Lake Effect by David Barthel.
Greetings from the North Shore, where we laugh a little at the irony that officially, winter began on Wednesday at the Winter Solstice. We’ve had winter since Thanksgiving. In fact, up the Trail, they’re already running out of places to put snow.
Last week was particularly awful – heavy, wet snow buried roads and sidewalks thwarting casual attempts at removal for sure. “Brutal,” Ilena Hansel called it and lots of snow blowers gave up the ghost, too.
Brutal– like moving wet cement by Ilena Hansel.
Then, all that wet snow froze when frigid weather hit, and then light fluffy snow fell on top of it, making for perfect ski and snowshoeing conditions.
A Currier and Ives winter day by Judi Barsness.
After all of this, most of us can say we’ve been tested and are winter-ready.
Christmas weekend is pretty quiet in Cook County, as families gather to celebrate, but some restaurants are open for Christmas Day dining. Click here to find out more.
Winter season activities are launched on Tuesday, Dec. 27 with Historic Cook County Trivia, sponsored by the Cook County Historical Society.
The Cook County Historical Society will hold Historical Trivia at the Gunflint Tavern on Tuesday, Dec. 27, from 6-8 pm.
The monthly event, which will be held at the Gunflint Tavern from 6 to 8 pm, challenges players to test their knowledge of Cook County history. Prizes will be awarded.
And on Friday, Dec. 30, the community is invited to the Culture Crawl, a chance to find out more about the Cook County Historical Society and the Johnson Heritage Post.
Culture Crawl, a chance to explore the Cook County Historical Society and the Johnson Heritage Post, will be held Friday, Dec. 30 from 5-7 pm.
Those who complete an event card can receive a free beverage at the Gunflint Tavern.
New Year celebrations are being held at a number of different venues this year, including Papa Charlie’s, Cascade Restaurant and Pub and the Grand Portage Lodge and Casino. Up Yonder, the new bar and restaurant that has replaced the Wunderbar, is also planning a New Year’s Eve event.
First up is the New Year’s celebrations at Papa Charlie’s which feature fireworks and music by Timmy Haus.
Lutsen Mountains will feature fireworks to welcome in 2023. Timmy Haus will play at Papa Charlie’s, The celebration starts at 8 pm.
The evening starts at 8 pm.
The Cascade Lodge Restaurant and Pub will feature music by Trevor McSpadden, who worked in Central Texas dance halls before perfecting his hard honky-tonk sound in the nightclubs of Chicago.
Trevor McSpadden will be at the Cascade Restaurant and Pub on New Year’s Eve.
McSpadden now lives in St. Paul. His carefully crafted twang is at home in both beer joints and listening rooms, inspiring audiences to dance and carry on in a time-honored way. He will play from 6-9 pm.
The Grand Portage Lodge and Casino will welcome in the New Year with two acts, Mad Alice and Karmacide.
Mad Alice will play for the New Year’s Eve event at the Grand Portage Lodge and Casino.
The music starts at 8:30 pm and continues until 12:30 am. Free admission. Must be 21 to enter.
And finally, Up Yonder, the new bar and restaurant that has opened in the renovated Harbor Light building, will hold a New Year’s Eve party on Dec. 31. Everyone is invited. Food will be served.
Up Yonder at Harbor Light is open over the New Year’s weekend and is planning to be open Thursday through Sunday this winter.
The New Year’s Eve party will feature music by Jason Fladager and his band from the Twin Cities. The bar and restaurant is planning to be open four days a week, Thursday through Sunday, after the New Year. Stay tuned.
On Jan. 6, The Spirit of the Wilderness Episcopal Church is once again holding a Community Art Show at the Johnson Heritage Post, with an opening reception from 5-7 pm Jan. 6.
The exhibit is open to all North Shore artists, professional or emerging, in a variety of mediums. The theme this year is “Deep Winter Dreaming” and invites artwork reflecting the creativity that stirs within on cold, dark winter nights.
The Spirit of the Wilderness Church will hold a community art show at the Johnson Heritage Post, opening Jan. 6. Work can be submitted on Jan. 3-4, see below.
Work can be in clay, paint, fiber, wood, glass, or pencil. Artwork, ready to hang or display, can be dropped off from 9 am to 1 pm on Tuesday, Jan. 3, or from 1-5 pm Wednesday, Jan. 4. For more information, contact spirit@boreal.org
Also on Jan. 6, the Grand Marais Public Library announces the return of the popular Friday Night Reels, a community favorite film series that takes place at the library each Friday night at 6 pm starting Jan. 6 and lasting until March 10. The film screenings are free.
