When sky and water meet by Kjersti Vick, Visit Cook County.
Greetings from the North Shore where art is Queen, and we’re all looking forward to seeing a lot of new work in the next few weeks.
The Park Point Art Fair is this weekend in Duluth, one of the best art fairs in the region. Its beautiful location and great selection of artists always make this a favorite.
The Hovland Arts Festival is next weekend, a unique and popular art fair. Canadians and locals flock to see the art and find treasures.
For the summer’s grand finale, look to the wonderful Grand Marais Arts Festival July 13-14, filling the town with art seekers from all over.
There are live music opportunities, too –it’s summer on the North Shore, after all. Enjoy!
This is the last week for the quirky, wonderful White Box Art Night at Joy and Company.
A white art box — mystery inside.
The event provides participants with a white box filled with art-making materials and everyone is encouraged to be creative with its contents. Art Night is from 3:30-5 pm. Ask for your box at the counter. Free, with a suggested $5 donation.
Also on Thursday, the Grand Marais Farmer’s Market will be held in the parking lot of the Community Center from 4:30-6 pm.
The Grand Marais Farmer’s Market is held every Thursday from 4:30-6 pm through Oct. 10.
Look for locally grown produce, baked goods, maple syrup, fresh flowers, and more. Open to all.
On Friday, the Lutsen 99er, an off-road adventure on Minnesota’s North Shore begins.
The Lutsen 99er is this weekend.
The Lutsen 99er is an ultra-marathon mountain biking event, with the start at the Superior National Golf Course in Lutsen. There are four distances, including 29er, 45er, 69er, and 99er, catering to all riding levels and abilities. The course consists of snowmobile and ski trails, Forest Service roads, and a bit of pavement and single track.
This is a very popular event, bringing in hundreds of mountain bikers from all over the country to bike the trails in the Sawtooth Mountains. To find out more about the race and register, click here.
Update: Tom Toftey’s Author Talk was postponed one day, to Saturday, at 4:30 pm.
Tom Toftey will give an Author Talk at the Johnson Heritage Post at 4:30 pm on Friday.
Toftey will discuss his book, “Unexpected Gifts,” a story of friendship and more. The event is open to the public. Free.
Friday through Sunday will be busy in Two Harbors with an outdoor Art Fair through the weekend.
There is an Art Fair in Two Harbors this weekend.
Look for a variety of arts and crafts including painting, photography, pottery, weaving, and more. An Art Fair is also held in downtown Two Harbors in August. The public is invited.
Saturday opens with the Cook County Market, which is held in the parking lot of The Hub from 10 am to 2 pm.
The Cook County Market is from 10 am to 2 pm in the parking lot of The Hub.
The market features everything from paintings to pottery, locally collected Lake Superior rocks, hand-dyed fabrics, lotions and balms, leatherwork, glass, jewelry, and more. One of the distinctive features of this market is that everything is handmade by local artists. It is open to the public. Note: There is often a by-chance “dog parade” around noon.
Also at 10 am, an Artist Talk featuring two of The Art Colony’s Artists-in-Residence this week, Regen Golden and Jeremy Lundquist, will be held at Studio 21.
Regen Golden will join Jeremy Lundquist at Studio 21 on Saturday.
Jeremy Lundquist will give an Artist Talk with Regen Golden on Saturday.
These multidisciplinary artists have exhibited their work nationally and internationally.
Golden’s current drawings, photographs, and installations focus on urban plants as symbols of healing, joy, and understanding local climate change impacts. Lundquist has been a McKnight Visual Art Fellow at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design and a Jerome Fellow at the Highpoint Center for Printmaking. Join them for a discussion on their recent works and insights into their creative processes. Free and open to the public.
Also on Saturday, summer ongoing events include the Muffin Man reading children’s stories at Drury Lane Books at 11 am, the Chippewa City Church is open for a public tour from noon to 2 pm, and the Harbor Walking Tour will be held at 1 pm starting at the Cook County Historical Society Museum on Broadway. Free and open to all.
There’s lots of great music this weekend, too. Check the Live Music Schedule below.
On Wednesday a Mobiles Camp Pop-Up Exhibition will be held at Studio 21 from 5-6 pm.
A Pop-Up Mobile exhibition will be held at Studio 21 from 5-6 pm Wednesday. In the photo above, Danny Sartoff, one of the instructors, shows how mobile sculpture can be hung. (File Photo.)
