A Smoky Week

by Joan Farnam on August 26, 2021

A smokey sunrise over Lake Superior by Christian Dalbec.

A smoky sunrise over Lake Superior by Christian Dalbec.

Greetings from the North Shore, where winds from wildfires are carrying smoke, and sometimes ash, into our skies and homes and reminding us over and over again that we need rain — soon. Some is forecast over the next few days. We are ever hopeful. Meanwhile, the U.S. Forest Service is providing regular updates on the latest wildfire information on a number of different platforms. Click here and here to learn more. The Forest Service has extended the closure of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness to Sept. and early this week, closed federal land along the upper Gunflint Trail due to high fire danger and limited resources. To read more and hear an interview with the Tofte District Ranger Ellen Bogardus-Szymaniak on WTIP click here.

Also, the Covid-19 Delta variant is circulating in Cook County, as it is in the rest of the state. We are being advised to wear our masks indoors, if at all possible. It seems like masks can protect a little from smoke inhalation if they’re worn outdoors, too, so that’s a perk.

Meanwhile, we carry on.

North House Folk School continues its craft demonstrations this week with Karen Keenan, who will be demonstrating how to make Swedish hair jewelry.

Karen Keenan will demonstrate how to make Swedish hair jewelry on campus at North House Folk School from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Thursday through Sunday.

And the Grand Marais Art Colony will feature artist and wilderness instructor Bevie LaBrie as its Instagram Takeover Artist on Thursday and Friday. She will be posting about her work and her life as an artist. Click here to see.

Bevie LaBrie will be the Grand Marais Art Colony‘s Takeover Artist on Thursday and Friday.

LaBrie will teaching two classes at the Art Colony this fall: Art Journalizing Re-invented and Spontaneous Process Painting. To find out more, click here.

Here’s an interesting virtual art event: Curious Entanglements, an exhibit featuring nine Twin Cities artists at The Bridgewater, will hold a virtual reception at 6 p.m. on Thursday. The artists will discuss and show their work. It is free.

A virtual reception with the artists of Curious Entanglements will be held at 6 p.m. Thursday.

To receive the Zoom link for the event, email bnfacommittee@gmail.com

Saturday begins with the Cook County Market, which is held from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the parking lot of The Hub.

The Cook County Market is held in the parking lot of The Hub from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturdays, featuring a wide variety of arts and crafts and live music.

The Market features a variety of local arts and crafts. Tom Knutson will play. All invited. Free.

Also on Saturday, Drury Lane Books will host an author event with Minnesota authors Cary Griffith and Mary Logue from 6-7:30 p.m. outside on the beach.

Cary Griffith with special guest Mary Logue will be at Drury Lane Books beach on Saturday from 6-7:30 p.m. All invited.

Griffith’s new Sam Rivers mystery, Wolf Kill, is out and he and Logue (The Streel: A Deadwood Mystery) will discuss their books, their observations about Minnesota as well as answer questions and sign books. All invited.

On Sunday, Care Partners will hold its annual Ice Cream Social fundraiser at Sydney’s Frozen Custard in Grand Marais.

Care Partners Ice Cream Social will be held at Sydney’s from 2-4 p.m. It is a fundraiser for Care Partners

The no-frills event is an opportunity to enjoy a frozen custard sundae (A $5 donation is suggested), and meet with Care Partner clients, volunteers and the community. This year Care Partners especially want to celebrate the wonderful work its volunteers and staff have done to continue to assister aging friends and neighbors throughout the pandemic. Open to all. For more info, email christie@carepartnersofcookcounty.org

Also on Sunday, Tim Cochrane will give a presentation entitled “The Linklaters, People of the Canoe Country” at 2 p.m. at Chik-Wauk Museum and Nature Center on the Gunflint Trail.

Tin Cochrane will give a presentation at Chik-Wauk Museum and Nature Center at 2 p.m. Sunday.

Cochrane will share photographs and focus on how the Linklaters managed to thrive and become notable in a world increasingly difficult for Ojibwe people. Cochrane served as the superintendent of Grand Portage National Monument for 20 years. His books include “Minong-The Good Place: Ojibwe and Isle Royale,” “Gichi Bitobig, Grand Marais: Early Accounts of the Anishinaabeg,” and “A Good Boat Speaks for Itself: Isle Royale Fishermen and Their Boats.” All invited. Free.

Exhibits:

The Johnson Heritage Post has just opened a new exhibit of contemporary landscapes paintings by Reid Thorpe. The exhibit continues through Sept. 12.

