Minneapolis, January 16, 2012—The Walker Art Center’s Target Free Thursday Nights in February feature a Chef-in-Residence event with chef Lucia Watson (Thursday, February 7); activities related to the Painter Painter exhibition throughout the month, and I heart Cindy, a Cindy Sherman celebration of Valentine’s Day (Thursday, February 14). The month also includes a conversation on climate change, moderated by Paul Douglas (Thursday, February 28). This evening of conversation, science, and song explores themes in the Walker’s presentation of performer Cynthia Hopkins newest work, This Clement World.

Target Free Thursday Nights

Get inspired. Get in free.

February 7, 14, 17, 21 and 28

Galleries open 5–9 pm; special events follow.

Thursday, February 7

Chef-in-Residence: Lucia Watson

Gather by D’Amico, 5–9 pm

Top talents from Twin Cities restaurants create limited-edition small plates exclusively for this ongoing series—meet them on the first Thursday of every month for a tasting. On February 7, meet Lucia Watson, proprietor of Lucia’s Restaurant, Wine Bar, and Lucia’s To Go, and indulge in tastes from her small-plates menu featured this month.

Studio Time with Joe Smith

Star Tribune Foundation Art Lab, 6–8 pm

Complementing the exhibition Painter Painter, this hands-on studio workshop pairs participants with artist Joe Smith. Join him to create multimedia abstractions using blankets and vacuum-sealed bags. No registration needed: just drop in and paint.

Smith has been a part of the Minneapolis arts community for the last twelve years. He is a graduate of Cranbrook Academy of Art and has received several grants and fellowships, including The McKnight Fellowship for Visual Artists, the Minnesota State Arts Board Artist Initiative Grant, and The Jerome Travel Grant. He has shown in numerous venues, including Midway Contemporary Art, Occasional Art, and The Soap Factory in the Twin Cities, and The Suburban and Julius Caesar in Chicago. A new exhibition of his work, Softside, is on view at the David Petersen Gallery.

Thursday, February 14

I Heart Cindy, 5–9 pm

This Target Free Thursday Night celebrates the Cindy Sherman retrospective, which closes on February 17, with a special Valentine’s Day salute to the artist featuring activities throughout the building and free gallery admission from 5 to 9 pm. Inspired by Sherman’s cast of characters, dress as your alter ego for a photo op at the Party People Pictures photo booth from 6–9 pm. Join the local literary community for a round of eros-fueled verse at Social/Brief: The Love Version, from 7–8 pm. At this reading the only rule is that each poem must be Hallmark-sized and read in twenty seconds or less! Bring along some mushy lines of your own to share. Finish off the night with a tour of the exhibition at 8 pm exploring the love and heartbreak in Sherman’s photos. Throughout the night you can write a love letter to your favorite “Cindy,” which will be collected and sent to the artist. A cash bar features the Love Potion, a custom cocktail from Gather by D’Amico.

Valentine’s Day at Gather by D’Amico, 5–9 pm

Share your exceptional taste with that special someone this Valentine’s Day. Gather’s executive chef Josh Brown, whose “exquisitely developed cooking” has been touted by Minnesota Monthly, pays tribute to the holiday with a special prix fixe menu and a signature cocktail, the Love Potion.

Now taking reservations for February 14: 612.253.3410 or OpenTable.com.

Prix Fixe Menu, one item from each category, includes a complimentary glass of champagne for $36 per person.

First course

Lobster ravioli with yuzu, basil, butter
Beef carpaccio, white anchovy, scallion, truffle, pine nuts
Raw and cooked vegetable salad, hard cooked egg, ricotta salata
Salt roasted beets, orange, arugula, pistachio, parmesan, aged balsamic

Entrée

Grilled tenderloin, on sesame bok choy, soy mushroom emulsion
Buttermilk-marinated chicken, artichokes, sweet peas, chard, burrata
Pan seared seabass, sesame bok choy, Chinese sausage, oyster mushrooms, xo sauce
Mushroom ravioli with faro flour, lemon thyme brown butter, pecorino

Dessert

Goat cheese panna cotta, amarene cherries
Ganache glazed double chocolate torte, chocolate shards, pomegranate

Studio Time with Ute Bertog

Star Tribune Foundation Art Lab, 6–8 pm

Complementing the new exhibition Painter Painter, this hands-on studio workshop pairs participants with artist Ute Bertog. Drop in for an exercise in abstraction that uses paint and text. No registration required.

