Local Art Seen: This Year's DAI Biennial Stretches Boundaries

Yuta Uchida, "Donburi

If you were unable to attend the annual Member Show Opening at the Duluth Art Institute in January, then you likely missed Vern Northrup's Akinomaage in the Morrison Gallery and the 2019 Biennial in the John Steffl Gallery on the 4th floor landing. Here are a few images from the 62nd Arrowhead Regional Biennial in the hopes that you will be enticed to check it out sometime soon. Of the 70+ submissions 26 artists were selected. Jehra Patrick was this year's juror and the winning submissions were original and noteworthy.

As the saying goes, "every picture tells a story" and many are quite pointed, speaking to contemporary issues with fresh imagery.

Juliane Shibata. "Daisies" . First Prize

"Daisies" (detail)

Richard Coburn "Christie" // Kip Praslowicz "Dunlap Island"

Karen Owsley Nease "L'Origine du monde - day"

Robb Quisling  "Ice Knot"

Thomas Rauschenfels . "#MeToo"

Larry Turbes . "Released"

The list of artists whose work is featured in this show include Andrew Amundsen, Shelley Breitzmann, Patricia Canelake, Soojin Choi, Richard Colburn, Wynn Davis, Matt Drissell, Lisa Gordillo, Richard Johnson, Stefanie Kiihn, Jennica Kruse, Araela Kumaraea, Dale Lucas, Eric Mueller, Karen Nease, Cathryn Peters, Kip Praslowicz, Robb Quisling, Thomas Rauschenfels, Wendy Rouse, Juliane Shibata, Larry Turbes, Yuta Uchida, John Ulrich, Kimberlee Whaley, and Joshua Wilichowski.

For what it's worth, you can still see the Member Show in the Great Hall through next Sunday. The Biennial will remain on display into March.

Meantime art goes on all around you. Get into.

March Arts Events for the Twin Ports. Spring is in the Air!

It's March! Even though there is snow in the forecast, the soul gets buoyant as we see winter's days are numbered. The first day of SPRING is in sight… now less than three weeks away. We also have Two Full Moons this month. Woo hoo!

Before sharing the month's calendar of Arts Events I'd like to make note that the Duluth Dylan Fest has announced a CALL FOR ART for this year's DDF, May 19-28. The theme for Dylan Fest this year is Twins (Duluth-born Robert Zimmerman is a Gemini and he will be 77 in May.) The Dylan Fest Art Show theme is VISIONS OF DULUTH. Even though Bob Dylan left the Northland as a youth, the Northland never left Bob Dylan. Echoes of our North Country have appeared in his songs for more than five decades. For more details visit my January call for art blog post. If you are planning to contribute we'd like to hear from you. Please send a note to Susan Laing [ isusan AT iinet DOT net DOT au ] or Ed Newman [ ennyman3 AT gmail DOT com ], co-directors of the art event.

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IN FACT, let's mention a few additional ongoing activities before diving in with the day-to-day list of scheduled events. First, Sunday evening at 9:00 p.m. is the kickoff of a five-week television event that excites a lot of people because it as filmed INSIDE our Historic Duluth Armory. I was talking with someone about this last night who said, "I'll bet the place is filled with the ghosts of everyone who ever performed there." Interesting thought, because that would be quite a playlist. The program is called Night at the Armory and you can read about it here.

Bill Bastian at the Magnolia Salon

Next, I have to plug the ongoing series of events taking place inside Carlton's Oldenburg House, bearing the name of Magnolia Salon. The backstory here is that in 1920s and 30s Paris Alice B. Toklas and Gertrude Stein were not only patrons of the arts, but they also opened their living room as a gathering place for artists and intellectuals to meet, interact, dialogue. (I simply love the re-creation of this special place in time in the film Midnight In Paris.) Did you know that the French word Salon means Living Room in English? Check it out. Most of your life you thought of the Paris salons as night clubs or someplace you go and hang like a cafe? So the Swansons, Glenn and Emily, have been opening their salon on Thursday evenings, sharing discussions and experiences around various aspects of creativity and hygge (a comfort word from the Danish.) Last night top-tier tenor Bill Bastian shared his talents, with voice and Telecaster. Through the rest of the spring, till Memorial Day weekend, the Magnolia Salon will be gathering on Thursdays from 6:00-9:00. You can read more here.

