Rendezvous Days & Celebration Pow Wow

August festivals continue this weekend with Rendezvous Days & the Celebration Pow-Wow in Grand Portage. The 3-day event (Friday through Sunday) features lots of things to do and see at two different locations: the Grand Portage Monument and the Pow Wow Grounds of the Grand Portage Band of Lake Superior Chippewa.

At the Monument, music, dancing, craft demonstrations, and hands-on workshops as well as games and competitions are held throughout the weekend. Visitors can tour the Stockade and the Heritage Center and visit the Encampment, where more than 100 Rendezvous re-enactors live out their daily lives.

Participants at the Encampment welcome questions to explain activities going on in their camps, and to show you materials and equipment they have on display.

And this year, in honor of the 100th anniversary of the National Park Service, the tall ship, the Mist of Avalon, will be moored at the dock, offering tours to the public on Saturday from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Just down the road a bit is the Pow-Wow Grounds of the Grand Portage Band of Lake Superior Chippewa. Every year, dancers and drums from throughout the region participate in this Celebration Pow-wow. Grand Entries are at 1 p.m. and 7 p.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. on Sunday, with warm-up sessions on Friday night. More than 350 dancers from the U.S. and Canada are expected.

The pow-wow also has a variety of food and arts & crafts vendors in booths circling the grounds.

In all, this is a high point of summer in Cook County.  Highly recommended.

There are lots of other things to do this weekend, too.

On Thursday, the Arrowhead Sketchers return to Hedstrom Lumber Co. for an afternoon of sketching. David Morris, one of the artists who participated last week, said the group, which is open to anyone who likes to draw, decided that the lumber mill is so interesting that they’d like to draw it again.

The group will meet at the mill at 5:30 p.m. The Hedstrom Mill is located on the Gunflint Trail about 5 to 6 miles out of Grand Marais on the right side. The is a great opportunity to sketch at one of Cook County’s iconic, historical locations. Free. All invited.

On Thursday night, “The Addams Family” will be performed at the Arrowhead Center for the Arts at 7 p.m. The musical, which is getting rave reviews, is part of the Summer Theater Festival put on by the Grand Marais Playhouse. It is performed in repertory with “Arsenic & Old Lace.” This is the last week to see the performances, which are at 7 p.m. Thursday through Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday. Tickets are available at the door or at www.tix.com.

If you’re in Duluth, consider a stop at the Tweed Museum of Art to see Vance Gellert’s exhibition “Iron Country,” paintings of the Iron Range.

Gellert will give an Artist Talk from 6-7:30 p.m. on Thursday entitled “The Stories Behind the Story.” Free and open to the public.

On Friday, Rendezvous Days opens at 9 a.m. at the Grand Portage Monument. On Friday night, Jim McGowan will be a guest on WTIP’s The Roadhouse, talking about his music and playing a few tunes. The Roadhouse airs from 5-7 p.m.

Saturday kicks off with the Cook County Farm & Craft Market, which opens in the Senior Center parking lot at 9 a.m. The market features a wide variety of arts & crafts as well as baked goods. It is open until 1 p.m.

The Cross River Heritage Center in Schroeder will hold a booksigning at 11 a.m. with Peter O’Toole. The author has written a new book entitled “Edwin H. Lundie Five Decades A Journey of Art & Architecture,” which details the life of this successful and popular architect.

At 1 p.m., Anna Hess will give a demo of painting on glass at the Grand Marais Art Colony.

The event is free and everyone is invited.

Last Chance Gallery in Lutsen will hold its weekly “Bronze Pour at Four” at the studio at 4 p.m. The public is invited to watch this magical process.

Then, at 5 p.m., Drury Lane Books will host authors Micheal McConnell and Jack Baker for a Writer’s Salon. They will read from their memoir “The Wedding Heard ‘Round the World: America’s First Gay Marriage.” The public is invited to join in the conversation on gay rights activism through the years.

On Sunday, the “Gunflint Woods, Winds and Strings” benefit concert will be held at the Schaap Mid-Trail Community Center at 4 p.m. This annual concert is an afternoon of vocal and instrumental classical and jazz music to benefit the Gunflint Trail Historical Society and the Gunflint Trail Volunteer Fire Department. It will feature a commissioned piece composed by Bill Beckstrand, as well as talented local musicians. For tickets, contact the Chik-Wauk Museum and Nature Center (218-388-9915).  Ticket prices are $20/adult, $5/children to 18.

The Grand Marais Art Colony will hold two pottery events next week.

On Wednesday, Aug. 17, potter Matthew Krousey will give an Artist Talk at the Johnson Heritage Post at 4:30 p.m. The topic will be “Forest, Prairie and Frozen Lakes.”

Krousey’s ceramic vessels and murals have been exhibited locally and internationally, including an exhibition at Sanbao Ceramic Institute in Jingdezhen, China. He is a 2014 Jerome Project Grant recipient. Krousey’s work preserves memories and emotions evoked by the disappearing Minnesota landscape. “This region is being vastly altered by human hands, which is the reason I seek to preserve it upon the durable ceramic surface,” he said. The Artist Talk is open to all.

Then on Friday, Aug. 19, Minnesota potters Bob Briscoe and Jason Trebs will hold a Pottery Demo and Potluck at the Art Colony from 4 to 6:30 p.m. Join the duo for an afternoon of lively pottery making and learn how both potters use the wheel as a tool for making organic, loose, and fluid forms.

Along with demonstrating a variety of throwing techniques and methods, the potters will also talk about their own artistic work and individual paths. The event will culminate in a Potters’ Potluck. (Hint: Functional potters are great cooks!) Everyone invited. Suggested $15 donation. For more info, call the Art Colony at 218-387-2737.

