Jazz, Art & Beauty

Greetings from the North Shore. Things are pretty quiet here as we focus on making art and celebrating the arts and the community we live in. This week, there are opportunities to listen to some great jazz, attend art exhibits, book discussions, and more, as well as take advantage of a good snow pack on ski trails and hills in the county, and ice skate on Gunflint Lake at Gunflint Lodge and at the Community Center.

Here’s what we know so far:

On Thursday, plein air painter Matt Kania opens an exhibit at Duluth Pottery Tile & Gallery in Duluth, from 5-7 pm. The title of the show is “From There to Here.”

The exhibit is an eclectic collection of plein air and studio oil paintings depicting places and moments of personal importance. Kania lives in Duluth, but is a frequent visitor to the North Shore, participating in plein air events here as well as working with local artist Neil Sherman. Kania will give an Artist Talk at the opening at 6 pm.

On Friday and Saturday, the North Shore Music Association will present  Cooperative Listening with Mike Lewis: Alpha Consumer Residency at North House Folk School.

Part of a weekend residency, the concerts will feature collaborative, improvisational performances by Mike Lewis (saxophone, bass), Jeremy Ylvisaker (guitar), and JT Bates (drums). Each musician brings decades of national and international experience, working across jazz, indie rock, experimental music, and beyond. Together, they create a dynamic ensemble that blends adventurous improvisation with deep musical connection.

· Mike Lewis is a Grammy Award–winning musician celebrated for his versatility, creativity, and collaborative spirit. Over a 30-year career, he has performed internationally, contributed to Grammy-winning and nominated recordings, and collaborated with artists from Bon Iver to the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra.

· Jeremy Ylvisaker is a multi-instrumentalist, composer, producer, and visual artist whose work spans Bon Iver, Jenny Lewis, Bruce Hornsby, and more, performing at venues including the Sydney Opera House and Carnegie Hall.

· JT Bates has played on critically acclaimed records including Taylor Swift’s Folklore and Evermore, Bon Iver, Big Red Machine, and numerous other projects, bringing rhythmic innovation and improvisational expertise.

More than performances, these concerts are immersive community experiences. Following each show, the artists will lead interactive Q&A sessions, giving audiences a window into the creative process—how musicians collaborate, improvise, and build music together in real time. These sessions foster dialogue, discovery, and a deeper connection between performers and audiences.

The concerts will be held in the Loft Classroom, Yellow Building, on the North House campus. The concerts start at 7 pm.

The concerts are free for all K–12 students. For more info and tickets, click here.

On Saturday, the 3rd annual Poplar Lake Scavenger Hunt will be held at three venues on the Gunflint Trail.

 

Trail Center Lodge, Poplar Haus, and White Pine Lodge are hosting the event. 

Participants will go between all three lodges while earning points by eating, drinking, and locating scavenger hunt items along the way. The person/team with the most points at the end of the day will earn prizes from all 3 lodges.

For details, click here.

At 6:30 pm on Tuesday, Minnesota naturalist Steve Kirkhorn will lead a Zoom discussion on the book The Light Eaters by Zoë Schlanger. The Zoom is hosted by Cook County Higher Education.

The Light Eaters, by award-winning Atlantic staff writer Zoë Schlanger, is a groundbreaking exploration of plant intelligence and the hidden life of the botanical world. Through vivid storytelling and immersive reporting, Schlanger challenges our assumptions about consciousness and intelligence, inviting readers to reconsider the role of plants, and ourselves, within the living world.

Zoom is free. To register, click here.

 The Community Song Circle will meet in the Log Cabin Building at the Community Center at 7 pm. Those who love to sing are invited. Free.

Exhibits: 

The Johnson Heritage Post‘s annual exhibit of selections from its Permanent Collection, Scenes of the North Shore, continues at the gallery through Jan. 25.

The exhibit offers a unique, immersive look at the last 100 years of life on the North Shore.

