Springly

Greetings from the North Shore, where everything seems to be quickening  — on the Big Lake, on the shore, and in the woods. We can feel it, and it’s an exciting time. Plus, we anticipate a soon-to-be yummy time as the yields from maple trees become luscious, thick maple syrup. Welcome, Spring.

And art-making continues.

The Art Counter Projects continue at Joy and Company on Thursday with an accordion book-making session from 3-5:30 pm.

The event is free and open to all.

The Mountain Inn at Lutsen will be holding Public Sauna Nights on Thursdays and Sundays from 4-10 pm through May 31.

The facility includes a sauna, outdoor firepits, and a distinctive indoor Transition Lounge for deep rest and recovery. This is a walk-in event. No online booking is available. Tickets are $35. For more info, click here.

There’s lots to do on Friday night.

 The Johnson Heritage Post‘s opening reception for an exhibit by Steven Dahlstrom, entitled “Line, Shape, Color,” will be held from 5-7 pm.

After two decades focused on representational painting, Dahlstrom returns to his roots in abstraction with this collection. The exhibit explores the foundational rhythm of visual art through its most essential elements—line, shape, and color.

The reception is free and open to the public, with the show running through April 19.

Also on Friday, the Grand Marais Playhouse will open “Moriarty,” a Sherlock Holmes mystery, at the Arrowhead Center for the Arts at 7 pm.  The play will only be performed this weekend, with shows at 7 pm Friday and Saturday and at 2 pm Sunday.

The cast includes Ben Fitzgerald-Wells, Dune Arrowsmith, Rose Arrowsmith, Maxwell Matney, Kathy Ann Robinson, and Jeff Shockley. It is directed and designed by Sue Hennessy. Tickets here or purchase at the door.

A Father & Daughter Dance will be held at the High School cafeteria on Friday from 5:30-8 pm.

Tickets are $30 per father/daughter couple. The public is welcome.

It’s Bingo Night at Up Yonder on Friday, a monthly event hosted by American Legion Auxiliary Unit 413.

The event will be held from 6-8 pm. Open to all.

On Saturday, a No Kings Rally, part of a national event that will be held throughout the country, will be held in Grand Marais from noon to 2 pm.

Participants will meet at the Cook County Courthouse and march to Harbor Park for a peaceful rally. The public is invited.  For more information about No Kings marches, click here.

Also on Saturday, the Turkish Carpet Show will be held at the Cook County Community Center.

The event will be held from 10 am to 4 pm, featuring Turkish carpet dealers, lots of beautiful carpets, and more. Refreshments provided. Free and open to all.

Also on Saturday, Tim Vahle will hold a Spring Break Celebration at his gallery from 4-7 pm.

He will be exhibiting his latest landscape paintings and portrait sketches. Visitors will also enjoy refreshments and hors d’oeuvres. The public is invited. The gallery is located directly behind Gunflint Tavern in the Birch Alley building.

 

On Monday, an Ecstatic Dance session will be held at the Log Building at 7 pm.

Ecstatic Dance is:

• An intentional, judgement-free space for free-form movement without words.
• An invitation to embodiment, fun, healing, flow, and play.

Free. To find out more, click here.

Exhibits:

This is the last week to see painter Eric Klepinger’s exhibit at Tettegouche State Park. He is showing a great selection of his wildlife paintings from the Northwoods.

The exhibit continues through the end of March.

At the Kruk gallery at the University of Wisconsin-Superior, the exhibit “Waiting for Beds” continues through March 31.

The university’s Human Behavior, Justice and Diversity Department hosts the exhibit.

According to a press release, “Waiting for Beds” is a multimedia collaborative art project between artists Moira Villiard and Carla Hamilton as they “delve into the tumultuous and vicious cycles of mental health crisis, public health, and the healthcare and social systems that are at odds in American society. It features mixed media work by the artists, data and survey responses, as well as an embedded community component.” This is extremely relevant to the campus community and region, which has perpetually been under-resourced and tends to invest in response rather than prevention.

At the Northern Clay Center in Minneapolis, Willem Gebben, Jan McKeachie Johnston, David Swenson, and  Betsy Williams are exhibiting work through the end of the month.

