The Velvet Season has arrived. Photo by David Johnson.
Greetings from the North Shore, where we have heard that the bug season is subsiding a little. That’s good news, although, truth be told, our recent rains might reinvigorate them. Either way it’s just another indication that summer is moving ahead.
The community celebrated the Summer Solstice on Saturday with an outstanding puppet pageant created by the Good Harbor Hill Players. A video will be available shortly, but meanwhile, here are a few photos from that fun event held at North House Folk School on June 21.
Bring Your Own Light Summer Solstice Puppet Pageant.
The ship arrives. Photo by Laura Durenberger-Grunow.
The phenomenal giraffe puppets at the Solstice Pageant. Kudos to the Good Harbor Hill Players. Photo by Maryl Skinner.
Let the sun shine in. The Summer Solstice is here! Photo by Dennis Chick.
For more photos and the story, click here.
And art-making continues.
Joy and Company will hold a mini-workshop on how to make spider webs using wax resist at Art Night this week.
Art Night will be held at Joy & Co from 3:30-5 pm on Thursday.
Participants will be provided with supplies and some instructions. Art Night is free with a suggested $5 donation. Open to all.
The Grand Marais Farmer’s Market will be in the parking lot of the Cook County Community Center from 4:30-6 pm on Thursday.
Creaking Tree Farm will feature a variety of early-spring vegetables at the Farmer’s Market this week. Photo by Rachel Andrus.
The market features produce by local producers, including radishes, early spring greens, rhubarb, and more. Also, look for baked goods, including wood-fired breads, maple syrup, fresh flowers, and more.
Hedstrom’s Lumber Company will hold sawmill tours this summer on Thursdays from 1 – 2:30 pm and on Fridays from 10 – 11:30 am. They are free.
Tours of Hedstrom’s Sawmill are happening this summer.
The tours will be led by Steve Robertson, a recently retired interpreter with the US Forest Service.
Participants can learn about the history of the 100-year-old sawmill, timber harvesting, sawmill processing, lumber products, and byproducts as you wander through a tour of the biggest hands-on sawmill in Minnesota, watching the lumber be processed, seeing employees in action, and getting an eyeful of our complex (and sometimes vintage) machinery.
Tours are free but require a reservation. Sign Up Here. Call the mill office at 218-387-2995 with questions.
On Thursday evening, Drury Lane Books will host J. Ryan Stradal, who will give an Author Talk from 6-7:30 pm.
An Author Talk with J. Ryan Stradal will be held at Drury Lane Books on Thursday.
He will discuss and read from his book, “Saturday Nights at the Lakeside Supper Club.” The last portion of the evening will be open for questions and comments, and a book signing will follow.
He is currently the Writer in Residence on The Book Case, a weekly literary podcast hosted by Kate Gibson and Charles Gibson. He co-produces, with Summer Block, the literary/culinary series “HOT DISH.” He has often worked in television, story editing, or producing shows for VH-1, MTV News (r.i.p.), ABC, FOX, TLC, A&E, Discovery, and History. He volunteers for & is on the advisory board of the educational non-profit 826LA.
Friday is Kids’ Art Day at Joy and Company.
Joy and Company to hold Kids’ art activities every Friday and Saturday this summer, noon to 2 pm.
This is a free event, and the young artists will be supplied with art materials and project ideas. Free, with a suggested $5 donation.
Summer tours of St. Francis Xavier Church are now available, occurring weekly on Fridays and Sundays from noon to 2 pm.
Summer tours of the Chippewa City historic church are held on Fridays and Sundays during the summer.
St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church, known locally as the “Chippewa City Church,” was built in 1895 and is one of the last physical remnants of a once-vibrant Ojibwe community. The structure is a beautiful reminder of the thriving village that was home to more than 100 families in the 1880s and 1890s. Famous artist George Morrison was born and raised here. His memorial service was held at the church in April 2000.
The descendants of Chippewa City residents continue to honor their heritage and support the Historical Society in sharing the story of this village.
The tour is free and open to all.
This is also a perfect time to get your stamp for the Passport to the Past. Learn more: https://www.cookcountyhistory.org/passport-to-the-past-program
The Cook County Market will be held in the parking lot of The Hub from 10 am to 3 pm on Saturday.
The Cook County Market is held in the parking lot of The Hub.
The market features work by local artists. Look for paintings and pottery, jewelry, glass, leatherwork, rosemaling, hand-dyed scarves, rock lamps, and more. Open to all.
Also on Saturday, Great Expectations School will hold a Makerspace session, offering kids and members of the community a chance to make art at the school.
Great Expectations School to host Makerspace this summer.
The event is held from 10 am to noon. Open to all. Free.
The Lutsen 99er will be held this weekend at the Superior National Golf Course in Lutsen.
