Local Arts: Mayor Ness and Duluth Designers Share Their Passions

Thursday evening the Duluth Art Institute kicked off a new series of events called Design Duluth with an outstanding, well-attended program hosted by Cirrus Design. Over the next several months six topics will be discussed featuring various aspects of design in Duluth. If the first event is any indication, Design Duluth promises to shed new light on a facet of life many people take for granted, from the shape of our homes to the packaging on the libations we consume.

More than 100 people indicated by RSVP that they intended to be there. It's likely that the presence of Mayor Don Ness as the opening speaker contributed to the strong turnout. Or maybe folks were drawn by the opportunity to be on the Cirrus premises and get a closer look at all those cool planes. In either case, the two hours was well worth the time investment.

DAI Director Annie Dugan

Annie Dugan opened the meeting by thanking the five presenters, and then launched into a brief summation of Dieter Rams' 10 Principles of Good Design:
Innovative
Useful
Aeshtetic
Makes products Understandable
Honest
Long-lasting
Thought through to the last detail
Environmentally Friendly
and involves as little design as possible.
(i.e. Less is More)

Annie then introduced the theme the presenters would chew on: How can we Measure up?: Defeating Duluth’s Inferiority Complex.

Mayor Ness, who had to trot off to a book signing at Fitgers, addressed the topic first. He began by stating that every community has its narrative. We are not only consumers of narrative but have the capacity to design our narratives as well. The mayor proceeded to outline Duluth's story, from being one of the most distressed cities of its size in the country (1980) to the revitalized community it is today, embracing its natural beauty and other assets. Though many people have envied Fargo's economic growth there's plenty going on here, and reasons why a company like Maurice's would invest in building a headquarters here. The energy behind Homegrown Music Fest, mountain bike trails, an entrepreneurial spirit, creativity expressed in the arts and craft breweries, and the vitality created simply by being in the presence of this Great Lake... all are evidences of a renewed positive momentum here.

The next speakers were David Shumate and Alex Alequin of Cirrus Design. Shumate began by providing an overview of the company. In addition to the headquarters here Cirrus has five facilities and 900 employees. They've produced over 6000 aircraft since the Klappmeier's inauspicious beginning as a kit plane builder in 1984. At this he introduced Mr. Alequin, whose personal narrative went like this.

Alequin studied industrial design and went to Detroit to design cars. He became especially passionate about interiors, and the transition to designing interiors was not that great of a leap. But when he got here it something became immediately apparent. Showing a slide of a small fleet of early Cirrus planes, it was noted that they were all identical and they were all white.

Henry Ford produced cars in the same manner when he first started. You could have any color you wanted, as long as it was black. The reason for this color was black paint dried faster, so he could assemble more cars more quickly.

Bringing the automobile aesthetic to Cirrus resulted in a whole new realm of possibilities with regard to extreme customer service. The designers would begin a dialogue with the plane buyer to find out where their passions lie. "What's your story?" The results were personal and incredible. It's my hope to share a few of these stories here at a future time. Essentially, every story leads to design possibilities for tomorrow.

Dave Shumate came to Duluth to work on the new jet Cirrus has designed. Shumate showed photos of the process of designing, from concept drawings to full scale 3-D clay model to CAD renderings. The process was insightful, and looked like fun.

A Alequin, Mayor Ness, D Shumate, D Salmela, A Dugan and M Laverdure  

Michael Laverdure spoke next. Laverdure is one of less than 100 Native America architects in this country. He is with the firm dsgw, an architectural firm specializing in health care, casino and commercial architecture. The team has a history of working with First Nations, and as a Native American he has developed an approach that involves earning trust through listening. Mr. Laverdure outlined the process they use when working with tribes and clients. This process involves hearing their story so that the building is a reflection of who they are.

The echoes in each story were quite apparent. Successes were achieved by listening to the customer's story and using the firms design skills to implement a vision that came from within the customer, not imposed on the customer.

David Salmela made the final presentation. Mr. Salmela is an award-winning, internationally renowned architect who 25 years ago chose Duluth as his home. Being Scandinavian he humorously described one of the traits that permeates the Scandinavian/Finnish ethic: Outperform everyone but don't tell anyone.

He went on to share that real success is neither about the architect nor the client, but both working together. It is a cooperative experience that often involves city planners as well as the craftspersons and others who do the actual work.

Like Michael Laverdure and the gentlemen from Cirrus, he shared many of the projects he's completed over the course of his career. A prolonged question and answer period followed, and it became apparent that the presentations deeply stimulated this audience.

