Members Show, Halloween Parties & Painting Bowls

There’s lots to do this weekend. There will be great local radio as live musicians play on WTIP for its fall member drive. There are Halloween parties, too, including a totally wild one in Thunder Bay, and the Art Colony’s Member Show opens on Friday night. There are paint-a-bowl opportunities, too. Here are the details.

The WTIP Fall Membership drive, “Treat Yourself to WTIP” begins on Thursday morning and runs through Sunday with lots of live music in the studios over the weekend. On Thursday, Shoot from the Hipsters will play from 1-2 p.m. and Amy Grillo & Gene LaFond will play from 8-9 p.m. on the program, Thirsty Boots.

On Friday, Dat Dere Jazz plays from 1-2 p.m., Briand Morrison plays from 4-5 p.m. on the program The Scenic Route and Common Ground plays at 5 p.m. on The Roadhouse.

On Saturday, the Plucked Up String Band plays from 5-6 p.m., and Bump Blomberg and Jim Elverhoy play from 6-7 p.m. And on Sunday, Leah Laky will play from 2-3 p.m. on the program, Women in Music. Refreshments will be served all weekend, and everyone is invited to stop by.

For the actors in the community, the Grand Marais Playhouse is holding auditions at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday at the Arrowhead Center for the Arts for the community youth production of Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast.” 

Lead roles will be filled by actors in high school to adult. High school age community members are strongly encouraged to audition. Community members in grades 6 to adult may audition for the ensemble. No experience necessary. Must commit to rehearsal schedule.

On Friday, the Grand Marais Art Colony opens its annual Members Show with a reception from 5-7 p.m. The exhibit will be preceded by the Art Colony’s annual meeting, which starts at 3:30 p.m.

Artist members from throughout the region have submitted work to the show, which includes paintings, photographs, glass, fiber art, prints, ceramics and multi-media work. Refreshments will be served. All invited.

Also on Friday, Linda Legarde Grover, author of “The Road Back to Sweetgrass,” the Cook County Community Book Read pick for this fall, will be interviewed on WTIP’s The Roadhouse. The program airs from 5-7 p.m.

Saturday will be busy. First up is the annual Paint-A-Bowl event held at the Grand Marais Art Colony from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

The public is invited to come in and paint a ceramic bowl for the Empty Bowls Fundraiser, which will be held Nov. 10 this year at Bethlehem Lutheran Church. The paints are glazes, and after the bowls are completed, they’re fired in the Art Colony’s kilns. There’s a suggested donation of $5 to cover the cost of materials.

Halloween is being celebrated with a pumpkin carving contest and parties on Saturday.

First up is WTIP’s Pumpkin Carving/ Decorating Contest, which will be held at the radio station from 2-4 p.m. Pumpkins and some carving supplies will be provided, although participants are welcome to bring their own. It is open to all ages, but children under 12 should be accompanied by an adult. The carving contest will be held outdoors, so wear appropriate clothing. Free. Open to the public.

There are two Halloween parties in Grand Marais on Saturday night. The Pistol Whipping Party Penguins will play for the party at the Gunflint Tavern, and Earth, Wind & Todd will play at Grandma Ray’s. Costumes are encouraged.

The Halloween Party to end all Halloween Parties will be held in Thunder Bay on Saturday night when the Definitely Superior Art Gallery presents, Hunger 11, a huge Halloween celebration in the Waterfront District in downtown Thunder Bay.

The event, which is a fundraiser for the contemporary arts, features 52 performance acts, seven venues, 42 bands and DJs performing from 8 p.m. to 2 p.m. (EDT). Participating venues include Crock’s, Black Pirates Pub, The Foundery, the Sovereign Room, Gargoyle’s, Red Lion Smokehouse and Definitely Superior Art Gallery, 250 Park Ave. A $15 donation gets you into every venue. Last year, 3,750 attended. There will be lots of prizes for the best costumes.

The Definitely Superior Art Gallery‘s exhibit, Sarah Link/Riaz Mehmood continues through Oct. 29, too.

Current exhibits at the Thunder Bay Art Gallery include “The Unvarnished Truth: Exploring the Material History of Paintings,” “The Next Chapter: Community Living Pottery Exhibition,” with lead artist Kasia Piech and the “1000 Miles Apart Conference,” organized by the Visual Arts Department of Lakehead University.

In Grand Marais,  the exhibit at the Johnson Heritage Post — Plein Air 2016 — continues through Nov. 13 with more than 200 paintings created during the Grand Marais Art Colony‘s plein air event this fall.

The Johnson Heritage Post is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday and 1-4 p.m. Sunday. It is closed on Tuesdays.

Upcoming

 Next Thursday, Nov. 3, Sam Gathje, an intern at North House Folk School, will host a Paint-A-Bowl event at North House to paint the 50 turned, wooden bowls he made for the Empty Bowls Fundraiser.

