Fall Splendor by Matthew Pastick.
Greetings from the North Shore, where we continue to bask in a long and colorful fall. Little rain and wind mean the leaves are staying on the trees, and honestly, it’s pretty gorgeous in Grand Marais right now; In the woods, lots of leaves are coating the ground, but the tamaracks are showing off and glimmering golds are everywhere.
Halloween is coming up, and pretty soon we’ll start seeing carved pumpkins on porches, decorated yards and, on Halloween night, excited shouts in the streets and knocks on the door. Some great costume parties are planned, too. At the end of next week, Grand Marais will be “overrun” by those who love the printed word as the North Shore Readers & Writer’s Festival gets underway.
And art-making continues.
Art Night at Joy and Company has a new twist this year — instead of carving pumpkins, participants can paint pumpkins during this weekly event.
Painting pumpkins is happening at Joy and Company on Thursday.
Just bring your favorite pumpkin and the shop will supply the paint. Also, masks will be available to paint as well. The workshop is held from 4-6 pm and is free, with a suggested donation.
On Thursday night, the annual Visit Cook County & Cook County Chamber of Commerce Fall Gala will be held at Up Yonder.
The annual Fall Gala will be held at Up Yonder Oct. 26.
Social Hour starts at 5 pm with a hearty appetizer bar and music by Timmy Haus. The program starts at 6:30 pm with Legislative introductions, the Heart of Hospitality Awards, Chamber Business Awards, and more. The program is followed by more music by Timmy Haus. General admission tickets are $20. Limited tickets are available. For tickets, click here.
October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month.
The Violence Prevention Center will hold a candlelight vigil on Thursday.
The Violence Prevention Center will hold a Candlelight Vigil for Hope to honor the victims and survivors of domestic abuse. The vigil will be held at Studio 21 from 6-7 pm Thursday. The public is invited.
Friday is pretty quiet this week, but on Saturday, two Halloween costume parties are planned as well as a Full Moon Bonfire Poetry Reading.
The Full Moon Bonfire Reading is hosted by The League of Minnesota Poets this month and will be held outside by the bonfire at Drury Lane Books from 6-8 pm.
A Full Moon Poetry Reading will be held at Drury Lane Books on Saturday.
This special edition of the Full Moon celebration features readings from Agates, collected works of Minnesota poets. The book explores themes of nature, but also the many layers and facets of human nature. Four authors featured in the collective works; Emily August, Jess Morgan, Sarah Royer-Stoll, and Ruth Schmidt-Bauemler will read at the event which will be moderated by Isadora Gruye.
The last portion of the evening will be open to anyone who would like to share the poems holding their minds, or share personal works.
The bonfire will be held on the beach side of Drury Lane Books; if the weather turns for the worse, the event will be moved indoors at the shop. Guests are encouraged to bring their favorite thermos for hot refreshments. The public is invited.
The Evening Stars will play for a Halloween party at Up Yonder on Saturday night.
The Evening Stars will play for a Halloween costume party at Up Yonder on Saturday night.
The Evening Stars is a funk and soul band playing rousing renditions of favorite songs spanning several decades. The music starts at 9 pm. Free
Also on Saturday night, the Grand Portage Lodge and Casino will host a Halloween Costume Contest and Dance Party at the Event Center.
Grand Portage Lodge and Casino will hold a Halloween Costume Contest and Dance on Saturday, Oct. 28.
The party features live music with Boogie Wonderland and a Costume Contest with cash prizes.
Admission is free and you must be 18 years of age to attend. Costume judging is at 10 pm during the dance. Contestants will be judged by the audience and prizes awarded to contestants receiving the loudest applause. First place prize is $200, Second Place is $100.
On Sunday, Oct. 29, the annual Birch Grove Halloween Carnival will be held from 2-4 pm at the Birch Grove School in Tofte.
The annual Birch Grove Halloween Carnival is on Sunday, Oct. 29.
The family carnival features everything from kids’ games, bingo, cookie decorating, and more. The Bad Seed Food Truck will be there from 1-5 pm. The event is open to all.
Exhibits:
The Johnson Heritage Post just opened a new exhibit entitled “Cascade,” with multi-media works by Cam Zebrun.
In this exhibit, Zebrun explores the many facets of The Cascades, including the waterfalls, canyons, rocks, colors, and textures in the water in a series of sculptures. The exhibit continues through Nov.12. The Heritage Post is open from 10 am to 4 pm Wednesday through Sunday. It is closed on Monday and Tuesday. Free.
This is the last week to see Now That Summer Has Ended, an exhibit on the second floor balcony at the Grand Portage National Monument Heritage Center.
Manner of Making a Resting Place on a Winter’s Night by George Back, 1820, is one of the prints exhibited in the show.
There are lots of elements in this exhibit, including the opportunity to learn about the ways people spent their winter at the time of the fur trade – work, survival, and even some leisure activities, during the harsh, dark, northern season. The exhibit closes Oct. 31. Free.
This is the last weekend to see the Lake Superior Watercolor Society’s exhibit at the Cedar Coffee Company in Two Harbors. It closes on Oct. 31.
“Shy,” watercolor, by Anita Curtis. She is one of the artists in the watercolor exhibit at Cedar Coffee Company in Two Harbors.
The Duluth Art Institute has a number of ongoing exhibits, including Sharon Dawson’s Above, Below, Within.
Flight of the Thread Keeper, oil, by Sharon Dawson, is one of her pieces in the Duluth Art Institute exhibit.
Rich textures and earth tones prevail in Sharon Dawson’s abstract paintings on paper and canvas. She applies layer upon layer of oil paint, then carves, rubs, and scrapes away to excavate a deep, dark depth of form. Dawson explains, “Recurrent darkness in my work represents the deep within the earth, beneath the sea or inside of the body where life force exists. Not a frightening darkness, but a fundamental piece of the whole, where creativity is born.”
The exhibit continues through Dec. 31. The Art Institute exhibit spaces are currently located at the Depot in Duluth.
The Tweed Museum of Art is exhibiting works by the Dept. of Art and Design faculty and staff at UMD.
Everything and Nothing is the title of the faculty and staff exhibit at UMD.
The exhibit “Everything and Nothing” continues through December.
Hazel Belvo will 0pen an exhibit at the Minnesota Museum of American Art on Nov. 4.
Spirit Tree: Autumn, acrylic, by Hazel Belvo is one of the paintings that will be in her new exhibit at the Minnesota Museum of American Art.
The title of the exhibit is “Hazel Belvo: For Love” and is a career retrospective that honors Belvo’s lifelong work and dedication as an artist through a focus on her deep relationships, her strong sense of place, and her feminist worldview. It brings together beautiful artwork from across the artist’s long career—from early abstractions made while living in New York in the 1960s to intimate sketches she drew of her son Briand the morning he was born. Belvo’s important Love Drawings, made while her son Joe struggled with a tragic illness, are a centerpiece. The exhibit continues through May 24, 2024.
At the Thunder Bay Art Gallery, the exhibit, Radical Stitch, continues, featuring the bead work of contemporary Canadian artists.
One of the pieces in the Thunder Bay Art Gallery‘s latest exhibit, Radical Stitch.
Upcoming:
There are lots of opportunities for writers and readers next week.
First up is a 2-part free writer’s workshop sponsored by the Grand Marais Public Library featuring author Brian Malloy.
Author Brian Malloy will teach two free writing workshops at the Grand Marais Public Library next week
The first workshop is entitled “Getting Started with Personal Essay and Memoir,” and will be held at the library on Thursday, Nov. 1, from 6:30-8:30 pm. On Saturday, Nov. 3, Malloy will teach a second free workshop, “The Five Parts of Story” from 10:30 am to noon. Attendees should bring paper as well as a pen or pencil, for active participation is part of the workshops. Absolute beginners and experienced writers in need of a refresher are most welcome
Malloy is the award-winning author of several novels and has taught creative writing at Emerson College and the University of Minnesota and numerous arts organizations.
