Lake Agnes outcrop by Andy Keith.
Greetings from the North Shore, where winter has arrived, offering lots of opportunities for outdoor adventures and quiet times for art-making and connections with friends and family.
For Trivia lovers, WTIP Community Radio will host Trivia Night at Up Yonder from 6-8 pm Thursday.
It’s Trivia Night at Up Yonder on Thursday.
This is a bar-type trivia and is free. The public is invited. Prizes will be awarded.
The Norpine Fat Bike Classic is this weekend, featuring a variety of races and activities from Friday through Sunday.
The Norpine Fat Bike Classic is this weekend. To find out more, click here.
Registration is at the North Shore Winery on Friday with a Dark Sky Tour at 5:30 pm. Race day is Saturday, starting and finishing at Cascade Lodge. On Sunday, there’s a group ride on the Pincushion Mountain trails.
For more info and schedule, click here.
There are two opportunities to watch films this weekend: the Friday Night Reels at the Grand Marais Public Library on Friday and a film hosted by the Grand Marais Film Society at the Arrowhead Center for the Arts on Saturday.
The library will be screening free films on every other Friday through March. They start at 6 pm. This week’s film is entitled “Sinners.” Here’s the trailer:
Refreshments will be available.
Some films contain graphic violence or offensive content. The Grand Marais Public Library does not endorse the views expressed by the films, and it strongly encourages community members to preview trailers and film details online to find the films that best match their preferences.
Here’s the list of upcoming films (Click on the link to see a preview.)
- Jan. 23: A Radiant Girl (2021), 1hr 38m.
- Feb. 6: Grave of the Fireflies (1988), 1h 28m.
- Feb. 20: A Complete Unknown (2024), 2h 21m.
- March 6: Ace in the Hole (1951), 1h 51m.
- March 20: Chinatown (1974), 2h 10m.
This month’s offering by the Grand Marais Film Society on Saturday was a winner at the Sundance Film Festival.
The Grand Marais Film Society will screen a film at the ACA at 7 pm Saturday.
To see a trailer and buy tickets, click here. The film starts at 7 pm.
On Monday, the North Shore Artists League Grand Marais Pod will hold a meeting at the Cook County Community Center from 3- 4:30 pm.
The North Shore Artists League will hold a meeting at the Community Center on Monday.
The theme of this month’s meeting is “Art and artists matter more than ever: Navigating the contemporary experience.” Artists and creatives of all media are encouraged to bring in pieces that are in process, are completed, or even ideas to discuss with the group.
While the event is sponsored by North Shore Artists League and will include members, these meetings are designed for anyone who is a creative or is interested to learn more about the artists who live in and around the North Shore. Artist Tim Vahle will lead the meeting. There is no cost to attend.
Exhibits:
The Johnson Heritage Post has opened a new exhibit in the gallery entitled Scenes of the North Shore, featuring works from its permanent collection.
This is the gallery’s first major exhibition of the year, and it 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 from the JHP permanent collection with physical artifacts from the Cook County Historical Society’s archives and from the artists themselves.
Here are a few examples from the exhibit:
Justine Kerfoot, oil, by Howard Sivertson, is one of the pieces in the exhibit at the Heritage Post.
Logging Camp by Byron Bradley.
Untitled by Alicja Stoeger-Zamojska, oil on canvas.
The Art Gallery will be open during its regular hours this winter. They are Thursday through Saturday, 10 am to 4 pm, and Sunday, from 1-4 pm.
In Duluth, the Tweed Museum of Art‘s exhibit, “All Kinds of People” continues.
All Kinds of People, an exhibit at the Tweed from their permanent collection, is open through March.
“All Kinds of People” is the first installment in a series of permanent collection rotations that feature works organized within thematic areas. Drawn from the Tweed’s growing collection of about 11,000 objects, this rotation includes artists from the 17th century to the present day who approach portraiture and the depiction of people through the mediums of drawing, painting, sculpture, collage, photography, and printmaking. The title draws its name from a 1968 exhibition organized by influential curator Walter Hopps (1932 – 2005) at the Washington Gallery of Modern Art (Washington, DC). The salon-style exhibition of portraiture and figurative work was organized in response to the overwhelming predominance at the time of abstraction in contemporary culture.
Grand Marais plein air artist Neil Sherman is one of the artists exhibiting at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum in Chaska.
Moon Over Black Beach, oil, by Neil Sherman, is one of the pieces in the exhibit.