Friday, March 2, 6-7:30 p.m., Youth Art Month Exhibition Reception, Whole Foods Co-op, Denfeld, 4426 Grand Avenue
Throughout March the Duluth Art Institute will recognize the artistic achievements of area K-12 youth in the annual "Youth Art Month" exhibition. Over the course of two months, the Education Director and Curator will visit nearly a dozen regional schools--including those in Duluth, Hermantown, and Cloquet--to select the work to feature in the show. The opening celebration will include free artist demos. The exhibition will be on view through March 2018.

Saturday, March 3, 10 a.m.-5 p.m., Hygge Market: An Artisan Event, Makers Mercantile, 58th Avenue West and Grand Avenue "Hygge (Hoo-ga); Origin: Danish
Definition: The Danish ritual of enjoying life's simple pleasures. Friends. Family. Graciousness. Contentment. Good feelings. A warm glow.
A taste of Hygge living in this outdoor winter market featuring over 20 artisans. Enjoy the unique qualities of the thriving Spirit Valley neighborhood in Duluth." FB Event Page

Mondays, March 5, 12, 19, 26: Duluth Song Circle, Beaner's Central, 324 N. Central Avenue (on Beaner's web site: scroll down to calendar for event listing) "Start your week off on a good note! Everyone welcome. No training needed!"

Tuesday, March 6, 6-8 p.m., Lessons in Bowl Making, DAI Lincoln Building, 2229 W. 2nd Street
Lack experience with clay but still want to contribute to the cause? Schedule a one-night lesson with our instructors. All bowls will be contributed to Empty Bowl. $35 fee includes one ticket to Empty Bowl plus instruction and supplies.

Thursday, March 8, 5-7 p.m., Artist Reception: Terraria Gigantica: the World Under Glass: Dana Fritz, DAI Morrison Gallery, The Depot, 506 W. Michigan Street
"The photographs in the series Terraria Gigantica: the World Under Glass frame the world's largest enclosed landscapes as possible impossibilities: Biosphere 2's ocean in the Arizona desert, the Henry Doorly Zoo's desert in the Great Plains of Nebraska, and Eden Project's tropical rain forest in notoriously gray and cool Cornwall, England. These vivaria are enclosed environments where plants are grown amidst carefully constructed representations of the natural world to entertain visiting tourists. At the same time, however, they support scientific observation and research on the plants and animals housed under these 'natural conditions' that require human control of temperature, humidity, irrigation, insects, and weeds to cultivate otherwise impossible environments and species. Taken together, these architectural and engineering marvels stand as working symbols of our current and complex relationship with the non-human world." On view: March 8-April 29.

Thursday, March 8, 5-7 p.m., Artist Reception: The Cut Worm Forgives the Plow: Russel Prather, DAI Steffl Gallery, The Depot, 506 W. Michigan Street
"Russel Prather earned first place in the 2016 Arrowhead Biennial and creates forms from ordinary objects that change radically depending on the viewers line of sight. Layering paper-thin polyester film painted with dots, lines and markings in acrylic medium, Pather's work is sequential and reads like pages in a book - infusing his study and teaching of literature into his sculptures. Fulbright scholar and English professor at Northern Michigan University, Prather specializes in British literary and visual culture of the eighteenth through early twentieth centuries and is inspired by the poetry and designs of William Blake." On view: March 8-April 29.

Saturday, March 10, 10 a.m.-3 p.m., Nice Girls of the North 2nd Saturday Marketplace, Lakeside Lester Park Community Center (the former Lakeside Library), 106 N. 54th Ave. East "Free coffee, cookies, and a friendly atmosphere await while you browse a collection of handcrafted clothing and bags, pottery, jewelry, stained glass, photography, personal care products, baby items and much more. One central checkout, most major credit cards accepted."

Friday, March 16 and Saturday March 17, Cookin' at the O in the Carlton Room at the Oldenburg House. Pippi is back! Cracklin' good evening of jazz and fine dining. Read more here and and get your tickets here.

Saturday, March 17, 10 a.m.-4 p.m., Glaze it!, DAI Lincoln Building, 2229 W. 2nd Street
Experienced ceramic glazer? Join our Glaze-a-Thon at the Duluth Art Institute's Lincoln Building!

Learn to Zentangle with Esther P.

Wednesday, March 21, 6:30-9:00 p.m., Zentangle (R) & Wine, Master Framing Gallery, 1431 London Road
Come experience the fun and relaxation of drawing simple, repetitive line patterns with pen and ink and pencil shading. No previous drawing experience necessary. Class Cost: $35; Supplies: $10 (or use supplies provided without additional cost). RSVP to episzczek@gmail.com. Seats are limited.