This exhibition bridges the gap between art and history by pairing historic and contemporary local works with physical artifacts from the Cook County Historical Society’s archives, as well as from the artists themselves.

Admission to the gallery is free. It is open from 10 am to 4 pm Thursday through Saturday and from 1-4 pm Sunday.

At the Duluth Art Institute, the “We Hold These Truths” themed year starts with an exploration of the truths of culture and history. Two exhibitions are in conversation: Fur Trade Nation: An Ojibwe’s Graphic History by artist and historian Carl Gawboy provides education on the history and impact of the Fur Trade Nation, and Ojibwe Adornment in Ribbons, Cloth, Beads, and Fur by designer and curator Wendy Savage demonstrates how past creative tradition informs and enriches our present.

Also, a collection of songs created by musician Tufawon, inspired by the same topics, enriches the visual gallery experience with this newly created EP. Together, they present watercolor paintings, multimedia textiles, music, and designed works by Savage and eight additional Anishinaabe artists.

At its heart, the dual-exhibition experience reflects the history of international trade and exchange in the northern region. For generations, the Anishinaabe have been central to these interactions, acting as cultural connectors across languages, traditions, and geographies. As Gawboy reminds us, “There isn’t one northern culture.” These exhibitions offer a view of how this confluence of culture has continued to impact and shape our modern society and artforms.

The exhibit continues through April 3.

The Thunder Bay Art Gallery has opened a number of new exhibits, including  Evening Escapades, an exhibition by Darcy Tara McDiarmid and Chantal Rousseau.

Evening Escapades is the debut exhibition by Starlight Sojourn Studios, a collaborative animation studio by McDiarmid and Rousseau. In the gallery, the films set the scene for strange and familiar settings, where animals majestically traverse dreamlike landscapes.

The exhibit continues through March 8.

Greg Lecker has opened an exhibit at Gallery Immaginé, a gallery in the Twin Cities.

Lecker’s exhibit is entitled The Arctic: Circling Back, and is a re-examination of his 2022 residency in Norway. The gallery is in the Northrup King Building in Minneapolis.

A  3,200-year-old bronze owl is back on view at the Minneapolis Institute of Art. Nearly three years ago, a visitor accidentally knocked the owl off its plinth. It was sent to Japan for repair and is now back in its place.

To read more about this remarkable owl, click here and here.

Opportunities:

The Grand Marais Art Colony is offering artists the opportunity to have professional photographs taken of their artwork for their portfolios, gallery submissions, or grant or festival applications.

Forty-five-minute slots are available on a consecutive-scheduled basis. Artists will receive a digital compilation of their images. Open to all artists; scholarships available as needed. Note that images taken are not intended for reproduction and sale but for portfolio use. Adam Kirsch is the photographer. The cost of the 45-minute session is $75. To find out more and register, click here. 

Upcoming:

 The 2nd annual  Shorts in Winter Film Festival in Two Harbors will be held on Saturday, Jan. 31.

The festival will feature films made by North Shore filmmakers, live music, refreshment and more. The opening reception is at 3 pm, followed by screenings at 4 pm. It will be held at the Two Harbors High School Auditorium. Here’s a trailer for one of the films:

To find out more, click here. 

Artists at Work:

Online Findings: 

Northwoods naturalist Chel Anderson on Woods in the Winter

Bob Weir Interview:

Online Music:

Photographs:

Here is a selection of photographs we found this week:

Wildlife:

Potpourri: 

Blast-from-the-Pastscapes:

 Landscapes, Skyscapes, Waterscapes & Icescapes:

 

Have a good weekend, everyone.

BTW: If you would like to contribute to NorthShore ArtScene this week, that would be great. We so appreciate your support and it makes a big difference. Thank you!

 

 

A big Thank You! to Jeremy Lopez, tech support, the Live Music Schedule, and Yvonne Mills, proofreading, for their outstanding contributions to this issue. And a big Thank You to Visit Cook County for its great Events Calendar.