One Tile One Rosemount mosaic painting has thousands of stories to tell

The One Tile, One Rosemount project (Photo by Tad Johnson)

Published August 13, 2015 at 10:51 am

by Tad Johnson
Sun Thisweek-Dakota County Tribune

Everyone in Rosemount has a story to tell.

For those who contributed to the One Tile One Rosemount project, they now have a starting point for their story.

Carly Schmitt at work on the One Tile, One Rosemount project. (Photo by Tad Johnson)

In a few days, the completed 8-by-8 foot mosaic painting “Journey” will be installed at the entrance of the Dakota County Branch Robert Trail Library and mark the end of one journey and the start of countless others.

After the painting is raised and dedicated Sept. 28, it will signify a close to the work the Rosemount Area Arts Council and artist Carly Schmitt have expended toward the project.

The workshop of Carly Schmitt for the One Tile, One Rosemount project. (Photo by Tad Johnson)

Over the course of the past three years, while Schmitt painted the original image and organized the mosaic tile-placement system, RAAC has reached out with scores of tile “signing” events when community members painted personalized images on the 1-by-1-inch pieces.

The collaborative effort will result in an iconic image that is expected to lead Rosemount residents on a journey for years to come.

“I can’t wait to see the faces of everyone, especially the children, when the mural is unveiled,” said Ann Loch, RAAC member. “They won’t be disappointed. The vibrant colors just pop out at you. The river certainly conveys the spirit of  ‘Journey.’ ”

“It is so exciting for me because people have such a strong emotional connection to it and a strong physical connection to it,” Schmitt said.

She said the mosaic is a perfect metaphor for the community. When people look at it up close, they can see an individual’s expression, and from a distance the viewer can see that person’s place in the larger community.

There are tiles depicting shamrocks, hearts, initials, aliens, stick people and many other icons bound only by the limit of one’s imagination.

“There is a lot of love and hope, which is good to see,” Schmitt said of some of the words on the tiles.

The way in which RAAC built its collection of signed tiles is another metaphor of community connection. RAAC held several open tile signing events, but it also involved a broad cross-section residents by holding group-specific events.

Among the groups were seniors, members at various churches, youth groups and students in art classes at Rosemount schools.

“It was great seeing an 80-year-old sitting next to a 10-year-old or a 15-year-old, all participating in the same project,” RAAC member John Loch said. “Art truly binds all people together, whether it is music, acting, painting, etc.”

AC president Jeanne Schwartz said in June 2014, council members thought it was going to be easy to get the tiles signed.

But she said it was stressful at the beginning of 2015 when there remained thousands of the 9,200 tiles to be signed.

Because of RAAC members’ dedication, the number of tiles signed got back on track to meet the end-of-summer target date.

John Loch said RAAC decided to have the dedication in late September when school was in session, since so many children had been asking near the end of the school year in May when the mosaic would be installed.

“They were all excited about being part of this,” Loch said.

Schmitt said one of the ways it was important for her to feel an artistic connection to the pieces was to hear the stories behind the tile images from RAAC members who also helped with data entry for the tile-identification software.

Ann Loch said some of the memorable ones were a North Shore landscape by artist Rita Corrigan and historian and model train enthusiast Jerry Mattson’s old-time steam engine. Others honored family members who had died or showed civic or school pride.

The Lochs and Schwartz all singled out RAAC member Lee Champ for working many of the tile-signing events. Ann Loch noted that the 80-plus-year-old Champ painted tile No. 1 and some of the last ones at the final event.

John Loch said having the project done is a great sense of relief followed by a sense of pride of what has been accomplished.

He said volunteers put in an astonishing number of hours that involved about 30 RAAC and Friends of the Library members.

John Loch also credited the work of Rosemount school art teachers who offered tile signing at evening school events that pulled more adults into the project.

“When (the students) saw us at these special events, they brought their parents over, explained what we were doing and made sure their parents participated,” John Loch said.

He said it was heartwarming that people donated money generously to the project despite RAAC members saying all they wanted was their signed tiles.

“This really allowed us to make sure that no one in the community was left out,” John Loch said.

“It is truly a work of dedication, love and community pride,” Schwartz said.

There is still some work to be done.

Rosemount resident Scott Selig has built a maple and walnut frame that John Loch calls beautiful and exquisite. The two large panels need to be mounted to the frame and Dakota County employees will help hang the piece in the library.

“I like the way it looks,” Loch said of the mosaic as it was being pieced together on the stage of the city-owned Steeple Center. “It is very colorful, and it is so great seeing all the different things that were painted on the tiles by the participants. You really get a great feeling that this was indeed a community project.”

