Nice cool morning salad by David Johnson.
Greetings from the North Shore where this pretty stellar summer weather continues. A little rain and sun and heat equals thriving gardens and happy campers, so let’s go with that.
Meanwhile, the summer art festivals have come and gone, successful events, as far as we can tell, and the biggest in the county, the Art Along the Lake Fall Studio Tour, promises to be outstanding this year. It will be held from Sept. 27-Oct. 6 in studios and galleries around the county.
The Art Along the Lake: Fall Studio Tour is from Sept. 27 – Oct. 6 this year.
To see who will be participating, click here.
Meanwhile, there are music festivals, summer theatre, art opportunities and more, and the 95th annual Fisherman’s Picnic is set for Aug. 1-4 in Grand Marais.
We have lots of opportunities to learn more about the environment here in the county, too, including Forest Service presentations held throughout the summer, and this Thursday, a special talk about aquatic invasive species at the Grand Marais Public Library.
Amanda Weberg will give a presentation on aquatic invasive species on Thursday at the library. She is holding up a Rusty Crayfish.
Amanda Weberg, Aquatic Invasive Species Program supervisor, will give a talk about aquatic invasive species in the county at 10:30 am at the library.
The program explores why we should care about invasive species, how to identify them, how to prevent them from spreading and, of course, how to sing to them! Deepen your sense of appreciation and stewardship for Minnesota’s lakes and waterways with this all-ages program. Free and open to all.
On Thursday night, Joy and Company will feature a White Art Box for Art Night.
It’s White Box Art Night at Joy and Company on Thursday.
The box will contain art supplies for a project and participants are invited to create with it. Art Night runs from 3:30-5 pm and is free, with a suggested $5 donation. Open to all.
Also on Thursday, the Grand Marais Farmer’s Market will be held in the parking lot of the Community Center from 4:30-6 pm.
The Grand Marais Farmer’s Market will be held in the parking lot of the Cook County Community Center from 4:30-6 p.m.
Look for locally grown produce, baked goods, including bread, fresh flowers and more. SNAP is accepted.
The Grand Marais Playhouse presents Curtain Up! by Peter Quilter, in repertory (alternating performances) with I’ll Be Back Before Midnight, by Peter Colley, part of the 2024 Grand Marais Summer Theater Festival, July 18 – Aug. 11 at the Arrowhead Center for the Arts.
The Grand Marais Playhouse‘s Summer Theater Festival begins this weekend.
The two plays, I’ll Be Back Before Midnight and Curtain Up, will be performed in repertory at the ACA.
For tickets and more info , click here.
And the North Shore Swing Band will perform at Up Yonder on Thursday from 7-9 pm for Jazz Night.
The North Shore Swing Band plays for Jazz Night at Up Yonder on Thursday at 7 pm. Photograph by Carah Thomas.
In Lutsen, the Lutsong Music Festival featuring a variety of bands, a craft fair, kids games, food and more will be held from July 18-21 on a number of different venues on Ski Hill Road. Caribou Highlands is the host.
The Lutsong Music Festival on Ski Hill Road starts Thursday and continues through the weekend.
The Caribou Highlands Great Lawn will host artisans, musicians, and music lovers all weekend with two stages, a vendor village, food, drink, and fun.
Head down the hill to the North Shore Winery main stage each night for the headliner act. After those headliner shows you can take the shuttle back to Caribou Highlands for the Caribou Campfire Guitar Pull. See the Live Music schedule below for more info.
In Duluth, the Duluth Playhouse opens Dolly Parton’s musical, 9-5, at the Norshor Theater.
9-5 The Musical opens at the Norshor Theater in Duluth on Thursday.
Performances are Thursday through Sunday through July 28. Get tickets here.
Friday is busy.
The North Shore Water Festival will be held on the harbor July 19-21 featuring opportunities to receive instruction on and try out watercraft, and more.
The North Shore Water Festival is on the harbor in Grand Marais this weekend.
The three-day event is free. For more information, click here.
The Biggest Blueberry Contest starts on the Gunflint Trail this weekend.
