“Put on the mask / Put on the crown / Look through the veil / Step to the sound / From dark to light / And light to dark / It’s upside down / And all about”
—Lyrics by Jeanie Ockuly, a.k.a. Blue Lady

An overcast sky did not put a damper on an afternoon of music and dancing. On Friday, April 29, the Libraries hosted a vibrant celebration of the art exhibit, ”Living Masquerades: Blue Lady and the Art of Revelry.” Music by several local groups — Pan Dimensions, Free Range Orchestra and Choir, Heart and Soul Drum Academy, and Batucada Do Norte — was a delight for our attendees, young and not-so-young alike.

Visitors are welcome to view the exhibition, located on the first floor of Wilson Library, now extended until June 30. You can find more of our photos from the event on Flickr.

Exhibit details

Artist: Jean Ockuly, Blue Lady
Curator: Deborah Ultan, Arts & Design Librarian
Social Justice Library Intern: Madisen Rogers

Festivals, masquerades, carnivals, pageants, and parades are part of almost every culture as cathartic revelry. The nature of these ritualistic gatherings is organic to human nature as is the need to exercise our identity in forms of fantasy that ignite the human spirit. Local Minneapolis artist, Jeanie Ockuly, a.k.a. Blue Lady, invites us to parade in costumes made of sequins, jewels, paint, or mud to mock and/or revel in all of life that is beautiful and atrocious in order to let go, celebrate, and heal.

—Karen Carmody-McIntosh | Photos by Tamar Patterson.