Clean, Mean and Aberdeen

The road to Toledo was clear the day after the big storm.  It was littered with the wrecks of 18-wheelers that did not heed the sage advice of Ohio's DoT, however.  As disturbing as it was to witness so many huge vehicles skidded and toppled over into the roadside ditches, it made me feel better (and less wimpy) about delaying my trip for a day.  

Toledo is behind me now.  As is my lovely visit with the blogless Janine (just outside of Madison, WI). I managed to arrive just in time to attend the annual Madison Knitters Guild Knit-in, which is kind of like a mini-Rhinebeck.  Fortunately, my car was already packed with my exhibition materials so I had no room to spare for yarn or fleece.  BTW, Janine is not entirely blogless anymore - she now writes a column for the MKG that you can read online for free.  It seems that, even among hardcore Wisconsin knitters/farmers, Janine's activities stand out.  (Sorry, tried to make a link but I am having trouble...look around, it is called "Janine and Ewe".)

Wisconsin also behind me, I barreled ahead to Aberdeen, South Dakota, home to the Northern State University Wolves.  Go Wolves!

I am being put up in the University guest house - and here it is:

I have the whole house to myself!  And a driveway!  It is so cute and so very brown.

But let's cut to the chase.  I am here to work and I have a ton of work to do.  Here is the gallery as I found it yesterday:

Things are always different in person than in photographs and this was true yesterday.  I was wishing that I could have visited the campus and gallery prior to deciding on my project because the space has a very interesting history (it was used as a meet-up place for young women and their dates when the building was an all-women's residence hall).  It has a fireplace and these funky columns that have mirrors on them.  For my purposes, all of these interesting details will be totally erased.  Yet, as Greg, the curator and one of the art professors here said, it will again be used as a social space, so I feel a little better about that.

All my boxes arrived and I unloaded my car and began the work of laying out the space, praying that I had enough materials to create what I want to create.  The other thing about working site-unseen is that it is very hard to really know what the real world, physical realities of the space will be, so all plans have to be ready to change at a moment's notice.

I wasn't too far off, fortunately.  I do not have quite enough materials but I think I will be able to gather more via local thrift shops and from donations among students and faculty.  Fingers crossed!  

Today, I will work with students to finish the corridor of the fun house and begin sewing the fabric for each of the four rooms.  This is the most complicated part so getting it finished will be A Big Deal.

Fingers crossed!