Water Reflection 8 by Reid Thorpe is one of the paintings in the new exhibit at the Johnson Heritage Post which opened on Friday.

The Heritage Post is also featuring an exhibit of a variety of works by John A Spelman.

Clearwater Lake, print, by John A. Spelman, one of many prints and drawings on exhibit at the Johnson Heritage Post.

The Heritage Post is closed on Tuesdays. It is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday, and Wednesday through Saturday. It is also open from 1-4 p.m. Sunday. Free.

And this is the last weekend to see the Grand Marais Art Colony‘s summer exhibition at Studio 21, But It Was Still There.

This is the last weekend to see the Art Colony’s summer exhibition, But It Was Still There at Studio 21. Studio 21 is open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday.

The exhibit features work by Moira Bateman, Annie Hejny, Moheb Soliman, and Nick Wroblewski. The artists completed a 7-day residency at the Art Colony in 2019 focused on “The Water Cycle.” Each of them explored the nature of water and how it inspires, informs, and challenges their work. All welcome.

At Sugarloaf Cove Nature Center, the installation by Minneapolis artist Sean Connaughty entitled “The Art of Reciprocity: A Site Specific Art Installation” continues.

Sean Connaughtyas 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.

Sean Connaughty working on one of his installations at Sugar Loaf Cove Nature Center.

The public is invited to view his work through September.

The Duluth Art Institute has a number of exhibits, including the annual Member Show at the Depot, which is open to the public. Here’s a video of the exhibit:

Upcoming:

“Goodnight Absalom!” the latest stage production from the Fox & Beggar Theater, will be performed at Harbor Park at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 5.

The comedy, Good Night Absalom! presented by

The theatre company is touring the Midwest with this show, which features street theatre, puppetry and contemporary dance. Open to all. Free. Read more about it here.

The following weekend, WTIP Community Radio will hold the Radio Waves 14th Annual Music Festival as a virtual, on-line event with 18 acts featuring local and regional musicians.

The festival begins on Friday, Sept.10 from 3 to 10 p.m. and continues on Saturday, Sept. 11 from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. This one-of-a-kind music gathering will be an on air, live music event, including selected video performances via Facebook live. Free. To find out who is performing, click here.

North House Folk School’s Unplugged XX will be both on-campus and virtual this year. The fundraiser includes a great online auction, too.

Here’s an invitation from Greg Wright, the director of North House:

And here is an example of one of the items in the online Points North Auction for Unplugged XX.

Bowl by Lou Pignolet. He is donating this bowl to North House Folk School’s Online Auction for Unplugged. It is crafted from one of the elm trees that was cut down for the work being done on Hwy. 61.

To view the silent auction, click here. Bidding starts Sept. 10. Tickets are still available for the virtual concert and presentation during the event, which will be held Sept. 17-18. To find out more, click here.

Artists at Work:

Montreal-based fumage artist Steven Spazuk and sustainability educator Danielle Delhaes joined the Grand Marais Art Colony for a virtual presentation and film screening to introduce The Reverence Series, a unique collection of works of art based on the traces left by living creatures. Take a look:

Check out the work by these other artists.

Betsy Bowen was commissioned by the staff at the Sawtooth Mountain Clinic to create a large work about Grand Marais to honor Rita Plourde, who recently retired from being the CEO of Sawtooth Mountain Clinic, where she served for 38 years. The painting is exhibited in the lobby of the clinic.

Betsy Bowen was commissioned by the providers at Sawtooth Mountain Clinic to create a work about Grand Marais to honor Rita Plourde, who recently retired from being the CEO of Sawtooth Mountain Clinic. She served for 38 years.
The painting is exhibited in the lobby of the clinic.

Printmaker Marty Harris, who has been a resident artist at the Grand Art Colony, won 1st Place in the printmaking category at the Minnesota State Fair. The screen print/monoprint is called Mother Tree.

Latest work by David Gilsvik. Gilsvik will be the juror for Grand Marais Plein Air this year.

Gwen Danfelt of Drury Lane Books shows two new books by popular authors William Kent Krueger and Louise Penny.

Couldn’t sleep last night. Should have put tiny screens in my nostrils because the moths were so persistent.

Still Life with Ginger by Melanie Bonnie.

Coreena Affleck with one of her ceramic sculptures she worked on during a residency at the Grand Marais Art Colony recently.

Coreena Affleck with one of her ceramic sculptures she worked on during a residency at the Grand the Grand Marais Art Colony recently.

Students in the Grand Marais Playhouse‘s Summer Theatre Program recently performed the play, “The Dragon and the Pearl” outdoors at ISD 166. Here’s the video: