“Winter Crevasse,” oil, a new painting from one of our early dustings of snow by Paula Gustafson.
The Spirit of Snow by Roy Thomas.
Winter, watercolor, by Kim Dayton.
Greetings from the North Shore, where we happily celebrate our first white coat of snow in Grand Marais this season. We hope for more, but just walking and playing in the snow we do have is wonderful.
Falling snow brings a special quiet to the world. It is like that now and artists are taking this time to connect to their creative lives.
Joy and Company nurtures that quest with a weekly Art Night event at the store on Thursdays, opening its doors to the public to make art in a variety of different media. This week, participants will explore the possibilities using collage and DecoArt Wax Effects.
Art Night will feature making collages at Joy and Company this week. It is held from 3:30 pm to 5 pm.
It is easy to create images with this ready-to-use acrylic, designed to recreate the sheer, luminous qualities of traditional beeswax encaustic. Thursday activities and art demonstrations are from 3:30-5 pm. The event is free with a suggested $5 donation.
It’s Friday Night Reels at the Grand Marais Public Library on Friday night. This unique film series screens films at the library on Fridays at 6 pm through March 8. The library’s film committee has selected 10 independent and foreign films to inspire thoughtful discussion after each.
Most of the films are for adult audiences and may not be suitable for viewers under 18. 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. Free. 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 trailer for the film this week: It’s called, “And Then We Danced.”
On Saturday, Dappled Fern Fibers will hold its weekly Fiber Circle from 10 am to noon.
Dappled Fern Fibers will hold a Fiber Circle from 10 am to noon on Saturday, a weekly event in the winter.
Participants are invited to bring a project and work on it with friends and neighbors. Open to all.
On Saturday night, an Oscar-winning movie will be screened at the Arrowhead Center for the Arts at 7 pm.
The Grand Marais Film Society will screen a film at the ACA on Saturday at 7 pm.
The film is presented by the Grand Marais Film Society. Tickets are $6 at the door. The film is rated R. The public is invited.
On Sunday, the Tofte Historical Society will hold its annual meeting at the Schroeder Town Hall.
Tofte Historical Society will hold its annual meeting at the Schroeder Town Hall on Sunday.
The meeting will feature a special viewing of A History of Commercial Fishing along the North Shore & Isle Royale (Part Two), and a presentation by Frederick Dudderar. The public is invited.
Exhibits:
The Johnson Heritage Post is closed through Jan. 16 so that new carpet can be installed.
Johnson Heritage Post will be closed while a new carpet is installed.
The next exhibit at the Heritage Post: Hygge: The Warmth of Winter, opens Feb. 2.
Hygge: The Warmth of Winter opens at the Johnson Heritage Post on Feb. 2.
The Duluth Art Institute just opened a new exhibit, Ta-coumba T. Aiken | The Way I See, which continues through April 8.
Conversations With the Future, acrylic on canvas, 2023 by Ta-coumba T. Aiken.
Ta-coumba T. Aiken’s prismatic paintings begin in black and white—because that is how he sees. He is color blind.
He starts with a black stroke that contrasts against the white canvas. Then, in a process Aiken calls spirit writing, he repeats the freeform dark lines to fill the canvas and build abstract shapes. He adds color—dioxazine violet, cadmium yellow, light magenta—reading their names from tubes, jars, and bottles to augment his skewed vision of color. Aiken embraces his color blindness and experiments with further altering his view while painting, alternating between wearing and removing his glasses.
Often, viewers are drawn in by a detail, then their eyes take them on a journey. Following a line throughout the canvas, one discovers another story, and then another. “It’s like life,” Aiken says. I’ll paint a new story, remove the tape to reveal an old story, and there they are side by side, connected. It’s the way I see, we’re all connected. Now, tell me what you see.”
Essentia Health-St. Mary’s Medical Center in Duluth is exhibiting a wide range of local artists in its new facility.
This image by Carolyn Sue Olson is one of many artworks featured at the new Essentia Hospital in Duluth.
The Walker Art Center in Minneapolis is featuring an exhibit, “Multiple Realities: Experimental Art in the Eastern Bloc, 1960s–1980s, through March 10.
The exhibit “Multiple Realities: Experimental Art in the Eastern Bloc, 1960s–1980s” is on view at the Walker Art Center.
The exhibit offers a sweeping survey of experimental art made in six Central Eastern European nations during the 1960s to 1980s. Charting a generation of artists invested in experimentation, the Walker-organized exhibition features artworks rarely seen in the United States. Despite their geographical proximity, artists working during this time encountered different conditions for daily life and art-making, confronting varying degrees of control and pressure exerted by state authorities. Embracing conceptual or formal innovation and a spirit of adventurousness, Multiple Realities sheds light on ways that artists refused, circumvented, eluded, and subverted official systems, in the process creating works often riddled with wit, humor, or irony.
Hazel Belvo’s retrospective: “For Love” runs through May 24 at the Minnesota Museum of American Art in St. Paul.
“Fireweed I, Highway 61,” oil, by Hazel Belvo, is one of her works on exhibit at the Minneapolis Museum of American Art. Photo by Sheila Regan.
The exhibit features paintings, drawings, and sculptures by the artist Hazel Belvo. To find out more about the exhibit and the artist, click here.
Upcoming:
The first Winter Market will be held at The Hub on Feb. 2.
The first Winter Market at The Hub will be on Saturday, Feb. 2.
The event will be held on the first Saturday of the month through June. All local artists are invited to participate. For more information, call Gina Joyce at 952-820-5969.
Opportunities:
The Grand Marais Public Library’s Winter Reading Program is on, featuring its popular Library Bingo cards now available at the library or on its website.