The Biggest Blueberry Contest starts Friday.
For information about prizes, weigh stations and more, click here.
The Johnson Heritage Post will host the opening reception for the exhibit, Of Place and Time, from 5-7 pm Friday.
Of Place and Time, an exhibit of work by Linda Ricklefs Baudry and Paula Gustafson will open at the Heritage Post on Friday.
The exhibit features work by local artists Paula Gustafson and Linda Ricklefs Baudry.
Celebrating light, life, and the vibrant landscapes we all love here on the North Shore, Baudry and Gustafson have put together an expansive collection featuring the wide range of their carefully honed paintings. Refreshments will be served. The exhibit continues through Aug. 11.
Also on Friday, artist Dan Mondloch will give a painting demo at the Grand Marais Art Colony‘s Studio 21 from 5-6 pm.
Watercolorist Dan Mondloch will give a painting demo at Studio 21 on Friday.
In this watercolor demo, he will go over a basic way to view landscapes that immediately makes them easier to paint. He will also will share how to create and use a value study and reveal a great trick on how to figure out what colors to use in any scene. Free and open to all. This activity is sponsored in part by our local art supply store and business partner, Joy and Company.
Saturday events begin in the parking lot of The Hub, where Cook County Market vendors will set up their tents from 10 am to 2 pm.
The Cook County Market is from 10 am to 2 pm in the parking lot of The Hub.
Look for pottery and paintings, jewelry, rock art, baked goods, handmade balms, leatherwork and more. The market is open to all.
Also on Saturday, Drury Lane Books will host an Author Meet and Greet with Kristin Nilsen, author of Worldwide Crush from 11 am to 1 pm.
Kristin Nilsen will be at Drury Lane Books on Saturday.
Nilsen is an erstwhile librarian, collector of crush stories, and the author of Worldwide Crush, a middle grade novel inspired by her own childhood crush on Shaun Cassidy. She co-hosts The Pop Culture Preservation Society, a weekly podcast celebrating the cultural nuggets of the classic Gen X childhood.
This event is free, open to the public, and mobility aid accessible.
Also on Saturday, Cary Griffith, author of Gunfint Falling, will be at the Lake Superior Trading Post from, 1-3 pm, and at the Seagull Lake Community Center on Sunday at 2 pm.
Cary Griffith, author of Gunflint Falling, will be at the Lake Superior Trading Post on Saturday.
Cary Griffith.
Griffith has written three nonfiction books, including Lost in the Wild, Opening Goliath, and Gunflint Burning: Fire in the Boundary Waters (Minnesota, 2018). His novels include Wolf Kill, Cougar Claw, and Killing Monarchs. He is the recipient of a Minnesota Book Award and a Midwest Book Award.
On Saturday at 6 pm, the historic Clearwater Lodge will celebrate its 98th anniversary.
Clearwater Lodge celebrates its 98th on Saturday.
The North Shore Swing Band will perform from 7 – 9 pm. Snacks, lemonade and coffee will be provided. Beer and Wine will be for sale. All donation proceeds once again benefit YMCA Camp Menogyn. The public is invited.
On Sunday, Joy and Company will host a new vendor of watercolor paints with demos and giveaways from 4-6 pm.
Stoneground Paints will give a presentation at Joy and Company on Sunday. Click here to view a mixing video.
The Stoneground Paint Co crafts its watercolor paint by combining hand-ground particles of pigment(minerals) with a binder made from water, gum Arabic, and local wildflower Canadian honey. The public is invited.
Music by the Lake, a summer evening event at Skyport Lodge will be held this Sunday featuring live music and a buffet.
Music by the Lake, the summer music series at Skyport Lodge, will start at 4 pm Sunday.
Also on Sunday, there will be a Full Moon Reading at Drury Lane Books from 6-8 pm.
A Full Moon Reading will be held at Drury Lane Books from 6-8 pm on Sunday.
This is an Open Mic event, and the public is invited to bring a poem or short passage to share. It will be held by the bonfire outside the shop. Open to all.