“I’m really excited to see the finished piece in its new home in the library,” said Frances Veit, Robert Trail Library lead librarian, “and to talk with people about the project as they come in and notice it. I think it will make the library lobby a destination in its own right.

“In some ways, it feels like the project is ending, because the work of fundraising and recruiting volunteers and hosting tile-signing events is over,” Veit said. “At the same time, it’s the beginning of something much longer-lasting. The One Tile project will become part of the Robert Trail Library experience, and it will be here in the future for the people who helped make it and for future residents of Rosemount.”

Email Tad Johnson at
tad.johnson@ecm-inc.com. Follow him on Twitter @editorTJ.

ArtBlast to launch this summer in Rosemount

Published March 20, 2014 at 2:10 pm

Rosemount Area Arts Council plans weeklong celebration of the arts

by Tad Johnson
Sun Thisweek-Dakota County Tribune

Before the Rosemount Area Arts Council was founded in 2008, there were probably many creative folks who were working in the shadows.

Bluegrass Americana Festival’s 2013 Square Dance. (Photo by Tad Johnson)

They would paint their would-be masterpieces, splice together their documentaries or strum their guitars in basement, garages or wherever they could find a spot.

Sawtooth plays at the 2013 Bluegrass Americana Festival in Rosemount. (Photo by Tad Johnson)

Since the inception of the council, the group has given these artists a stage to show the rest of the community their talent.

Film festivals, author events, art shows and even a community theater workshop has grown from the seeds the council has planted with one event in its first year and grew to 51 last year, attracting 5,690 people and featuring about 800 artists.

Now those with an interest in the arts can have a “blast” this summer in Rosemount.

Music like that at the Rosemount Area Arts Council’s Christmas at the Steeple Center, will be part of ArtBlast. (Photo by Tad Johnson)

The council is organizing the first ArtBlast from June 23-28 with a variety of music, performance and visual arts events along with classes.

“Basically, we wanted it to be an explosion of art,” said Jim Kotz, a council member. “The idea is for someone who lives in Rosemount, they can go anywhere that week and say, ‘What’s going on with all of this arts stuff?’”

Of course, the council is working hard to publicize ArtBlast, so every resident knows in advance all the events and can participate or enjoy the performances.

Anchoring ArtBlast will be the Bluegrass Americana Festival, which has been held the past four years during Rosemount Leprechaun Days in July.

This year, the festival will move to June 27 and 28 and feature a square dance Friday night with the Rosemount resident Craig Evans’ Eelpout Stringers and on Saturday the bluegrass bands start at 5 p.m. with the Fly Rite Girls, No Grass Limit, The Fish Heads and Sawtooth.

Sawtooth includes Rosemount’s own Birtzer brothers: Clint, Luke and Shane.

Evans, who founded the festival, continues to bring what he feels are Minnesota’s best bluegrass bands to Rosemount. Evans has said bands are anxious to perform at the city’s Central Park Amphitheater, since they regard it as one of the best venues in the state.

RAAC member John Loch said ArtBlast is a way to highlight the great places Rosemount has for performance art, including the amphitheater and the city-owned Steeple Center, which is the former St. Joseph Catholic Church that’s been converted to a stage venue and outfitted with the latest technology.

Kotz said he’s most excited about showcasing the talent of local residents.

People will have ample opportunity to exhibit or learn more about various artistic expressions.

Among the class offerings will be those related to photography, comic art, music and visual arts.

“It’s a fun group,” Kotz said of the council. “We have a lot of fun. It’s very diverse in the types of things people are involved in. One person will have an idea and another builds on it and then another. It’s a fun an creative process.”

A centerpiece of ArtBlast will be the community art project, which will be a mural frieze installed at the entrance to the Robert Trail Library. The mural will be composed of an estimated 9,500 small tiles that people will have the chance to personalize and will come together to form the image of a rolling river.

“The Mississippi River is a part of Rosemount’s history,” Loch said. “That is where Rosemount started, then they moved their way west to where the current central part of the city is.”

The tiles will be painted by workers at Rosemount’s MCRI WorkSource, a private nonprofit that helps people with disabilities find employment.

“We are very happy to have them involved,” Loch said.

Getting more people involved in the planning and participation in ArtBlast is also a focus.

RAAC member Jeanne Schwartz said the interest in the council’s events is snowballing as people who attend events find out about others the council has organized and end up attending those events – and inviting their friends.

“I’m a little surprised with our momentum,” Kotz said, “but we still have a long ways to go.”

Even though nearly all of ArtBlast events are expected to be free, organizing the festival won’t be without cost.

Since it is a new event, the council is focusing on fundraising to help it set the stage for what is expected to be dozens of events over those six days.

