MN artist to host workshops at International Festival

WORTHINGTON - The talents - and lens - of Wing Young Huie will be on display at Worthington’s International Festival. Huie, a Minnesota native and graduate of the University of Minnesota, will be showcasing his signature lectures and workshops, “How Do Photographs Form Us” and “Chalk Talk,” this evening.
“I do a lot of different things in communities, schools and summer programs,” Huie explained. “I was invited by the folks at the International Festival when I was down there in March. A lot of what I do is documentary life - I photograph every life in neighborhoods, and I’ve been doing that for 30 years now.” Huie’s “How Do Photographs Form Us” lecture will confront social issues and disconnection. “We live in a very polarized, disconnected culture - arguably more disconnected than any time in the history of Minnesota,” Huie said. “It’s becoming more and more rare to have a genuine, face-to-face interaction with someone who is different than you.” Huie will also show different photographs throughout the lecture and ask participants what they see. “It’s a very simple idea, which is how to get outside of your own bubble,” he said. “All of those photographs are very much up for interpretation. There is not a right or wrong answer.” Huie’s “Chalk Talk” will be another focus tonight. “Basically what I do is walk down the street or go into businesses and find complete strangers,” he explained. Huie then asks questions that are not very easy to answer, including “What are you?” and “What is your favorite word?” “The answers of these questions reveal something about yourself,” he said. “Everyone hides something about themselves, and everyone is afraid of what people think about them, and this is a way to get outside of that.” Afterward, participants will write something on a chalkboard that was brought up in the conversation, and Huie will take a picture of them with that board. Huie’s workshop will demonstrate and teach others how to do the chalkboard pictures themselves. “No matter how good a photograph is, you can’t see inside the person,” Huie said. “This is a way to help reveal something more personal about them.”Food vendors set for festival Food is something everyone from all cultures and races can appreciate and enjoy, and there will be more vendors and choices than ever at this year’s International Festival. “We are going to have 13 vendors - more than we have ever had before,” said Leann Enninga, the head of the International Festival Committee. “People will see more variety and different foods than they have before.” Many vendors will be returning favorites, but there will be one or two vendors not previously at the festival. “A new Kansas City barbecue vendor will be here, and we are very excited about that,” Enninga stated. “We will also have Ethiopian food, Lao, Thai, Mexican and Salvadoran, as well as others.” Enninga is predicting warm weather for the festival, so snowcones will also be for sale. “I think this year will prove to be like many years in the past with the warmer weather, so we will be having snowcones as well. Those are always appealing to the younger kids - and a few of the older ones as well. The Lions will also be selling popcorn and cotton candy. “It’ll be fun to see the returning vendors and to try the new ones we haven’t seen before,” said Enninga. “No matter what, though, the food is always good.” For more information on Wing Young Huie, visit his website at www.wingyounghuie.com.For more information on the International Festival, call the Worthington Chamber of Commerce at 372-2919, or visit the festival’s website at www.worthingtoninternationalfestival.org.WORTHINGTON - The talents - and lens - of Wing Young Huie will be on display at Worthington’s International Festival.Huie, a Minnesota native and graduate of the University of Minnesota, will be showcasing his signature lectures and workshops, “How Do Photographs Form Us” and “Chalk Talk,” this evening.
“I do a lot of different things in communities, schools and summer programs,” Huie explained. “I was invited by the folks at the International Festival when I was down there in March. A lot of what I do is documentary life - I photograph every life in neighborhoods, and I’ve been doing that for 30 years now.”Huie’s “How Do Photographs Form Us” lecture will confront social issues and disconnection.“We live in a very polarized, disconnected culture - arguably more disconnected than any time in the history of Minnesota,” Huie said. “It’s becoming more and more rare to have a genuine, face-to-face interaction with someone who is different than you.”Huie will also show different photographs throughout the lecture and ask participants what they see.“It’s a very simple idea, which is how to get outside of your own bubble,” he said. “All of those photographs are very much up for interpretation. There is not a right or wrong answer.”Huie’s “Chalk Talk” will be another focus tonight.“Basically what I do is walk down the street or go into businesses and find complete strangers,” he explained.Huie then asks questions that are not very easy to answer, including “What are you?” and “What is your favorite word?”“The answers of these questions reveal something about yourself,” he said. “Everyone hides something about themselves, and everyone is afraid of what people think about them, and this is a way to get outside of that.”Afterward, participants will write something on a chalkboard that was brought up in the conversation, and Huie will take a picture of them with that board.Huie’s workshop will demonstrate and teach others how to do the chalkboard pictures themselves.“No matter how good a photograph is, you can’t see inside the person,” Huie said. “This is a way to help reveal something more personal about them.”Food vendors set for festivalFood is something everyone from all cultures and races can appreciate and enjoy, and there will be more vendors and choices than ever at this year’s International Festival.“We are going to have 13 vendors - more than we have ever had before,” said Leann Enninga, the head of the International Festival Committee. “People will see more variety and different foods than they have before.”Many vendors will be returning favorites, but there will be one or two vendors not previously at the festival.“A new Kansas City barbecue vendor will be here, and we are very excited about that,” Enninga stated. “We will also have Ethiopian food, Lao, Thai, Mexican and Salvadoran, as well as others.”Enninga is predicting warm weather for the festival, so snowcones will also be for sale.“I think this year will prove to be like many years in the past with the warmer weather, so we will be having snowcones as well. Those are always appealing to the younger kids - and a few of the older ones as well.The Lions will also be selling popcorn and cotton candy.“It’ll be fun to see the returning vendors and to try the new ones we haven’t seen before,” said Enninga. “No matter what, though, the food is always good.”For more information on Wing Young Huie, visit his website at www.wingyounghuie.com.For more information on the International Festival, call the Worthington Chamber of Commerce at 372-2919, or visit the festival’s website at www.worthingtoninternationalfestival.org.