Friday, March 23, 8 p.m., Saltless Sea Cinema Presents: Nordic Drift, The Nordic Center, 23 N. Lake Avenue
"Saltless Sea Cinema is Duluth's new roaming micro-cinema series, screening avant-garde, underground or just plain rad films and videos, selected in secret under moonlight and revealed at the event. SSC Presents: Nordic Drift, will feature films from seven Nordic countries and territories, along with live musical accompaniment by Jacob Swanson. Cost: $10. Proceeds after cost will go to benefit the nonprofit Nordic Center." FB Event Page

Saturday, March 24, 10 a.m.-3 p.m., Treasures of the Earth, Green goods, Craft & Art Fair, Peace Church, 1111 N. 11th Avenue East "A marketplace with ~20 regional artists with handcrafted art, craft, or goods made of natural materials (wood, stone, fiber, etc.) or from recycled or reused materials."

Kay Kurt's candy elephant at Joseph Nease Gallery.

Monday, March 26, RSVP/Payment Deadline: Mondays, April 9-30, 6:30-9 p.m., Zentangle (R) Pattern Drawing, Advanced, Peace Church, 1111 N. 11th Avenue E.
This class is open to anyone who has taken Zentangle (R) Pattern Drawing with Esther in the past. Cost: $75 (includes supplies); Minimum: 5 students; Maximum: 10 students. RSVP and payment due by Monday, March 26: episzczek@gmail.com

Ongoing Art Exhibits
Window to the West Art Display, 2001 West Superior Street
"Photographer Nik Nerburn and painter Brad Tollefson are creating a collaborative art exhibit on the streets of West Duluth's Lincoln Park neighborhood, titled "Window to the West." A selection of Tollefson's paintings and Nerburn's photographs will be on display in the storefront windows of 2001 West Superior Street for six months, through a partnership between the Duluth Art Institute and the Duluth Housing and Redevelopment Agency, which owns the Seaway Hotel building." Exhibit runs through March 31, 2018.

Sweep, Art Exhibition Opening, Joseph Nease Gallery, 23 W. 1st Street "Joseph Nease Gallery is excited to announce its second exhibition, "Sweep", presenting the latest work of a group of experienced painters at a high point in their craft, "Sweep" is a regional and national survey of more than 20 contemporary painters."

"The exhibition features work by these notable artists: Alison Aune, Kirsten Aune, Robert Bingaman, James Brinsfield, Marcus Cain, Peter Granados, Christopher Harrison, Rachel Hayes, Matthew Kluber, Don Kottmann, Kay Kurt, Adam McCauley, Karen Owsley Nease, Heidi Pollard, Warren Rosser, Eric Sall, Rabbett before Horses Strickland, Jonathan Thunder, Mimi Chen Ting and Leah Yellowbird." Exhibit runs through May 31, 2018.

So Many Classes, So Little Time
When you look at this list I'm willing to bet that you had no idea how many new creative skills you could learn. Here is a non-exhaustive list of places where you can learn new talents from making jewelry to forging iron. 

Art on the Planet (painting)
Duluth Community Education (Arts, Crafts, Hobbies section)
Duluth Folk School (Pisanki: Polish Batik Eggs; tatted lace for beginners; sausage)
Duluth Maker Space (wire wrap jewelry, pottery, stone engraving, industrial sewing)
Great Lakes Aquarium (photography, drawing, watercolor, smelt making)
Historic Armory Annex (Forge Community)
Lake Superior Art Glasses (glass blowing: flamework and hotshop classes)
Market Day (lotion making, soap making)
On the Rocks Art Studio and Gallery (painting)
Otlak Felt Studio (Feltmaker Mary Reichert) (Private and small group classes available)
Pineapple Arts (art therapy classes)
Yarn Harbor (knitting, crochet, felting, weaving)

When all is said and done, there's a lot more to do than there is time... but it's nice to know what is out there. Thank you to Esther Piszczek for assembling most of the events and their details here. To learn more about her Zentangled expressions, follow her on Facebook.

FWIW, if you are an artist who wishes to preserve their work, CPL Imaging has the top scanning equipment and even if you do not sell giclee reproductions, your best work can be preserved for the future by having it scanned for posterity. And their photo restoration is nothing short of astonishing. I kid you not.

Almost Wordless Wednesday: 15 Pictures from Last Week's DAI Member Show 2018

Another Brian Barber character.

"Rain, Air, Watch, Feel" -- Susan Maguire

"Marimeko: For Women, By Women" Natalie Salminen Rude

"I See You" -- Christie Carter Eliason

"Cadillac" -- Edward Dean Anecki

"Nels J Incarnate" -- Matt Kania

"John" -- Ediward Michalski

"Winter Moon" --Marlene Miller

Karen Owsley Nease

"Alien Spaceship" -- Stephanie Wilcox

"Sisterhood" -- Sue Rauschenfels

There's much to see, and it's all free.

