Local Art Seen: Grand Re-Opening at the Tweed

The new space is light and inviting.

Ten days ago there was a grand opening reception for the re-opening of the Tweed Museum of Art on the campus of UMD here in Duluth. I missed it. I was on a plane headed east to the wedding of a niece. Fortunately, I had the opportunity to visit on Saturday afternoon and the everything looks great.

Word on the street is that the best time to see the art at the Tweed is to avoid the receptions and go on a Saturday when the museum is quiet and you have room to situate yourself in front of the various pieces and study them. (The receptions are for fraternizing with the artists, who do not live in the galleries, and for catching up with friends.) This month's re-opening was especially jammed so it became almost impossible to move, or see the art. But that's also great, seeing that the museum has a lot of friends of the arts.

Being the special occasion that it was there were speeches by Ken Bloom, by Duluth Mayor Emily Larson, museum curator Dr. Karissa White and others, as well as special music by the Sound of Strings Duo. Unlike other opening receptions at the Tweed, which are coordinated with various exhibitions, this event kicked off a total facelift for the walls of all exhibit rooms including the main hall and balconies. It's a must see for this summer if you've got any free time at all.

Jeffrey T. Larson, classic self portrait.

There are three new exhibits on display at this time. Domestic Space is a large collection of paintings by super-realist painter Jeffrey T. Larson. All This Is True is in the section usually utilized for student exhibitions. The works by Coe and Colescott are political, imaginative, thought-provoking and shocking. Upstairs on the balcony area is Vance Gellert's Iron Country. Gellert is a photographer, and his lens is pointed to sites and scenes on the Iron Range.

The new Tweed space is light and inviting. Its collection has nearly 8,000 pieces, and one begins to see the depth when they rotate all the walls like this. There is much to see. It's clearly a major undertaking, but has been worth the wait.

Much more can be said about the new look of the Tweed and the current exhibits, but we'll save that for another time. Do take part of an afternoon to check it out. It's a real gift to our community to have an art museum of this caliber here. Thank you to all who make it happen.

"Rose Print" -- Oil on canvas by J. Larson

Photography by Gellert

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