Opening … Slowly, Carefully

Like an early summer rainbow, Grand Marais and the North Shore is slowly, carefully, opening its doors to everyone. We all hope it’s not as fleeting as those colors in the sky, but, instead, holds promise for the future.

Meanwhile, shops, restaurants, lodges and grocery stores have adopted a wide range of protocols to keep everyone safe. And kudos to VisitCookCounty, which has worked hard to compile all the information in one place. See it here. It’s still advisable to call ahead though, since hours  and protocols are still changing.

Another site for the latest in Cook County is the Coronavirus Response Hub. Look here for  posts and news.  Also, check out WTIP.org for local  news and more.

Our online lives continue.

North House Folk School’s series, Crafting in Place, is fueled up again this week, offering two live videos: “Picking Pebbles for Jewelry” with Beth Carter Gautch  that will be posted on Thursday, June 11, after 10 a.m. and” Sourdough 101″ with Caleb Mattison that will be posted on Friday, June 12, after 10 a.m.

Both videos can be viewed on North House’s Facebook and YouTube pages. All the previous Crafting in Place episodes are available on these sites as well.

Also on Thursday and Friday, Hovland artist Corrie Steckelberg will be featured as the Grand Marais Art Colony‘s Instagram Takeover Artist.

Steckelberg will talk about her wolf project, which she did during her residency at the Art Colony, which concluded with a public dismantling of her work. The Grand Marais Art Colony‘s Instagram account, @gmartcolony, can be found here.

Also on Thursday, Gordon Thorne & Friends will perform at the North Shore Winery from 7-9 p.m.

Reservations for the event can be made here.

On Friday, tune in to WTIP’s The Roadhouse to hear Jerry Vandiver and Caitlin Evanson play their music from Nashville, Tenn. in a virtual broadcast. To give you a taste of what’s to come, here’s Vandiver singing “Too Many Boats.”

The Roadhouse airs from 5-7 p.m. on Fridays.

Some of the shops and galleries in downtown Grand Marais have opened, with protocols in place, including Sivertson Gallery, which is featuring a new print by Rick Allen, “The Trapper’s Daughter and the Safe Passage.”

And for a walkabout, check out the window exhibit in the Grand Marais Art Colony‘s new building at 17 W.Hwy 61, next to the Hungry Hippie. Artists were invited to submit small works in response to Our Changing Habitat, and they are on display in the windows.

The small works are done in a wide variety of media. It’s a fun window show.

And in front of the building, the Art Colony has been working in collaboration with North House Folk School and the Hungry Hippie to create a fun space on the sidewalk. It includes two flower boxes, which will be painted by kids from the YMCA’s summer camps. The a paint-by-number design will be developed by Tim Young. Also, the Hungry Hippie has put a number of tables and benches in the area for outdoor seating.

On your walkabout, don’t forget to check out The Big Lake, which has a wide variety of art as well as gifts.

Upcoming 

North House Folk School’s Wooden Boat Show is online this and is offering an incredible array of classes, videos, webinars and demonstrations next week, June 15-21. They’re all online and they’re free. To see the complete schedule and how to register for each event, click here.

Among the offerings:

Daily webinars, with topics including boats, exploration, Anishinaabe history on the North Shore, and a live concert. One webinar will feature Hovland’s Tor Torkildson, He will talk about sailing a traditional wooden viking boat around Africa’s Cape of Storms in a traditional Viking boat.

To register and see the presentation (you can also ask questions), click here.

Also, David Thoreson, who is the featured speaker this year at the Wooden Boat Show Online Edition will give an online presentation “On the Horizon: Sailing and Exploring the Polar Regions of a Changing Planet.”

To preregister, click here.

And there will be daily craft demonstrations at noon. These are live Facebook events, free and questions can be asked. They will be held at noon, Monday through Friday, June 15-21. To see, click here.

Artists at Work:

Paula Sundet Wolf has been busy in her studio, creating with stone, tile and willow.

 Betsy Bowen is continuing her popular Comfort series. She also has set up an outdoor shopping area outside her gallery at 301 1st Ave. W., which is open on Saturdays. It can be included in your walkabout.

Poet Kay Grindland has been writing during this time, too.

Here is her poem, “Making Our Way.”

My eyes hard-focus on the screen,
on everything. I feel blinded in a blizzard, upended in an avalanche, grasping
for air, for gravity—anything to hold.

The windows of the world are wide open. Papers scatter and fly away with the facts. Our longing runs wild. We cling
to the casings, to what we had.

All night I swim in uncertainty
and wake to birdsong lifting the sun.
As I breathe deep, my feet sink into earth. I plant one seed, smiling a blessing.

The soil needs more water now. Sun shines in hidden places. The body can navigate this
so much better than the mind.

All we know falls in pieces around us—
a blessing of confetti as we slowly make our way. We find ourselves inside a larger prayer,
noble and strong in our unknowing.

Some artists have been finding gems in their archives.

Here’s a painting by Neil Sherman that took on new meaning this year.

Duluth artist, Martin DeWitt, created this popular painting years ago, and now has prints at Lizzard’s Gallery in Duluth.

And here’s a totally fun read. The New Yorker has just published a new story by Ernest Hemingway.

Here’s the link to read the story.

And finally, a little music: Nina Simone sings “I wish I knew what it would feel like to be free.”

 Photographs:

 We found a lot of photographs this week. Here’s a selection:

First, wildlife:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Here are some images of our vegetative friends:

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Strawberry Full Moon:

 

 

Landscapes, skyscapes and seascapes:

 

 

 

 

And finally, this beauty:

Stay safe, everyone!

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