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What is Duluth's identity? For a list of upcoming Design Duluth meetings, check out the latter part of Thursday's blog. The second installment will be November 19 at HTK Marketing with the theme being Iconoclast: Breaking the Lift Bridge Icon-Hold.

Local Art Scene: First Design Duluth Event Is Tonight

The Guggenheim: Architectural design in New York

Although most of my art studies at Ohio University were in the Fine Arts program housed in Siegfried Hall, I also took a pair of commercial art and design classes. What struck me at the outset was how utterly different the approach was in this class as well as the character of the students. The students here were predominantly conservative in attire, and the assignments we worked on were not about self-expression through illustration or painting, but art in the service of other objectives such as the communication of a commercial message in an ad, or the design of a book cover. These students were preparing for ad agencies, not art galleries.

Though many of my paintings had philosophical underpinnings, the idea of using art for commercial purposes felt foreign to me. But the instructor was patient with my outside-the-box approaches to assignments, and I was impressed (blown away, actually) by the caliber of his own work which he shared with me privately on a couple occasions.

My last year of college I worked as a security guard for Research Cottrell when I was home and after college I continued the same, given a small raise because of my reliability. The company was a publicly traded manufacturer of nuclear energy facilities. My service there was at their Bedminster, NJ headquarters where the company's executives were housed. (They had a half dozen buildings in the area.) One evening the table in their boardroom was covered with large proof sheets for their annual report and the marketing VP Tom Buonpane was leaning over the table with a small magnifying lens call a lupe, studying the quality of the printing and proofing the layout and text that an ad agency had delivered that day.

Mr. Buonpane worked late occasionally, so I knew his name, and I stood in the doorway watching as he studied the photos and the layouts. Having been an art student I found the design of the unbound pages fascinating. And I commented that it looked like something I might enjoy doing some day. He stopped, looked at me and said, "If you want it, maybe you will." Or something to that effect, indicating that this was not something beyond my reach.

Less than fifteen years later I had become the in-house ad guy at Chromaline in West Duluth (now Ikonics) helping to design, among other things, their annual reports. While proofing the pages of that first annual report that I helped assemble, a small little "ding!" rang in my head. Tom Buonpane's encouragement served as an almost prophetic declaration.

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Manhole cover design by Marc Zapchenk, Bob Dylan Way, Duluth

Design is all around us, from the ads we see to the books we read to the shape of tools we use, the clothes we wear, cars we drive and the silverware we choose. It's actually a very exciting field. And I am pleased to see that the arts community is recognizing design as an art form through a series of events and discussions this coming year.

Tonight the Duluth Art Institute (DAI) is launching Design Duluth, a year-long celebration of contemporary design and an exploration into Duluth’s unique visual voice. IN various Twin Ports locations, the Duluth Art Institute is hosting six discussions based around the central theme of Duluth’s visual identity. Each event will feature a question prompt, such as “how do we embrace the cold?”, and will engage designers from the community to collaborate or compete in creating and presenting something around that prompt. The year will culminate in an open exhibition and wider discussion on Duluth’s role in the Northland.

The DAI recognizes design in all its forms, having cast a wide net for artist voices. Throughout the year designers across a broad spectrum, from graphic design and marketing to furniture and industrial design, will be featured. These designers craft tangible items that touch lives, from the homes we live in to the products we use like the labels on our local craft beers—yet they operate largely behind the scenes.

The theme of tonight's opening discussion addresses "the city's inferiority complex" and will take place at Cirrus Aircraft. Mayor Don Ness will be present, among others. (See story in today's Trib.)

Here's an outline of the year's topics:

Session 1 (October 1, 5:30pm): How can we Measure up?: Defeating Duluth’s Inferiority Complex
Location: Cirrus Aircraft, 4515 Taylor Circle (Hermantown) Featured Designers: David Salmela of Salmela Architect, Michael Laverdure of DSGW Architecture, and David Shumate & Alex Alequin of Cirrus Aircraft

Session 2 (November 12, 5:30pm): Iconoclast – Breaking the Lift Bridge Icon Hold
Location: HTK Marketing, 394 South Lake Ave, Ste 800 Featured Designers: UMD Assistant Professor Matt Olin, HTK Marketing, & Medium Control

Session 3 (January 8, 5:30pm) How do we Embrace the Cold?
Location: Bent Paddle Brewing Company, 1912 W Michigan St Featured Designers: Loll Designs & Bent Paddle Brewing Co

Session 4 (February 18, 5:30pm): How is Duluth Home?
Location: Gimajii: American Indian Center, 202 W 2nd St Featured Designers: Gimajii: American Indian Center & TBA

Session 5 (March 24, 5:30pm) The Lake Effect: What is Lake Superior’s Role in Our Design?
Location: Vikre Distillery, 525 South Lake Ave Featured Designers: Vikre Distillery, Lake Superior Honey Co, & Johnathon Thunder

Session 6 (April 21, 5:30pm) Minnesota Nice – Good, Bad, Nice?
Location: Red Herring Lounge, 208 East 1st St Featured Designers: Chaperone Records, Hemlocks Leatherworks, Frost River, & the Clayton Jackson McGhie Memorial Committee

This business of design is pretty big. Usually we hardly notice, but a lot of decisions go into the crafting of nearly everything we use.

