Alison Bergblom Johnson, Artist
A photograph of Alison Bergblom Johnson, a white woman with short, asymmetrical blonde hair wearing a shiny, pink shirt in front of a light tan background.

What I'm Up to Now

Updated Tuesday June 27, 2023

Work

  • With Springboard for the Arts I share expertise with other artists, facilitate business skills for artists classes and create events engaging artists with disabilities. To learn more about my work with individual artists please visit the Springboard Artist Career Consultant page.
  • There will be a festival of all of Mixed Blood Theatre's 12x12 program, coming up in August 2023. Do check out what the other artists are doing now. The April 1, 2023 disability community performance that we did at Powderhorn Park in a snow storm will be remounted as part of the 12x12 performance festival August 19-20, 2023 in Minneapolis.
  • My time as a 2022-23 Gale Library Research Fellow with the Minnesota Historical Society is coming to a close. I'll be sharing more of this work in the coming months. This research is for my Letters Never Sent project about a state hospital patient in the 1890s.
  • Please subscribe to my artist newsletter to stay up to date on the very latest.
  • I'm one of the jurors for an exciting new exhibit at Rochester Art Center. Chronicles of the Chronic will be on view August 26, 2023 through April 3, 2024 in Rochester Minnesota.
  • I am available for speaking opportunities, especially related to disability, and for teaching artist residencies. If you have something in mind, please reach out.

Creative Work

  • I've added a few cards to my shop.
    • Image description: Two cards made from a collage by Alison Bergblom Johnson of a silhouette of a woman with her hand in her pocket cut into an altered book page.
    Check out my shop for zines and prints as well.
  • Another new experiment, called Selfitudes, is a love letter to the selfie, an exploration of why they're often devalued, and a meditation on all sorts of personal things. To get issues via email please sign up for a free subscription.
  • I have launched a Patreon featuring my stories about the Craigslist personals that also includes some art and a wider context into what the personals did and where they came from. I am exploring ways to keep this work going and will have some exciting updates soon.
  • There are essays in the works. You'll know more soon.
  • There are also new collages, new zines and new visual work that will be public very soon.
  • My existing zines are also available at Fresh Eye Gallery in Minneapolis. Stop in their south Minneapolis location to buy your own copy and check out their current exhibition Embodied Material while you're there, through July 29.

Life

  • I'm noticing my life has laughter in it again. I'm so glad its back.
  • I continue to address challenges in a variety of ways, with a variety of supports.
  • Migraine update: I have not had a full-blown migraine since January 2023. I continue to reduce exposure to triggers, and to care for myself in a variety of ways.
  • It's sunny in Minneapolis.
  • It has been three years since the murder of George Floyd and the resulting uprising. I hope we all remember him and the activism after his death. One way to do that is to revisit the Minnesota Human Rights investigation report and consent decree, in addition to the new federal Department of Justice report, and continue to stand against racism in our communities and with those most affected. This article from Samuel G. Freedman for The New Republic shows some of the historical context.
  • I'm up to a lot of really cool things, many of which are updated elsewhere on this site.
  • I'm going to post to social media more often even though I get scared when I feel too public. I keep repeating the mantra, 'feel the fear and do it anyway'.

Enthusiasms

Archives, otherwise known as dispatches from what was once the current moment

I was inspired by this Now page to make my own. I also like Milos Stanic's, and Marva Jackson Lord's. Learn more about Now pages here, and, maybe even make your own.