The Member Show in the Great Hall at the Depot

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

Local Art Seen: Ryan Tischer's New Gallery Has Opened for Business

An out-of-town guest takes in this view of North Shore

Thursday evening there were three receptions of note for friends of the arts in the Twin Ports. Christopher Dunn's opening at the Red Mug in Superior preceded the two Duluth openings by a half hour. At the DAI paintings by Paul LaJeunesse were displayed in the context of sculpted pieces by the Lake Superior Wood Turners in the Morrison Gallery while Faith King's presentation flowed through the Corridor Gallery space.

The proximity of the Duluth Art Institute to the newly opened Tischer Photographic Gallery made it convenient for many to take in both.

I first met Ryan Tischer when he was the Washington Gallery Committee Chair five years ago. Since that time he has actively shown his work in numerous local galleries, shows and exhibition spaces. With his subject matter primarily nature, the Tischer len does its best to capture a sense of the spectacular. By varying the surfaces on which he prints his images he capably produces varying effects.

The past two years, with assistance from the city, he set up temporary galleries for the holidays. This year, the Tischers -- Ryan and Aimee -- have made a commitment to open their store for more than a season here at 5 West Superior Street in the emerging arts district. It's a fairly major undertaking and the third local gallery to open in the past six weeks. In addition to selling his photography it would appear that they will also be offering additional services. Thursday's Grand Opening was clearly a success, the space crawling with friends, well-wishers and fans.

Though his camera is primarily focused on the ever resplendent Northland, he's also captured and brought home some striking imagery from the Southwest, Northwest and California. You can see and purchase many of his pictures here at his online gallery.

Gallery hours are as follows: Tues, Wed, & Sat 10-5, Thurs & Fri 10-6.

Iconic ice slats at dawn.

Intense... 

Visually compelling images.

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We have so many talented photographers here in our region, and it's easy to understand why. The region is simply so inspiring. 

If you're downtown doing a walkabout leading up to the holidays, 

stop in for a few minutes and check it out. This winter, should the weather 

be especially brisk, consider the Tischer space and Lizzard's as hot spots

to warm yourself before moving closer to your other destinations.

Carla Hamilton's Gezielt (Targeted) Creatively Makes Us Think and Gives Us Something To Talk About

When Carla Hamilton told me about the concept she was working on for the Duluth Art Institute show that's now installed I could hardly wait to see what she'd create. I had high expectations, having written about her previous shows at Washington Gallery and the Red Mug, but exactly what form the imagery would take was impossible to guess. It shouldn't have surprised me that she exceeded my expectations on all counts.

Christa Lawler's article in Thursday's DNT sufficiently captures the trigger event that led to this show, titled Gezielt (Targeted). What you'll learn if you read the story is that Hamilton had an unexpected encounter with police while out with friends last year.

Reflecting on that night.

Perhaps most striking are the unexpected juxtapositions. Though Josh Williams's two large photos of Duluth Police Chief Mike Tusken capture a cheerful playfulness, but the overall show is serious in intent. In two places we see displays of a set of hangman's nooses that link directly to the historic shame that occurred earlier in Duluth history. Her paintings and collages bear titles such as "Fear Equals Hate" and "Walking While Black" (which is the "crime" she committed.)

The quote she borrows from Mr. Rogers is about sharing responsibility. "We live in a world in which we need to share responsibility. It's easy to say, 'It's not my child, not my community, not my world, not my problem.' Then there are those who see the need and respond. I consider those people my heroes."

For me what is striking is how through a creative response to her eight-minute injustice (the length of time Hamilton was stopped by police and absurdly accused of bothering two white women, her friends whom she was out on the town with) a series of dialogues emerged. Though only a brief encounter with the police, the aftermath left her shaken. One picture is a life-sized image based on the camera footage she obtained from police as she was interrogated. After processing the experience she requested and received, from Chief Tusken, a roundtable meeting with the police department in which the officers came away with new perspectives.

The artist with Chief Tusken, an outing in the park. 

Mixed media piece with baby shoes.

But it's not just the police who have learned things through this encounter. One of the handouts in the exhibit is a publication of the National Black Police Assn. Inc. titled, "What To Do When Stopped By The Police." In addition to how to respond when stopped in your car or on the street, there are a dozen other DO's and DON'T's plus what to do when police knock at your door. As the saying goes, "Know your rights."

