Flask: A Focus on Form and Function

Flask: A Focus on Form and Function opens March 22 and is available for viewing until the closing reception on April 12.

This exhibition is inspired by the flask or flagon, a form used in Nordic and other cultures throughout history for carrying liquids from place to place. Curated by Duluth potters Karen Keenan and Bob DeArmond, Flask presents contemporary variations of this form by area clay, wood, metal, glass, and fiber artists.

Intrigued with the flask form, Keenan and DeArmond taught a clay class in the winter of 2018-19 at the Duluth Art Institute’s Lincoln Park Studio. Class participants learned about and explored traditional and contemporary flasks as well as the functional components of this complex container. In addition to exhibiting work from this class, Keenan and DeArmond invited area artists to produce and exhibit personal flask interpretations.

FLASK features items from almost twenty regional artists, including: Bob DeArmond, Richard Gruchalla and Carrin Rosetti, Bob and Cheryl Husby, Elisabeth James, Clayton Johnson, Karen Keenan, Karin Kraemer, Michael Maguire, Yarrow Mead, Rita Morris, Robin Murphy, Ann Wolff Nichols, Dan Neff, Denise Perry, Mike Smieja, and participants in the Duluth Art Institute Flask Class.

The opening and closing on April 12 will have refreshments by Vikre Distillery and Northern Waters Smokehouse and live music including drinking songs with Arna Rennan and Lise Lunge Larson. The Nordic Center thanks the following sponsors: Arrowhead Regional Arts Council, Duluth Art Institute, Northern Waters Smokehouse, and Vikre Distillery.