Artist Adam Swanson will give a painting demo at Studio 21 from 5-6 pm on Wednesday.
Adam Swanson will give an artist talk at Studio 21 on Wednesday.
Swanson will talk about his work and process, how he uses color and symbol as well as how he encourages creativity through daily practice.
He is a painter and muralist fascinated by the way science fiction suggests a future for humanity transformed by major environmental changes and technological innovations. His invented landscapes ask viewers to consider unfamiliar places, such as the lines between true and false, fiction and documentation, natural growth and urban development.
Currently, Swanson is a member of the Twin Ports Art Science Collaborative and his work has been influenced by researchers and activists from the Lake Superior watershed and the SPRUCE climate change project in the Chippewa National Forest.
This activity is sponsored in part, by our local art supply store and business partner: Joy and Company.
Exhibits:
Embodying the North Shore, an exhibit of works by a collection of well-known North Shore artists, continues at Studio 21.
The Grand Marais Art Colony‘s Summer Exhibition continues at Studio 21.
Artists exhibiting in the show include: Betsy Bowen, Jim Brandenburg, Dave Gilsvik, Keith Havens, Gene Martz, Lee and Dan Ross, Elaine Sivertson, Howard Sivertson, Liz Sivertson and Jan Sivertson.
The Art Colony is also exhibiting works in its Gallery Store. This month, photographer Mary Stafford is exhibiting a series of photographs entitled “Grace in the Garden.”
Mary Stafford has a photography exhibit at the Grand Marais Art Colony Gallery Store through July.
The exhibit continues through the end of the month. Free and open to the public.
At Tettegouche State Park, pastel artists Michelle Wegler and Cheryl LeClair-Sommer are exhibiting work in the Great Hall.
Where Trout Run, pastel, by Michelle Wegler.
The exhibit continues through the end of July. Open to all. Free.
Upcoming:
Next Friday and Saturday, July 26 & 27, The Grand Marais Music Collaborative will host the Stars of the North Music Festival at Up Yonder.
Stars of the North Music Festival is at Up Yonder July 26-27.
This annual fundraising concert supports the GMMC’s Youth Music Program, providing free music lessons for youth, from established local musicians. The two day festival will feature many cornerstone local musicians as well as special guests. This year’s festival will be held at the outside music venue at Up Yonder. (The festival will move inside at Up Yonder if the weather doesn’t cooperate.
The Grand Marais Garden Club will hold its annual Flower Show at the Community Center on Saturday, July 27.
The Grand Marais Garden Club will present its annual flower show at the Community Center on Saturday, July 27.
It will be a 90th anniversary Garden Party. Stay tuned.
Textile artists from India will be in residence at North House Folk School July 27.
Textile artists from India coming to North House.
The visiting artists will give demos from 10 am to 3 pm Saturday, July 27. Click here to learn more.
The 95th annual Fisherman’s Picnic is Aug 1-4. Contests, craft fairs, fish burgers, a parade and more are featured in this annual get-together.
Fisherman’s Picnic is Aug 1-4 this year.
Kudos:
Weavers Wilber Quispe Huaman and Gwendi Raymond won Best in Show at the Grand Marais Arts Festival. Photo by Dennis Chick.
Watercolorist Katie Bromme won Best Booth at the Arts Festival. Photo by Dennis Chick.
Artists At Work:
Just Relaxing, painted by Michele Flynn, is one of her works at the North Shore Hospital.
Untitled, acrylic by Ron Piercy.
Paula Sundet’s studio is open for the season. Hours vary.
Print by Patricia Canelake. Her show, Women Walking on Water, is on view at Duluth Pottery and Tile in Duluth.
Emerald City watercolor, by Charlotte Durie.
Painter Margie Helstrom will open an exhibit at Studio 21 Sept 7.
Collage (detail) by Sharon Leah.
New colors. New finds at the Art Fair by Mary Beams.
Untitled, acrylic, by Martin DeWitt.
Beaded medallion by Sierra Kash, Mvskoke Creek Nation.