And, for a final note about pottery, the Johnson Heritage Post’s exhibit, “Ceramics in Cook County,” continues, with work by 17 local artists on display.

The Heritage Post is closed on Tuesdays, but is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday & Wednesday through Saturday, and 1-4 p.m. Sunday. Free admission.

In Thunder Bay, the exhibition, “Arthur Shilling: The Final Works” continues at the Thunder Bay Art Gallery through early September.

Definitely Superior Art Gallery is closed this month through Labor Day, but encourages the public to take the time to explore the gorgeous explosion of street art displayed on 21 city walls in the Waterfront District in downtown Thunder Bay. The latest creations by the Die Active Collective are on Cooke St. For maps, see DefSup’s Facebook page here.

In other art news:

Artwork from Last Chance Gallery in Lutsen is on exhibit at the newly opened North Shore Winery on Ski Hill Road.

Artists whose work is on exhibit includes Misha Martin, Jo Wood, Anna Hess, Kristin Blomberg and Jan Wise. Also, bronze sculptor Tom Christiansen will have three sculptures outside the winery.

Author/actor/musician Rose Arrowsmith DeCoux is featured on the cover of  Woman Today magazine, which is published in Duluth.

Mark Tessier took the photographs which accompany the story, entitled “Grand Marais’ Renaissance Woman.”

Glass artist Mary Bebie has new work at Kah-Nee-Tah Gallery in Lutsen.

Kelly Dupre recently received a grant from the Arrowhead Regional Arts Council to help pay for framing her work in preparation for three art shows in Duluth and Superior, Wis. this fall and winter.

Dupre will exhibit at Beaner’s Coffee House and The New Scenic Cafe in September and The Red Mug in Superior in December. Stay tuned for details.

Betsy Bowen’s newest book is out! “One North Star: A Counting Book” is a collaboration between Phyllis Root (author), and Bowen and Beckie Prange (illustrators.) Bowen’s woodcut of a moose is on the cover of the book.

Here are two phases of the illustration. First, Bowen’s actual woodcut.

And the final result:

Woodturner and artist Jim Sannerud recently received a grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board to allow him to build a dinner setting inspired by his visit to his ancestors’ farm, “Gardsjord, ”in Rauland, Norway. The setting will consist of a table, seating for eight, and dinnerware for serving, plates, cups, bowls, as well as carved panels. He is working on the project in his studio on the main floor of Betsy Bowen’s Studio & Galleries.

Stay tuned for updates as this project evolves. Sannerud will be at his studio this weekend. He has started a blog to document this project, The first installment came out today. Read it here.

Heidi Sobanja has work at Joy & Co, including this painting, “Suspended.”

Sandi Pillsbury Gredzens just completed a week-long residency at the Grand Marais Art Colony.

Here’s the music schedule for this weekend::

Thursday, Aug. 11:

• Plucked Up String Band, Voyageur Brewing Co., 4 p.m.
• Eric Frost, Music by the Campfire, Lutsen Resort, 6 p.m.
• Frozen Britches, Cascade Lodge Pub, 7:30 p.m.
• Maintenance Free, Gunflint Tavern, 8 p.m.

Friday, Aug. 12:

• Over the Waterfall, Grand Portage Monument Great Hall, 2 p.m.
• Portage, Grandma Ray’s, 6 p.m.
• Amy Grillo & Gene Lafond, Sydney’s Deck, 6 p.m.
• Tim Fast, Cascade Lodge Pub, 7:30 p.m.
• Eric Frost, Music by the Campfire, 7:30 p.m.
• Chris Holm & Mike Munson, Gunflint Tavern, 8:30 p.m.
• Pete K, Bluefin Grille, 9 p.m.

Saturday, Aug. 13

• Billy D, Birch Terrance deck, 3 p.m.
• Over the Waterfall, Grand Portage National Monument Great Hall, 3 p.m.
• Jim & Michelle Miller, Voyageur Brewing Co., 6 p.m.
• J Squared and the Makers, Papa Charlie’s Deck, 6 p.m.
• Dat Dere Jazz, Grandma Ray’s, 7 p.m.
• Music by the Campfire, Bluefin Bay Resort, 7 p.m.
• Pete K, Lutsen Resort lobby, 7 p.m.
• Jim McGowan, Cascade Lodge Pub, 7:30 p.m.
• Chris Holm & Mike Munson, Gunflint Tavern, 8:30 p.m.
• Timmy Haus, Papa Charlie’s, 9:30 p.m.

Sunday, Aug. 14:

• Gunflint Woods, Winds & Strings, 4 p.m. Schapp Community Center, Gunflint Trail.
• Spruce Roots, Mogul’s Grille & Tap Room, 5 p.m.
• Evergreen Grass Band, Gunflint Tavern, 9:30 p.m.

Monday, Aug. 15:

• Barefoot Wonder, Monday Night Songwriter Series, Papa Charlie’s 8:30 p.m.
• Rod & Al, Bluefin Grille, 9 p.m.
• Evergreen Grass Band, Gunflint Tavern, 9:30 p.m.

Tuesday, Aug. 16:

• Timmy Haus, Gunflint Tavern, 8 p.m.

And here are a few of the great photos we found this week:

First up, a perfect summer flower:

A perfect summer evening:

A perfect summer visitor (depending where you are):

A perfect summer flight:

A perfect summer light show:

A perfect summer treat:

A perfect summer reflection:

Have a great weekend, everyone!