Library Bingo starts this month. Click here for more info. The cards are available for pick-up at the library or online on its website.
Library Bingo Cards contain squares with categories of books to read, such as “Minnesota author” or “Published the year you were born,” and activities, such as attending a library program or watching a movie based on a book. Every “bingo” (five squares in a row in any direction) earns a chance at a Grand Prize as well as smaller prizes like candy and coupons to local businesses. Kids also get a certificate for a free book from Drury Lane for their first bingo.
The third round of applications for the Arrowhead Regional Arts Council Grants Program opened this week.
The Arrowhead Regional Arts Council has three grants open now.
The grants include the Artist Access Grant, Individual Artist Project Grant, Rural & Community Art Project Grant. To find out more, click here.
BTW:
The Arrowhead Regional Arts Council has moved its offices to the Providence Building at 332 West Superior St, Suite 204, Duluth, MN 55802.
Artists At Work:
A work in progress, but nearing completion by Matt Kania.
Title: Bear, A Peaceful Stroll, acrylic, by Sam Zimmerman.
Winged white cedar burl bowl by Lou Pignolet, the first bowl of 2024.
Great Blue Hieroglyphics, print, by Marian Lansky, is the cover of the 2024 calendar for the Blue Heron Trading Company in Duluth.
Spoons made before Christmas by Jim Sannerud.
Hummingbird by Sierra Parsons.
Untitled by Jane Johnson.
Lovers in Winter, acrylic on canvas, by Don Kottmann, is currently on view at the Joseph Nease Gallery.
Moose Call, ink on paper, by Ralph Keating.
Clothes in the Sun, oil, by Tom McCann.
Online Findings:
Painter Jayne Richards is interviewed on WTIP Community Radio
Art, Water, and Reciprocity
A conversation between Duluth-area artists Karen Savage Blue, Moira Villiard, Ashley Hise, and Michaela Rai on the sacredness of Lake Superior
Edges No.1, by Michaela Rai. Read the conversation and see more images here.
Al Oikari’s interview with Will Moore on Scenic Route
Click here to listen; Below is the song he talks about at the end of the interview.
In case you didn’t see it: A mouse secretly tidies up a man’s shed every night
Online Music:
WTIP’s Carl Solander hit the ball out of the ballpark on WTIP’s Saturday Night Mix last week, in our opinion. Here are a few songs he played:
;
She’s coming to the ACA in April
And here’s one we found
Live Music:
Thursday, Jan 11:
- John Gruber, Moguls Grille & Taproom, 4-6 pm
- Gordon Thorne, North Shore Winery, 6-8 pm
Friday, Jan 12:
- Pat Eliasen, Moguls Grille & Taproom, 4-6 pm
Saturday, Jan 13:
- Katieoke (Katie/Karaoke) with Katie Slanga, Up Yonder, 9-11:59 pm
Sunday, Jan 14:
- Briand Morrison, Moguls Grille & Taproom, 10 – noon
Tuesday, Jan 16:
- Eric Frost, North Shore Winery, 4:30-6:30 pm
- Open Stage, Up Yonder, 6-9 pm
Thursday, Jan 18:
- Pete Kavanaugh, Moguls Grille & Taproom, 4-6 pm
- Gordon Thorne, North Shore Winery, 6-8 pm
- North Shore Swing Band, Up Yonder, 7-9 pm
Friday, Jan 19:
- Jim Miller, Moguls Grille & Taproom, 4-6 pm
Saturday, Jan 20:
- John Kerns, Cascade Lodge Restaurant & Pub, 6-8 pm
Sunday, Jan 21:
- Briand Morrison, Moguls Grille & Taproom, 10 – noon
Photographs:
Here’s a selection of photographs we found this week:
Wildlife:
Saw this today by David Johnson.
Affection and love by birdsonearth.
Big Man Crossing by Katie Mumm.
Curved-billed Thrasher, Tucson AZ by John Gregor.
Bull with a damaged antler by David Johnson.
An afternoon snooze, courtesy of seven_seas_explorer.
Potpourri:
Natural beauty by plant.go.
A homeless parent carries a child and a toy out of the homeless Nenookaasi camp which was closed on Thursday by city officials. Photo courtesy of MPR.
Lutsen 1968 press photo, courtesy of Dan Helmerson.
Telchac Puerto by Jeanne Marie Hedstrom.
The OG boot warmer. Warms 3 pairs of boots at once, the temperature setting is pretty predictable, timer is very inconsistent. Photo by Brigette Nies.
Our Japanese Tea House in the snow by Gary Arands, courtesy of Tor Torkildson.
The annual meeting of the summer tires club Photographer unknown.
Dennis Chick‘s son and grandson, hockey on wild ice by Dennis Chick.
Spot courtesy Paws For Love Dog Rescue in Thunder Bay.
Landscapes, Skyscapes, Waterscapes:
Duluth Sunrise by Paul Sundberg.
Ice rings on Mirror Lake, NH by Karl Hamsdell.
Undulatus Clouds in New Hampshire by Crystal Lee.
Amnicon Falls State Park by Tim Beaulier.
Some Ice! by Schauer Photography.
Iced by Andy Keith.
Ice Branches by Dustin Lavigne.
The night the aurora danced up and down Lake Superior by David Johnson.
Sunset Snow Clouds by David Johnson.
Field of Frost by Roxanne Distad.
A snowflake on the car by Dennis Chick.
Softly by Jay DeCoux.
A lovely snow courtesy of the Gunflint Trail Association.
Winter Dusk by Chuck Olsen.
Have a great weekend, everyone!
2023 was a great year for NorthShore ArtScene! Thanks to all for your enthusiastic support!
We are honored.
Here 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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