The films are selected by a committee to inspire discussion, and light snacks are provided by the library’s sponsor and community partner, the Library Friends of Cook County.
This year’s first film is Winter Flies by Slovenian director Olmo Omerzu. Described as a “road movie drama,” the film follows two mischievous boys, who drive through the countryside in search of adventure.
Here’s the trailer:
No sign-up is required to attend, but seating is limited. The films selected for this series are intended to appeal to adult audiences and may not be suitable for young viewers.
For a full list of films, please visit grandmaraislibrary.org. Cancellations due to severe weather will be listed on the library’s website as well.
Then on Saturday, Jan. 7, the Gunflint Mail Run Sled Dog Race starts on Poplar Lake at Trail Center.
The Gunflint Mail Run Sled Dog Race is Jan. 7.
The Gunflint Mail Run Sled Dog Race is a continuous race consisting of two legs of equal distance, separated by a mandatory layover. There are two classes in the race: a 12-dog, 100-mile race, and an 8-dog, 65-mile race. For information about watching the race as a spectator, click here.
Exhibits
“But Does It Pour?” an exhibit of pottery by 11 Cook County Potters continues at the Johnson Heritage Post through Jan. 1. Look for mugs, bowls, pitchers, sculptures, and more.
The works in the show include at least one piece that pours, and at the opening, the pots were tested to see how well they did pour.
Ann Ward tests the pour of a teapot at the “But Does it Pour? competition at the opening reception at the Johnson Heritage Post recently. Joan Farnam and Neil Sherman were judges. Photograph by Natalie Sobanja.
Prizes were awarded for the best pour, the best stream of water, and the People’s Choice award.
Heritage Post is open from 10 am to 4 pm Wednesday through Saturday and Monday, and from 1-4 pm Sunday. It is closed on Tuesdays.
Also, ongoing through the rest of the year is the Holiday Art Underground show at Betsy Bowen’s Studio.
The Holiday Art Underground show at Betsy Bowen’s Studio continues through Dec. 31.
More than 20 local and regional artists have artwork in the show, which includes prints, paintings, pottery, jewelry, fiber art, and more. The gallery is open from 11 am to 4 pm Thursday through Saturday.
And finally, the people behind the “Northern Nights, Starry Skies” exhibit at the Grand Portage Heritage Cultural Center are featured in a PBS documentary, celebrating stars and dark sky places.
Photographer Travis Novitsky and painter Carl Gawboy are exhibiting work at the Grand Portage Cultural Heritage Center.
Indigenous star knowledge, and stewardship of the night sky are highlighted in the show. The work of Carl Gawboy and Travis Novitsky are on display upstairs at the Heritage Center through Jan. 31. To see more of Novitsky and Gawboy’s work and read about them, click here.
In Duluth, the Duluth Art Institute is exhibiting work by Martin DeWitt, the former Director and Curator of the Tweed Museum of Art.
Martin DeWitt exhibiting new work at the Duluth Art Institute.
DeWitt’s repurposed paintings and photos build rich textures and colors. Exploring process, material and tools DeWitt integrates digital imagery and paint to respond to personal and collective human conditions.
He writes: “These paintings embody a holistic approach to healing, which begins at archetypal levels of body, mind, and spirit.”
The Minneapolis Institute of Art is featuring the traveling exhibit “Botticelli and Renaissance Florence: Masterworks from the Uffizi” through Jan. 8.
“Pallas and the Centaur” cropped, Botticelli, is currently on exhibit at the Minneapolis Institute of Art among a variety of other Italian works.
Renaissance Florence was a hub of inventiveness and creativity, and artist Sandro Botticelli was at the center of it all. This major exhibition is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see Uffizi stars that rarely travel outside Italy.
Mia is hosting a major exhibition exploring the fevered creativity that defined this time and place. Paintings, sculptures, and prints from Mia’s collection will be shown alongside masterworks from the Uffizi, including rare paintings and drawings by Botticelli, such as his masterful Pallas and the Centaur (c. 1482); works by his teacher (Fra Filippo Lippi) and colleagues (Domenico Ghirlandaio, Cosimo Rosselli, Perugino); and ancient Greek and Roman marbles that the Florentine artists saw and studied.
The exhibit continues through Jan. 8. Tickets to see it are $20.
Upcoming:
Folk and Americana singer/songwriter Dennis Warner and his band “The D’s” will be at the Arrowhead Center for the Arts on Jan. 14.
Dennis Warner and D’s will be at the Arrowhead Center for the Arts on Jan. 14.
The group performs ballads and up-tempo songs, woven in with humorous stories and lively audience participation. Known for their warm stage presence and ability to connect with audiences, this group will lift your spirits and chase away the January chill. The concert is sponsored by the North Shore Music Association.
