Treble Time, Houses of Clay and Heywood & Sparks

by Joan Farnam on May 19, 2016

Debbie Kippen took this photo of the falls at Devil's Kettle in Judge Magney State Park.

Debbie Kippen took this wonderful photo of the falls at Devil’s Kettle in Judge Magney State Park.

A potpourri of fun events are scheduled for this weekend, a fitting precede to next weekend when the Art Along the Lake extravaganza in galleries and shops is set to play throughout the county.

This weekend, look for two stellar concerts, a great talk entitled “Everything You Wanted to Know About Indians But Were Afraid to Ask,” the Beaver House Family Fishing Festival and a demonstration by a sculpture artist who loves to create houses in clay.

Here are the details.

Lake Effect is one of the groups that will perform in "Triple Time" at Bethlehem Lurtheran Church on Thursday.

Lake Effect: Barb LaVigne, Amanda Hand, Russ Viton, Yvonne Mills and Ben Byron.

First up is “Treble Time.”

Three groups, the Cook County High School Choir, the Sutton Family Trio and Lake Effect, will perform at Bethlehem Lutheran Church on Thursday at 7 p.m.

It should be quite a concert. It will offer a broad spectrum of songs, including folk, Americana and jazz, with lots of beautiful women’s voices and spot-on harmony.

A free-will donation at the door will be accepted.

Anton Treuer

Then on Friday, Dr. Anton Treuer, director of the American Indian Resource Center at Bemidji State University, will present “Everything you wanted to know about Indians but were afraid to ask” at the Grand Marais Public Libary at 6 p.m.

Treuer, an author and Ojibwe scholar, will give a frank, funny, and sometimes personal tour of what’s up with Indians, anyway. The event is open to the public and is free.

The Heck Yeah Holler String Band.

Also on Friday, the Heck Yeah Holler String Band will be featured on WTIP Community Radio’s “Scenic Route,” at 4 p.m. And Phil Heywood, who will be in concert at the Arrowhead Center for the Arts on Saturday night, will be on WTIP’s The Roadhouse at 6:15 p.m. or so to talk about his music and play a few songs.

Saturday events include the Family Fishing Festival and Grand Re-Opening at the Beaver House with activities for kids, like minnow races and other games and prizes, and a scavenger hunt for all. There’s also a walleye fishing contest, which started May 14 and continues through Saturday. The family festivities get underway at 10 a.m. and continue throughout the day.

Also on Saturday, the Grand Marais Art Colony will host a clay demo at 10 a.m. with clay sculpture artist, Korla Luckeroth Molitor. Molitor creates whimsical, three-dimensional landscapes, farmsteads, houses, and people in clay and will demonstrate some of her techniques in the Art Colony’s ceramic studio.

“Absence of Restraint” by Korla Luckerorth Molitor.

Molitor, a fifth-generation Minnesotan, teaches Art History and Ceramics at Concordia University in Saint Paul. She received her BFA in Ceramics and Art History at the Kansas City Art Institute and her Masters of Fine Art from the University of Minnesota. $10 suggested donation. The public is invited.

On Saturday night, look to the Arrowhead Center for the Arts for a stellar concert with award-winning fingerstyle guitarists Phil Heywood and Tim Sparks.

Phil Heywood

Tim Sparks

Heywood’s performance encompasses an array of styles, from the down-home rhythmic groove of a Mississippi John Hurt and Leadbelly, to the sheer fluidity and melodic flair of such contemporaries as Leo Kottke.

Guitar Player Magazine describes Sparks’ music as “fresh, exotic, and totally cool.” The musicians share the bill, and will perform some songs together. Tickets are general admission: $20 adults, $5 youth, and can be purchased at the door.

And, next Wednesday, the String Quartet from the Duluth Superior Symphony Orchestra will play at the Grand Marais Library at noon. The program will include Dvorak’s “American Quartet,” Haydn’s “Lark Quartet,” and Piazzolla’s “Four for Tango.” The public is invited. Free.

Upcoming

Art Along the Lake: May 27-29 — Savor the Art on the North Shore. Galleries and shops in Cook County celebrate the beginning of summer with exhibits, receptions, demonstrations, meet-the-artists events, workshops and more.

Here’s a taste: The Cross River Heritage Center in Schroeder opens for the season on May 27 with a new exhibit, “Boomtown” as well as an exhibition of work by local painter Bruce Palmer and photographers Tom Spence and David Degree.

This gorgeous portrait of a moose by Tom Spence will be on exhibit at the Cross River Heritage Center when it opens May 27.

The Heritage Center has also scheduled craft and art demonstrations throughout the day, including Ukranian egg painting and German woodcarving. To find out more, click here.

But that’s just the beginning. Betsy Bowen will open exhibit of the studies she did in Spain this winter entitled, “Sketches of Spain.”

Kathy Rice will be at Drury Lane Books for a Salon at 5 p.m. May 28 to read from her latest book, “Secrets of the Pie Place Café: Recipes & Stories Through the Seasons.”

Kah-Nee-Tah Gallery will host silver jewelry making demos and there will be a bronze pour at Last Chance Gallery at 4 p.m. May 28. David Gilsvik will do painting demonstration sat Sivertson Gallery when his exhibit “Meandering Through Birches” opens.

The list continues, including demonstrations, classes and exhibits at the Grand Marais Art Colony, North House Folk School, Joy and Company and the Johnson Heritage Post, to name a few.

Stay tuned for more details next week. For a preview of all the activities, click here.

In other art news, Ann Mershon’s new book, “You Must Only To Love Them: Lessons Learned in Turkey” is out.

Ann Mershon’s new book has been published.

Mershon said the book is “part travelogue, part romance and part adventure, though mostly a heartfelt account of the seven years I spent teaching in Istanbul.” Copies are available at Birchbark Books & Gifts as well as on-line.

There are lots of new classes and instructors at the Grand Marais Art Colony this summer. In the literary arts, for example, William Durbin is teaching a class in fiction, Marlais Brand is teaching a class in history writing. In the glass studio, Helen Otterson, Northern Clay Center’s 2016 McKnight Artist in Residence, will teach a class in combining clay and cast glass in artwork. David Gilsvik is teaching a class in Autumn Painting in the fall. There are a number of classes offering in printmaking, photograph and the book arts, including a class by Amanda Dagener and Becky and Tedd McDonah will teach a jewelry making class in June. For details about these and other classes, click here.

By the way, Marlais Brand’s book, “The Hungry Coast” with illustrations by Noah Prinsen, just won the Midwest Book Award in the short story/anthology category.

Noah Prinsen’s illustrations for “The Hungry Coast.”

The awards were given by the Midwest Independent Publishing Association, North Star Press published the book, which is available in local shops.

The Upper Shop at the Blue Moose Gallery has been redesigned with lots of new artwork, including stained glass pieces by Shelly Bouquet.

Shelly Bouquet has stained glass works at the Blue Moose Gallery.

David Steckelberg has brought in new cards to Joy and Company.

Cards by David Steckelberg.

Upstate MN has just received new watercolor paintings by Kate Oberreich.

Painting/illustration by Kate Oberreich.

Watercolor by Kate Oberreich.

Kah-Nee Tah Gallery is featuring leather and tila wrap bracelets by Deb Levens.

Bracelets by Deb Levens.

Betsy Bowen has completed a new hand-printed woodcut.

“Sing Out Robin” by Betsy Bowen.

And last, but not least, Sivertson Gallery re-designed its front windows and includes the new Trapper’s Daughter print by Rick Allen entitled: “The Trappers Daughter Runs A Mid-Summer Race.”