A painter’s view of Fall, acrylic, by Jane Johnson Kitzman.

Greetings from the North Shore, where beauty continues to stun and amaze. There is at least one more week left to see this fall explosion around the county. Enjoy! PS: I did hear a weatherman say: “A possible snowflake or two for Northeast Minnesota next week.” Hmmmm.  Either way, it’s beautiful here.

It is a busy weekend.

On Thursday, Joy and Company will hold the weekly Art Counter Project, inviting the public to come to the shop and make something wonderful from a selection of art supplies. Instruction is provided.

Joy and Company offers different projects each week, including painting a bookmark.

The event is held from 3-4:30 pm and is free, with a suggested $5 donation.

 The Grand Marais Farmer’s Market will be held in the parking lot of the Community Center from 4:30-6 pm this Thursday. The market will be open weekly through the end of October.

Tomatoes have been great this year. Photo by  Kristin Elizabeth.

Look for a wide variety of locally-grown produce, artisan breads, baked goods, cut flowers, maple syrup, and more. Open to all.

Also on Thursday, the North Shore Swing Band will play at Poplar Haus on the Gunflint Trail from 7- 9 pm.

The North Shore Swing Band will play at Poplar Haus on Thursday.

Don’t miss this wonderful group of talented musicians, playing for your listening and dancing pleasure.

And WTIP Community Radio will hold its monthly Trivia games at Up Yonder on Thursday.

Trivia Night is at Up Yonder on Thursday.

These are bar-style games, with lots of great questions. Open to all. Prizes. It is held from 6-8 pm.

It’s Basket Week at North House Folk School, and on Friday, the campus will be open to the public for a day of basket-related activities.

It’s Basket Gathering Day at North House on Friday.

The Basket Gathering Day will feature presentations, demonstrations, games, and hands-on activities from 9 am to 9 pm. There’s also a basket fair.  The public is invited to stop by. Free. To see the complete schedule, click here.

Jeri Person will teach a fused glass class at Joy and Company from 1-4 pm on Friday.

Make a fused glass spinner at Joy and Company on Friday.

The class is beginner-friendly and quick, usually taking anywhere from 15 minutes to an hour. Because the glass needs to be fired, pieces are ready for pickup after noon the next day. Shipping is also available for a small fee (around $5).

Walk-ins are welcome, but you can pre-register by emailing Jeri at jperson2@boreal.org. The class costs $20.

The 8th annual Apple Festival will be held in Grand Marais on Friday and Saturday, featuring presentations, apple tasting, apple picking, and more. See the schedule below for details. Open to all.

Saturday is really busy.

The Cook County Market opens at 10 am in the parking lot of The Hub on Saturday. The market closes for the season next week, Oct. 17.

The Cook County Market is held from 10 am to 2 pm on Saturdays. It closes for the season next week.

Look for pottery, paintings, fiber art, baskets, rock art, and jewelry, as well as fused glass art. The music this week is by Kari Golden. The public is invited.

Celebrate fall on Minnesota’s North Shore at Bluefin Bay’s 3rd Annual North Shore Oktoberfest, Saturday, Oct. 10, from noon to 6 pm.

Oktoberfest celebrations are at Bluefin Bay on Saturday.

The public is invited to enjoy an afternoon filled with authentic German-inspired food, local Oktoberfest beer, live polka music, family-friendly activities, games, and one of the North Shore’s favorite fall craft fairs. Best of all, admission is free, and everyone is welcome, whether you’re staying at Bluefin Bay or simply looking for a fun fall activity.

Free and open to all.

Photographer Craig Blacklock will give a presentation at the Johnson Heritage Post from 2-3 pm on Saturday.

Superior: A 50-Year Photographic Journey by Craig Blacklock. He will give a presentation at the Heritage Post on Saturday.

Blacklock has devoted much of his career to photographing Lake Superior. “SUPERIOR: A 50-Year Photographic Journey” brings together his lifelong work on Lake Superior.

He will share stories and photographs from decades of exploration, including kayak journeys to remote locations such as the Slate Islands and Michipicoten Island, as well as iconic North Shore landmarks like Palisade Head and Artists Point.
“Superior” is Craig’s 20th book, and several of his books have won international awards.

