May Day, First Fridays, Art & More

by Joan Farnam on April 30, 2015

The last ice of the season — Christian Dalbec took this lovely photo of skim ice on Lake Superior recently.

May is coming in like a lion this year — at least as far as great things to do over the weekend.

Briand Morrison performs at the library at 6 p.m. Thursday.

First up, listen to Briand Morrison at the Grand Marais Public Library on Thursday at 6 p.m. when he presents “Musical Impressions: The Art of George Morrison.” The show includes slides of his father, George Morrison’s work, and jazz pieces that Briand wrote to accompany his father’s art.
Morrison received a grant from the Arrowhead Regional Arts Council to develop the show and perform it around the Arrowhead Region. He will also perform it at the Arrowhead Center for the Arts on on May 23 as part of the welcoming home event for George Morrison’s painting, “The Dawn and Sea,” which has been on loan. Briand will also play at the Tweed Museum of Art later this summer. Stay tuned.

And, for the art of food, the Angry Trout opens on Thursday for the summer season.

On Friday, there’s a lot going on.

First off, retailers in downtown Grand Marais will launch “First Fridays,” a celebration of the “Coolest Small Town in America” in a series of weekly downtown block parties held on the first Friday of the month through October. Participating businesses will be open from 4-8 p.m., providing refreshments and more.

This week, participating retailers include: Joynes Ben Franklin, Beth’s Fudge & Gifts, Birchbark Books & Gifts, Stone Harbor Wilderness Supply and Joy & Company (formerly known as The Garage and Threads.)

At Joy & Company, they will be holding a “Make Your Mark” event on this First Friday, creating a community mural on their back fence using Sugar Environmentally Friendly spray paints from 4-8 p.m. Everyone invited.

One of the photographs by Larry and Linda Dunlop that will be included in the show at the Johnson Heritage Post.

One of the photographs by Larry and Linda Dunlap that will be included in the show at the Johnson Heritage Post.

Also on Friday, a new exhibit opens at the Johnson Heritage Post with the opening reception from 5-7 p.m.

Entitled “Summerfields Photography” the exhibit includes 55 of Larry and Linda Dunlap’s favorite framed images taken on the North Shore and in the boreal forest.

The couple began taking photographs in 1968, using 35mm, medium format and 4×5 cameras, including the processing of their own film and prints. Their work is frequently featured in Lake Superior Magazine.

The exhibit continues through May 24. The Heritage Post is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesdays through Saturdays and 1-4 p.m. on Sundays and Mondays.

Naniboujou Lodge will host a writer’s retreat May 1-3 entitled “The Lost Art of Personal Writing” with Peter Blau. Blau, who is a teacher as well as a writer, will focus on the writing process in all its forms: journaling, letter writing, poetry, memoir, and fiction, as students explore how personal writing is the basis for all of them. Call 218-387-2688 for details and/or to make a reservation.

Blau will also be teaching a writing class at the Grand Marais Art Colony in August.

Also this weekend, North House Folk School is holding its Northern Sustainability Symposium with a focus on the forest. There will be two lunch and learn sessions. On Friday at noon, Becky Bartol will talk about testoring Lake Superior’s North Shore forest and on Saturday at noon, Dave Challen will give a presentation on birch syrup. It is too late to order the lunch, but participants are welcome to bring their own.

On Saturday, there will be a community pizza bake at 5:30 p.m. (bring your toppings, North House will provide the dough and a hot wood-fired oven to cook the pizzas in).

The featured speaker for the event, Jim Manolis of the Nature Conservancy, will speak to “Stewarding Minnesota’s Northeast Forests through Climate Change” at 7:30 p.m. The presentation is open to the public.

There are a variety of different classes and workshops held during this event, including a forest restoration tour along the North Shore on Sunday. For more info and to register, visit www.northhouse.org.

Kim Adams talks to gallery visitors about his work: Gift Machine,” part of his “One for the Road” exhibit .

In Thunder Bay, Kim Adams’ exhibit, “One for the Road,” continues through May 24. “Traditions and Transformation: Works from the Permanent Collection” continues at the gallery as well.

Also, the Baggage Building Art Center in Thunder Bay, is undergoing renovations, but the gallery shop is open. A pottery and art show opens May 9.

And here’s some great Cook County art news — a new brochure about all the art galleries in the county has just been released.

The new Cook County art gallery brochure.

Called “Art Along the Lake,” the brochure features a beautiful landscape by David Gilsvik as well as describes what can be found at each gallery.

Those included are the Cross River Heritage Center, Last Chance Studio and Gallery, Kah-Nee-Tah Gallery, Thomsonite Beach Jewelry Shop, North House Folk School, Grand Marais Art Colony, Joy & Company, Johnson Heritage Post Art Gallery, Betsy Bowen Studio & Galleries, Eight Broadway Galleries, Sivertson Gallery and Nigii-Ozhitoomin Ojibwe Art Gallery.

Look for them at the galleries and around town.

The galleries are collaborating for a countywide gallery tour over the Memorial Day weekend called Art Along the Lake, too, with special events, music, refreshments and more. The new brochure includes a map of all the shops. Stay tuned for more details.

“Trapper’s Daughter & the Driftwood Fire.”

In other art news, Rick Allen released his latest Trapper’s Daughter print at Siiviis Gallery last week entitled “The Trapper’s Daughter & The Driftwood Fire.”

It will soon be available at the Sivertson Gallery in Grand Marais.

Kah-Nee-Tah Gallery in Lutsen is featuring paintings by Pam Fioritto of Stillwater and Douglas Ross of Minneapolis and new gemstone earrings by Kaleidoscope Kitty Design of Brooklyn Center.

Tom Christiansen and Josh Rice are working on the “Puzzle

Josh Rice is working on the sculpture for the Grand Marais Public Library.

Tree” sculpture at Last Chance Gallery in Lutsen. The sculpture will be installed in front of the Grand Marais Public Library in early June.

In other Christiansen news, he will be teaching a sculpture class at the Grand Marais Art Colony this month.

Entitled“Clay Sculpture: Self Portaits,” the class will be held in the Founders Hall May 18-20. Visit www.grandmaraisartcolony.org for more information.

Watercolorist David Hahn has his paintings at the Coho Cafe in Tofte.

And here’s the latest bow to our small town: Grand Marais is featured

Grand Marais is featured in a Norwegian travel magazine this month.

in the latest issue of Kapital Reise – a travel magazine in Norway.

Here’s the music schedule for this week:

Thursday, April 30:

Jim & Michele Miller, Poplar River Pub, 6 p.m.
Musical Impressions: The Art of George Morrison, Grand Marais Public Library, 6 p.m.
Timmy Haus, Gun Flint Tavern, 7 p.m.

Friday, May 1:

Bug Lite, Gun Flint Tavern, 8:30 p.m.

Saturday, May 2:

Boyd Blomberg, Lutsen Resort, 7 p.m.
Bug Lite, Gun Flint Tavern, 8:30 p.m.

Wednesday, May 6:

Open Mic Night, Gun Flint Tavern, 5 p.m.

We have found some interesting photos this week, but first, a bit of news. Bryan Hansel just created a new photography workshop: “Milky Way Night Photography” that will run for three nights, July 16-18. Hansel teaches a wide variety of photography workshops during the year. For more info, see www.bryanhansel.com.

Here’s an example of one of his photographs of the Milky Way.

Photo by Bryan Hansel.

Closer to the earth, April is finishing up and the lakes are just becoming blue again. Here’s a great shot that Bill Hanson posted on his Facebook page today.