The Lutsen 99er is this weekend.
The off-road races include four levels: the 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. For more info, click here.
In Duluth, the Park Point Art Fair will be held at Park Point on Saturday and Sunday from 10 am to 5 pm each day.
More than 100 artists will be at the Park Point Art Fair.
The Art Fair features a great selection of local and regional artists exhibiting their work, plus food and entertainment. Cook County potters Kari Carter and Natalie Sobanja will be there this year.
To find out more, click here. This is a highly recommended show.
On Sunday, Adam Lindquist will give a presentation on Teddy Roosevelt at the Chik-Wauk Museum and Nature Center at 2 pm.
Adam Lindquist will present a program about Teddy Roosevelt at Chik-Wauk at 2 pm Sunday.
For over 15 years, Lindquist has provided audiences across America with interesting stories of Theodore Roosevelt in the first person. His research into this amazing man takes hundreds of hours per year as he continues to learn and grow his skills as a living history performer. These talents have paid off with him being crowned three-time national champion and living history performer. For more info, click here.
The program is free and open to all.
Ecstatic Dance will hold an event at the Log Building at the Community Center at 7 pm on Monday.
Ecstatic Dance will be held on Monday at the Log Building at 7 pm.
Ecstatic Dance is:
- An intentional, judgment-free space for free-form movement without words.
- An invitation to embodiment, fun, healing, flow, and play.
The event is free, although freewill donations are accepted.
Exhibits:
Brock Larson’s exhibit at the Johnson Heritage Post opened last week. The exhibit features a selection of his plein air paintings of the North Shore.
Shoreline at Cascade, oil, by Brock Larson.
Larson, a Duluth-based artist who was the 2023 Grand Prize winner of the Grand Marais Plein Air Competition for best body of work. Larson’s exhibit features a collection of recent and past works that study efforts to capture the light, mood, and nature of northern life.
Larson began drawing at a young age and found his calling at the Atelier Studio Program of Fine Arts in Minneapolis, focusing on realistic paintings and drawings. It was also at the Atelier where he discovered his love of teaching, and would eventually go on to open up The Great Lakes Academy of Fine Art in Duluth with his father, who is also an artist. The exhibit continues through July 13.
The Heritage Post is open from 10 am to 4 pm Thursday through Saturday, and from 1-4 pm Sunday. Free and open to the public.
Movement, the summer exhibition of the Grand Marais Art Colony at Studio 21 features a great selection of work by regional artists.
The exhibiting artists include: Alexandra Beaumont, Chotsani Elaine Dean, Olga Lah, Michael Marks, Anne Metcalfe, Jack Pavlik, and Moira Villiard.
10 Waves, a metal installation by Jack Pavlik, is one of the pieces in the exhibition.
The exhibit includes multimedia work, paintings, and an installation.
This is the last weekend to see paintings by Duluth painter & illustrator Kaitlin Klennert at Studio 21.
In Bloom, acrylic, by Kaitlin Klennert, is one of the works on exhibit.
She is one of the artists featured in the Art Colony’s series: Arrowhead Artists of the Month.
Studio 21 is open from 10 am to 4 pm Thursday through Saturday.
This is the last week to see the pyrographic work by Ian Veihman at Tettegouche State Park.
A Moment in Time, pyrography, by Ian Veihman. He is exhibiting at Tettegouche State Park throughout June.
Veihman’s work focuses on scenes along the North Shore. He is exhibiting in the Great Hall. The exhibit is free.
The Duluth Art Institute has opened two new exhibits this month, including “The Games We Play” by Charvis Harrell.
The exhibit, The Games We Play, has opened at the Duluth Art Institute.
“The Games We Play” speaks through art to reshape perceptions of black stereotypes and teach American history. Harrell’s paintings focus on the story of the Black Panther Party, encouraging viewers to see beyond the surface. “It’s easy to judge by image alone,” Harrell explains, “but if you look deeper, you’ll see they were students, organizers, and leaders. They fought for free breakfast programs, community healthcare, and the right to police their own neighborhoods. Their story is one of young people stepping up, taking control of their destiny in a radical new way.”
Harrell prefers to work on reclaimed materials—originally for affordability, but now with a love and respect for the history of these imperfect surfaces, which inform his creative process. “There’s something deeply satisfying about taking something discarded and turning it into something beautiful,” muses Harrell. “It’s symbolic—breathing new life into forgotten things.”
QR code for a virtual tour of the exhibit, Games We Play by Charvis Harrell.
This is the last weekend to see the exhibit, “Edward Poitras: Big Iron Sky,” at the Thunder Bay Art Gallery.
