Self-portrait, Autumn Version by Mary Beams.
Greetings from the North Shore, where things have settled down after a busy summer. Grateful for that. It’s been a wonderful fall, for sure, and the streets are paved with maple leaves this week in Grand Marais. Enjoy!
And art-making is alive and well as artists get ready for holiday sales.
Meanwhile, at Joy and Company, the weekly Art Counter Project continues.
The art counters at Joy and Company have doubled in size, providing lots of room for art-making.
Each week, the shop holds a free art-making project at its art counters from 3:30-5 pm. The project varies each week, using supplies from the shop. It’s free, with a suggested $5 donation. Open to all.
This is the last week to get locally grown fruits and vegetables at the Grand Marais Farmer’s Market. It closes for the season this week.
A few of the vegetables that can be found at the Grand Marais Farmer’s Market this week. Photo courtesy of Creaking Tree Farm.
Besides fresh produce, look for artisan breads, baked goods, cut flowers, and more at this popular market. It is open from 4:30- 6 p.m. on Thursday, indoors at the Cook County Community Center.
Halloween is on Saturday, and Up Yonder will hold a Nautical Halloween Bash with DJ Jesse Jaze.
The Nautical Halloween Bash will be held at Up Yonder on Saturday from 8 to midnight.
Party-goers are invited to “channel your inner Captain Jack Sparrow, brave a ghostly pirate crew, or rise from the abyss as Ursula herself. From deep-sea horrors to legendary sailors, show us your best nautical fit.”
Cash prizes will be awarded for the best-dressed scallywags of the night.
The party will be held from 8 pm to midnight. Open to all.
The Williams’ Farm outside Grand Marais will hold Family-friendly Hayrides this weekend, Friday through Sunday.
Hayrides in the woods are featured at the Williams Farm.
The rides are available from 11 am to 5 pm Friday through Sunday. The event includes marshmallow roasting, a garage sale, and more. Reservations are encouraged. Call: 218-370-8188 or 218-387-1162. The rides are weather-dependent.
On Saturday, there will be a Yarn Market Pop-Up sale at Naniboujou Lodge.
Yarn Market by Naniboujou on Saturday.
Yarn lovers are invited to explore a carefully curated selection of natural fiber yarns, knit kits, bags, needles, and notions, including a new line of Norwegian yarns from Hillesvag. The event will be held from 2- 4 pm. The public is invited.
On Wednesday, the Grand Marais Public Library will host an Author Talk with Jill D. Swenson.
Jill Swenson will give an Author Talk at the library on Wednesday.
Set in the Lake of the Woods region of northern Minnesota, Jill D. Swenson’s memoir, The Land of Everlasting Sky: A Memoir of Loss and Legacy on Lake of the Woods, brings together family history, personal grief, and questions of land, identity, and belonging.
The presentation is from 5:30-6:30 pm.
Exhibits:
This is the last weekend to see the 2026 Grand Marais Plein Air Competition exhibit at the Johnson Heritage Post. It closes on Sunday, Nov. 1.
The painters by Allison Fabyanske Eklund.
Look for works by 60 plein air painters who spent a week painting Cook County. It is an exciting exhibit.
The Heritage Post is open from 10 am to 4 pm Thursday through Saturday and from 1- 4 p.m. Sunday. Free.
Duluth photographer Aramis Wells is currently showing his work in the Great Hall at Tettegouche State Park.
Aramis Wells is exhibiting his photography at Tettegouche State Park this weekend.
Wells focuses on North Shore landscapes. The exhibit closes on Sunday. Free.
The Tweed Museum of Art is featuring a number of exhibits, including The D.R. Martin Collection.
Man with newspaper, Duluth, 1968, by D. R. Martin.
This exhibition includes 22 photographs made by D. R. Martin between 1968 and 1973 alongside photographs held in the Tweed’s collection by photographers he admired, including Berenice Abbott, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Esther Bubley, Elliott Erwitt, Dorothea Lange, W. Eugene Smith, and Garry Winogrand.
Born and raised in Duluth, MN, D. R. Martin’s enduring relationship with photography began when he was a teenager. Martin (1950 – 2025) taught himself how to use a camera, process film, and read negatives. He studied the work of photographers he admired, some of whose photographs are included in this exhibition and found within books in the Reading Lounge. Most importantly, he developed new ways of seeing and learned to trust his instincts. Martin ventured out into the streets of his hometown and other cities with his camera in search of what French photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson (1908 – 2004) called “decisive moments.”
The Tweed was pleased to acquire the D. R. Martin Collection in 2025 as a gift from D. R. Martin and Sue Wichmann. The collection includes approximately 100 prints, plus contact sheets, thousands of negatives, digital files, and photography books. The exhibit continues through March 2027.
Kudos:
Celebrated artist, author, and woodblock printmaker Betsy Bowen was given the Kerlan Award by the Children’s Literature Research Collections at UMN Libraries.
Betsy Bowen speaks at the Kerlan Award ceremony.
The Kerlan Award, given annually in recognition of singular attainments in the creation of children’s literature and in appreciation for the generous donation of unique resources to the Kerlan Collection, celebrates Bowen’s lasting impact on the cultural fabric of Minnesota.
Artists at WorK:
Floater, acrylic, by Kat Corrigan.
My new octopus is made with Purpleheart, Padauk, Maple, Poplar, and Cherry by Chad Pilkington.
High Country, mixed media by Annette Lushner.
Magical atmosphere, mixed media by Sue Rauschenfels.
Birds following buffalo, charcoal on paper, by Andrea Bank.
The Gobbler, acrylic, by Larry Zach.
Man Reading (detail) by Georges Seurat.