Online Findings:
Mark Zierath talks about his music and plays a few songs on WTIP’s The Scenic Route. Click to listen.
Snorkeling in the Grand Marais Harbor
Sparky Stensaas Adventuring and Birding in California
Online Music:
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Live Music
Thursday, July 18:
- Gordon Thorne and “The Interlopers”, The Clubhouse at Superior National Golf Course, 6-8 pm
- Bump Blomberg, Gunflint Tavern’s Rooftop Bar, 6-9 pm
- Lutsong Music Festival, Various Venues in Lutsen
- The Scarlet Goodbye Duo, North Shore Winery Stage, 6-6:45 pm
- Sarah Morris, North Shore Winery Stage, 7-8 pm
- North Shore Swing Band, Up Yonder, 7-9 pm
Friday, July 19:
- Sloe Gin, Gunflint Tavern Raven’s Nest, 8-11 am
- Lutsong Music Festival, Various Venues in Lutsen
- Stonebridge Singers, Caribou Highlands Tent Stage, 3:30-3:55 pm
- The Brothers Burn Mountain, Caribou Highlands Tent Stage, 4-4:45 pm
- Molly Maher’s Open Road, Caribou Highlands Tent Stage, 5-5:45 pm
- Alpha Consumer, Caribou Highlands Tent Stage, 6-6:50 pm
- Joe Pug, Caribou Highlands Tent Stage, 7:30-8:35 pm
- Caribou Campfire Guitar Pull, Caribou Highlands Tent Stage, 9-11 pm
- Medicine River Band, Birch Terrace Supper Club, 4-8 pm
- Rich Lewis Band, Up Yonder, 8:30-11:30 pm
Saturday, July 20:
- Briand Morrison, Cook County Saturday Market (Senior Center Parking Lot), 10 am
- Lutsong Music Festival, Various Venues in Lutsen
- Morning Hike and Concert with Sarah Morris, Caribou Highlands Tent Stage, 9:30-11 am
- Ryan Holweger, Caribou Highlands Tent Stage, 12-12:45 pm
- Ferris Wheel Moon, Caribou East Stage, 12:45-1:15 pm
- The Holy North, Caribou Highlands Tent Stage, 1:15-2 pm
- Haley E Rydell, Caribou East Stage, 2-2:30 pm
- Maygen and Birdwatcher Trio, Caribou Highlands Tent Stage, 2:30-3:15 pm
- Nikki Lemire, Caribou East Stage, 3:30-4 pm
- Laamar, Caribou Highlands Tent Stage, 4:15-5 pm
- Lutsong Community Jamalong, Caribou East Stage, 5-5:30 pm
- Clare Doyle, Caribou Highlands Tent Stage, 5:30-6:30 pm
- Ryan Necci & the Buffalo Gospel, North Shore Winery, 7:30-8:35 pm
- Metal/ Foundry Demo with Greg Mueller, Caribou Highlands Tent Stage, 9 pm
- Caribou Campfire Guitar Pull, Caribou Highlands Tent Stage, 9-11 pm
- Rich Lewis Band, Gunflint Tavern’s Rooftop Bar, 7-10 pm
Sunday, July 21
- Medicine River, Gunflint Tavern Raven’s Nest, 3-6 pm
- Lutsong Music Festival, Caribou Highlands
- Ben Suchy’s Folk Brunch, Caribou Highlands Tent Stage, 10-11:30 pm
- Rich Lewis Band, North Shore Winery, 3:30-5:30 pm
- Black River Revue (BRR), North Shore Winery, 3-6 pm
- Timmy Haus, Moguls Grille and Tap Room, 5-7 pm
- Morning Bird, Raven Rock Grill at Skyport Lodge, 6-8 pm
- Joe Paulik, Gunflint Tavern Raven’s Nest, 6-9 pm
Monday, July 22:
- Martha Marnocha, Harbor Park, 1:30-3 pm
Tuesday, July 23:
- Roxann Berglund, Harbor Park, 1:30-3 pm
- Briand Morrison, Harbor Park, 3-4:30 pm
- Eric Frost, North Shore Winery, 5-7 pm
- Joe Paulik, Bluefin Bay behind Bluefin Grille campfire on the beach, 6-9 pm
