Poetry, A Full Moon & Lupines

by Joan Farnam on June 28, 2018

'Tis the season. Lupines at the edge of our woods by Judi Barsness.

‘Tis the season. Lupines bloom at the edge of the woods by Judi Barsness.

Summer continues in Cook County this week, with poetry, Artist Talks, music and some great art exhibits, not to mention fireworks and July 4th celebrations throughout the county.

Up front and center are two events at Drury Lane Books- a Full Moon Reading with Amy Schmidt from 8-9 p.m. on Thursday and a Writer’s Salon with Margo Galt from 7-8 p.m. on Saturday.

Poet and musician Amy Schmidt will give a Full Moon Reading at Drury Lane Books from 7-8 p.m. Thursday, June 28.

Poet and musician Amy Schmidt will give a Full Moon Reading at Drury Lane Books from 8-9 p.m. Thursday, June 28 and poet Margot Galt will read from her work at a Writer’s Salon from 7-8 p.m. Saturday.

Schmidt is a talented and published poet as well as a musician. She lives with her family in Hovland and will be reading from her work by the bonfire at Drury Lane Books as the moon rises over Lake Superior.

Amy Schmidt will read at a Full Moon Reading by the campfire at Drury Lane Books from 8-9 p.m. Thursday.

To listen to an interview on WTIP Community Radio by Jay Andersen with Amy about her work, click here. The public is invited to the Full Moon Reading by the bonfire. Free.

Margot Galt, author of “The Heart Beat of Wings” will read from her chapbook at a Writer’s Salon at Drury Lane Books from 7-8 p.m. Saturday. Galt is also the author of “Turning the Feather Around: My Life in Art,” her 1998 biography of George Morrison, Minnesota’s premier Ojibwe artist. Margot spent years as a Minnesota writer-in-the-schools, traveling the state in all weather to inspire young people to write.

Margot Galt will be featured in a Writer’s Salon at Drury Lane Books from 7-8 p.m. Saturday.

Galt has also taught writing at the University of Minnesota, Hamline University, and Metro State. She lives in St. Paul. The Writer’s Salon is free and open to the public.

The Grand Marais Art Colony will feature two Artist Talks this weekend, too.

On Friday, sculpture artist Greg Mueller will present images of his work and discuss recent projects that have come to fruition through the collaborative effort of diverse players at an Artist Talk at the Cook County Higher Education at 7 p.m. Friday.

Sculptor Greg Mueller will give an Artist Talk at the Grand Marais Art Colony from

Sculptor Greg Mueller will give an Artist Talk at Cook County Higher Educationy at 7 p.m. Friday. Free. All invited.

Note that painter Kami Mendlik, who was originally scheduled to be a part of this event, is not able to be present.

And then on Saturday, Andy Ness, who is the summer intern in the Grand Marais Art Colony‘s Print Studio, will give an Artist Talk from noon to 1 p.m.

Andy Ness will give an Artist Talk from noon to 1 p.m. on Saturday at the Grand Marais Art Colony.

The title of his talk, “Artists Who Explore Memory” will include a presentation and a discussion of artist who explore memory, including Louise Bourgeois and Christian Boltanski. The event is free and open to the public, although space is limited, so come early.

Other events of note this weekend is an Artist Reception and Talk at North Shore Health for its inaugural art exhibit on Friday, June 29 from 6:30-8:30 p.m. in the North Shore Health Front Lobby and Multi-purpose Room. The two artists currently being displayed are the late painter Ade Toftey and photographer Lynn Anderson. Anderson will speak about her photography and Ade’s daughter, Susan Hildebrand will speak about her father’s art. All invited.

Musician Jim McGowan will be on WTIP’s The Roadhouse on Friday to talk about his music and play a few songs. The Roadhouse airs from 5-7 p.m

And the Cook County Market will be held in the Senior Center parking lot from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday, June 30, featuring a variety of work by local artists and artisans in wood, clay, rock, wool, metal and glass as well as baked goods and produce from Round River Farm in Finland. This week, jazz musician Fred Anderson will play at 10 a.m.

Potter Cheryl Syrett makes these keepsakes.

Cheryl Syrett’s Northwoods ornaments are at the Cook County Market.

And, to top off the week, July 4th celebrations will be held throughout the county, including the July 4th Celebration in downtown Tofte, which includes live music with Cook County’s Most Wanted, activities, booths and a parade at 1 p.m. Fireworks are scheduled in Tofte, Grand Marais and Grand Portage around 10 p.m. on Wednesday.

And here’s a newbie: The Johnson Heritage Post has installed a blow-up of a historic photo by Maude Small Toftey in front of the gallery for the public to enjoy. It’s also a great place to take a memory photo.

Maude Small Toftey took this photo years ago. The Johnson Heritage Post has installed a blow-up of the great image on its front lawn this summer as a photo-op for visitors and eye-catcher.

