Art Lives Here | Rochester Art Center

Art Lives Here is a presentation of ephemeral installations. A Creative Support for Individuals grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board facilitated free beading workshops for the Rochester, Minnesota community at large in 2023. People gathered each week to learn how to bead around a small rock. Each stone is composed of seed beads stitched together with thread, one by one, to create a skin enveloping the stone. They are a combination of compacted earth and the care we ought to understand about our home.  They are a metaphor for even ourselves. How not caring for our planet, each other or ourselves will ultimately be disastrous. Beaded stones were returned to their makers after the installations were documented. The slowness of this work while building community is inspiring for me. These site specific installations discuss the nature of nature, environmental concerns, the beauty of land, listening carefully, spiritual queries and celebrating life.

Chris Allen was born in Kingston, New York in 1959. Allen earned a BFA at the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis in Printmaking and a Master of Fine Art in Fiber from Cranbrook Academy of Art in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. A pivotal workshop from Joyce Scott ignited a passion for beadwork. Allen has exhibited for the past 30 years nationally. She currently lives in Rochester, Minnesota.