The presentation is free and open to all.

Also at 2 pm on Saturday, birchbark canoe builder Erik Simula will give a presentation at Chik-Wauk Museum and Nature Center.

Erik Simula will give a presentation on birchbark canoes at Chik-Wauk on Saturday.

Simula is a Finnish-American birchbark canoe builder, wilderness guide, and writer from Duluth. He holds a Master’s of Tribal Resource and Environmental Stewardship from the University of Minnesota. He was formerly executive director of the Schroeder Area Historical Society and led the development of the Cook County Historical Alliance. He works for the US Forest Service and lives in Finland, Minnesota.

On Earth Day, April 22, 2009, Erik and his dog Kitigan embarked from Grand Portage on a four­ month, 1,000-mile birchbark canoe voyage encircling the 1854 Ceded Territory. From Lake Superior, Savanna Portage, the Mississippi River, and the Canadian Border, Erik tells his unique story of our cultural, historical, mythological, and relational transformation, which drives his forthcoming book, Arrowhead Journey.

The presentation is free.

Author Emily Stone will give an Author Talk at Drury Lane Books at 6 pm on Saturday.

Emily Stone will give an Author Talk at Drury Lane Books on Saturday.

The title of her book is “Natural Connections 3: A Web Endlessly Woven. At the Author Talk, she will be discussing and sharing the content from her naturalist experiences,  followed by a Q&A and book signing. The public is invited.

And on Saturday night, Bizhiki will be in concert at the Arrowhead Center for the Arts at 7 pm.

Bizhiki will be in concert at the ACA on Oct. 10. For tickets, click here.

At the heart of Bizhiki are Joe Rainey Sr., Dylan Bizhikiins Jennings, and Sean Carey (S. Carey), joined for this performance by an expanded ensemble. Together, they create music that bridges cultures and generations—blending Anishinaabe stories, language, and both traditional and contemporary sounds into a powerful live performance.

Sliding-scale tickets. K–12 students free. For Tickets, click here.

Advance tickets strongly recommended. Bizhiki’s Grand Marais concert sold out last year, with a waitlist at the door.

The concert is presented by the North Shore Music Association and co-sponsored by WTIP North Shore Community Radio.

On Tuesday, Oct. 13, the Violence Prevention Center will hold an Ice Cream Social and Open House/Ribbon Cutting.

The Violence Prevention Center will hold an Open House in its renovated space, 21 W. 2nd St., on Tuesday.

Join the Chamber to celebrate the Violence Prevention Center’s freshly renovated offices. Tour the new space funded by the Cook County/Grand Marais Joint EDA grant and enjoy free ice cream generously donated by Superior Creamery. Open to all.

The Moose Madness Family Festival is Friday and Saturday, Oct. 16-17 in Grand Marais, with lots of activities, contests, and more. See the full schedule here.

Moose Madness Weekend is Oct. 16-17.

Exhibits:

The 2026 Grand Marais Plein Air Competition exhibit continues at the Johnson Heritage Post.

Untitled, plein air, by David Smith is one of the paintings on view at the exhibit.

The exhibit features works by more than 60 artists who painted in Cook County over one week.

Each artist is exhibiting four paintings, so visitors will see 240 paintings in all, capturing the beauty of the water and woods. The exhibit continues through Nov. 1.

The Heritage Post is open from 10 am to 4 pm, Wednesday through Saturday, and from 1- 4 pm Sunday. Free.

There are a number of exhibits at Studio 21.

In the main gallery is the multimedia exhibit by John Hitchcock entitled “What is America? Land Fragments.”

Our Existence is Resistance, spray-painted stencil on felt, silk ribbon, by John Hitchcock.

“Land Fragments” talks about the complex relationship among the Indigenous body, colonial policies, and the physical land around us. The exhibition features abstract representations, visual language, and vibrant colors that reference Hitchcock’s kaku’s (Comanche grandmother’s) beadwork and growing up in the Wichita Mountains of Oklahoma on Comanche Tribal lands next to the U.S. field artillery military base, Fort Sill. Many of the images are interpretations of stories shared by his Kiowa and Comanche grandparents, as well as abstract visuals influenced by beadwork and intercultural identities. Embracing contemporary materials and creative practices while honoring his ancestors, he creates a celebratory aesthetic of cultural hybridity and strength.