Our Solar System is just an outpost, acrylic, by Hawlii Pichette.
Mug by Nick DeVries.
Dorset bedroom view, interpretation textile by Katy Rundle.
Rise and Shine, acrylic, by Adam Swanson.
Old sketch of that backyard sailboat before it met its demise by Bryan Hansel.
Title unknown, oil, by Rosemary Hodgkinson.
Halloween prep, felt, by Ron Benson.
Shoji Hamada plate, photo courtesy of Richard Farrell.
Unknown title, mixed media, by Mira Gupta.
Yunami, shino glaze, by Tom Coleman.
South Shore, Bylot Island, c. 1931. Oil on canvas, Lawren S. Harris.
Knife River plein air by Lisa Kosmo is at the 47 Degrees Gallery in Knife River.
Moose in Fall, oil, by Robert Bateman.
Turkey, woodcut, by Jacques Hnizdovsky.
Online Music:
Music selections from Laurena Chamlee Cole
What we found:
Live Music:
- Timmy Haus, Moguls Grille & Taproom at Caribou Highlands Lodge, 4-6 pm
- Gordon Thorne, North Shore Winery, 5:30-7:30 pm
- Frequency Rising, Raven’s Nest at the Gun Flint Tavern, 6-9 pm
Friday, October 30:
- Jim Miller, Moguls Grille & Taproom at Caribou Highlands Lodge, 4-6 pm
- Barbara Jean and Mike Lewis, North Shore Winery, 4:30-6:30 pm
Saturday, October 31:
- Jim Miller, Cascade Lodge Restaurant & Pub, 6-8 pm
- Halloween Bash & Costume Contest w. DJ Jesse Jazey, Up Yonder, 8-11:59 pm
Sunday, November 1:
- Bump Blomberg, North Shore Winery, 3-5 pm
- Tim Fast, Voyageur Brewing Company, 5-7 pm
Tuesday, November 3:
- Eric Frost, North Shore Winery, 4:30-6:30 pm
- Open Stage hosted by Pete K, Up Yonder, 6-8 pm
- Community Singing, Log Cabin at the Grand Marais Community Center, 7 pm
Thursday, November 5:
- Timmy Haus, Moguls Grille & Taproom at Caribou Highlands Lodge, 4-6 pm
- Gordon Thorne, North Shore Winery, 5:30-7:30 pm
Friday, November 6:
- Pete Kavanaugh, Moguls Grille & Taproom at Caribou Highlands Lodge, 4-6 pm
- Barbara Jean and Mike Lewis, North Shore Winery, 4:30-6:30 pm
Saturday, November 7:
- Border Crossing, Up Yonder, 6-9 pm
Sunday, November 8:
- Bump Blomberg, North Shore Winery, 3-5 pm
Photographs:
Here’s a selection from what we found this week:
Wildlife:
Mallard hen doing a little balancing act by Alec Johnson.
Creating an antler rub by Bill Marchel.
Untitled by Paul Neal.
Crex Meadows by Craig Omdal.
Great Blue Heron by Chip Garber.
Young Bald Eagle near Vermillion, by Brandon A. Güell.
Juvenile Kestrel being fed by its mother by Wild Donegal Photography.
Enjoying being in the woods by Beth Drost.
Ambassadors Axel, Grayson & Rieka, International Wolf Center, by Heidi Pinkerton.
Stepping into the light by Katie Slanga.
The Three Stooges by Larry Waddell.
Late fall snack by Paul Ostrum.
Eagle fishing at first light this morning by John Cannell.
Red-tailed Hawk by David Reid.
At Crex Meadows by Julie Roy.
The return of the Wood Duck, my favorite time of the year by Neil Wasserman.
Time for a drink by David Johnson.
Potpourri:
Complex simplicity, Japan, by Tor Torkildson.
Ready for Halloween by Cathy Quinn.
A joyous fall in Brainerd Baxter, by Hayes Scriven.
Hanging on by Paul Ostrum.
Somebody Lost Their … by Terry Backlund.
30 pounds of finished wild rice by Michael Furtman.
Landscapes, Skyscapes & Waterscapes
A late fall afternoon in Grand Marais by Joan Farnam.
Evening sun versus fog on the harbor by Carl Anderson.
A foggy fall morning by Janice Latz.
Dawn views of Moss Lake, Superior National Forest by Brandon A. Güell.
Colors pop in Two Harbors by Matthew Pastick.
Rock portrait from Iceland by Layne Kennedy.
Lake Superior Waves by Paul Sundberg.
Good night from here by Kristofer Bowman.
Grand Marais wind storm by Ashley Lewandoski.
An honor guard at Rock Lake Road by Victor Burakov.
Entering the magical world of Tischer Creek at Congdon Park by Gregory Israelson.
A late fall hike by Buck Benson.
Dancing of Time by Cindy Nguyen.
Hunter’s Moon by Robbie Craig.
Tombolo on Lake Superior, by Carl Anderson.
Molten Moon by Chuck Olsen.
Good night, Milky Way by Doug Cottrell.
Have a great weekend, everyone!
Note: One of the most amazing things in my life is how NorthShore ArtScene comes together almost magically every week.
I spend hours going through my social media feeds, photo sites, and event calendars, compiling whatever I find, but I am never too sure how it will all fit together. And then suddenly, it does! I hope you enjoy it.
Support ArtScene this week, if you can. We so appreciate your contributions, and they make it possible to keep all the art news and photographs flowing. Thank you!
Thank you to Jeremy Lopez for the Live Music Schedule and tech support, and to Yvonne Mills for proofreading this week. And a special thank you to Visit Cook County for its great Events Calendar.