, what happens when inevitably during the process, something unexpected happens? Maybe normally that’s a moment where you’d alter your course or throw away a piece, but in front of people, that whole relationship is different too and you kind of have to roll with it.

“In my mind it’s exciting. I’m an educator at the University of Minnesota and I say the process of drawing is like riding a rollercoaster. And it could be great, or it could be hysterically awful, and sometimes that part is exciting to me, too. These are all unknowns that maybe you can prepare for but ultimately you have to trust the process, trust yourself, and trust your skills.”

 

Jose Dominguez

Jose Dominguez, a mixed-media artist and illustrator, is also returning to the event for a second time. During his initial go, he says he “had trouble getting out of his head and felt rushed,” but he’s ready to re-approach it with some preparation that will help his work flow more smoothly.

Dominguez describes his work as “colorful, playful, and humorous,” which will lend itself well to the family friendly, lighthearted event. And, he notes, the event is important to the community.

“The rally experience provides a chance for me to connect with other artists and the community. It also challenges me to work outside of my comfort zone and at a quicker pace,” he says, noting the importance of being able to buy original artwork at a more affordable price.

 

Jaysen Hohlen

Photographer Jaysen Hohlen is a returning artist to the event as well. Over the years, he says he’s built up a relationship with Midway, which he says provides a combination of its community support, financial support through its Visual Arts grants, and exhibition programming that keeps him coming back.

Though Hohlen says every event brings with it a little bit of nervous anticipation, he says he’s excited to participate because of how light and fun the event is and how invested each of the artists and audience members are to its spirit. “It does feel like a really exhilarating event,” he enthuses.

“On one hand, you are relieved from constraints from your main studio practice and the white cube in a lot of senses, and making this perfect thing. And you’re met with a different sort of constraint of making,” he says. “It’s a totally different of way of working than a lot of artists are used to. You’re coming to it a little unburdened about the refinement of the work you’re going to make in an hour — you’re liberated from those expectations. That’s really one of the more fun and exciting parts of the event as an artist.”

While he hasn’t refined his approach for this event yet, last time he brought prints in and collaged them for quick works. “The last time, I was so worried about making the perfect piece or right piece, but through the process, you’re racing against the clock to put things on the walls and being very improvisational. It’s rough and tumble, and I’m always thinking about how much I can get out that still feel like great pieces people want to take home. And you’re trying to raise funds—it’s all of these things moving all at once, and you’re along for the ride.”

 

Maria Cristina "Tina" Tavera

Tina Tavera is a veteran artist in the community, but this will be her first appearance at the Monster Drawing Rally.

It will also be a marked change from how she usually creates art. “My artistic practice is pretty private. Maybe I will talk to others about iconography if I have any doubts before, like, ‘Am I sending the correct message?’ But creating the work is usually something I do on my own," she says. "I did see it as a challenge I was going to be taking on, to be performing in a sense, in front of others. But I am really excited about how it seems like a very excellent way to raise awareness of the new Midway Contemporary Art space and also building community in the Twin Cities.”

Tavera is primarily a printmaker but creates art in many mediums, along with being an educator. “In general, I’m really fascinated with humanity; how people determine who they are and what they do, on a day-to-day basis. There are a lot of different things we consider — gender, ethnicity, or race — but overall, the way we approach life and how we identify and how we present ourselves to society in a way is really intriguing to me,” she says. “We have priorities and values and tend to have things important to our being, in a more expansive way. I’m biracial and a Mexican and a U.S. citizen, and I’m thinking about the differences about those two realities. But I’m fascinated with humans overall and how we view ourselves and categorize ourselves.” This, she says, is part of what process the audience might see while she works at the Rally.

“Drawing can be a design process for many other pieces or to start the early stages of ideas.” She says the pure amount of things she’s thinking about now sort of feed the frenzied, timed nature of the event. “The world is changing so quickly that I also see it as an opportunity to begin processing this in artistic way—that has been, in a way, relieving. How can we communicate to understand our world better during these really complicated times?” ◼︎  

 

The Monster Drawing Rally will take place at Midway Contemporary Art on Saturday, February 8, 2 – 6pm, at 1509 Marshall St. NE. The event is free and open to the public, all artwork is on sale for $35, and proceeds will benefit Midway Art programming.

Featured artists include: Erik Benson, Kim Benson, Sishir Bommakanti, Rachel Breen, Sophia Chai, Khadija Charif , Wen-Li Chen (with Darren and Ebi Tesar), Zoja Anthony Chmielarczyk, Rachel Collier, Anne Collingwood, Lucy Comer, Melissa Cooke Benson, Dane Cree, Jose Dominguez, Peter Driessen, Andy DuCett, Sam Dunne, Jennie Ekstrand, Jaik Elliott, Emma Eubanks, John Fleischer, Nathanael Flink, Lauren Flynn, Matt Friesen, Patrick Gantert, Autumn Garrington, Michael Gaughan, Anne George, Ryan Gerald Nelson, Regan Golden, Calvin Hafermann, Christopher Harrison, Jay Heikes, Nancy Julia Hicks, Jaysen Hohlen, Philli Irvin, Samuel Johnson, Austen Kielblock, Lisa Kill, Sam Larom, Noah Lawrence-Holder, Allegra Lockstadt, Melissa Loop, Jeremy Lundquist, Harry Malesovas, Mary Jane Mansfield, Dr Bon Mott, Nathan Motzko, Kindra Murphy, Jodi Reeb, Nina Martine Robinson, David Ruhlman, Saulaman Schlegel, Jenny Schmid, Abe Shriner, Peter Steineck, Maria Cristina "Tina" Tavera, Brooks Turner, Aaron Van Dyke, Sheila Wagner, Kimberly Wetzel, and Matthew Yaeger.