The exhibit closes next Saturday, Oct. 17. Free.

The smaller window gallery features work by painter Sue Rauschenfels and tapestry weaver Emily Wick.

Sue Rauschenfels and Emily Wick are exhibiting at Studio 21 through October. 17.

The artists are part of the Arrowhead Rising series at Studio 21, featuring a month-long exhibit of work by artists who live in the Arrowhead. The exhibit closes the third week of October. Free.

 In the Twin Cities, the Museum of Russian Art will hold an opening reception for its fall exhibits on Oct. 10, including the exhibition, The Northern Palette: Winter in Russian Art and Tradition.

The Museum of Russian Art will open two new exhibits on Oct. 10. Painting above: Troika, 1964, oil on canvas, by Nikolai N. Baskakov, 1918 – 1993. 

For more information, click here.

Kudos:

Local puppeteer Jeanne Wright helped make a buffalo puppet for the ‘Return of the Buffalo: Tatanka Owe Akupi’ parade through the streets of New York City recently. (Source: WTIP Radio newsletter.)

Jeanne Wright and her buffalo.

Here’s a video of that parade:

 Artists at Work:

Untitled, multi-media, by Judith Bergerson.

Cups, stoneware, by David Swenson. Photo by Karin Kraemer.

Work in progress, oil, by Scott Murphy.

Safe and sound, kiln-worked glass, by Sharon Frykman.

Chickens! by Gina Adams.

Cottonwood Dreams, multi-media, by Kim Dayton.

Autumn morning at the edge of the wood, pencils on paper, by Graham Brace.

Plein air painting in Bayfield, WI, by Patricia Canelake.

Fall in the Northwoods, oil, by Tim Vahle.

Cape Sugarbird, ink on watercolor paper, by Ralph Keating.

Tall ship, oil, by Neil Sherman.

My Anagama fired, Shigaraki clay cone 11, by Michael Wein.

Online Music:

(Music ideas? Email me at joan.farnam@gmail.com)

Photographs:

Here’s a selection of what we found this week:

Wildlife:

African Jacana and her chicks hanging on. Photographer unknown.

Berries and birds, Swainson’s Thrush by John Pleau. 

Berries and birds, Downy Woodpecker, by John Pleau.

Berries and birds, Spotted Towhee by John Pleau.

Great Blue Heron by John Pleau. 

A perfect Bald Eagle moment by Eric Sherman.

Hey, you want some of this? by Paul Ostrum.

And so it begins by Chris Artist.

Moose in Fall by Paul Sundberg.

Whisky Jack Swoop by Larry Waddell.

Moose calf crossing by Katie Slanga.

Potpourri:

First Frost by David Judd.

Banding Saw-Whet Owls by Patrick Johnson.

Rain drops dot Lake Superior cobblestones by Layne Kennedy.

Explosion! by Armand Gélinas.

Found more fuzzy Amanita mushrooms popping up by Richard Montano.

When we slow down and take time to look for the beauty by Mike Smieja.

 Waterscapes, Landscapes & Moonscapes:

Summer closes, cobblestone beach, Grand Marais, by Layne Kennedy.

Where the veil is thin the meeting of three worlds by Roxann Berglund.

Autumn Wonder by Ken Harmon

Fall in the UP by Sandra Updyke.

At Grand Marais Harbor by Chuck Olsen.

The UP by Lin Salisbury.

Moments of Fall by Paul Sundberg.

Lunar light on the lake by Dennis Chick.

Fog in the Rain by Paul Ostrum.

Enjoy your weekend, everyone!

PS: Help me continue putting out NorthShore ArtScene every week. Your support is gratefully accepted and truly makes a difference. To make a donation, just click on the icon below. Thank you!

Here’s a big thank you to Jeremy Lopez for the Live Music Schedule and tech support, and to Yvonne Mills for proofreading this week. And a special thank you to Visit Cook County for its great Events Calendar.