- Open Stage, Up Yonder, 6-9 pm
Wednesday, July 24:
- Joe Paulik, Gunflint Tavern Raven’s Nest, 6-9 pm
xThursday, July 25:
- Pat Eliasen, Raven Rock Grill at Skyport Lodge, 6-8 pm
- Bump Blomberg, Gunflint Tavern’s Rooftop Bar, 6-9 pm
- Gordon Thorne, North Shore Winery, 6:30-8:30 pm
Friday, July 26:
- Stars of the North Music Festival, Up Yonder, 3-10 pm
- Pat Eliasen
- Briand Morrison & Roxanne Berglund
- Zahir Roman Orest
- The Evening Stars
- MYsterious WAYs, Birch Terrace Supper Club, 5-8 pm
- Timmy Haus, Moguls Grille and Tap Room, 7-9 pm
Saturday, July 27:
- Pat Eliasen, Cook County Saturday Market (Senior Center Parking Lot), 10 am
- Stars of the North Music Festival, Up Yonder, Noon-10 pm
- Kenna Rose
- Linden Blomberg
- Bump Blomberg
- Portage
- Fred Anderson Trio
- Moonshot
- Hesper Grit & The Embers
- Emma Tweten
- Zulu Link
- Dre aka The Jamaican
- Kenna Rose, Gunflint Tavern’s Rooftop Bar, 2-4 pm
- Adam Moe, Bluefin Bay behind Bluefin Grille campfire on the beach, 6-9 pm
- Pat Eliasen, Moguls Grille and Tap Room, 7-9 pm
Sunday, July 28
- Medicine River, Gunflint Tavern Raven’s Nest, 3-6 pm
- Paul Lawrence, North Shore Winery, 3:30-5:30 pm
- Timmy Haus, Moguls Grille and Tap Room, 5-7 pm
- Zulu Link, Raven Rock Grill at Skyport Lodge, 6-8 pm
- Joe Paulik, Gunflint Tavern Raven’s Nest, 6-9 pm
Photographs:
Here is a selection of photos we found this week:
Wildlife:
Sawfly by Lori Erickson.
White-tailed Fawns by Paul Sundberg.
Western dusky slug. Not native by Lori Erickson.
Albino Deer and Fawn, Hennepin State Park by Paul Sundberg.
Flowerscapes & Mushroomscapes
A Beauty by Kristofer Bowman.
Dragon’s Mouth Orchid by Sandra Updyke.
Mushrooms on a cedar tree by Chuck Olsen.
Fungi by Chuck Olsen.
At Superior National Forest by Chuck Olsen.
Methuselah’s beard lichen, a rare find on the North Shore and the longest lichen species in the world, is what I was told. Photo by Chuck Olsen.
Lovely Clematis by Roxanne Distad.
Chanterelles just starting on the Arrowhead. I like the early ones, no bugs by Lin Salisbury.
Potpourri:
I love a Pow Wow by Mike Dubois.
Harbor hardware by Bryan Hansel.
Landscapes, Waterscapes & Cloudscapes:
Wooded glory by Chuck Olsen.
A focus on beauty by Roxanne Distad.
Wildflowers by marsh by Chuck Olsen.
That International Space Station keeps photobombing my photos by Bryan Hansel.
Something beautiful going on in the sky above the Grand Marais campground by David Grinstead.
Fall River by Bryan Hansel.
A good day for an art festival by Mark Tessier.
Classic Lake Superior Rock camping by Bryan Hansel.
Have a great weekend, everyone!
Greetings! We’d love to hear from you. You can make a contribution to NorthShore ArtScene by clicking on the icon below. Thank you!
A contribution also thanks those who help with ArtScene including Jeremy Lopez, Live Music schedule, tech advice; Yvonne Mills, proofreading; and Kari Carter, photo captions. We all appreciate your support.