Ada Igoe describes his process.

“Gathje makes each bowl with green birch wood he’s harvested from community members’ properties. After cutting the wood into blocks, he turns the bowls on an electric lathe and said he’s received a lot of guidance from Jim Sannerud as he’s worked to fashion 50 bowls of all different sizes for Empty Bowls 2016.

“In the beginning, it took Gathje a standard-length workday to make two bowls. Now he can crank out 10 – 12 bowls in eight hours. After being turned, the bowls must rest and dry for two weeks before being finished with oil and milk paint, a non-toxic water-based paint that’s been used for thousands of years.”

The public is invited to this unique Paint-A-Bowl opportunity, which will be held at North House Folk School from 7-9 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 3.

Next weekend, Nov. 4-6, the North Shore Music Association presents the 26th annual Bluegrass Masters Weekend at Lutsen Resort. The weekend features great opportunities to celebrate, make music, learn and listen as bluegrass musicians from all over the region converge on the resort for a weekend of music-making.

The featured instrument this year is the guitar, and Nashville’s guitar maestro, Jim Hurst, is the featured performer.

There will be lots of jamming throughout the resort over the weekend  and classes all-day Saturday, taught by Hurst, who will also perform in a concert at 8 p.m. Saturday night. For more info, visit www.northshoremusicassociation.com. Stay tuned for details.

Sculptor John Books opens an exhibit at the Thunder Bay Art Gallery entitled “John Books: Oxen of the Sun” on Nov. 10.

Books will give an artist talk at the opening reception at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 10.

And here’s one to look forward to. The annual Spirit of the Wilderness Episcopal Church’s community art exhibit opens at the Johnson Heritage Post in early March. The theme of the show: “Kindling Curiosity: Lighting the Creative Spark.” Stay tuned for details.

Opportunities

 The Grand Marais Art Colony is seeking applications for two new positions: Marketing Manager and Development Manager. The application deadline is Nov. 9. For more info, visit www.grandmaraisartcolony.org.

In Other Art News:

 Kristofer Bowman, owner of Upstate MN, the new gallery in Grand Marais, is featured in a story in the November issue of Mpls/St.Paul Magazine.

WDSE’s The Playlist will highight Melissa Wickwire of Wickwire Clay Works in a program next year. Producer Karen Sunderman and Videographer Steve Ash filmed Wickwire as she installed her handmade tiles above a fireplace in Duluth recently. They also filmed her working in her studio at the Betsy Bowen Studio & Galleries earlier this year.

Photographer Thomas Spence is exhibiting his work at the Coho Cafe in Tofte through November.

 Neil Sherman recently was awarded an equipment/technology grant from the Arrowhead Regional Arts Council to purchase a computer, a new high-quality camera and adaptor lens, and Adobe Photoshop software to better document and present completed works.

The Betsy Bowen Studio is open by appointment from Oct. 23-Nov. 30. The  Holiday Art Underground show opens Dec. 2., with a Sneak Peak from 4-7 p.m. Dec. 1. Stay tuned. For more info about the gallery, click here.

Here’s the music schedule for the weekend.

Thursday, Oct. 27:

• Frozen Britches, Cascade Lodge Pub, 6:30 p.m.
• Rich Mattson & Greman Gemberling, Gunflint Tavern, 7 p.m.

Friday, Oct. 28:

• Pete Kavanaugh, Voyageur Brewing Co., 4 p.m.
• SplinterTones, Grandma Ray’s, 7 p.m.
• Jim Miller, Bluefin Grille, 8 p.m.
• Pistol Whippin’ Party Penguins, Gunflint Tavern, 9 p.m.

Saturday, Oct. 29:

• Jim McGowan, Voyageur Brewing Co., 4 p.m.
• Jon Kallberg, Lutsen Resort Lobby, 7 p.m.
• Earth, Wind & Todd, Grandma Ray’s, 8:30 p.m.
• Pistol Whippin’ Party Penguins, Gunflint Tavern, 9 p.m.

Sunday, Oct. 30:

• Timmy Haus, Gunflint Tavern, 7:30 p.m.

Monday, Oct. 31:

• Pete K, Bluefin Grille, 8 p.m.

We found a few unusual photographs this week.

First up, is this photo by Sandra Updyke. It looks like someone gave up … a long time ago.

And this interesting image.

Here’s our wildlife photo of the week.

Here’s an incredible sunrise. Not photoshopped.

And here’s the other side of the coin…

Here’s frosted beauty.

And a wind-blown Lake Superior.

And the opposite: calm and serene.

And this beauty from the Apostle Islands.

And finally, this breathtaking photograph by Paul Sundberg.

Enjoy your weekend, everyone!