Marching Along

by Joan Farnam on March 17, 2022

Northern lights cascade through the sky in Iceland a few days ago. Photo by Jónína Óskarsdóttir,

Happy St. Patrick’s Day! Here’s a great green from an aurora display in Iceland that lit up the sky there a few days ago. While it’s not exactly Irish green on the North Shore right now, we are having very early rains. But not to worry. There’s still plenty of snow and ice everywhere you look. But the rains are a harbinger of the changes to come — the spring equinox is only a few days away.

Meanwhile, this is Wood Week at North House Folk School, featuring a wide variety of workshops on campus as well as events open to the public. On Thursday, the Resident Artisans at North House will open their studios at the Betsy Bowen Gallery & Studios Building, 301 1st Ave. West, to the public from 4:30-6 p.m.

The North House Folk School Resident Artisans will have open studios at the Btudios from 4:30-6 p.m. open Thursday. The public is invited.

The North House Folk School Resident Artisans will have open studios at the Betsy Bowen Gallery & Studios, 301 W. 1st St., from 4:30-6 p.m. on Thursday. The public is invited to come see what they’ve been working on this winter.

The Artisan Development Program is a two-year professional development and residency program for craftspeople at North House. The public is invited to see some of their current works-in-progress and check out their workspace.

Also on Thursday, printmaker and book artist Beth Sheehan will be the Grand Marais Art Colony‘s Instagram Takeover Artist.

Printmaker and book artist Beth Sheehan is the Grand Marais Art Colony‘s Instagram Takeover Artist on Thursday. To see what she is posting, click here.

One of Beth Sheehan’s print -to-book entitled Beloved 1.

Sheehan will be teaching a class entitled Print to Book at the Art Colony in May. To see what she is posting today on Instagram today and learn more about her work, click here.

Also on Thursday, the Joseph Nease Gallery in Duluth (23 W. 1^st St.) will hold an opening reception for the exhibition of contemporary landscape paintings by Don Kottmann. The opening will also feature an Artist’s Talk from 5:30-7:30 p.m.

Lovers in Winter, acrylic, 84 inches by 72 inches by Don Kottmann, is one of the works at the Joseph Nease Gallery in Duluth. An opening reception will be held from 5:30-7:30 p.m. on Thursday.

Karen Nease, co-owner of the gallery writes: “What I find really intriguing about Don’s monumental-sized paintings is his expressionistic and vibrant interpretation of the Northern wilds of the Canadian landscape. Don is professor emeritus of painting at the AUARTS Calgary. He is also a recipient of the prestigious Joan Mitchell Foundation Grant in Painting and Sculpture.”

On Friday, North House Folk School will hold a Wood Carvers’ Conference on campus featuring demonstrations, a webinar watch party, a Show-and-Share, and a presentation from featured instructor woodcarver Mary May.

North House Folk School will hold a Wood Carvers’ Conference on campus on Friday. Wood carver Mary May is the featured artist and will be demonstrating during the day and give a presentation at 7 p.m. Friday. Open to all

For a schedule of the all-day events, click here.

WTIP Community Radio’s Membership Drive, entitled “Stirrings of Spring” is this week and continues through Monday, March 21. The membership drive will feature live performances during the drive.

On Friday at 1 p.m., join WTIP’s Will Moore for fascinating conversations with Matt Rahaim, Hindustani vocalist and professor of ethnomusicology at UMN who will bring songs about Holi, the “Festival of Colors.”

Matt Rahaim, Hindustani vocalist and professor of ethnomusicology at the Universit of Minnesota will be on WTIP at 1 p.m. on Friday to bring songs about ‘Holi,” the Festival of Colors.

Following Rahaim’s performance, Dan Rein, a musician and KFAI music host, will join Moore to play setar, dutar and tambur, and sing Omar Khayyam’s poetry.

Here’s the rest of the schedule for this weekend on WTIP:

Friday, March 18:

2-4 p.m. music special hosted by Carl Solander featuring international music
6-7 p.m. virtual live performance by Aida Shahghasemi and Nima Hafezieh performing Persian songs in celebration of spring.

Saturday, March 19

12-2 p.m. music special hosted by Julie and Aaron Carlson
2-3 p.m. special edition of Jazz Club with Doug Turner
5-7 p.m. international music special, with a focus on Ukrainian music – hosted by Joni Peterson

Sunday, March 20:

10 a.m.-noon Rhonda’s Revival
12-2 p.m. Nowruz Special with music from the silk road and virtual live performance by Pooja Goswami Pavan performing Hindustani folk songs

Cascade Lodge and Pub will hold its 17th annual St. Patrick’s Day Celebration with a special Irish menu and music by Jim McGowan on Friday night and Frozen Britches on Saturday night.

In Thunder Bay, the Definitely Superior Art Gallery, 115 Cumberland St N, will hold a 2-day gala art opening for three new exhibits on Friday and Saturday. To find out more, click here.

