Carleton’s David Lefkowitz and Doug Bratland present “NRTHFLD: The Nirthfolde Visitors' Bureau,” a new exhibit at the Northfield Arts Guild

Carleton College professor of art David Lefkowitz, along with web content specialist Doug Bratland, have collaborated on a new exhibit opening at the Northfield Arts Guild. “NRTHFLD: The Nirthfolde Visitors' Bureau” opens Friday, January 11 with an opening reception from 6 to 9 p.m. in the Arts Guild Gallery.

Nirthfolde: Nortfhield, Slightly Askew. A bucolic, yet bustling burg situated in a parallel universe that neatly overlaps Northfield, Minnesota has existed relatively unnoticed for over a century and a half. That situation will be remedied by the occupation, for a limited time, of a Visitors' Bureau on the premises of the Northfield Arts Guild Gallery. Created by artists Lefkowitz and Bratland, the installation includes misinformation panels, ahistorical artifacts, and other displays guaranteed to perplex and amaze.

The exhibition is comprised of eleven distinct ‘topic areas,’ as well as an introductory Information Vestibule. Featured prominently among the attractions are a map and information orienting the general public to the pleasures of the Cowling Arboretum Contemplative Transit System, a display about Nirthfolde’s place in the pop pantheon, Hitsburg USA­ Record Factory of the Upper Midwest­ (1958­1973), a dubiously informative exhibit on Nirthfolde’s mysterious Monoliths of Mystery, and a scale model of a prehistoric beaver lodge metropolis that many believe graced the Canon River right where downtown Nirthfolde now stands.

Following the opening reception on January 11, the opening celebration continues down the block at 9 p.m. with a special Nirthfolde-tinged concert and dance party featuring Kinda Kinky!, the Twin Cities’ premiere Kinks cover band, who will perform “The Village Green Preservation Society” and other Kinks Klassics at The Chapel, 310 ½ Division Street in downtown Northfield.

On Wednesday, Jan. 30 at 7:30 p.m. in the Weitz Center for Creativity Cinema, the public is also invited to attend a talk by artist Lefkowitz entitled "Quasi-Fictional Places: The Nirthfolde Visitor’s Bureau and Other Original Facsimiles.”

“NRTHFLD: The Nirthfolde Visitors' Bureau” will remain on display through February 8, 2013. The Northfield Arts Guild is located at 304 Division Street in downtown Northfield. For more information, visit online at www.northfieldartsguild.org or call (507) 645-8877. The Weitz Center for Creativity is located at 310 East Third Street in Northfield.