Art Professor David Art Professor David Lefkowitz Explains “Nirthfolde” and Other “Quasi-Fictional Places”
In conjunction with the popular Northfield Arts Guild Gallery exhibit “NRTHFLD: The Nirthfolde Visitors’ Bureau,” professor of art David Lefkowitz will unravel the mysteries of this “slightly askew” take on Northfield in a public lecture on Wednesday, Jan. 30 from 7:30 to 9 p.m. in the Weitz Center for Creativity Cinema. Entitled “Quasi-Fictional Places: The Nirthfolde Visitors’ Bureau and Other Original Facsimilies,” Lefkowitz’s talk will introduce audiences to “Nirthfolde…a bucolic, yet bustling burg situated in a parallel universe that neatly overlaps Northfield, Minnesota, and that has existed relatively unnoticed for over a century and a half.”
In conjunction with the popular Northfield Arts Guild Gallery exhibit “NRTHFLD: The Nirthfolde Visitors’ Bureau,” professor of art David Lefkowitz will unravel the mysteries of this “slightly askew” take on Northfield in a public lecture on Wednesday, Jan. 30 from 7:30 to 9 p.m. in the Weitz Center for Creativity Cinema. Entitled “Quasi-Fictional Places: The Nirthfolde Visitors’ Bureau and Other Original Facsimilies,” Lefkowitz’s talk will introduce audiences to “Nirthfolde…a bucolic, yet bustling burg situated in a parallel universe that neatly overlaps Northfield, Minnesota, and that has existed relatively unnoticed for over a century and a half.”
Created by artists Lefkowitz and Carleton web content specialist Doug Bratland, the Northfield Arts Guild installation includes misinformation panels, ahistorical artifacts, and other displays guaranteed to perplex and amaze.
The exhibition is comprised of eleven distinct ‘topic areas,’ as well as an introductory Information Vestibule. Featured prominently among the attractions are a map and information orienting the general public to the pleasures of the Cowling Arboretum Contemplative Transit System, a display about Nirthfolde’s place in the pop pantheon, Hitsburg USA Record Factory of the Upper Midwest (1958-1973), a dubiously informative exhibit on Nirthfolde’s mysterious Monoliths of Mystery, and a scale model of a prehistoric beaver lodge metropolis that many believe graced the Canon River right where downtown Nirthfolde now stands.
“NRTHFLD: The Nirthfolde Visitors’ Bureau” will remain on display through February 9, 2013. The Northfield Arts Guild is located at 304 Division Street in downtown Northfield. For more information, visit online at www.northfieldartsguild.orgor call (507) 645-8877. The Weitz Center for Creativity is located at 310 East Third Street in Northfield.