To find out more about the featured artists,  click here.

The Minneapolis Institute of Art’s new exhibit, “Year of the Horse: Hoofbeats through Time,” demonstrates that horses have long galloped through China’s cultural imagination, serving as perhaps the best companion one could have in both life and death.

This exhibition explores the horse as both a real creature and a cultural emblem—embodying strength, status, virtue, and aspiration. From ritual bronzes to scholar’s miniatures, imperial scrolls to popular expressions, the horse reveals a rich interplay of mythology, mobility, and meaning. As we welcome a new Year of the Horse, these timeless images invite reflection on what it means to move, strive, and endure. The exhibit continues through Aug. 30.

Upcoming:

The North Shore Music Association will hold two upcoming April performances in Grand Marais, each offering a unique and engaging musical experience for our community.

On Saturday, April 11, at 7 pm, the Valencia Baryton Project will perform at Bethlehem Lutheran Church. This internationally touring trio is devoted to reviving the baryton—a rare, 16-string instrument once championed by Joseph Haydn. Their program brings together elegant Classical works and contemporary compositions, offering audiences a chance to hear a nearly forgotten sound brought vividly back to life.

Then, on Friday, April 17, at 7 pm, Lone Piñon will play at Up Yonder. This New Mexican orquesta típica draws from Spanish, Mexican, Indigenous, Anglo-American, and Afro-American traditions, creating performances that are joyful, danceable, and deeply rooted in community and cultural exchange. In addition to their evening concert, the group will also work with local students during the day, providing a meaningful educational experience for young musicians in our region.

 

 

For tickets and more info, click here. Tickets will also be available at the door on the night of the performances.

 Opportunities:

Local Songwriter scholarship

The North Shore Music Association is offering a scholarship for one local songwriter to attend the Lutsong Songwriters’ Retreat (April 23–26). The special, immersive weekend will be led by Michaela Anne and Siri Undlin (Humbird),

The Music Association offered the scholarship for the first time last year, and Lynden Blomberg was the recipient.

“He had an awesome experience and came away really inspired, which makes us even more excited to do it again said Barbara Jean Meyers, executive director of NSMA.

The scholarship covers full tuition, and folks can apply by sending a short essay (500 words max) to music@boreal.org by April 6 at 5 pm. The recipient will be notified on April 13.

Tettegouche State Park has put out a call to artists: 

Tettegouche State Park has a Call for Art open until April 30. The exhibits typically last for one month.

The Tettegouche Visitor Center Gallery sees over half a million visitors each year, and its monthly art shows have exposed state park guests to locally made art for the past decade. Past exhibitions have showcased a range of artists, from folks having their first-ever show to established, well-known regional artists. Tettegouche is located in the heart of the North Shore, where so many people come to be inspired and to make art.

For more information and to apply, contact Kurt Mead at kurt.mead@state.mn.us or call 218-353-8809. Kurt is the founder of the art exhibit program at Tettegouche and is the  Interpretive Naturalist there.

FYI

WTIP’s Spring Membership Drive is on.

  I will be a guest on a Mini-Mix with Will More and Kirsten  Wisniewski on Friday at about 11:50 am during WTIP’s Spring Membership Drive. Sarah Jorgenson and Ben Hallberg also have a segment on the Mini-Mix on Friday.

Mini-mix invites a member or members of the community to come into the studio with three songs. The songs are played, and the guest talks about why they were chosen, what kind of music they like, etc. It’s a pretty free-ranging interview, and fun.  Listen in and see what my choices were! Click here to listen.

Artists at Work:

 

Online Music:

A few selections from WTIP’s Will Moore

Photographs:

Here is a selection of what we found this week:

Wildlife: 

 

 

Potpourri:

Landscapes, Waterscapes & Skyscapes

 

 

 

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Note: Supporting NorthShore ArtScene is a great way to keep it coming to your inbox every week. We so appreciate your contributions!

 

 We are grateful for the help and support from Jeremy Lopez for his Live Music schedule and tech support, and Yvonne Mills for her great proofreading. Thank you, both! And to Visit Cook County for its outstanding Events Calendar.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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