On view: Lake Superior at dusk. Photo from the webcam at Lake Superior Trading Post taken at 9 p.m. May 15. To see what’s happening in the harbor right now, click here.
Greetings from Grand Marais, where we’re happy to report that a few showers and a thunderstorm or two are gracing the North Shore this week.
Rain and an Indigo Bunting by Janice Latz.
And the shift from strict Covid precautions to looser regulations continues as galleries, shops and restaurants respond to changing regulations. The only recommendation we have at this point is to keep your masks available for use if necessary. Meanwhile, our in-person and online lives continue.
First up is the Grand Marais Art Colony‘s Artist Instagram Takeover on Thursday and Friday. This week, multi-media Twin Cities artist, Lynn Speaker, will be featured.
Lynn Speaker is the Grand Marais Art Colony‘s Instagram Takeover Artist this week.
Her current art practice includes fire-based media, gunpowder, printmaking, and installation. Speaker received her MFA from the Minneapolis College of Art and design and is a 2007 and 2014 Minnesota State Arts Board grant recipient.
One of Lynn Speaker’s multi-media pieces. She will be featured on the Grand Marais Art Colony‘s Instagram page on Thursday and Friday. To see and follow along, click here.
North House Folk Schools Northern Landscapes Festival- Online Edition concludes this week with a special Webinar presented by legendary Minnesota Birder, Bob Janssen.
Legendary Minnesota birder, Bob Janssen will give an online presentation on Minnesota birds at 7 p.m. Thursday, May 20. To register, click here.
Janssen will reflect on his long career observing and cataloging the avian life of Minnesota and share more than a few good stories. To register, click here. Free.
On Friday, the Grand Marais Art Colony will open its summer exhibition, But It Was Still There, with a reception from 5-7 p.m. at Studio 21, 21 W Highway 61, in Grand Marais.
The exhibit will feature work by Moira Bateman, Annie Irene Hejny, Moheb Soliman and Nick Wroblewski. All four artists completed a 7-day residency at the Art Colony in 2019. The exhibit will show work that found its first inspirations during the residency.
Moira Bateman, Annie Irene Heino, Moheb Soliman and Nick Wroblewski will open an exhibit in Studio 21, the Grand Marais Art Colony‘s new building on Hwy. 61.
The Grand Marais Art Colony‘s summer exhibit, But It Was Still There, features work by four artists in a variety of mediums.
All four artists will be present at the opening reception, but due to COVID-19, there will not be a panel discussion. Masks will be required and capacity will be limited to allow for physical distancing. We ask that visitors view the show and then allow others the chance to do the same.
The exhibit will remain up at Studio 21 through Aug. 31, and will be open to the public on Saturdays, 9 a.m. – 4 p.m. Please note there will be road construction happening in front of this building this summer. Plan for detours and increased travel time.
Exhibits:
This is the last weekend to see Nan Onkka’s print exhibit at the Johnson Heritage Post, entitled Northern Horizon.
Nan Onkka’s exhibit at the Johnson Heritage Post, Northern Horizon, concludes on Sunday, May 23.
Onkka specializes in reductive woodblock printmaking and finds inspiration in the natural world around her. Viewers will recognize many North Shore elements in her images. Part of the exhibition focuses on showing the process so that viewers understand the steps taken to create the images. The Johnson Heritage Post is open from 1-4 p.m. Thursdays, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 1- a.m. to 2 p.m. Sundays. Free.
The Betsy Bowen Studio, 301 1st Ave. W., in Grand Marais is featuring a wide variety of work, including prints, cards and books by Betsy Bowen as well as a host of guest artists. The gallery has just received paintings of local scenes by Susan McLean-Keeney.
Glowing Spring by Susan McLean-Keeney.
The Duluth Art Institute will present Chesley Antoinette’s “Tignon” in the John Steffl Gallery beginning May 24.
The Duluth Art Institute will open Chesley Antoinette’s Tignon on May 24.
Antoinette’s exhibition debuted on DAI’s Smartify platform with a tour of her headwraps and photographs. During DAI’s virtual gala, Sheshe presented a history of the Tignon law, followed by her Heart of the Headwrap workshop.
“Tigno”n is a collection of sculpted headwraps alongside large-scale contemporary photographs and essays that provide historical content—visual and written—into the Tignon Law, which was an attempt to oppress the beauty, intelligence, and mobility of free women of color, the late-18th century-Spanish government of Louisiana. This law forced women of African descent to cover their hair. This oppression led to rebellious self-expression as women of color donned exquisite head pieces with colorful and textured fabrics, wrapping ribbons, feathers, and a variety of objects in their folds. Read more about Antoinette’s work here:
Upcoming:
Next weekend is Memorial Day Weekend, featuring the Art Along the Lake: A Gallery Tour and the Spring Sound Garden in Harbor Park.