The overall tone is pitch perfect. The seriousness of the issues has not been obfuscated by the playfulness of some of the images. Hamilton acknowledges that she had a "full-blown panic attack" after the encounter. The trauma was real, but as the saying goes, "It's not what happens to you that matters as much as how you respond to it." She responded creatively, atypically.

The subject matter is not all fun and games.

In addition to the exhibition, located in the Steffl Gallery on the fourth floor balcony of the Depot, there will be an artist talk and community forum at 5:30 p.m. March 8 at The Underground. The panelists include Hamilton, Tusken, human rights officer Carl Crawford and Stephan Witherspoon of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

The show will be on display at the Duluth Art Institute through April 9.

For further reading: The Lynchings In Duluth by Michael Fedo. 

Design Duluth #2 Is Rich With Insights from Local Designers

Thursday evening HTK Marketing hosted the second of six Design Duluth events, with Cody Paulson, Matt Olin, Joe Gunderson and Tommy Kronquist as this edition's guest presenters. It was another stellar turnout with muchos kudos to the Duluth Art Institute staff for conceiving this series of events.

As with the first event held at Cirrus Design, Annie Dugan played the role of MC and moderator, introducing speakers and leading us through the evening's activities, which included a creative team exercise at the end. But to start the evening off Annie read from Barton Sutter's Cold Comfort: Life at the Top of the Map.

Bridges are to Duluth what skyscrapers are to New York. They define the place. We've got the Bong. We've got the Blatnik. We've got trestles and docks and piers. We've even got a road called Seven Bridges. But the queen of them all, without doubt, is called the Aerial Lift Bridge. Neither the longest nor the highest bridge in town, the Lift is merely the oldest and the loveliest.

The four speakers were each assigned fifteen minutes to present, the first being Joe Gunderson, Director of Visual Identity at HTK, one of the older and major ad agencies in the Twin Ports.

Gunderson began by stating that there are three kinds of identity: Corporate Identity, Cultural Identity and Sensory Identity. After showing examples of corporate indentity, he addressed cultural identity which includes the beliefs, customs, arts, history, architecture and geography of a city or region. Sensory identity consists of textures, touch, sound, taste, smell and emotions. He shared, as an example, the feeling one experiences when they drive over Thompson Hill and see the city spread out before them.

Gunderson had us play a game called "Name That City" in which we were to identify various places, except with their identifying icons removed. What is Paris without the Eiffel Tower? This put things in perspective for our own town, for the Duluth Aerial Lift Bridge is the most photographed icon in the Northland.  But there are other things that define us including landmarks, heritage, history, people, businesses, events, outdoors and our potential. We were encouraged to take a moment to consider Duluth through a new lens.

Tommy Konquest, founder of The Medium Kontrol, made the second presentation. Konquist presented two videos, the being about how he met his wife Kristi and their move to Duluth from St. Paul. Komquist, a designer and screen printer, showed some of the cool logos he has created. The highlight was a logo he created for his son Holden Kevin and the process he went through to get there.

Annie Dugan then introduced Cody Paulson, Senior Design Director at Swim Creative who had a show at the DAI earlier this year. "I love seeing the way Cody engages with this post-industrial landscape that we have here," she said. The result was his Port City Supply Co. brand.

Paulson's discussion revolved around identity and brand design. He also has a small business called Jambox Shred Gear which he briefly shared. After outlining the five elements of a great brand --
Honest, Compelling, Substantial, Engaging and Authentic -- he presented some thoughts about how to create a brand by sharing what went into the development of the logo for the Park Point Art Fair.

UMD Professor of Graphic Design Matthew Olin made the fourth presentation. In a humorous vein he presented logos from the dozens of local companies that incorporate the aerial lift bridge into their logos.  (See examples here on Instagram.)

Teamwork.

Whereas Duluth does have a keen affinity for "Old Lifty" Olin noted that at least one local company that abandoned this local symbol was happy to have done so when their market expanded to national reach.

The evening's theme was "Iconoclast: Breaking the Lift Bridge Icon-Hold" and what a beautiful setting for this event with the lift bridge directly across from us on the 8th floor of the Dewitt-Seitz offices of HTK. We ended the evening by breaking up into groups for four or five in order to design a new logo for our region using toothpicks and marshmallows. Many designs were quite inventive.

The next event will be January 9, with the suitable theme of "How Do We Embrace the Cold?" It all begins at 5:30 p.m., a form of business after hours. The location for this January event will be Bent Paddle Brewery on Michigan Street in West End. Hope to see you there.

Matthew Olin