Edward Poitras is exhibiting at the Thunder Bay Art Gallery
In 1983, Poitras created Big Iron Sky, a monumental work comprising four ornamented horse skulls levitating on wooden beams. This major work in the gallery’s permanent collection calls into consciousness the arrival of horses on the prairies and Plains Cree legends foretelling forces of change. Today, a new two-channel video installation of an original dance piece, Four Horses (2025), creates new planes of spiritedness and sound.
Four Horses was produced by Edward Poitras, New Dance Horizons, and the Thunder Bay Art Gallery. Choreography by artist Edward Poitras and Robin Poitras, Creative Director of New Dance Horizons, a contemporary Indigenous dance company in Regina, Sask.
The exhibit closes on June 29.
Upcoming:
The Hovland Arts Festival is set for July 5-6 this year, featuring work by more than 40 local artists as well as live music. It is held in the Hovland Town Hall.
Beaded moccasins by Marcie McIntire. She will be at the Hovland Arts Festival.
Look for paintings and pottery, beadwork, baskets, fiber art, glass, and more. This annual event is a showcase for creativity and music. All welcome.
The Grand Marais Arts Festival is July 12-13.
The Grand Marais Arts Festival is July 12-13 in downtown Grand Marais. File photo.
The arts festival is one of the oldest in the area, drawing artists from throughout the region and beyond. More than 70 juried artists are in the show this year, representing every medium. To find out more, click here.
The North Shore Artists League will hold a member’s show at the Johnson Heritage Post with an opening reception on July 18. Stay tuned.
The North Shore Artists League opens an exhibit at the Heritage Post on July 18.
Artists at Work:
A stranger doodle. Courtesy of Joy and Company.
Raku pot by Richard Gruchalla. He is one of the artists exhibiting at the Park Point Art Fair.
Ravens at Sunset, acrylic, by Rachel Rae Klesser. She will be at the Hovland Arts Festival.
Celebrating wild places, greenware, by Anthony Huonder.
Garden fence art, felted flowers, by Maryls Johnson.
Museum of Art, Architecture and Technology in Lisbon by Layne Kennedy.
Untitled, pastel, by Kim Dayton.
Quick birch study between rain events by Laura Frykman.
Just listening, acrylic, Shelley Breitzmann is currently on view at Sivertston Gallery.
Online Findings:
An interview with Leonard Peltier:
Leonard Peltier is interviewed at his home on Turtle Mountain, ND. Listen to it here.
Sparky Stensaas is back:
AI is not going away. How artists are dealing with it:
Online Music:
Live Music:
Thursday, June 26:
- Pure Honey, Gunflint Tavern Rooftop, 4-5:30 pm
- Bump Blomberg, Gunflint Tavern Rooftop, 5:30-8 pm
- Joe Paulik, Cascade Lodge & Restaurant, 6-8 pm
- Gordon Thorne, North Shore Winery, 6:30-8:30 pm
Friday, June 27:
- Barbara Jean and Mike Lewis, North Shore Winery, 4:30-6:30 pm
- Mysterious Ways, Birch Terrace Supper Club & Lounge, 5-8 pm
- Between Howls, Gunflint Tavern Rooftop, 6-9 pm
- Timmy Haus, Moguls Grille and Tap Room, 7-9 pm
- Pete Kavanaugh, Bluefin Grille, 8-10 pm
- The New Salty Dogs, Up Yonder, 9-11:59 pm
Saturday, June 28:
- Pat Eliason, Cook County Market at the Hub, 10-2 pm
- Zulu Link, Birch Terrace Supper Club & Lounge, 5-8 pm
- Bump Blomberg, Cascade Lodge & Restaurant, 6-8 pm
- Between Howls, Gunflint Tavern Rooftop, 6-9 pm
- Jake Pernsteiner, Voyageur Canoe Outfitters, 7-9 pm
- Drew Heinonen, Moguls Grille and Tap Room, 7-9 pm
- The New Salty Dogs, Up Yonder, 9-11:59 pm
Sunday, June 29:
- Bump Blomberg, North Shore Winery, 1-3 pm
- Medicine River, Gunflint Tavern Rooftop, 3-6 pm
- The Brothers Burn Mountain, North Shore Winery, 3:30-5:30 pm
- Timmy Haus, Moguls Grille and Tap Room, 5-7 pm
- Campfire Guitar Pull with Scott Shuler, Caribou Highlands Lodge Courtyard, 7 pm