In Duluth, the Duluth Art Institute will hold an opening reception for “Niiyo-wiij-anishinaabeg” in the Great Hall at the Depot on Friday from 5-9 p.m. The exhibit, a collaboration between the Duluth Art Institute and the St. Louis County Historical Society, will showcase more than 50 pivotal works by three prolific artists: Carl Gawboy, George Morrison and Joe Geshick. Each artist has had a profound impact on contemporary art and has a unique voice that celebrates Anishinaabe life.

This drawing by George Morrison is on exhibit at the Duluth Art Institute.

This drawing by George Morrison is one of the works on exhibit at the Duluth Art Institute.

This painting is among the works of Carl Gawboy on exhibit at the DAI.

The work is by Joe Geshick and is part of the Niiyo-wiij-anishinaabeg” exhibit at the Depot in Duluth.

The exhibit continues through July 24.

The opening of this exhibit will be held in conjunction with the Duluth Art Walk, which will be held from 4-8 p.m. in galleries in downtown Duluth.

The Downtown Arts Walk in Duluth will be from 4-8 p.m. on Friday and includes special exhibits, music and more at a variety of galleries in downtown Duluth.

The event is organized by the Downtown Duluth Arts Collective, a group of committed colleagues, representing over 25 arts businesses & groups, individual artist studios and cultural centers in the downtown neighborhood. Participating galleries include the Joseph Nease Gallery, Lizzard’s Gallery, Ryan Tischer Photography, Zeitgiest Arts Cafe and AICHO gallery, just to name a few. For more info about the Arts Walk, click here.

Exhibits:

The exhibit, “Through Our Hands V: Sun, Moon, Stars,” featuring a wide variety of work by members of the Northwoods Fiber Quild, continues at the Johnson Heritage Post.

“Nature in Turmoil” by Max Linehan, is one of the works at the “Through Our Hands V” exhibit at the Johnson Heritage Post.

The exhibit, which features everything from beading to stained glass, felted sculptures, knitting, quilting, fiber paintings — in short, any art form using fibers, continues through the Grand Marais Arts Festival, July 15. The Heritage Post is closed on Tuesdays. It is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesdays through Saturdays and Mondays and from 1-4 p.m. on Sundays.

This is the last weekend to see the Peregrine Falcon Exhibit at Tettegouche State Park. The exhibit, which features work by a number of different artists who have previously shown their work in the Great Hall, is a celebration of the 30-year successful effort to save the falcon from extinction.

Peregrine Falcon by Deborah Kirkeeide is one of the works in the exhibit at Tettegouche State Park.

In Two Harbors, Wood-fired potter Dick Cooter and Handweaver Debbie Cooter are exhibiting their work at the Cedar Coffee House.

Dick and Debbie Cooter have their work at the Cedar Coffee House this month.

There are several exhibits at the Tweed Museum of Art, including “In Solidarity: Women of Print.”

This print by Yreina Cervantz entitled “Majur de Much Enagua Pa Ti Xicana” is at the Tweed Museum of Art.

In Thunder Bay, the exhibit “Uprising: The Power of Mother Earth: Christi Belcourt — A Retrospective with Isaac Murdoch” opened to accolades at the Thunder Bay Art Gallery.

“New Beginnings”, Christi Belcourt and Isaac Murdoch, is one of the works at the Thunder Bay Art Gallery.

“Uprising” continues at the gallery through Nov. 25.

Upcoming:

The Hovland Arts Festival will be held July 7-8 in the Hovland Town Hall this year, featuring a wide variety of work by local artisans and artists.

The Hovland Arts Festival is next weekend, July 7-8.

The festival also features live music and refreshments. Musicians include Jim McGowan, Joe Paulik, Brian Morrison and Roxann Berglund, Boyd Blomberg and Axtell. Stay tuned for details.

Also that weekend, the Grand Marais Art Colony will host “Book Arts Weekend” featuring a variety of workshops and classes as well as a tour of a Book Binding Studio.

Book Arts Weekend will be held at the Grand Marais Art Colony July 5-7, including a tour of a bookbinding studio in Cook County.

The classes include a variety of ways to bind books (click here for classes.)

Also, Scott Husby will host a Bookbinding Studio Tour on July 7. Husby has been conservation bookbinder since the 1970s, and has worked at the Library of Congress, the Folger Shakespeare Library, and the Smithsonian, and also served as the rare books conservator for Princeton University. Participants will have the chance to visit Scott’s hand bookbindery and learn about his more than 40-year career.

Scott Husby will give a tour of his bookbinding studio during the Book Arts Weekend at the Grand Marais Art Colony.

Husby will showcase the tools, equipment, and materials used in making hand-bound books as well as an assortment of historical bookbinding models. To sign up, click here.

And finally, the Grand Marais Art Colony has introduced a new component the Grand Marais Arts Festival, which will be held in downtown Grand Marais July 14-15.

An Artful Evening, a fundraiser for the Grand Marais Art Colony, will be held during the Grand Marais Arts Festival.

Entitled An Artful Evening, the fundraising event will be held in Harbor Park from 5-7 p.m. on Saturday, July 14 and features live music, an artful auction, the Taste of Cook County food and beverages and more. For tickets, click here.

Here’s the music for the week:

Thursday, June 28: