Skim Ice Magic by Ben Seaton.
Greetings from the North Shore where we welcome in the New Year with hope. The list of what we hope for is pretty long, but one of the items on it, for sure, is snow. And yes, having to shovel 3-foot drifts piled against our doors and sidewalks isn’t exactly what we love to do, but we’ll take it if it means groomed ski trails and endless vistas of white-dusted beauty.
Many of our local photographers have been returning to their winter files and posting photos they love from earlier years. Here’s a sampling:
First, this gift from plein-air painter, Neil Sherman:
The Beach House, dedicated to all those waiting for snow, oil, by Neil Sherman.
And this wish from Don Davison:
I want this again by Don Davison.
Christmas Eve was pretty cold last year. Here’s a Ken Harmon photo from Two Harbors.
Christmas Eve 2022, below zero temps. 50 inches of snow by Ken Harmon.
And this, from Layne Kennedy:
In previous years by Layne Kennedy.
And finally, here’s a beautiful photograph and winter memory from Bryan Hansel:
The Sea Stack in its prime. It disappeared under the waves of Lake Superior a few years ago. Winter file photo by Bryan Hansel.
Let’s lift a glass to snow on the North Shore in 2024. And not to forget, there is skiing on Lutsen Mountains.
Meanwhile, here are the events this week … and be sure to check the music schedule for live music, too.
Art Night at Joy and Company will feature printing on gel plates, an easy and quick way to make beautiful things.
Art Night at Joy and Company will feature gel-plate printing.
Participants will be experimenting with a wide range of texture and pattern-making materials this week. There will be demonstrations as well as hands-on activities from 3:30-5 pm. Art Night is free, with a suggested donation of $5. Open to all.
Also on Thursday, it’s Trivia Night at Up Yonder.
The Cook County Historical Society hosts trivia at Up Yonder from 6-8 pm.
The event, sponsored by the Cook County Historical Society is free and open to the public. It is held from 6-8 pm. Prizes are awarded.
On Saturday, crafters are invited to Dappled Fern Fibers from 10 am to noon to work on their projects.
Dappled Fern Fibers will hold a Fiber Circle from 10 am to noon on Saturday, a weekly event in the winter.
The Fiber Circle is open to everyone. No instruction is provided, but coffee and tea will be available.
There are two New Year’s parties set for Sunday, Dec. 31, and there will be live music at other venues in the county.
Donny Buck & the Rock-A-Billy Revue will play for a New Year’s Party at the Grand Portage Lodge and Casino from 8:30 pm – 12:30 am on Sunday.
Donny Buck & the Rock-A-Billy Revue will play for a New Year’s party in Grand Portage on Sunday.
Must be 18+ to attend. There is no cover charge.
And, in Grand Marais, celebrate New Year’s Eve at Up Yonder on 61 with “Katieoke” (Karaoke hosted by Katie Slanga).
Up Yonder will hold a Karaoke New Year’s Eve Party on Sunday.
The party is from 9:30 pm to 12:30 am. Everyone is invited to welcome the New Year at Up Yonder.
Local restaurants are offering special meals for New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day.
A number of venues will serve special New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day menus. Click here to learn more.
For those who want to try their hand at curling and/or get back into the game, the Cook County Curling Club is holding Open Curling on Tuesday nights at 6:30 pm or Wednesday afternoons at 1 pm.
Open Curling at the Community Center on Tuesday nights at 6:30 pm and Wednesday at 1 pm.
Instruction and equipment are provided…all participants need is a pair of clean athletic shoes (no dirt or gravel in the treads), comfortable – easy to move-in clothing, and a light jacket or sweater (a fleece works well). The first two sessions are free. Everyone is invited.
Exhibits:
The Spirit of Place, an exhibition of paintings by Jayne Richards is currently on view at the Johnson Heritage Post.
Spirit Dancer, acrylic, by Jayne Richards.
The exhibit features an eclectic selection of paintings by the artist and continues through Jan. 7.
The Heritage Post is open from 10 am to 4 pm Wednesday through Sunday. It is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays. Open to the public. Free.
Several artists are exhibiting work in the corridors of North Shore Health. Many pieces are for sale. Here is a sampling:
Flossie under the Northern Lights, a photograph by Annette Cozzi is on view at North Shore Health.
Lazy Black Bear, pen and ink on birch bark by Todd Ford is on display at North Shore Health.
Also included is this painting by Ade Toftey.
Wood pile in Winter, oil, 1981, by Ade Toftey is in the collection at North Shore Health. Not for Sale.
Rachelle Wunderink’s installation “Blankouts,” continues at the Duluth Art Institute.
A detail from Rachelle Wunderink, Blankouts, an installation at the Duluth Art Institute.
Wunderink creates an immersive installation: pages of text flood the gallery walls, lining the corridor with a black-and-white ombre of documents. Each page holds Wunderink’s personal accounts of assault and harassment—reviewed and altered by one of 25 female-identifying participants instructed to redact or edit the text in any manner they chose. Blankouts examines ways in which society suppresses women’s accounts of assault as the viewer is tasked with deciphering the differences between each page, choosing whether to understand the whole story.
Wunderink is an interdisciplinary artist with an MFA from York University in Toronto, and a BA in Studio Art from Calvin College in Grand Rapids, MI. The exhibit continues through Jan. 8.
Beading is one of the defining mediums of contemporary Indigenous art on this continent, and Radical Stitch, a landmark exhibition at the Thunder Bay Art Gallery brings much-needed critical attention to the breadth and impact of this practice.
Hemlock, Babe & Carla Continuing the Legacy, 2015, cradleboard with beaded moss bag. Collection of the artist. Photo by Don Hall, courtesy of the MacKenzie Art Gallery.
Radical Stitch looks at the contemporary and transformative context of beading through the aesthetic innovations of artists and the tactile beauty of beads. Beading materials and techniques are rooted in both culturally informed traditions and cultural adaptation, and function as a place of encounter, knowledge transfer, and acts of resistance. Connecting to a tradition of making, exercised over thousands of years, this skill-based practice ties one artist to another, past to present and beyond.
In Anticipation:
Staci Lola Drouillard’s latest book, A Family Tree, with illustrations by Kate Gardiner and published by Harper Collins, will be out in May.
A Family Tree, a new book by Staci Lola Drouillard and illustrated by Kate Gardiner, comes out in May.
A modern-day twist to The Giving Tree, this book chronicles the changes brought upon a beloved family tree that must be uprooted and planted on new land. This debut picture book by Drouillard (Grand Portage Band of Ojibwe descendant) celebrates resiliency, family bonds, and our deep connection to and responsibility for nature. Tree, only as tall as baby Francis, reached her roots into the soil and stretched her branches toward the sky. Here, on the shore of Gichigaming, is where Francis and the sapling felt right at home. But when Grandma and Grandpa decide to move away, Francis wants to take the tree with them—can they?
Brimming with tenderness, this story traces the journey of one family, and a little tree, as they adapt to change by drawing on the strength of their roots.
For more info and to pre-order, click here.
Upcoming:
Arctic explorer Pascale Marceau will give a presentation at North House Folk School on Friday, Jan. 5.
Pascale Marceau will give a presentation about exploring the Arctic at North House Folk School on Jan. 5 from 5-7 pm.
Her presentation, entitled “Arctic Awe,” will be about about her expedition through Canada’s High Arctic.
She describes it as “a 7-week ski journey where the goal was simply to be; erasing competitiveness and falling in sync with nature. From polar bear encounters, crevassed glaciers, and breaking through thin ice… we had no choice but to accept and find ease in things that are otherwise difficult. Discovering how adaptable and resilient we humans truly are and rethinking how we see the world and our place within it.”
The presentation will be from 5-7 pm in the Blue Building on campus. Free. Open to all.
And, the Grand Marais Public Library will hold film screenings on Friday nights this winter through March.
Friday Night Reels starts at the library on Jan. 5.
The Grand Marais Public Library will be hosting Friday Night Reels, a unique film series showing weekly on Fridays at 6 pm, with the first screening on January 5 and the last on March 8. The library’s film committee has selected 10 independent and foreign films in order to inspire thoughtful discussion after each.
Most of the Friday Night Reels are for adult audiences and may not be suitable for young viewers under eighteen. For foreign films, the series will display English subtitles, instead of dubbing. Weather cancellations will appear on the library website.
No sign-up is required to attend, but seating is limited. The doors will open at 5:30 pm. The library’s sponsor and community partner, the Library Friends of Cook County, will provide light snacks and beverages. Non-alcoholic beverages with lids are welcome.
Here’s the schedule:
- Jan. 5 – The Fall (R; 2006) Jan. 12 – And Then We Danced (NR; 2020)
- Jan. 19 – Fear (NR; 2022)
- Jan. 26 – Of Gods and Men (PG-13; 2010)
- Feb. 2 – Children of the Mist (NR; 2021)
- Feb. 9 – Antonia’s Line (R; 1995)
- Feb. 16 – Nostalgia (R; 2022)
- Feb. 23 – Found Memories (NR; 2011)
- Mar. 1 – EO (TV-14; 2022)
- Mar. 8 – The Cow Who Sang into the Future (NR; 2022)
Gunflint Mail Run Sled Dog Race postponed
The Gunflint Mail Run Sled Dog Race, which was set for Jan. 6, has been postponed due to lack of snow.
North House Folk School will begin its Tuesday winter Community Craft Night on Jan.9.
North House Folk School will hold weekly Community Craft Night starting Tuesday, Jan. 9.
Community Craft Night is an opportunity for people to get together at North House and work a personal project. The event is open to all and runs from 6 to 8 pm on Tuesdays through Feb. 27. On most nights, there will also be a demo hosted by artisans from the Artisan Development Program. Here is the tentative schedule:
- Jan 9: Clothing repair and simple alterations with Caroline Feyling
- Jan 16: Intro to Rosemaling with Tara Austin
- Jan 23: Mending socks and sweaters with Liz O’Brien
- Jan 30: Open Craft Night with Sätergläntan
- Feb 6: Boro mending for jeans, etc. with Liz O’Brien
- Feb 20: Intro to Rosemaling with Tara Austin
- Feb 27: Open Craft Night with Mary Tripoli
For more information, click here.
Artists at Work:
Paula Gustafson was the Artist of the Month at the Johnson Heritage Post in December.
Newest Raven from Rachel Rae Klesser, acrylic.
Untitled, acrylic, by Adam Swanson.
Flame in a golden sea, oil, by Tom McCann.
Online Findings:
An interview with Maria Nickolay
Maria Nickolay talks to WTIP’s Will M0ore and performs songs from her new CD. Listen to it here. Photo by M Baxley.
The Boss is the biggest structure in the universe
Affectionately known as The Boss, the largest structure in the universe has been photographed by the James Webb Space Telescope.
This gigantic supercluster is the largest known structure in the universe, it consists of 830 separate galaxies which are inside of 4 connected galaxy clusters. The supercluster is known as the “BOSS”, the entire structure stretches approximately 1 billion light years across. To read more about it, click here.
Online Music:
Live Music:
Thursday, Dec 28:
- Timmy Haus, Moguls Grille & Taproom, 4-6 pm
- Gordon Thorne, North Shore Winery, 6-8 pm
Friday, Dec 29:
- Bump Blomberg, Moguls Grille & Taproom, 4-6 pm
- Joe Paulik, Bluefin Grille, 8-10 pm
Saturday, Dec 30:
- Pat Eliasen, Up Yonder, 8-10:30 pm
Sunday, Dec 31:
- Briand Morrison, Moguls Grille & Taproom, 10 – noon
- Joe Paulik and Pat Flack, Cascade Lodge Restaurant & Pub, 6-8 pm
- Donny Buck & the Rock-A-Billy Revue, Grand Portage Lodge and Casino, 8:30 – 12:30 am
- Katieoke (Katie/Karaoke) with Katie Slanga, Up Yonder, 9:30-12:30 am
- Pete Kavanaugh, Bluefin Grille, 10-11:59 pm
Tuesday, Jan 2:
- Eric Frost, North Shore Winery, 4:30-6:30 pm
- Open Mic, Up Yonder, 6-9 pm
Thursday, Jan 4:
- Timmy Haus, Moguls Grille & Taproom, 4-6 pm
- Gordon Thorne, North Shore Winery, 6-8 pm
Friday, Jan 5:
- Jim Miller, Moguls Grille & Taproom, 4-6 pm
- Southpaws Duo (Al Oikari and Steve Johnson), Bluefin Grille 8-10 pm
Saturday, Jan 6:
- New Salty Dog and Rich Mattson & The Northstars, Both Bands at Up Yonder, 7-11 pm
Sunday, Jan 7:
- Briand Morrison, Moguls Grille & Taproom, 10 – noon
Photographs:
Here is a selection of photographs we found this week:
Wildlife:
Peek-a-boo by Roxanne Distad.
Bald Eagle by Michael Furtman.
Season’s Greetings by Sandra Updyke.
Waxwings in the Mountain Ash by Tom Healy.
Starling in its fall plumage by Wallmika, Finland.
Red Crossbill by Michael Furtman.
Skunkish by Sandra Updyke.
Otters on Ice by Michael Furtman.
Potpourri:
A day of giving, a day of gratitude by Annette Block-Valdivia.
Just in time for Christmas by Ilena Hansel.
The Federal Katsura in Superior, Wis. to load 2 million bushels of grain for European and African markets. Photo by David Schauer.
Frosty window by Roxanne Distad.
Maple Hill Church at sunset by Don Davison.
Landscapes, Skyscapes, Wavescapes & Cloudscapes:
Sunset over Lake Superior by Chuck Olsen.
Foggy Day at Enger Park by Lisa Rich.
Lake Superior Power by Hayes Scriven.
Merry Christmas by Steve Ortmann.
Lake Superior Sunrise by Bryan Hansel.
Just a little foggy tonight by Hayes Scriven.
Early winter shoreline by Kim Dayton.
Lake Superior in full force by Nathan Klok.
Winter at the Lighthouse by Mark Tessier.
A Solstice Sunset by Maryl Skinner.
Happy New Year, everyone! May 2024 be wonderful for all of us. Cheers!
NorthShore ArtScene would love to receive end-of-the-year donations from our fans. You can make a one-time contribution or become a sustaining member by donating a little each month. Just click on the icon below to make your gift. And Thank You. We so appreciate your support.
These are the people who helped make this blog possible: Jeremy Lopez, Live Music Schedule, proofreading and technical advice; Yvonne Mills, proofreading and Kari Carter, photo captions and research. Thank you!
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