The exhibit, “Winter Quietude,” captures the hushed reverence of a forest and the tranquility of frozen lakes. The exhibit showcases the vibrant, ephemeral dance of light on landscapes and the glittering frost on branches. The artwork includes gouache, ink, and pastel of Susan Solomon, the oils of Ann Singsaas and Neil Sherman, and the woven natural fibers of Emily Wick.
The exhibit concludes with an Artist Reception from 1:30-3 pm on Jan 25. To see more and listen to the interview, click here.
The North Shore Music Association will host two Alpha Consumer Residency Concerts at North House Folk School on Jan. 16-17.
Two Alpha Consumer concerts are coming to North House.
The public concerts are part of a broader residency that also includes separate, hands-on workshops with Cook County Schools ISD 166 band students. Together, the residency brings artists, students, and community members together around improvisation, listening, and shared music-making.
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.
For more information and tickets, click here.
Opportunities
A Call for Photographs of Cook County
There’s a callout for photographs of Cook County.
Cook County is seeking proposals from photographers to provide high-quality digital images to be featured as a backdrop carousel for a community resource directory website. The name of the website will be “Thrive Together: A Cook County Community Resource Guide.” This is a cross-agency initiative, and the final product will be a site that is promoted by all partner agencies with the shared goal of helping residents more easily find and connect with available local resources. The photographs will be purchased, with a total budget allowance not to exceed $2,400.
All proposals submitted in response to this RFP must be received by Cook County no later than 4 p.m. on January 30th 2026, via email to grace.grinager@co.cook.mn.us . To find out more, click here.
Volunteers needed for the 2026 Gunflint Mail Run
Volunteers are needed for the Gunflint Mail Run.
The Gunflint Mail Run is always a great event. It will be held on Feb. 7. To find out more and volunteer, click here.
Artists at Work:
Christmas sketch by Charlotte Durie.
Moonlight, hand-painted bronze, by Jonathan Hateley.
Paradise Lost, pastel, pencil, and charcoal on poster board by Ron Benson.
Sketchbook by Kim Dayton.
Ready to weave. Photo by Carla Stetson, taken in Teotitlan del Valle, Mexico.
Ravens’ Tor, hand-colored linocut, 2025, Marielle Ebner-Rijke. Photo courtesy of John Cannell. (A tor is a rock outcropping.)
Frozen in Time, acrylic, 100-day project No 1 by Aaron Kloss.
Tossed by the Wind, oil, by Emily Carr.
Superior dreams, mural of Adam Swanson’s at the YMCA in Superior, Wis.
Luna Light, reduction linocut by Lisa Benson.
Online findings:
Surfing on Lake Superior
This is a great love story
Online Music:
Music Selections by Phil Oswald:
Live Music:
Thursday, January 8:
- Timmy Haus, Moguls Grille & Taproom, 4-6 pm
- Gordon Thorne, North Shore Winery, 6-8 pm
- Jim Miller, Charlie’s Alpine Bistro, 6:30-9 pm
Friday, January 9:
- Bump Blomberg, Moguls Grille & Taproom, 4-6 pm
- Gregg Hall, Lofty Gondola at Lutsen Mountains, 3-6 pm
- Ginger Bones, Cascade Lodge Restaurant & Pub, 6-8 pm
- Briand Morrison, Charlie’s Alpine Bistro, 6:30-9 pm
- Jim Elverhoy & John Cron, Bluefin Grille, 7-9 pm
- Timmy Haus, Lofty Gondola at Lutsen Mountains, 8:30-11 pm
Saturday, January 10:
- Gregg Hall, Lofty Gondola at Lutsen Mountains, 3-6 pm
- Emma Tweten, Cascade Lodge Restaurant & Pub, 6-8 pm
- Joe Paulik, Charlie’s Alpine Bistro, 6:30-9 pm
- Between Howls & Cigarette Picnic, Up Yonder, 8-11 pm
Sunday, January 11:
- Pete Kavanaugh, Charlie’s Alpine Bistro, 6:30-9 pm
Monday, January 12:
- Robin Sunquiet, Voyageur Brewing Company, 5-7 pm
- Gordon Thorne, Charlie’s Alpine Bistro, 6:30-9 pm
- Briand Morrison, Bluefin Grille, 7-9 pm
Tuesday, January 13:
- Eric Frost, North Shore Winery, 4:30-6:30 pm