The exhibit will feature a selection of suspended sculptures. The Art Colony is holding two mobiles-focused classes this summer. The exhibit highlights what can be created in these classes. Open to the public. Free.
4th of July Preview
Thursday is the 4th of July. Look for fireworks at dusk in Tofte, Grand Marais, and Grand Portage.
Tofte has all kinds of events happening during the day.
First up is the Tofte Trek Run/Walk, a popular and (hopefully) muddy journey on trails above Birch Grove Community School.
The 43rd annual Tofte Trek Run/Walk is July 4.
Above: the Tofte Trek 2024 T-shirt design.
The 43rd Annual Tofte Trek starts at Birch Grove Community Center in Tofte and winds its way up the hill towards the Superior Hiking Trail, then comes back down through lots of mud on the snowmobile trail. Runners are proud to wear their muddy badge of courage as they finish. Must be at least 11 years old to run the Tofte Trek. Overall and age-group awards. Dogs are NOT allowed on the race course or in the Birch Grove Community School. For more info and to sign up, click here.
In downtown Tofte, the 4th of July events start at 11 am.
The Lutsen Volunteer Fire Department will have a Fish Fry Fundraiser on July 4 in Tofte.
The events include live music, food vendors, craft vendors, kids’ games, a parade, and fireworks. The day’s activities are based around fundraising efforts for the Tofte and Lutsen Fire Departments as well as other nonprofit organizations and small businesses in Cook County. The public is invited.
Also, Art Night will be held at Joy and Company on Thursday, July 4th. That night’s project? Make a flag. All materials will be provided. Free, with a suggested $5 donation Art Night is held from 3:30-5 pm.
Exhibits:
Karen Owsley Nease’s exhibit: Found Horizons: Imagined Topographies, continues at the Johnson Heritage Post. The Duluth artist’s artwork highlights her devotion to the land and water, with images that bridge the gap between familiar and fantastical.
Sea Smoke, acrylic, by Karen Nease is one of the works on exhibit at the Johnson Heritage Post.
The Hill Between Two Lakes by Karen Nease.
The exhibit continues through July 14. The Heritage Post is open from 10 am to 4 pm Wednesday through Saturday and from 1-4 pm Sunday. Free.
The exhibit, Embodying the North Shore, featuring works by several well-known North Shore artists, continues at Studio 21.
The Palisades, triptych, acrylic, by Liz Sivertson, is one of the pieces in the show.
The artists include Betsy Bowen, Jim Brandenburg, Dave Gilsvik, Keith Havens, Gene Martz, Dan & Lee Ross, Elaine Sivertson, Howard Sivertson, Jan Sivertson, and Liz Sivertson. The exhibition continues through Aug. 31.
Studio 21 is open from 10 am to 4 pm Thursday through Saturday.
This is the last weekend to see Sarah Seidelman‘s show in the Art Colony’s Gallery Store.
Surf’s Up at Stoney Point Get in the Car by Sarah Seidelman is one of the pieces currently on exhibition at the Art Colony’s Gallery Store.
Her exhibit features large-scale whimsical paintings focused on joy. Open to the public.
The Seeker, an interactive outdoors exhibit at Sugarloaf Cove and Nature Center continues.
The Seeker, an interactive art and nature project, begins at Sugarloaf Cove.
The Nature Center partnered with Minneapolis-based public artist Diver Van Avery to host a unique, site-specific art project that is available for visitors to experience through Oct. 31.
Van Avery spent four months in residence at Sugarloaf Cove to write and create “The Seeker,” an audio story featuring original songs about how the restoring woods of Sugarloaf Cove and the expansive water of Gitchi Gumi help a griever release their pain, discover love, and remember their origins.
Visitors can listen to this site-specific story as they walk the one-mile trail from our visitor center through the forest, along Sugarloaf Creek, to the shore of the Big Lake. Free. Open to all.
The Member Show at the Duluth Art Institute opened last week featuring a wide variety of works by local and regional artists.
The Member Show has opened at the Duluth Art Institute‘s new gallery space on the 4th Floor of the US Bank Building in downtown Duluth.
More than 130 artists submitted work for the show. The gallery space is open daily.