Artists at Work:
David Gilsvik has a wall of paintings at Sivertson Gallery.
Night Drop, oil, by Scott Murphy.
Winter studio, painting by Betsy Bowen.
Crazy Horse by Hannah Brunsch a South Dakota artist.
One of Thomas Spence’s images of a Canada lynx that is in the American Embassy in Nairobi, Kenya, part of the State Department’s Art in Embassies Program.
The Wounded Moose, acrylic and Conté crayon on paper, by Tom McCann. The work was inspired by comments by Ojibwe artist Carl Gawboy about the pictograph of the Lac LaCroix moose.
Bonnie Gay Hedstrom is the Artist of the Month at the Johnson Heritage Post.
Winter so far by Mary Beams.
Raku pears by Richard Gruchalla and Carrin Rosetti. Some can be found at Sivertson Gallery.
Online Findings:
Bryan Hansel highlights his favorite images from 2022. Click here for more info.
Online music:
Live Music
Thursday, Dec. 22:
- Gordon Thorne, North Shore Winery, 7-9 pm
Monday, Dec. 26:
- Pete Kavanaugh, Bluefin Grille, 7-9 pm
Tuesday, Dec. 27:
- Eric Frost, North Shore Winery, 4:30-6:30 pm
Thursday, Dec. 29:
- SonofMel, Cascade Restaurant and Pub, 6-8 pm
Friday, Dec. 30:
- Southpaws Duo, Bluefin Grille, 7-9 pm
Saturday, Dec. 31:
- Timmy Haus, Fireworks & Music at Papa Charlie’s Saloon and Grill, 8-12:30 am
- Trevor McSpadden, Cascade Restaurant and Pub, 6-9 pm.
- Mad Alice and Karmacide, Grand Portage Lodge, 8:30-12:30 am
- Jason Fladager Up Yonder, 8:30 – 12:30 am
Monday, Jan. 2:
- John Gruber, Bluefin Grille, 7-9 pm
Friday, Jan. 6:
- Briand Morrison, Bluefin Grille, 7-9 pm
- Ski Party at Papa Charlie’s, 9-12 am
- Fenixdion
- Early Eyes
- Night Moves
Saturday, Jan. 7:
- Ski Party at Papa Charlie’s, 9-12 am
- Lanue
- Charlie Parr
- Mae Simpson
Photographs:
We found a good selection of photographs this week. Take a look:
Wildlife:
A Crow on a Doe by Chris Artist.
A winter visitor by Liz Sivertson.
Sneaking through the woods on a wintery Minnesota morning. Photo by Thomas Spence.
Red squirrel in early winter by Jean Brislance.
Male Spruce Grouse by Michael Furtman.
A foxy hello by Thomas Spence.
An eagle greeting by David Johnson.
Pollinated. Photographer unknown.
A fox friend came by the other day by Jamie Rex.
Peregrine Falcon by Tom Kaestner.
For Chickadee lovers by John Heino.
People:
A child of the Q’ero Village, the last Inca town in Peru.
Winterscapes & Stormscapes:
Winter makes bread out of summer seating by Mary Beams.
A Hollow Rock Dawn by John Heino.
After my snowblower rodeo by Kristofer Bowman.
Throwback Thursday– Hollow R0ck by Bryan Hansel.
The Co-op parking lot… no parking advised.
The Nor’easter pounding the marina. By David Johnson.
Storm kite by Chris Artist.
Well, hello winter by Brigette Binesikwe Nies.
Floating in Sea Smoke by David Schauer.
Day’s End by Andy Keith.
Artist Point by Bryan Hansel.
Walking in a winter wonderland by Bruce Bauer.
Big waves on the Big Lake today by Hovlandr.
In Two Harbors by Christian Dalbec.
Power! by Hayes Scriven.
And finally, this Christmas greeting from the woods:
This small moose gave photographer David Johnson a holiday smile before running off. Merry Christmas!
Here’s hoping that you have an excellent holiday season. And Happy New Year!
We are excepting end-of-the-year donations to NorthShore ArtScene to help us continue the blog through 2023. Your contributions will be gratefully accepted. Just click on the button below or mail to: NorthShore ArtScene, PO Box 1232, Grand Marais, MN 55604
Thank you!!
A special Thank You goes out to all our contributors and supporters as well as the artists and arts organizations that make this blog possible. I am also grateful and thankful for the behind-the-scene volunteers for live music listings, music videos, corrections, proofreading, and technical support. They include Jeremy Lopez, Yvonne Mills, Kari Carter, and M Baxley. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.
{ 1 comment… add one }
thanks again JOAN
Wonderful “POST”