This Weekend: Lake Superior Studio Art Tour -- Places To Go, Artists To See, And More

(Photo courtesy John Heino Photography)

There is nothing quite like Lake Superior's North Shore in the fall. The autumn colors get vibrant and some of the vistas take your breath away. That's why a number of lake-inspired artists have banded together to open their North Shore studios in unison on this special weekend. Here is a brief summary of places to go and studios to see.

Lake Superior 20/20 Studio Art Tour

The shorter of the two tours, Lake Superior 20/20 Studio Tour is now in its fourth year. The self-guided tour offers visitors the opportunity to see a wide range of local artistic expression while taking in the beauty here in our region. Glass, ceramics, watercolor, woodworking, oil and acrylic paintings, printmaking, jewelry, and photography, round out the work that will be for sale during the tour.

This is the second week of a two-weekend event. The list of participating artists can be found on this page and a link to the map is up on the masthead. The Husby studio (Bob and Cheryl) is among those listed. It should be a requirement for every home to own at least one of their pieces. (We have two.)

Lake Superior 20/20 artist studios are all located between Lakeside and Two Harbors.

Crossing Borders Studio Tour

More ambitious North Shore connoisseurs will want to consider The Crossing Borders Studio Tour. This is also a two weekend tour, beginning this weekend and finishing next. The art stops stretch from Duluth to Thunder Bay, and the vistas are spectacular in between. Stops along the way include studios near Lutsen, Grand Marais, Hovland and Portage. If you can find a hotel room up north, you might want to make a two-day affair of it.

The artists in this group do miracles in ceramic, glass, stone, printmaking and other media. If you're driving up Highway 61 this weekend, be sure to download a map and print it out before you leave. This is the 19th year of the Crossing Borders tour and the forecast is looking very good.

More Lake Superior Inspiration from Holy Cow! Press

Next Thursday, October 1, there will be readings from Amethyst and Agate: Poems of Lake Superior The event takes place at Peace Church, 1111 North 11th Avenue East, Duluth from 7 to 9 p.m.

Artists and tourists aren't the only ones inspired by our region's wonders. Poets and musicians have produced wonderful work under the Northland's spell. In addition to readings by twenty of the anthology poets, Peace Church congregant Wendy Durrwachter will share her original piano composition "Four Tone Poems: A Meditation on Lake Superior." There will be refreshments and books for sale. The event is free and open to the public. (For more information, please contact Holy Cow! Press, holycow@holycowpress.org, 218-724-1653.)

Amethyst and Agate: Poems of Lake Superior is edited by Jim Perlman, Deborah Cooper, Mara Hart, Pamela Mittlefehldt and includes 70 poems by contemporary poets such as Heid E. Erdrich, Kimberly Blaeser, James Armstrong, and Sara Thomsen, et al. who live near and/or have been inspired by Lake Superior. A gallery of full color images of Lake Superior adds to this unique presentation of culturally rich writings.

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Last night the thought crossed my mind that NASA should have included at least one poet amongst the astronauts whom they have shuttled into space. Maybe this oversight will be rectified on their upcoming adventure to Mars.

Meantime, art goes on all around you. Celebrate it.