The North Shore Readers & Writers Festival will be held from Nov 1-4 featuring a wide variety of classes, presentations, a book fair and more. The festival is a biennial event that locates, celebrates, and fosters the literary arts and engagement with the written word. Click here to see a schedule of workshops, presentations and events.
North Shore Readers and Writers Festival is Nov. 1-4. Click here to learn more.
Here are the free events open to the public next week.
On Thursday, Nov. 2, Library Friends of Cook County and the Grand Marais Art Colony invite the community to a panel discussion entitled: Agency and Authenticity in Works of Fiction: Who Tells the Story? The panel will be moderated by Staci Drouillard and features Michael Kleber-Diggs, Carol Miller, David Mura, Mona Susan Power, and Michael Torres.
The five esteemed Minnesota authors and educators will discuss 1) Who can best tell the story of people of color in literature?, and 2) Why is agency and authenticity important in the creation of works of fiction? There will also be ample time for questions.
This event will be held in Studio 21 from 7:30-8:30 pm on Thursday, Nov. 2. It is free and open to the public, but prior registration is required due to space limitations. To register, click here.
There are three public events on Friday, Nov. 3.
Brenda Child, who is an author, professor and Guggenheim Fellow, and is a member of the Red Lake Nation, will give an Author Talk at the Grand Portage National Monument from noon to 1 pm on Friday.
Author Brenda Child will give a talk in Grand Portage on Friday at noon. On Friday night, she will host a screening of the film, Jingle Dress Dancers in the Modern World: Ojibwe People and Pandemics” at Studio 21 on Friday, Nov. 3.
Child is the author of several books on American Indian history, including Boarding School Seasons: American Indian Families, 1900-1940, which won the North American Indian Prose Award; and Holding Our World Together: Ojibwe Women and the Survival of Community. Her 2014 book My Grandfather’s Knocking Sticks: Ojibwe Family Life and Labor on the Reservation won the American Indian Book Award.The event is free and open to the public.
At 4:30 pm Friday, A Writer’s Salon with Lin Salisbury will be held at Studio 21. Local writers will share their current work, followed by an open mic open to any participant. Join us for wine, cheese, and a robust reading from a variety of genres. Local writers include Rose Arrowsmith, Jim Boyd, and Nina Simonowicz. Free and open to the public.
And lastly, at 7:30 pm on Friday, the film, “Jingle Dress Dancers in the Modern World: Ojibwe People and Pandemics,” will be screened at Studio 21.
The film “Jingle Dress Dancers in the Modern World: Ojibwe People and Pandemics” will be screened on Friday at 7:30 pm at Studio 21 in Grand Marais.
Hosted by Brenda Child, the film considers the history of the Ojibwe Jingle Dress Dance tradition and its origin in the global influenza pandemic of 1918 – 1920. The film is free. The public is invited.
Artists at Work:
Fall in Lakeville through a drone and special lens by Dennis Chick.
Detail from a small door on the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, NC, courtesy of Stacy Morgan.
Maryl Skinner’s garden in fall.
In progress, Egyptian vultures papercut by Duluth artist Ellen Sandbeck.
Fall leaves by Georgia O’Keefe.
Fall by Jayne Richards. She will exhibit a collection of her work at the Johnson Heritage Post Gallery Dec. 15.
Golden Age by Kim Dayton.
Duluth Depot, ink and watercolor sketch by Bryan Hansel.
Work in progress, mixed media, by Martin DeWitt.
Online Findings:
Edge of Reason: a series of podcasts produced by The Atlantic. Conversations with contemporary artists discussing influences on their work, including the Enlightenment. Engaging and interesting.