The Definitely Superior Art Gallery in Thunder Bay will be holding a 2-day opening reception for three new exhibits this weekend. Click here for more info.

On Saturday, Cook County potters will hold Who Needs Perfect? A Seconds Sale to benefit Care Partners from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at The Hub (Senior Center.) The pots will be sold by freewill donation.

The Seconds Sale, a benefit for Care Partners, will be held from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at The Hub (Senior Center)

The Seconds Sale, a benefit for Care Partners, will be held from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday at The Hub (Senior Center), 10 Broadway. All invited.

At the Seconds Sale, look for pottery from a number of local potters including Maggie Anderson, Adrea Beres, Kari Carter, Elaine Dean, Joan Farnam, Catherine Hansen, Kathy Reeves, Natalie Sobanja, and Ann Ward. The pots will be sold by donation only and all proceeds will be given to help Care Partners fulfill their mission of assisting with end of life and helping support seniors to stay in their homes as they age. All welcome.

Exhibits:

Winter Plein Air, a fantastic exhibit of paintings created during a week-long retreat at YMCA Camp Menogyn, is currently on view at the Johnson Heritage Post. Here are a few examples of what you can see:

The Old Guard by Neil Sherman.

Winter Storage by Greg Finnegan.

Treescape 1 by Margie Hedstrom.

Winter Plein Air is open through March 27. Winter hours at the Heritage Post are from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Thursday through Saturday and Monday, and from 1-4 p.m. Sunday. The Heritage Post is closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Free. Open to all.

WTIP Community Radio’s Membership Drive entitled “Stirrings of Spring” has started and will feature live performances during the drive,which runs through Monday, March 21. Here’s the music schedule:

Aida Shahghasemi, 6 p.m., March 18
Dr. Pooja Goswami Pavan, 1 p.m, March 18

You can find it at WTIP at 90.7 FM or stream it here.

In Duluth, Carl Gawboy opened an exhibit at the AICHO gallery, entitled New Paintings, Old Stories.

One of the paintings in Carl Gawboy’s exhibit at AICHO. The exhibit is entitled New Paintings, Old Stories. The gallery is located at 202 W 2nd St. in Duluth.

The Nordic Center in Duluth will open a new exhibit, The Horse Of Course, with an opening reception on Friday, March 18 from 5:30-8 p.m.

The exhibit, The Horse OfCourse opens at the Nordic Center on Friday.

This exhibition features guest artist, Linley Erickson, whose work aims to explore traditional Dala animals and other Scandinavian motifs in a new medium. More than 20 community artists are participating in this exhibit as well. In addition to these artists, a number of clay artists have been working on new creations inspired by horses in a Duluth Art Institute clay class this winter.

The gallery is open from noon to 4 p.m. Fridays and on weekends from 1-4 p.m. The gallery is located at 23 N Lake Ave. in Duluth.

Opportunities:

Art Show Growing Toward the Light poster≥jpg

Artists of every age are invited to submit work to an exhibit entitled “Growing Toward the Light,” sponsored by the Spirit of the Wilderness Episcopal Church. It will open at the Johnson Heritage Post.

The Minnesota State Arts Board has posted guidelines and application forms for the FY 2023 Creative Support for Individuals grant program. The program offers flexible support for Minnesota artists and culture bearers. There will be two application deadlines—one on May 6, 2022, and another on July 15, 2022. For more information, click here.

Upcoming

The North Shore Artist League will open an exhibit at the Johnson Heritage Post featuring work by 36 member artists in a variety of mediums. The opening reception will be from 5-7 p.m. Friday, April 1. Stay tuned.

Artists at Work

Untitled. Painting by Duluth artist Scott Murphy.

Tax avoidance by Mary Beams.

Before the Light, sculpture by Maggie Anderson, one of the artists who will be in the North Shore Artists League exhibit that opens at the Heritage Post April 1.

Before the Light, ceramic sculpture by Maggie Anderson, one of the artists who will be in the North Shore Artists League exhibit that opens at the Heritage Post April 1.

Repurposed spring by Maryl Skinner.

Fish:

We found some great little photos and stories about fish this week.:

Grand Marais’ Pete Harris was recently featured in a Minneapolis Star Tribune story about winter fishing in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness.

Pete Harris dislodges a Lake trout during a recent fishing trip to the BWCA.

To read the story and see more photos, click here.

Photographer Layne Kennedy recently posted photos of the late Grand Marais fisherman Dick Eckel taken in 1991. Here’s one.

Dick Eckel tossing a lake trout caught on Lake Superior. Photo by Layne Kennedy taken in 1991.

Emily Ford, with her sled dog Diggins, recently completed her roughly 200-mile ski-snowshoe-hiking trek across the top of Minnesota.

Emily Ford recently completed a winter trek along the top of Minnesota. Photo by Emily Ford.

It was an adventure, for sure, including a lake trout a local fisherman gave to her for her supper one day. She lashed it to her pack and kept walking until dinner time.