- Open Stage hosted by Pete K, Up Yonder, 6-8 pm
- Pat Eliasen, Charlie’s Alpine Bistro, 6:30-9 pm
- Community Singing, Log Cabin at the Grand Marais Community Center, 7 pm
- Bump Blomberg, Charlie’s Alpine Bistro, 6:30-9 pm
Thursday, January 15:
- Timmy Haus, Moguls Grille & Taproom, 4-6 pm
- Gordon Thorne, North Shore Winery, 6-8 pm
- Jim Miller, Charlie’s Alpine Bistro, 6:30-9 pm
Friday, January 16:
- Billy Johnson, Lofty Gondola at Lutsen Mountains, 3-6 pm
- Pete Kavanaugh, Moguls Grille & Taproom, 4-6 pm
- Cherry Dirt, Cascade Lodge Restaurant & Pub, 6-8 pm
- Briand Morrison, Charlie’s Alpine Bistro, 6:30-9 pm
- John Gruber, Bluefin Grille, 7-9 pm
- Alpha Consumer, North House Folk School, Yellow Building, 7 pm
- Timmy Haus, Lofty Gondola at Lutsen Mountains, 8:30-11 pm
Saturday, January 17:
- Billy Johnson, Lofty Gondola at Lutsen Mountains, 3-6 pm
- John Kerns, Cascade Lodge Restaurant & Pub, 6-8 pm
- Joe Paulik, Charlie’s Alpine Bistro, 6:30-9 pm
- Alpha Consumer, North House Folk School, Yellow Building, 7 pm
- MYsterious WAYs, Up Yonder, 8-11 pm
- Timmy Haus, Lofty Gondola at Lutsen Mountains, 8:30-11 pm
Sunday, January 18:
- Pete Kavanaugh, Charlie’s Alpine Bistro, 6:30-9 pm
Photographs:
Wildlife:
Eastern Cottontail Rabbit by Bill Marchel.
A pair of beauties by David Johnson.
Snowy Owl by Paul Ostrum.
When another year is creeping up on you by John Myers.
Manatees gather at Crystal River, Fla. Photo courtesy of Accuweather.
Arrow Crab by Amy Freeman. See the video here.
Watching and listening by Paul Ostrum.
Yesterday at 3:45 pm by Chris Artist.
It’s that time again by Chris Artist.
A coyote follows a deer trail for easy passage in winter by Bill Marchel.
Golden Eyes hanging out in the Grand Marais Harbor, courtesy of the Lake Superior Trading Post.
The Bobcat Cafe in our backyard by Jim Boyd.
Yum! A winter snack. Photo courtesy of the Lake View Natural Dairy.
The Raven by Chris Artist.
Peoplescapes
2 and 1/2-year-old granddaughter wanted to paint my nails to match my blue eyes by Layne Kennedy.
The best Christmas present in the form of a tnyself by Lori Sparkly Franklin.
Beach diary by Uwais Chaudhry. To see more of his work, click here.
5 years! by Sierra Parsons.
Tom Kasper rolls out dough for pizza and cinnamon rolls to feed 200 at the Damiano Center in Duluth. He says: “When your heart is called to serve, no task is insurmountable!”.
Challenges of working on an icy deck by Paul Sundberg.
Potpourri:
Wishing us all a new year filled with love, light, joy, good health, peace, prosperity, and perfect pours by Maryl Skinner.
Frost-free season in Grand Marais, 1925-2025 by Bryan Hansel
On the high seas of Lake Superior in a winter storm by Donald F. Donovan, 2007.
Hot chocolate donut on an otherwise cold day by Adam Malmanger.
Wolf Moon in sheep’s clothing by Jeanne Marie Hedstrom.
Skyscapes, Landscapes, Icescapes, & Waterscapes:
The Wizard Nebula (known as SH2-142 or NGC 7380) by Jill Beim.
Lake Superior sunrise at -13 by Sam Cook.
Christmas lights on Lake Superior by Bryan Hansel.
New Year ice by Hayes Scriven.
Full Moon Rising by Ken Harmon.
For 2026 by Adam Malmanger.
Wolf moon at St. Paul’s cathedral Ben Whitley.
Jan 5, 2023 by Nathan Klok.
Ice-covered 0re boat passes close-by. Photo by Paul Sundberg.
Ice in Two Harbors by Matthew Pastick.
Winter’s Art by Roxanne Distad.
Grand Marais Ice by Hayes Scriven.
Ice in the Harbor by Paul Sundberg.
Frozen breath of a doe streams behind her as she gallops across a forest clearing by Bill Marchel.
Have a great weekend, everyone!
This would be a good time to contribute to North Shore ArtScene, your weekly source for arts and entertainment news. Just click on the icon below to donate. And Thank You!
A big Thank You! to Jeremy Lopez, tech support, the Live Music Schedule, and Yvonne Mills, proofreading, for their contributions to this issue. And a big Thank You to Visit Cook County for its great Events Calendar.