Originally from Germany, artist Ute Bertog came to the United States in 1998. This move gave her the impulse to follow a life-long dream of becoming an artist after her initial training in economics. She graduated from the Minneapolis College of Art and Design in 2005 with a focus on painting. She has exhibited her work at the DeVos Art Museum in Marquette, MI, the Sioux City Art Center in Iowa and Rochester Art Center in Rochester, Minnesota. Local venues include Thomas Barry Fine Arts, the Soap Factory and Soo Visual Art Center. She currently works and lives in Saint Paul.

Thursday, February 21

Teen Art Lounge with Jay Heikes

Star Tribune Foundation Art Lab, 5–8 pm

Teen Art Lounge is a monthly night for young artists to hang out, make art, meet other artists, and learn new techniques and processes with other teens at the Walker. Intended for ages 13 to 18, activities are drop-in and occur every third Thursday of the month. Join Jay Heikes, one of the artists featured in the exhibition Painter Painter, as he shares his process of material alchemy. Gallery admission is always free for teens, thanks to Wells Fargo. For details, visit facebook.com/walkerteens.

Originally from Princeton, New Jersey, Heikes splits his time between Brooklyn, New York, and Minneapolis, Minnesota. His drawings, sculptures, videos, and installations are visual manifestations of the artist’s attempt to purge himself of past cultural obsessions and influences in order to create a new space for artistic freedom. In many of his works, he appropriates and alters images from sources such as obscure MTV videos, cult films, and underground album covers to comment on the relationship between word and image, cultural stereotypes, and personal narrative.

Studio Talk with Molly Zuckerman-Hartung

Walker Cinema, 7 pm

“The paintings are messages in a bottle to my future self. I make this thing in this conscious way because I’m trying to figure out what I think. I put it in a painting and then for the next five years I can see it there.”

The author of 95 Theses on Painting, artist Molly Zuckerman-Hartung has no shortage of thoughts, declarations, and proclamations about her chosen medium. For her, paintings distill fleeting ideas, sensations, and experiences in surfaces built up and torn apart over years. Join the artist as she talks about the concerns she grapples with in the studio and on her canvases.

Molly Zuckerman-Hartung was raised in Olympia, Washington, received her BA from Evergreen State College and her MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, where she now teaches painting and drawing. Zuckerman-Hartung is co-founder of an artist-run exhibition space called Julius Caesar Gallery in Chicago and is one of the artists featured in the exhibition Painter Painter.

Thursday, February 28

A Conversation on Climate Change Moderated by Paul Douglas

Walker Cinema, 7 pm

Acclaimed for her outlandishly theatrical fictions and avant-folk songs, Cynthia Hopkins turns to a real-world issue with her newest work, This Clement World, which will be presented at the Walker on March 7–9. A week before the performances, she takes the stage for an evening of conversation, science, and song about climate change. Joining the artist for the discussion are Patrick Hamilton, director of Global Change Initiatives at the Science Museum of Minnesota, and climate scientist Peter Snyder, with meteorologist/entrepreneur Paul Douglas as moderator.

Target Free Thursday Nights Special in the Walker Shop

The Walker Shop offers a discount on selected items during Target Free Thursday Nights. The February Shop special, the Knit Kit, is all you need to knit a special something for your special someone. Forget oversized jumpers and scratchy socks and try something a little different-a cute take out cup cosy. With easy to follow instructions, wool and knitting needles, you will soon be knitting like a true expert.

Pack contains one ball of wool, a pair of knitting needles, tapestry needle, safety pin and an instruction booklet that will show you how to knit your own take out cup cosy. Regularly priced at $10, the Knit Kit is $5 on Target Free Thursday Nights in February.

Special price can’t be combined with other discounts.