Almost Wordless Wednesday: DeWitt-Seitz Marketplace

May 2 & 3 DeWitt-Seitz Marketplace is celebrating 40 years

since they opened their stores in Canal Park.

Click HERE for more info about their event.

 

DeWitt-Seitz Marketplace To Celebrate 40th Anniversary Milestone

View from the parking lot across the street.

Susie and I moved to Duluth in the spring of 1986. At the time, I don't believe there were any hotels in Canal Park. There were a few restaurants--most notably Grandma's--a block-long half-empty office building and an emptied warehouse transformed into a bar unimaginatively called "The Warehouse Bar." Smack dab in the middle of this promontory was the DeWitt-Seitz Building.

Having come to town from elsewhere I was under the impression that the collection of retail businesses assembled in the DeWitt Seitz had been there for ages. Little did I know the Art Dock, Blue Heron Trading Company, J-Skylark and Sandra Dee’s Minnesota Gifts had taken residence here as recently as 1985, only one year previous. Each continues to operate in the building to this day. Little by little these businesses would be joined by an assortment of retailers and popular eating spaces and the first weekend in May they will be celebrating their 40th Anniversary. 

SPECIAL EVENTS – MAY 2 & 3

On May 2 & 3, DeWitt-Seitz Marketplace will celebrate four decades of shopping and community as the 10 retailers mark their 40^th anniversary with a series of special events and drawings. Located in the heart of Duluth’s Canal Park, everyone is invited to join in the festivities. From exclusive sales to unique in-store experiences, here's what each store has planned for this milestone celebration.  

 

Friday, May 2: Ribbon Cutting, 5:00 p.m.      

 

Saturday, May 3:

 

Art Dock

1-3 pm            Artist Sue Pavlatos      Demo

3-5 pm            Reception, May 3        “From Norway to the North Shore”

Drawing: “Evening in Canal Park”       (Matted print by Sue Pavlatos)           $125 value
                        “Winter Silence”         (Matted print by Sue Pavlatos)           $75 value

An exhibit of Pavlatos’ paintings titled “From Norway to the North Shore” will be on display April 28 - May 26.

 

Blue Heron

Anniversary Bag Sale and Food Shelf Drive

**Bring Food Shelf Donation and receive 20% off one Blue Heron Bagful of in-stock merchandise **

Drawings: For an assortment of some of our Favorite Products grouped together for Lucky Winners, valued at more than $1,000!

 

Hepzibah’s

Guess the number of Jelly Belly jellybeans in the Asst’o Jelly Belly Jelly Bean Jar. The closest number wins the works! Yummm.

 

J. Skylark 

Chalk Board House

Drawing: Of our favorite items

 

Lake Avenue Café

Gift Card Special: Buy $50.00 get $10.00 or buy $100.00 to receive $25.00

Drawing: Dinner for Two, 3 Course Meal with Wine Pairing

 

Minnesota Gifts by Sandra Dee 
Storewide sale!

Drawing: Your choice of a Sweatshirt

 

Naturalight Candles & Coffee  
Special Coffee Bar Anniversary Beverage!

Drawing: $50.00 Gift Card

 

Northern Waters

Live Music                   

 

Pholicious  
10% OFF Vietnamese or Chinese Dinner over $20.00

Drawing: Dinner for Two value $40.00.              

 

Two & Co.
20% off Bag with Donation for Second Harvest Foodbank

Drawing: $50.00 Gift Card and Goodie Basket

 

DEWITT-SEITZ MARKETPLACE

Drawing for ten $50.00 Marketplace gift certificates.

 

How to Get There

The DeWitt-Seitz Marketplace is located in the heart of Canal Park at 394 S. Lake Avenue and Buchanan Street. Public parking is available both in front and in back. 

 

DeWitt Seitz Building, 1952

For what it's worth, we're just over three weeks from a pretty big day for a batch of local business who took advantage of an opportunity when success was not a sure thing. Mark your calendars, Duluth. Congratulations, DeWitt-Seitz Marketplace group.

Local Art Seen: Heino, Bello, Boman, Kustermann and the PRØVE

The Actress, by Rodrigo Bello

As always, there's a lot happening in the local Twin Ports arts scene. And such variety! Inasmuch as a picture is worth a thousand words, and a blog entry is not supposed to be more than 400 (I try to cap mine at 800) today's report will probably be closer to ten thousand "words." There is so much to show and tell.

When I left the office Thursday evening there were at least two openings I wanted to attend. The first was John Heino's photography at Lake Avenue Cafe. I'm both a friend and fan of John's work. Anyone who follows John Heino Photography on Facebook is routinely treated to the experience of awe. I meant to ask how long the work will be displayed in this upscale little gem of a place, so you might as well go sometime in March while it's fresh on your mind. Lake Avenue Cafe is located on the back side of the DeWitt-Seitz Building in Canal Park. (I have always loved that name.) When Kevin Spacey was in town filming Iron Will, this was one of the eating places he favored. Now that it is under new management, the menu is even better. Check out both.

Mary Boman

Mary Boman is a veteran Northland painter. For her 80th Birthday the family felt they should have an art opening, which they did. Lizzard's Gallery on Superior Street. Her paintings of flowers are beautifully rendered in warm pastel watercolors. Her most current work includes some exploratory new developments. As we approach our eighties we really can keep breaking new ground. The show is aptly titled Watercolors and Cake. Stop in to see her wotk, say hi to Jeff and enjoy everything else on display there. It's a very special place.

Before heading home I made a detour to Trepanier Hall (AICHO) to see Karen Savage-Blue's Landscapes of Northern Minnesota. Ha! I was a week early, which means I got to see some paintings by Rodrigo Bello in the halls there. I love Bello's evocative, often haunting images. This was a very pleasing surprise.

A piece by Brent Kusterman

Print by Kusterman

Friday noon hour I took in Brent Kusterman's paintings and prints at the Red Mug Coffeehouse where I'd stopped for a meeting and a bite to eat. Kusterman considers it to be the duty of an artist to bring a unique perspective to the world, a process "never fully mastered." He uses a variety of mediums to create his work, sometimes even found objects that others might discard to the trash bin. I found the work worth engaging and would encourage you to do lunch there sometime before the end of the month. You may just stop in for coffee, but any excuse will work.

Caleb Wood and his visual graffiti

Finally, Friday evening rolled around and with it another interesting "Second Friday" event at the PRØVE. Essentially, three young artists were given permission to express themselves on that beautiful expanse of white walls at the gallery. Alexis LeBlanc's section of wall was the first you encountered as you walked in the door from Lake Avenue. In the lower left was a little drawing of a man with a large balloon of things he was saying beginning with "Blahblahblahblah..." LeBlanc's whimiscally imaginative extended doodle had a certain Escheresque quality as each scene morphed into the next. It was a fun ride.

This piece carried us to the next wall of doodles by Flo Doodles, primarily repetitive flowing but interspersed with other messaging. Caleb Wood garnered the back wall which was half filled with vertical rows of iconography. The upper half served as a projection screen. Wood has a strong attraction to animation and despite his youth has posted more than 60 movies on Vimeo.

Things are shaping up for a stellar spring art season.  Here are a few more images from Friday evening.

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