Upcoming:
Enjoy two nights of live music by Lake Superior at Grand Portage Lodge & Casino’s Rock the Lake outdoor music festival, on Friday & Saturday, July 5 & 6.
Rock the Lake, the Grand Portage Music Festival, will be held July 5-6.
The music festival is free. Stay tuned.
The Hovland Arts Festival, one of the highlights of the summer, will be held at the Hovland Town Hall July 6-7.
The Hovland Arts Festival is July 6-7 at the Hovland Town Hall.
The Hovland Arts Festival is July 6-7 this year.
The festival features a wide variety of work by 45 local artists, including pottery, glass, birchbark weaving, handmade fish lures, paintings, woodcarving and woodturning, knitting, photography, jewelry, beeswax candles, and much more. There are live music performances each day of the festival and a Writer’s Salon from 4-6 pm on Saturday. Food is available as well. Open to all.
The next week, July 13 & 14, one of the oldest art festivals in the state opens on Wisconsin Street in Grand Marais. This year, the Grand Marais Arts Festival features work by 60 artists in a wide variety of mediums.
The Grand Marais Arts Festival is July 13 & 14 in downtown Grand Marais. Photo by Dennis Chick.
Look for pottery and paintings, fiber art, photographs, metalwork, jewelry, and more. There are lots of presentations and activities planned this year, too. Click here for a link to the participating artists this year, and stay tuned.
The North Shore Music Association will present Ray Bonneville in concert at 7 pm July 13 at the Arrowhead Center for the Arts. Here’s what he plays:
For tickets and more information, click here.
Local Newsbits
Tim Vahle, a plein air painter from Texas who also lives here, will open a combo studio space and gallery called Vahle Fine Arts this summer. It will be located a 11 1st Ave W. He will officially open the gallery the weekend of July 6-7 from 10 am to 4 pm, and will be open again during the Grand Marais Arts Festival and on select weekends. He is a plein air landscape painter.
Gathering, oil on panel, by Tim Vahle.
Click here to see his website.
The Shakespeare Readers Group is hosting a registered Little Free Library dedicated to works by Shakespeare and books about Shakespeare.
A new Little Free Library of works by and about Shakespeare is now available across the street from the library. Photo by Tom McCann.
Tom McCann, a member of the group wrote: Over the winter, many contributors of scrap lumber came forth with just the right materials for the library, including plenty of Shakespeare books to keep it filled. The LFL is located kitty-corner from the Grand Marais Public Library in front of the red house with a rock wall along the sidewalk facing east. The public is invited to check it out.
Artists At Work:
Comet, oil, by Scott Murphy.
Journey Through the Seasons, acrylic, by Sam Zimmerman.
The Summer Solstice Pageant put on by the Good Harbor Hill Players was outstanding this year, especially this giant puppet. Photo by Dennis Chick.
Superior Rock by Marissa Saurer. The painting is on view at the Johnson Heritage Post.
Stone mosaic table by Paula Sundet Wolf. She will be at the Two Harbors Art Fair this weekend and the Hovland Arts Festival next weekend.
Around the Place by Mary Beams.
Mama and Twins, acrylic, by Jan Attridge.
