Download a photo of Shawn McCann
Download a photo of DanceBARN
Download a photo of Everett Black Thunder and Lower Sioux Youth
GRANITE FALLS, Minn. — Pioneer Public Television’s Postcards program will air new original art culture and history stories on Thursday, Feb. 7 at 7 p.m. about muralist Shawn McCann, the blossoming dance scene in Battle Lake and the resurgence of Native American hand games at the Lower Sioux Indian Community in Morton. The episode will be rebroadcast on Sunday, Feb. 10 at 7:30 p.m. and on Monday, Feb. 11 at 1:30 p.m. The stories will also be available for online viewing through the station’s website: www.pioneer.org/postcards.
Street artist Shawn McCann has traveled the world making chalk art and founded the Chalkfest at Arbor Lakes in Maple Grove. A native of southeastern North Dakota, McCann has made a name for himself as a muralist with works in New London, Worthington and Montevideo. Perhaps his most ambitious project to date, however, involved painting a 5,000-square-foot mural with seven other artists inside Minnesota’s Largest Candy Store in Jordan. The Postcards crew captures the breadth and magic of McCann’s remarkable career.
Postcards was there in the summer of 2018 when co-directors Molly Johnston and Ayumi Shafer of the DanceBARN Collective hosted guest choreographer and teacher Annalisa Ledson and co-artistic director Jamie Watkins of Current Harbor of Brooklyn, New York. This segment focuses on how the two organizations collaborated to make the screen dance film Chase the Flying Hours. Set on the grounds of the historic Kirkbride state mental hospital campus in Fergus Falls, the film explores the past, present and future of this focal point of the community through traditional square dancing with modern and theatrical influences.
Everett Black Thunder of the Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate is interviewed for the final Postcards story which features youth from the Lower Sioux Indian Community (Cansayapi Oyate) learning Lakota-style hand games which have been used for centuries to provide youth with a positive way to cope, find connection and resolve conflict in healthy ways.
About Postcards
Postcards is produced by Dana Conroy with videography and editing by Kristofor Gieske and Ben Dempcy. The program is made possible by contributions from the voters of Minnesota through a legislative appropriation from the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund. Production sponsors for the program include Shalom Hill Farm, Explore Alexandria Tourism and the Lake Region Arts Council.
About Pioneer Public Television
Established in 1966, Pioneer Public TV is an award-winning, viewer-supported television station dedicated to sharing local stories of the region with the world. For more information visit: www.pioneer.org.