Monday, June 30:
- Pete K, Gunflint Tavern Rooftop, 7-10 pm
- Jim Elverhoy & John Cron, Bluefin Grille, 8-10 pm
Tuesday, July 1:
- Eric Frost, North Shore Winery, 5-7 pm
- Briand Morrison, Gunflint Tavern Rooftop, 5-8 pm
- Open Stage hosted by Pete K, Up Yonder, 6-8 pm
- Community Singing, Lighthouse on the Harbor, 7-8:30 pm
- Joe Paulik, Gunflint Tavern Rooftop, 5-8 pm
- Pete Kavanaugh, Bluefin Grille, 8-10 pm
Thursday, July 3:
- Bump Blomberg, Gunflint Tavern Rooftop, 5-8 pm
- Jim Miller, Cascade Lodge Restaurant & Pub, 6-8 pm
- Gordon Thorne, North Shore Winery, 6:30-8:30 pm
- Silent Disco Dance Party!, Caribou Highlands Courtyard, 7-10 pm
- Open Old Time Appalachian Music Jam, Log Cabin / Community Center, 7-9 pm
Friday, July 4:
- Josh Schmidt as Cryote, Gunflint Tavern Rooftop, 2-5 pm
- Joe Paulik & Friends, Birch Terrace Supper Club & Lounge, 4-8 pm
- Rock the Lake Outdoor Music Festival, Grand Portage Lodge & Casino, 6:30-10 pm
- Dust & Bones, 6:30-8 pm
- Xpedition 8:30-10 pm
- John Gruber, Moguls Grille and Tap Room, 7-9 pm
- Emma Tweten, Bluefin Grille, 8-10 pm
- The Black Flys, Up Yonder, 9-11:59 pm
Saturday, July 5:
- Briand Morrison, Cook County Market at the Hub, 10-2 pm
- Josh Schmidt as Cryote, Gunflint Tavern Rooftop, 2-5 pm
- Rock the Lake Music Festival, Grand Portage Lodge & Casino, 2:30-10 pm
- Moonshot, 2:30-4 pm
- The Hoolies, 4:30-6 pm
- ZZ-3, 6:30-8 pm
- Free Fallin, 8:30-10 pm
- Southpaws, Birch Terrace Supper Club & Lounge, 4-8 pm
- Yuya Mix, Cascade Lodge Restaurant & Pub, 6-8 pm
- 34th Infantry Division “Red Bull” Band, North House Folk School, 7 pm
- Jim Miller, Moguls Grille and Tap Room, 7-9 pm
- The Black Flys, Up Yonder, 9-11:59 pm
Sunday, July 6:
- Medicine River Jam, Gunflint Tavern Rooftop, 3-6 pm
- Sugar on the Roof, North Shore Winery, 3:30-5:30 pm
- Bump Blomberg, Moguls Grille and Tap Room, 5-7 pm
Photographs:
Here’s a selection of photographs we found this week:
Wildlife:
Is that a squirrel up there? by Heidi Pinkerton.
Turkey Vulture – watching and waiting by Paul Sundberg.
Learning the tricks to crossing the Gunflint Trail by Elena Filimonova.
Baby Peregrine Falcons at Tettegouche State Park. Photo courtesy of Nancy Piersel.
Snapping Turtle by Paul Sundberg.
Raccoon kits by Bill Marchel.
Albino mom and her fawn by Paul Sundberg.
Flowerscapes:
Perennial Cornflower by Dennis Chick.
Lupine tops by Roxanne DDistad.
A Columbine collection by Dennis Chick.
Hope they will bloom tomorrow by Debbie Benedict.
Butterwort in bloom, by Chuck Olsen.
Himalayan Blue Poppy by John Cannell.
Pink Lady Slipper by Chuck Olsen.
Happy Summer Solstice by Roxanne Distad.
Peoplescapes:
The family that pageants together …. Photo courtesy of the Ternes family.
Siffy and Tor Torkildson are on the move. File photo taken in Tsum Valley, a Tibetan beyul, deep in the Himalaya.
Rhubarb rules! AmyMarie Schmidt was back in the northwoods for a few days and found this!
Together by Kim Nelson.
Potpourri:
Deliciousness. Photo by Lin Salisbury.
Landscapes, Cloudscapes, Boatscapes & Waterscapes:
Summer’s Golden Days by Roxann Berglund.
The Grand Marais Harbor today by Eric Humphrey.
Summer travels by Bryan Hansel.
Storm Rolls into Grand Marais by David Johnson.
An evening of orange by Sam Cook.
The harbor, June 21 by Eric Humphrey.
Lake Superior is in a mood by Mark Tessier, courtesy of WTIP Radio.
UP sunset by Sandra Updyke.
The Lake Superior coast by Hayes Scriven.
Rocks and Ripples by Roxanne Distad.
Kama Bay by Tommy Gee.
After a rain by Adam Malmanger.
Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore by Michelle Lutke.
Superior Lights by Hayes Scriven.
Boundary Waters Solstice by Bryan Hansel.
Have a great weekend, everyone!
And oh, there’s this.
Couldn’t get answers out of either one…
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