“Chaos, Cracks, Creativity” to Open on Friday

by Joan Farnam on March 8, 2018

Matt Herberg caught this scene of northern lights over a winter forest recently.

It feels like early spring up here on the North Shore, although there’s plenty of snow and lots of outdoor and indoor things to do. But the weather has been “balmy,” hovering just a freezing during the day, giving everyone a great excuse to get out there and experience all the North Shore has to offer.

We start the week with a Skill Share at North House Folk School. Scandinavian master carver, Harley Refsal, will be in residence on Thursday, March 8, to give a two-hour workshop on carving from 7-9 p.m.

Harley Refsal will give a free two-hour workshop on Scandinavian carving at North House Folk School March 8.

Participants will choose from several pendant blanks, carve & finish the piece, and braid a lanyard. Walk away from the skill share wearing your finished hand-made piece of jewelry for spring, and the inspiration for future gift ideas. All invited. Registration is not required.

On Friday, look for the opening of “Cracks, Chaos and Creativity” at the Johnson Heritage Post. The community art exhibit features works by artists of every age and is organized by the Spirit of the Wilderness Episcopal Church. The exhibit includes prints, paintings, sculptures, pottery, weaving, glass and more.

One of the student pieces in the exhibit, Chaos, Cracks and Creatvity” which opens at the Johnson Heritage Post on Friday.

The opening reception for the exhibit is from 5-7 p.m. March 8, with guest speaker Wayne Roosa to give a presentation at 6 p.m. Roosa is an art history professor and painter who will discuss the relevance of making art in times of social unrest. All invited. Refreshments will be served. The exhibit continues through March 25. The Johnson Heritage Post is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday, as well as Monday, and from 1-4 p.m. Sunday.

Also on Friday, WTIP Community Radio’s The Roadhouse, will feature an interview with Grand Marais painter Tim Young, who will talk about his new work.

Painter and illustrator Tim Young will talk about his new work on WTIP’s The Roadhouse on Friday.

The Black River Revue will also be on the show to talk about their music and play a few tunes. The Roadhouse airs from 5-7 p.m. on Friday.

Also on Friday, the Grand Marais Public Library will screen “The Big Sick,” a romantic comedy about a Pakistani comic who meets an American graduate student named Emily at one of his stand-up shows. As their relationship blossoms, he soon becomes worried about what his traditional Muslim parents will think of her. When Emily suddenly comes down with an illness that leaves her in a coma, Kumail finds himself developing a bond with her deeply concerned mother and father. The film is free and starts at 6 p.m.

Check out the trailer here.

Also, to note, bluesman Pete Kavanaugh, who is moving to the Twin Cities, will play the Wunderbar in Grand Marais on Friday night with “The Wunderdogs” featuring Thomas Stamps on vocals and percussion and John Mianowski on bass. The music starts at 8 p.m.

And this Sunday, Trail Center Lodge will host the Dog Days of Winter featuring a snowman competition, skijoring races and dog sled derbies all day long. All invited.

Exhibits:

Linda Baudry’s plein air exhibit continues at Fika Coffee in Lutsen.

“Contemplation” by Linda Baudry is at Fika Coffee in Lutsen.

The exhibit and sale, “Art Collectors,” a fundraiser for Art ‘Round Town, continues at the North Shore Winery through March 15.

Jane’s Place by Blomberg is at the North Shore Winery.

The show at the Winery includes a variety of works by local and regional artists.

Masterpiece Art, an exhibit of works by students at William Kelley Elementary School, continues in the Great Hall at Tettegouche State Park this month.

Diorama in Shoebox, "Autumn" by Raylee, a student in Grade 2.

Diorama in a Shoebox, “Autumn” by Raylee, a student in Grade 2 at William Kelley Elementary School in Silver Bay.

The Masterpiece Arts Program at the school invites local artists to work with students to create their version of works by internationally recognized artists. The arts program has been on-going for 16 years. The Northland Foundation’s Age-to-Age program is underwriting a portion of costs of the exhibit.

