All The Colors Together

Greetings from the North Shore, where we, like many in the country and around the world, have been shocked, outraged and saddened by the death of George Floyd. It has challenged us and the world in uncomfortable ways. As Dawn Drouillard, a former Grand Marais resident who now operates a catering business in Minneapolis said in a recent WTIP interview: “Nothing will change until there is justice and reform.”

Here is what VisitCookCounty posted on their Facebook page this week:

“Forget him not. It was just one week ago when George Floyd took his last breath. The problem isn’t something new, but it has reawakened something that is easy for many people to overlook. But that must stop. We must strive for change.
Have tough conversations.
Be a good listener.
Acknowledge privilege.
And lead with a kind and open heart. As a nation, we can and must do better. It’s time for injustice to stop.
Talk to your neighbor, friends, and family members because silence doesn’t propel us forward.”

A sense of community can help. Whole neighborhoods in Minneapolis have mobilized to help each other, and we are hearing new voices across the nation speaking out about how privilege, racism and discrimination impacts their daily lives. A door is opening. We can only hope that we step through it, or as Betsy Bowen says: “Comfort. Cooperation. All the colors together.”

Here in Cook County, the second phase of the Stay Safe Minnesota campaign has kicked in, with changes for retail stores, grocery stores and lodging facilities. For details, click here. 

Also, a new Facebook page, Cook County Community Eats, just got started with menus, photographs and more, updating customers on what is available. To see it, click here.

The Grand Marais Art Colony has opened an exhibit, “Changing Habitats” in the windows of its new building at 17 Hwy. 61. The exhibit includes works by Art Colony members and instructors in a variety of media.

The exhibit continues through June 20.

North House Folk School paused its Crafting in Place series for this week, but registration continues for the 2020 Wooden Boat Show Online Edition, which will run from June 15-19.

The online edition includes everything from virtual boat tours and presentations, including the keynote speaker, David Thoreson‘s presentation on Sailing and Exploring the Polar Regions of a Changing Planet. Thoreson is an explorer, photographer, sailor and climate educator. His presentation/webinar is set for 7 p.m. on Friday, June 19.  A number of online classes will also be held. Materials for online classes will be mailed to participants. Deadline to register is June 5.

The Wooden Boat Show Online Edition kicks off at noon on Monday, June 15 on Facebook Live, and will continue all week with the full slate of speakers, demonstrators and more available. If you miss any of the live events, all content will be available on demand on Saturday, June 20. To see the complete schedule, click here.

Artists at Work:

Melissa Grover is one of the glass artists who planned to participate in a glass exhibit at the Johnson Heritage Post that was scheduled to open last month. The exhibit was cancelled and but has been rescheduled for next year. Here is an example of a piece that she planned to display.

Melissa can be reached at lissa5310@gmail.com

Marcie McIntire has been crafting mini-doilies this month.

 Jennifer Shoals has just published her second book, “Traveling Light.”

Jennifer can be reached through her web site at www.jennifershoals.com

In other art news, Canadian Geographic has published a series of photographs of paintings by the Group of Seven to celebrate the group’s 100th anniversary.

To read the article and see the paintings, click here.

Here’s something for fiber art lovers: In celebration of a partnership between London’s Heathrow Airport and Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew, fiber artist Vanessa Barragão (previously) was commissioned to create a massive botanical tapestry. Using a range of techniques including latch hooking, felt needling, carving, crochet, Barragão mapped out and built up a textural surface that emulates a map of the world.

To read about the project and see details of the work, click here.

And, for those of you who had planned trips to see the world, here’s a great movie to satisfy some of those travel urges. It’s called “In the Footsteps of Marco Polo” and chronicles the journey of two ordinary guys – Belliveau, at the time a wedding photographer, and O’Donnell, an artist and former Marine – as they set out to follow Polo’s historic route.

Here’s the link to watch it.

Photographs:

It was pretty quiet on the photo front this week, but we still found some interesting work.

We can start with wildlife:

 

 

 

Pet photos seem be creeping into this blog. Here are two interestingones I found this week.

 

And a true sign of early summer in the plant kingdom.

 

The sun is starting to get active again.

We found some beautiful landscapes/seascapes/cloud scapes, too.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Peace to you this week.

Note: We are still accepting photographs of artists’ work to publish on the blog.

And, if you’d like, you may help support NorthShore ArtScene by donating today. It’s easy. Just click on the icon below. And Thank You!

 

 

 

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