Online Music:
Live Music:
Thursday, June 27:
- Bump Blomberg, Gunflint Tavern’s Rooftop Bar, 4-7 pm
- Gordon Thorne, North Shore Winery, 6:30-8:30 pm
- Mark Joseph and Al Oikari, Gunflint Tavern’s Rooftop Bar, 8-11 pm
Friday, June 28:
- MYsterious WAYs, Birch Terrace Supper Club, 5-8 pm
- Lost Marbles Society, Gunflint Tavern Raven’s Nest, 8-11:59 pm
- Jim Miller, Moguls Grille and Tap Room, 7-9 pm
- DJ Unity, Up Yonder, 8-11:59 pm
Saturday, June 29:
- Pat Eliasen, Cook County Saturday Market (Senior Center Parking Lot), 10 am
- Kenna Rose, Birch Terrace Supper Club, 5-8 pm
- Adam Moe, Bluefin Bay behind Bluefin Grille campfire on the beach, 6-9 pm
- Medicine River, Gunflint Tavern’s Rooftop Bar, 7-10 pm
- Lost Marbles Society, Up Yonder, 8:30-10:30 pm
Sunday, June 30:
- Sarah Morris, North Shore Winery, 3:30-5:30 pm
- Timmy Haus, Moguls Grille and Tap Room, 5-7 pm
- Medicine River, Gunflint Tavern Raven’s Nest, 3-6 pm
Tuesday, July 2:
- Eric Frost, North Shore Winery, 5-7 pm
- Joe Paulik, Bluefin Bay behind Bluefin Grille campfire on the beach, 6-9 pm
- Open Stage – featuring The Evening Stars, Up Yonder, 6-9 pm
Wednesday, July 3:
- Joe Paulik, Gunflint Tavern Raven’s Nest, 6-9 pm
Thursday, July 4:
- Tommy Wotruba, Raven Rock Grill at Skyport Lodge, 6-8 pm
- Bump Blomberg, Gunflint Tavern’s Rooftop Bar, 6-9 pm
- Gordon Thorne, North Shore Winery, 6:30-8:30 pm
Friday, July 5:
- Pete K. Band, Birch Terrace Supper Club, 5-8 pm
- Strutter (Kiss Tribute), Outside by Lake Superior at Grand Portage Lodge & Casino, 6-8 pm
- John Gruber, Moguls Grille and Tap Room, 7-9 pm
- Frequency Rising, Gunflint Tavern Raven’s Nest, 7-11 pm
- Joe Paulik, Bluefin Grille, 8-10 pm
- Xpedition, Outside by Lake Superior at Grand Portage Lodge & Casino, 8:30-10 pm
Saturday, July 6:
- Fred Anderson & Bill Obinger, Cook County Saturday Market (Senior Center Parking Lot), 10 am
- Adam Moe, Bluefin Bay behind Bluefin Grille campfire on the beach, 6-9 pm
- Bump Blomberg, Moguls Grille and Tap Room, 7-9 pm
- Southern Express, Outside by Lake Superior at Grand Portage Lodge & Casino, 6-8 pm
- Al Oikari, and friends, Gunflint Tavern’s Rooftop Bar, 8-11 pm
- Free Fallin’ (Tom Petty Tribute), Outside by Lake Superior at Grand Portage Lodge & Casino, 8:30-10 pm
- Rush River Delta, Up Yonder, 9-11:59 pm
Sunday, July 7:
- Medicine River, Gunflint Tavern Raven’s Nest, 3-6 pm
- Black River Revue (BRR), North Shore Winery, 3:30-5:30 pm
- Jim McGowan, Moguls Grille and Tap Room, 5-7 pm
- Southpaws, Raven Rock Grill at Skyport Lodge, 6-8 pm
- Rush River Delta, Gunflint Tavern Raven’s Nest, 8-11 pm
Photographs:
Here’s a selection of photographs we found this week:
Wildlife:
Summer salad by David Johnson.
Gorgeous buck in the pasture tonight by Lori Sparkly Franklin.
Cow moose and deer by Thomas Spence.
Spruce budworm by Dennis Chick.
Flowers:
Tiny arrangements inspired by Annie Possis by Maryl Skinner.
Emerging by Thomas Spence.
Blue Bead Lily by Bryan Hansel.
Potpourri:
A screen porch for sleeping by Annie Possis.
One of the joys of summer by Brigette Binesikwe Nies.
Cool slime mold by Bryan Hansel.
Treescapes, Waterscapes , Cloudscapes and Shipscapes:
A Cedar at Gooseberry Falls I by Chuck Olsen.
Cedars at Gooseberry Falls II by Chuck Olsen.
Cedars at Gooseberry Falls III by Chuck Olsen.
Cutface Overlook by Paul Sundberg.
Cascade Falls after the rains by Paul Sundberg.
Grand Portage after the rain by Lin Salisbury.
Rainbow 2 by Paul Sundberg.
On the Edge by Jeff Grotte.
Cross River raging by Paul Sundberg.
The Hjordis heads for home at sunset by Tom Healy.
Have a great weekend, everyone!
We totally appreciate your support to keep NorthShore ArtScene alive and healthy. Please click on the button below and make a contribution. Thank you!
This week, I want to thank Jeremy Lopez (Live Music schedule, tech support, and troubleshooting), Yvonne Mills (proofreading,) and Kari Carter (captions and research). Some of the music selections were by Adam Hirsch this week. I will take responsibility for the others. Enjoy!
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