On a rainy day in late September,

I removed the screen from the window of my attic studio, cranked the casement open as wide as it would go, leaned out and took a picture of my back garden, with the crabapple tree just beginning to turn. I do love a wet garden.

I’m enjoying a little breather after the LoLa Art Crawl, which takes place here in Minneapolis on the weekend before the equinox. During the weeks leading up to LoLa, I become quite immersed in making zines and other preparations and always tell myself I should have done this or that sooner why did I not start making these things in July? Oh, yeah, I was finishing up the Useful Calendar. At least that is something I no longer print and cut and assemble myself, which is why I can make a lot of zines after sending the calendar off to my local printer.

What I like most about this small neighborhood art crawl, besides that it means I am done with madly making things,  is the conviviality. While people certainly do come out to see and buy art and handcrafted items, a good many of them are also paying social calls to local artists with whom they’ve become acquainted because of this annual event.

I live in the Longfellow neighborhood, and the all-volunteer group that somehow manages to pull off this crawl every year since 2009 (except in 2020) is the League of Longfellow Artists—hence: LoLa.

I set up my table of wares with a clutch of 15 artists at a spot called The Toolbox Collective. The building was originally an auto mechanic’s garage, then a children’s play space called Betsy’s Toolbox, and now an art space with a handful of studios arranged in an open floor plan in some of the former garage bays, with an adjoining sitting and teaching area that’s rearranged to make room for guest artists like me during LoLa. At some point during this transition, most of the concrete surrounding the building was replaced with a garden featuring native plants, curving brick walks, a small patio and a gazebo, all surrounded by a picket fence. It’s utterly charming. I hope to be back there for one or two of their Makers Markets, on the Saturday after Thanksgiving, and possibly one more. I’ll let you know in my November letter if that’s confirmed.

In Other Art News . . .

My spouse and I managed to get out to a few art exhibitions over the summer, from the venerable Minneapolis Institute of Arts to a couple of quirky independent galleries, which you can read about here.

DEPARTMENT OF DON’T FORGET TO VOTE AKA NO KINGS

On June 2, 1946, the Kingdom of Italy held a nationwide referendum on whether to continue the reign of King Victor Emmanuel III, who had, in 1922, appointed Benito Mussolini as prime minister. (I think you already know how that one worked out.) The people voted overwhelmingly to abolish the monarchy and establish a republic, which is celebrated every June 2 as Italy’s Republic Day.

The next No Kings event here in the US is Oct. 17. Their main focus is turning out the vote and urging people to vote early. More votes cast early equals less to gain for those who would meddle with the election.

Be sure to find out in advance what’s on your ballot, which often includes initiatives, amendments, or other ballot measures. In many cases, not voting on a measure counts as a “no” vote —you could be helping defeat something you would actually support if you knew more about it.

Find ballot and voting information in Minnesota here.

For people in other states, check your Secretary of State’s office, which will have a dot-gov url. Another reputable site is Ballotpedia,

Be leery of other sites, which can be misleading or at least partisan. Not necessarily, but possibly.

APROPOS OF NOTHING IN PARTICULAR EXCEPT THE DATE

“There comes a point when a man must refuse to answer to his leader if he is also to answer to his own conscience.” —Hartley Shawcross (1902–2003), barrister, politician, and lead British prosecutor at the Nuremberg War Crimes tribunal

Eighty years ago today, on October 1, 1946, the International Military Tribunal concluded its prosecution of Nazi government officials for crimes against humanity, crimes against peace, war crimes, and conspiracy to commit those crimes. The court convened at the Palace of Justice in Nuremberg, Germany,  because Nuremberg had been a center of Nazi propaganda rallies and the Allies wanted the trials to symbolize the end of Nazi Germany.

Read more about Nuremberg here.

IT’S INKTOBER. WHAT?

Inktober is an art challenge originally aimed at comic artists to encourage a daily art practice and improve their “inking” skills, but has broadened since its founding in 2009 to appeal to all types of artists who just want a little nudge to draw more.

The idea behind any daily art practice is to improve skills while learning to relax a little about outcomes. It’s not about making 31 perfect/polished/museum-worthy drawings, it’s just to do the drawing and quit overthinking it. Not that I need such a nudge, nor am I already overthinking it. But what the heck I’m going to give it a go anyway.

They provide a list of 31 prompts, some of which are more inspiring than others (to me), and encourage people to post their drawings on Instagram. If you want to see how well I keep up with the challenge, you’ll find me here.

AND ANOTHER THING COMING UP, CALENDAR-WISE

Banned Books Week is October 4–10

I can never get the dates right for Banned Books Week in the Useful Calendar because they don’t publicize them far enough in advance, and when I think I know the drill, that it’s the last week in September, they move it to the first week in October. So I’ve taken to saying it could be one or the other.

But I do know that this year it’s October 4 to 10, and the theme is Let Freedom Read. No, wait. It’s Let Books Be, Protect the Freedom to Read, culminating in Let Freedom Read Day on the 10th.

The organizers encourage everyone to “take at least one action to help defend books from censorship and to stand up for the library staff, educators, writers, publishers, and booksellers who make them available!” The link above offers some suggestions for that.

You could also join or host a Right to Read Night to read and discuss the featured book selected among the thousands that are targeted by censors: Brown Girl Dreaming, a memoir in free verse poetry by Jacqueline Woodson, published in 2015 and winner of multiple awards.

You may have read something in this letter last time about the 2027 Useful Calendar. Well, all formats, including a very fine wire-bound planner (I really am rather pleased with how it turned out), are now available in my webshop.

Just to make it extra enticing, I made a coupon code to get 15% off purchases of over $11 (the calendars start at $12): GOAT15. And because I don’t like to be rushed and so I assume that neither do you, it’s good through Dec. 5.

There is also a discount that should be automatically applied if you buy 5 or more cards, making the fifth card free. That is ongoing.

My calendars and zines are also sold at the Minnesota Center for Book Arts, which has a lovely brick-and-mortar shop in downtown Minneapolis, plus a web shop. (Enter “Sharon Parker” in the search box to see my current offerings there.)

END NOTE

Leisure

By William Henry Davies (Welsh, 1871–1940)

What is this life if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.

No time to stand beneath the boughs
And stare as long as sheep or cows.

No time to see, when woods we pass,
Where squirrels hide their nuts in grass.

No time to see, in broad daylight,
Streams full of stars, like skies at night.

No time to turn at Beauty's glance,
And watch her feet, how they can dance.

No time to wait till her mouth can
Enrich that smile her eyes began.

A poor life this if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.

From Your Daily Poem

Thank you for subscribing to Sharon’s Compendium. This letter is going out bright and early on October 1. And contrary to my previous grumbling, it’s still coming from Squarespace, because I renewed my email “campaign” service with them for another year.

You can also find me on Instagram at SharonParkerCox.