The Edge of Reason – Conversations with artists on the influences in their work. To listen, click here.
Online Music:
And, from the latest Rolling Stones album…
Live Music:
Thursday, Oct 26:
- Joe Paulik, Cascade Restaurant and Pub, 6-8 pm
- Gordon Thorne, North Shore Winery, 6-8 pm
Friday, Oct 27:
- Live Music, Bluefin Grill, 8-10 pm
- Katieoki, Up Yonder, 9-11:55 pm
Saturday, Oct 28:
- Bump Bloomberg, Cascade Restaurant and Pub, 6-8 pm
- Boogie Wonderland (Costume Party), Grand Portage Lodge & Casino’s Antlers Lounge, 8-11:55 pm
- The Evening Stars (Halloween Dance), Up Yonder, 9-11:55 pm
Tuesday, Oct 31:
- Eric Frost, North Shore Winery, 4:30-6:30 pm
- Open Mic Hosted by Pete K, Up Yonder, 6-9 pm
Thursday, Nov 2:
- Gordon Thorne, North Shore Winery, 6-8 pm
Friday, Nov 3:
- Live Music, Bluefin Grill, 8-10 pm
- Dre AKA Jamaican, Up Yonder, 9-11:55 pm
Saturday, Nov 4:
- DJ Bryan Kelly, Up Yonder, 9-11:55 pm
Photographs:
Here are some selections from the photographs we found this week:
Wildlife:
The big boys enjoy the sun by David Johnson.
Seen between Lutsen and Grand Marais on trail cam. Source unknown.
Swagger by John Heino.
Here’s a tidbit. Photo courtesy of Fantastic Owls.
A feast for a youngster. Courtesy of baysincappp.
Potpourri:
Nature stimulates creativity. By the way the left one looks like me by Frank Sander, French River.
Veggie dude says hi everyone by Nathan Slettedahl.
Fall Colorscapes, Waterscapes, Skyscapes and Moonscapes:
The driveway this week, by Jim Boyd.
The Rock and the Big Lake by James Joerke.
Tamarack magic by David Johnson.
Going out like a lamb by Terry Backlund.
Moonset on the Caribou Trail by Chuck Olsen.
Fall colors in the rain by Siffy and Tor Torkildson.
The many phases of the Ring of Fire by Hayes Scriven.
Gooseberry Falls by Tina Hegg Raway.
A flock of Blue-winged Teal fly over a reflective pond with vibrant fall colors.
Springdale Creek by Chuck Olsen.
Today in the Big Sky of the Southwest by Stephan Hoglund.
Shadow, gold and light in an aspen grove by Thomas Spence.
Temperance River Valley by Paul Sundberg.
Closing it down by Staci Drouillard.
Autumn’s glory by Roxanne Distad.
It’s Tammy Time! by Thomas Spence.
Light and Red by Kim Dayton.
Sunny Sunshine by Roxanne Distad.
A fisherman’s moment by Jamie Rabold.
Pulling in the nets by Lin Salisbury.
Late season scenes from the gardens by Alisa Berns.
Burlington Bay Beach by Christopher Dalbec.
Fall Light by Jay A. DeCoux.
An invitation to take a walk by Jim Boyd.
Northern Minnesota by Jeffrey Doty.
The first whisper of winter by Kristofer Bowman.
Gracias. Gracias por la vida by Brigette Nies.
Have a great weekend, everyone!
Thank you everyone for the generous support this month. It is so appreciated.
We’d love to have your support, too. You can make a one-time contribution or decide to become an ArtScene sustainer with an automatic donation each month in the amount that is affordable for you. Just click on the button below. And Thank You again!
And here’s a big shout-out to the people who helped make this blog possible: Jeremy Lopez, Live Music Schedule, proofreading and technical advice; Yvonne Mills, proofreading expert and Kari Carter, photo captions and research.
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