In Duluth, the Duluth Art Institute will host a reception for the opening of two new exhibits on Thursday, March 8, from 5-7 p.m. The exhibits include: “The Cut Work Forgives the Plow: Russell Prather” and “Terraria Gigantica: The World Under Glass: Dana Fritz.”

Fritz’ exhibit is a series of photographs of the world’s largest enclosed landscapes: the Biosphere 2’s ocean in the Arizona desert, the Henry Doorly Zoo’s desert in the Great Plains of Nebraska, and Eden Project’s tropical rain forest in notoriously gray and cool Cornwall, England. Taken together, these architectural and engineering marvels stand as working symbols of our current and complex relationship with the non-human world.

Prather earned first place in the 2016 Arrowhead Biennial and creates forms from ordinary objects that change radically depending on the viewers line of sight.

“Egg” by Russell Prather is on exhibit at the Duluth Art Institute.

In Thunder Bay, the Thunder Bay Art Gallery opened the Lakehead University Juried Student Exhibit, featuring works in a variety of mediums.

The Lakehead University Student Exhibit continues at the Thunder Bay Art Gallery through

The Lakehead University Student Juried Exhibit continues at the Thunder Bay Art Gallery through March 25.

The opening reception for the exhibit is at 7:30 p.m. (EST) Friday, March 9.

And the 3rd annual Fibre Arts Exhibit continues at the Baggage Building Arts Centre through March 23. The Baggage Building is in Prince Arthur’s Park in Thunder Bay.

Upcoming:

The Grand Marais Art Colony will host two artists in residence this month: printmaker Gabriella Boros and multi media artist David Andree. Both artists will give presentations next Saturday. Stay tuned for details.

Shakun Maheshwari will present “Sand Painting and Rangoli” at the Grand Marais Public Library, Friday, March 16 at noon. Free. Open to all.

A Rangoli sand painting by Shakun Maheshwari. She will be presenting at the Grand Marais Public Library March 16 at noon.

Mary Beams will have her videos included in a special exhibit at the Walker Art Museum in Minneapolis March 22. “Animatedly You” features work created in the 1970s where artists pushed the boundaries of traditional animation, exploring everything from the everyday to the out of this world. Beams’ work includes “Tub Film,” “Seed Reel,” “School in the Sky,” “Going Home Sketchbook,” and “Whale Songs.” The videos were produced from 1972 to 1980. The video screenings will be at 7 p.m. March 22 at the Walker.

“Fences,” a powerful drama by August Wilson, will be performed in Duluth, Two Harbors and Silver Bay with an African-American cast. The play is a production of Lake Superior Community Theatre, based in Silver Bay.

The Lake Superior Community Theatre will stage August Wilson’s “Fences” in Duluth, Two Harbors and Silver Bay.

According to Paul Deaner, artistic director of the theater company, “This is the first time, to our knowledge, “Fences” will be presented in Minnesota north of the Twin Cities and the first time an area all African-American cast will perform a main-stage play production in Duluth and on the North Shore of Lake Superior.

“Fences” is one of August Wilson’s 10-play “Century Cycle” about the 20th century African-American experience dealing with universal human and specific black cultural issues & themes. The play opened on Broadway in 1986 and won the 1987 Pulitzer Prize for Drama plus The Tony Award & Drama Desk Award for Best/Outstanding Play. The 2016 movie starring Denzel Washington & Viola Davis won the Academy Award for Best Actress. The film was recently screened at the Grand Marais Public Library.
Performances will be March 27, 28 & 29 at Lincoln Park Middle Schoo in Duluth; April 6, 7 & 8 at Two Harbors High School and April 13, 14 & 15 at William M. Kelley High School in Silver Bay. Tickets can be found at www.tix.com

Opportunities:

North Shore Health has put out a call to artists to submit proposals for displaying works of at at the opening of its new facility. The art can be original paintings, photography, fiber art, mosaic, mixed media; essentially art work that can be displayed on walls. The deadline to submit is April 13. The installation of the artwork must be completed by May 10. For more information, contact Kimber Wraalstad via phone at 218-387-3260 or via email kimber.wraalstad@northshorehealthgm.org.

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