The 15th-Year Anniversary of Harbor Park will be celebrated with the Sound Garden, a multi-layered, immersive “sound garden” experience! Composer JG Everest’s Spring Sound Garden at Harbor Park is a self-guided, site-specific sound + performance installation featuring roving live music, dance, painting, poetry, history, storytelling, and more.
The Sound Garden in Harbor Park will be held over the Memorial Day Weekend featuring live music, poetry, dance, storytelling and more. Pictured is a live music session at the Sound Garden last year.
Sound Gardens celebrate community-sourced, site-specific content, and include educational and community outreach programs to bring community members, or students, into the creation and performance process. The Sound Garden is open from noon to 5 p.m. on Saturday, May 29 and Sunday, May 30. Free, open to all.
The Cook County Market opens at 10 a.m. in the parking lot of The Hub (The Cook Couty Senior Center) at 10 a.m. on Saturday, May 29 with new hours, new vendors and old favorites.
New Hours! The Cook County Market will be held from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturdays from May 29 to Oct. 17.
Cook County artists and artisans will feature everything from fused glass chimes, woven rugs, jewelry, fiber art, pottery and more. Open to all.
Art News:
American Indian Housing Community Organization, AICHO, recently received a grant of $500,00 in recognition of it as a Regional Cultural Treasure, one of several organizations in the state to receive the grant.
“We use the term ‘Cultural Treasures’ with intention, to honor the diversity of expression and artistic excellence that these organizations contribute to the cultural vitality of our state, despite having historically experienced under-investment,” said Tonya Allen, President of the McKnight Foundation. “As our arts institutions prepare to safely re-open after the pandemic, we’re thrilled to shine a spotlight on these remarkable organizations.”
The grants are provided by the McKnight Foundation, The Bush Foundation, Ford Foundation, Metropolitan Regional Arts Council, The Minneapolis Foundation, Jerome Foundation, and Propel Nonprofits. To read more about it, click here.
Artists at Work:
Ememen repairs streets with his mosaics. To read about it and see more, click here.
Painter Katherine Story-Sutter is featured on Art Hounds. To see more and hear the interview, click here.
Live Music:
Thursday, May 20:
- Gordon Thorne, North Shore Winery, 6-8 p.m .Make reservations here or call (218) 481-9280.
- Mother Banjo (Ellen Stanley), will be featured on WTIP’s The Roadhouse on Friday night.
More Music:
And here’s Mary Bue on WTIP: Click here to listen.
Photographs:
As usual we found great photographs this week. Let’s start with wildlife.
Paul Sundberg‘s friend, the Cinnamon Ruffed Grouse, continues his display:
Cinnamon Ruffed Grouse by Paul Sundberg.
Cinnamon feathers by Paul Sundberg.
My favorite shot from this morning by Steve Prose.
A Blackbird hitches a ride on an Osprey carrying a stick for its nest by Jocelyn Anderson.
An Indigo Bunting by Bill Marchel, taken near Brainerd.
Egret by Doug Stanstad.
Rose-breasted Grosbeak by Janice Latz.
A not-so-wild:
Kitty and Petunia like the sun by Frank Moe.
Flowers and plants:
It’s Spring! by Monica Anderson.
Dinner? Moss and seedlings on top of a mushroom conk on the side of a birch tree by Travis Novitsky.
Spring is really here by Meadow Adams.
Lake Superior-scapes:
Photograph by Christian Dalbec. His work is featured in the latest issue of Midwest Living.
Life is but a dream by Jennifer Trowbridge.
A sunrise on the North Shore by Kathy Vanderwall.
Cornucopia, Wis., by Bryan Hansel.
Waiting for the sun by David Johnson.
The coastline of the Outer Island by Michael DeWitt.
Reflective symmetry by Travis Novitsky.
Devil Track Sunsest.
Water is Life by Judy Gray.
Stay close to the serenity of the lake by Roxanne Distad.
A sliver of time, the Palisades at dawn by Christian Dalbec.
Have a great weekend, everyone. And stay safe!
Note: You can donate to NorthShore ArtScene, a volunteer effort to keep everyone informed about art and entertainment on the North Shore. Just click on the button below. It’s easy. And Thank You!
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