Download a photo of Darwin's Ball of Twine.
GRANITE FALLS, Minn. — Pioneer PBS’s Postcards program will feature stories about Darwin’s Ball of Twine, New London artist Andrew Nordin and musician Lydia Liza on Thursday, February 20 at 7 p.m. The episode will be rebroadcast on Sunday, Feb. 23 at 7:30 p.m. and on Monday, Feb. 24 at 1:30 p.m. The stories will also be available for online viewing through the station’s website: www.pioneer.org/postcards.
“Darwin, Minnesota is the home of the world’s largest ball of twine made by one man. Francis A. Johnson rolled the ball from 1950 to 1979, 29 years, four hours a day,” said Josh Johnson, a volunteer with Darwin’s Twine Ball Museum. “Every day, he worked on that, on his precious twine ball, and it was his gift to our community and we’re happy to share it with the world,” Johnson added.
Artist Andrew Nordin's motivation is to create something in the world that he’s not seeing already. After studying art in California, he moved to New London to be able to work in a way that is more difficult in a bigger city where it's hard to find a studio space. Nordin has set up his studio in his backyard. From there, he creates large format paintings and sculptures inspired by looking at the rural utilitarian architecture all around him, drawing inspiration from the faded paint or pieces of buildings that are missing.
Minnesota-based singer/songwriter Lydia Liza found nationwide success with her rewriting of the song “Baby It's Cold Outside.” She has given proceeds from the sale of that song to the Sexual Violence Center and the National Alliance to End Sexual Violence and she considers that to be “the single best thing I've gotten to do in my life,” — so far. In this Postcards segment, Liza talks about her journey to move beyond depression, anxiety and substance abuse leading up to the release of her new album “Of Unsound Mind.” “Creativity. It's a really beautiful and good thing,” according to Liza.
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 PBS
Established in 1966, Pioneer PBS 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.
