The Artrageous Experience

I know I’ve mentioned my ladies’ art weekends before – getting together with my handful of artistic besties a couple times a year for an art, alcohol, and project-filled weekend. These days, with kids, full-time jobs, part-time jobs (yes, I am officially calling everything art-related in my life a part-time job BECAUSE IT IS) and everything else in between… Well, it just doesn’t happen as often as it used to. And that’s okay, it’s just a fact and it makes our times when we DO get together that much more fun!

 

We even brought Flat Stanley along to the theater!

It's Friday, April 14^th, 2023. I left my full-time work early, giddy for the event that night: Artrageous, at the Memorial Auditorium in Worthington, MN. It’s about a 2.5 hour drive from Ida Grove to Lakefield (where my mom lives, and yes, my mom counts as one of my ladies.) It was a beautiful, sunny 75 degrees when I left work. The past two days had been in the 80s and low 90s. I, of course, only packed t-shirts. The further north I got, the lower the temperature dropped, and when I arrived at my destination it was cold, rainy, and the sky was black with clouds. Screw you, Minnesota.

I wasn’t entirely sure what the show was going to be, but I was excited regardless. I had watched a trailer on YouTube about Artrageous beforehand and saw quite a few positive comments about it. I knew there would be painting and some sort of performance, but everything else was a mystery. The website ArtrageousShow.com describes it as a “fusion of live art, vocal performance, comedy, blacklight Bunraku [Japanese puppet theater where the performers wear black to blend into the background], Artpunk wear, and inclusion in one magical experience.” And yeah, I guess that sums it up pretty well!

Incredible!

My mom, Cindy, Rachael, and I were in the first row of the balcony, which gave us the perfect bird’s eye view of the whole stage but saved us from being recruited as volunteers. 😉 In the very front row below us was a tween girl celebrating her birthday (the whole party was there!) How cool is that?! She got a number of shout-outs throughout the night, no doubt giving her a birthday to remember her whole life.

The troupe began with a song. While some members played instruments, others sang and danced, and one in the center of the stage began painting on a huge black piece of paper. It started as abstract – a few lines here, a splat over there… She used her hands and fingers to smear it all over. To quote Cindy, “I’ve never wanted to fingerpaint so badly!” And she’s right, it was so inspiring to watch as the painting developed, got flipped around and then it finally came together as a rendition of the Mona Lisa! As a final touch, the artist tossed a handful of glitter at the painting like she was sprinkling it with fairy dust.

I just can't even, but in the best way!

The performers wore punky clothing covered in paint, including hats, corsets, boots, and skirts, each of them in their own form of artist-chic. They really do look like modern-day traveling performers. Rachael commented that it looked like something our friend, Melanie Cable (aka Ms. Chevious) would wear. I loved every bit of it!

I couldn’t tell you how many songs they performed, but many were well-known songs like John Lennon’s “Imagine” and Justin Timberlake’s “Can’t Stop the Feeling”. The audience was encouraged to clap and sing along, and not to brag but the troupe said we were really great singers. 😉There was also an everyone-wins dance battle, where audience members of all ages were chosen to come onstage and dance to various clips of music. One woman was wearing a “I like Big Books and I cannot lie” shirt. Another was a dad who looked like he didn’t really want to, but he busted a move anyway. It wasn’t pre-planned, but it definitely added to the entertainment of the evening.

One of my favorite versions of Starry Night ever!

There were 7 individual paintings completed during the performance. The artists used their hands to smear and throw the paint, as well as huge bristled brushes. The black-light painting of Starry Night was absolutely breathtaking to watch. Multiple artists worked on that one simultaneously, and on the giant triptych for the finale, which was a patriotic piece featuring a bald eagle, the Statue of Liberty, and Martin Luther King, Jr. But the really cool thing about the show was that it wasn’t just focused on the paintings. Many forms of artistic expression were used, including dance, song, music, and speech, and it was all blended together spectacularly.

After they were finished, the troupe invited everyone in attendance to come up onstage and view the paintings close up, take photos with the performers, and ask them questions. Besides my mom, my two companions for the evening were art teachers, and we were all debating what kind of paint they were using. It’s thin enough to splatter and drip… Was it tempera? Nah, too opaque for that. Gouache? Possibly, but I don’t know how quickly that dries… Surprise! It was all acrylic! Getting to see the paintings up close afterward was like the cherry on top of the sundae. There was so much energy and expression in the marks made. I would’ve liked to see the brushes they use up close because they were massive and from the balcony looked like stereotypical cartoony-renditions of paintbrushes.

Why, yes, I DID wear a Hogwarts shirt to the theater! 

The paintings were left there, at the auditorium, for the Worthington community to display and enjoy. Except for one, which someone in attendance won as part of a Facebook giveaway. What an amazing gift, for both the city and that one lucky person!

In preparation for writing this blog post, I did a bit more research into Artrageous. It turns out, they are more than just an energetic artistic show – there’s also a non-profit called Artrageous Artreach which is a multifaceted educational program for a variety of ages, plus a summer camp (and interning for the summer camp), online classes, live performances and more. To find out more about Artreach, you can check out the website here.

I’m so glad I was able to experience Artrageous, especially since I was there with my mom and two artist friends. We all had a great time, and if given the chance I would definitely see the performance again. I’d even bring my kids along next time!

For more information about Artrageous, you can check out their website at ArtrageousExperience.com, or follow them on social media: on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.