Springing Into Summer

by Joan Farnam on June 3, 2021

Hiking in the Northwoods by Siffy Torkildson.

Greetings from Grand Marais, where we don’t have people driving on the beach and getting stuck in the sand …

Photographer unknown.

But, we do have lots of people driving around trying to figure out exactly what street they can use to get downtown. Signage is an issue right now, City Hall admits, and MnDot doesn’t seem to be very responsive to complaints as they tear up Hwy 61 from 8th Ave. W. to Broadway for the rebuild. Nevertheless, people are finding their way downtown, often seeing the back streets in Grand Marais in the process. All good. And the summer season has started! We are so relieved that Covid restrictions have been reduced. (Hint: Broadway is the best street to cross Hwy. 61 to get downtown.)

Here are some highlights for this week;

First up, nationally acclaimed printmaker Mary Brodbeck is the Instagram Takeover Artist for the Grand Marais Art Colony on Thursday and Friday.

Printmaker Mary Brodbeck is the Grand Marais Art Colony‘s Instagram Takeover Artist this week.

Print by Mary Brodbeck.

Brodbeck learned the traditional methods of Japanese woodblock printmaking from Yoshisuke Funasaka in 1998. The calm aesthetic and Zen-like qualities of her landscape prints have garnered widespread acclaim. Follow her Instagram posts here:

The weekly Local Food Market will have a soft opening at the Cook County Community Center starting at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday, featuring a selection of seasonal produce, fresh eggs and fresh flowers.

All invited.

Also on Thursday, WDSE will host a sneak peak at its new music and nature special, “Northern Rhythms!” featuring a number of musicians from the Northwoods including Erin Aldridge from the Duluth Superior Symphony Orchestra, Briand Morrison, Colleen Myhre, and The Christopher David Hanson Band. There will be a virtual screening at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday followed by a live panel discussion with the muscians afterwards. The broadcast premier on WDSE is on June 10. To find out more and register for the sneak peak, click here.

North House Folk School’s Wooden Boat Show 2021 starts this week. It will be hosted on campus, in person, June 18-20 and online from June 3-25. Today, join author and paddler Natalie Warren as she recounts her journey from Minneapolis to Hudson Bay, a route made famous by Eric Sevareid in Canoeing With the Cree.

Author and paddler Natalie Warren will present a webinar on her journey from Minneapolis to Hudson Bay Thursday at 7 p.m.

On Friday, the first Lunch and Learn program of the virtual portion of the Wooden Boat Show, will feature Des Pawson, who will present “Tools of the Rope & Canvas Working Trades.” He will discuss the history of rope.

Des Pawson will discuss the history of rope in an online Lunch and Learn through North House Folk School. To register, click here.

Pawson is one of the world’s leading authorities on knots, rope and sailors’ rope work. To register, click here. Free.

On Saturday, the Cook County Market will be held in the parking lot of The Hub, formerly called the Cook County Senior Center.

Terry Lord Lewis is one of the artists exhibiting at the Cook County Market. She crafts chimes from fused glass and clay. The Market is held in the parking lot of The Hub from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturdays.

The market is open from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and features a wide variety of work by local artisans as well as live music and more. Open to all.

Also on Saturday, the Grand Marais Art Colony and Sugar Loaf Cove Nature Center will host a walk-through and discussion session with artist Sean Connaughty, who has been creating a site-specific installation at Sugar Loaf Cove entitled “The Art of Reciprocity.”

Sean Connaughty has been hard at work making at Sugar Loaf Cove as part of his residency at the Grand Marais Art Colony. A walk-through to view his work is set from 1-3 p.m. on Saturday at Sugar Loaf. All invited. Please note there is a $5 parking fee per vehicle.

xHis pieces will be installed in the landscape to create an outdoor exhibit at Sugarloaf Cove Nature Center, on view through Sept. 30.

On Monday, the Grand Marais Playhouse will hold auditions for “The Birthday Club,” by Phil Olson. The play is a comedy about five women who get together for their birthdays, each with her own story, to drink, celebrate, commiserate and support each other as they negotiate through marriage, work, divorce, birth and kids, while solving the problems of the world. The auditions will be held at the Arrowhead Center for the Arts at 7 p.m.

On Tuesday, author Heid Erdrich will give a virtual reading about artist Carl Gawboy and his work hosted by the Tweed Museum of Art. To register for the event, which is free, click here.

Here’s a video of Gawboy talking about six of his paintings.

Exhibits:

The Johnson Heritage Post Gallery is exhibiting “Off the Grid: Paintings by Patricia DeVries” this month.

Abstract painter Patricia DeVries is exhibiting her work at the Johnson Heritage Post this month.

The gallery is open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesdays through Saturdays and from 1-4 p.m. Sundays. The gallery is closed on Tuesdays.

“But It Was Still There,” an exhibit featuring the work of Moira Bateman, Annie Hejny, Moheb Soliman, and Nick Wroblewski continues at Studio 21, the Grand Marais Art Colony’s new building at 21 W. Highway 61. Each of the artists explored the nature of water and how it inspires, informs, and challenges their work in a residency two years ago. They are back to show work that was begun during that time, and found its completion in their home studios.

The Grand Marais Art Colony’s summer exhibit, But It Was Still There, features work by four artists in a variety of mediums.

Studio 21 is open to the public from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturdays. Due to construction, the back door on W. 1st St. is the best way to access the building. Open to all. Free.

The Thunder Bay Art Gallery is currently closed to the public, but its online work continues. Its online exhibit, Lakehead University Student Juried Exhibit was a great hit, and more than 500 votes were cast for the People’s Choice Award. Here’s the winner.

Metamorphosis, acrylic on raw canvas, by Adele Agostino, won the People’s Choice Award in the Lakehead University Student Juried Exhibit at the Thunder Bay Art Gallery.

‘Opportunities:

The Grand Marais Art Colony is holding an online demonstration class, “Screen Printing on Clay” with potter Paul Andrew Wandless.

Paul Andrew Wandless will hold an online demonstration class, Printing on Clay, through the Grand Marais Art Colony. The deadline to register is June 5. Pictured is “Aowyn and Haymen: Unexpected Companion.”

He will print single color, spot color and multi-color images on flat and curved clay surfaces. Various methods of putting images into screens will also be shown that don’t require a darkroom. Participants will have a chance to ask questions about Paul’s work and process.Deadline to register is June 5. To register, click here.

Congratulations!

Emma Bradley received the Robert E. Gard Volunteer Award from the American Association of Community Theatre for “faithful, long-term service to community theatre.” Bradley volunteers at the Grand Marais Playhouse where she is the costumer, among other talents.

Artists at Work:

Green Eyes–Luna, acrylic, by Jan Attridge.

Summer Cabin Moon, felted, beaded and framed, a new work by Jo Wood.

Chef Judi Barsness is one of the chefs featured in a new book, “The Farmer and the Chef, “published by the Minnesota Farmers Union. The book is available through Drury Lane Books.

Neil Sherman’s painting of an iconic tree on the harbor is available at Sivertson Gallery.

Here’s a fascinating video entitled :Bodies in Urban Spaces, by Vienna-based choreographer, curator and video artist Willi Dorner. “Le Mouvement” presents his itinerant performance Bodies in Urban Spaces, a work that merges the human body with the urban architecture.