The council has a goal to raise $24,000 to pay featured artists and for materials, logistics-related expenses and publicity materials.

RAAC is looking for event sponsors or businesses and individuals willing to donate.

Those who are interested in donating to the 501(c)(3) nonprofit or becoming a member can visit www.RosemountArts.com and click on Get Involved.

Information about ArtBlast will be posted to the website and reported in the Dakota County Tribune and Sun Thisweek.

‘Resurrection’ colors the light for Rosemount artist Rita Corrigan

Published March 21, 2013 at 10:35 am

Rosemount artist celebrates the lives of her mother, sister

by Tad Johnson
Sun Thisweek-Dakota County Tribune

Rosemount resident Rita Corrigan’s abstract work, “Resurrection,” won second place in a juried art show sponsored by the Benedictine Center in Maplewood. – Photo submitted

After a lifetime of painting and 25 years as an art teacher, Rosemount resident Rita Corrigan nearly stopped creating altogether after the unexpected death of her sister in November 2010 to lung cancer and then the death of her mother in February 2011.

“Every May for over 10 years I had greatly anticipated and attended an art retreat through (the Minneapolis College of Art and Design) in Grand Marais,” she said. “In 2011, I really had no desire to go because I was afraid these two deaths would influence my work and I just wanted to forget. I tried to go back to familiar images and work on images of the rocks and Lake Superior, but could not get into the work.”

A conversation with a friend during the retreat changed all of that.

The evening talk turned to Rita speaking about her mother and sister.

“The next morning we had breakfast together and (my friend) wanted to tell me something, but was unsure how to say it,” Rita said. “She told me that the night when I had spoken about my mom and sister, there was a bright light behind me and that a figure was laughing and smiling. She was sure that it was my sister or mom.”

Abandoning her previous creative process, Rita said she put away her photographs and “started applying color randomly and intuitively to the paper with my bare hands, inspired by the light my friend saw.”

In the next two and a half days, Rita said she completed 11 pieces, the first of which is called “Resurrection.”

The pastel color-infused piece, which won second place in the recent Juried Art Show at the Benedictine Center in Maplewood, viewed from a distance contains a light dividing dark and light space with a rose color prominent on the left side. Rita’s mother’s name is Rose.

“A shaft of light seemed to permeate all of my work and I had no recollection of a plan or design,” said Rita, whose previous standard process was to use the pastel stick and blend it with one stroke on top of another.

“When I continued to explore this method of working, I found inspiration in cloud formations and sunsets,” she said. “I also changed my way of applying the pastel to the paper and now used not just the pastel stick to blend, but also blend with my hands.”

This more visceral connection to her art hasn’t made it any easier.

“Some pieces are completed as if they have a life of their own, other times the completion is a struggle,” said Corrigan, who has a studio in the Northrup King Building in Northeast Minneapolis. “I never know when I start a piece how long it is going to take.”

Art has been a part of Rita’s life as far back as she can remember. She said it seemed to take her out of the reality of everyday life.

“My sister told me once that I never heard our mother yell at us because I always had my head in the clouds,” she said. “To this day I have no memory of my mother ever yelling and there were eight of us.”

As she grew into her artistic ability, Rita turned to teaching, which she did for 25 years at St. Joseph Catholic School and the public schools in Rosemount.

“I absolutely loved teaching and miss it every day,” she said. “Opening the eyes of students to the wonder of the world and the wonder of being able to create themselves never ceases to amaze me. Being able to experience the ‘aha’ moment when a student really gets it is a gift that continues to motivate.”

She said teaching influenced her work as she would create in her studio after being inspired by her students’ effort.

“Painting or drawing is something that I don’t think I could ever live without,” Rita said. “It makes a day brighter when I can create, and something is missing when I can’t get into the studio.”

Being around their mother’s creativity has led her children to find artistic expression in their own way.

Among her five children are a cartoonist, an art teacher/commissioned artist, an art education major, a design engineer, and a lawyer for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in South Sudan, Africa.

Rita’s husband, Don, could be considered an artist in his own right.

Don’s media were electric, light and power. He recently retired as owner of Corrigan Electric, a company established by his father in 1932.

Having lived in Rosemount for 40 years, Rita has served on the St. Joseph Board of Education, was active in Legion of Mary and is currently working with the Iconography Ministry at St. Joseph.

She also now has a chance to exhibit her work in Rosemount. After the recent establishment of an art gallery at the Robert Trail Library, Corrigan is one of the few artists to be included in the first show.

“It is wonderful to have a place for former students and friends to view my work and to be inspired by all the artists we hope to show in the future,” she said.