Meantime, art goes on all around you. Have you noticed?

Another Memorable Salute to the Music of Bob Dylan

Duluth Dylan Fest: Day Eight

Mid-day rehearsal.

It's Bob Dylan's birthday today. He's performing in Germany this weekend, so he'll miss the birthday bashes taking place in various parts of the country here. That's O.K. The music will go on.

Last year's Salute to the Music of Bob Dylan here at the Sacred Heart Music Center was so exceptionally received that the Armory Arts and Music Center (AAMC) decided to do it again, only with a twist. This year it would be an Acoustic Salute. And the event was stellar.

The assembled performers included many of last year's cast from the Salute, but also included a number of new names from our Northland region including The Boomchucks (Brad Nelson and Jamie Ness), Gaelynn Lee,  Rob Wheeler, Sam Miltich, Todd Eckart, lliot Silberman and myself. Returning faces (or voices) included Kenny Krona, Jim Hall, Courtney Yasmineh, Barbara Meyer, Billy Hallquist, Gene LaFond and Amy Grillo, Lonnie Knight and headliner Scarlet Rivera.

The show began with a couple of students from the AAMC performing music while the crowd sauntered in. A few minutes before showtime host/MC Marc Percansky introduced a special guest, Mayor Don Ness, who was one of the people who played a central role in bringing Bob Dylan Way to fruition. Mayor Ness was there to make an unexpected Official Proclamation. For her continuous support for our city and its history and the preservation of our resources and future, this day, this Perfect Duluth Day, would be henceforth remembered as Scarlet Rivera Day in Duluth.

This proved to be a really nice touch to make an even great day more special.

Backstage with Todd Eckart

The Boomchucks then kicked in with a pair of songs performed in their inimitable style, I Threw It All Away, and a nine minute version of Last Thoughts On Woody Guthrie.

The manner in which the concert was produced proved interesting. Rather than have setups after each performer, the various groups would come out in sets. This would allow a more efficient production. All the sound arrangements had been made during a mid-day rehearsal session.

While The Boomchucks' equipment was being torn down John Bushey, host of KUMD's Highway 61 Revisited, performed a bit of magic... and as always, blew a few minds.

The second set featured Gaelynn Lea, Kenny Krona and Rob Wheeler, Wheeler opening with Dignity. Krona played She Belongs to Me and Gaelynn Lea performed Let It Go. Many of us have been familiar with Ms. Lea's violin work, but the use of looping technologies produced some incredible sounds, especially when she performed a stunning rendition of All the Tired Horses. I think there were people picking their jaws off the floor after that. Kenny Krona also did Someone Let Me In and Rob Wheeler did Dreamer's Waltz in this set.

Scarlet working out her parts with Jim Hall

Jim Hall opened the third set with Tears of Rage (accompanied by Scarlet) and Courtney Y concluded it with one of her own songs, Hang On For The Ride. In between Elliot and I sang One Too Many Mornings. When Courtney was playing You're A Big Girl Now I badly wished to put in that harmonica lick I was hearing in my head, but I didn't know what key she was in. Alas....

As the night wore on the sets kept getting better, if that's at all possible. Set four featured Sam Miltich (Don't Think Twice and Girl from the North Country), Todd Eckart (Lay Lady Lay and My Sweet Friend), and Barbara Meyer (I'll Be Your Baby Tonight and Autumn Leaves.)

Mayor Ness proclaiming this to be Scarlet Rivera Day.

Highlights of the last set for me included Billy Hallquist's tender Tomorrow Is A Long Time, Gene LaFond and Amy Grillo's Born In Time, Lonnie Knight's All Along the Watchtower and Scarlet Rivera's Every Grain of Sand. And of course any time Scarlet performs something from Desire, such as One More Cup Of Coffee (Valley Below), there's electricity in the air.

So, in short, thank you to everyone involved in this stellar fundraising event for the Armory... too many to name, including sponsors.

Oh, and hats off to Bob Dylan. Happy 74th Birthday. Thank you for what you have inspired in us.

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A few quick reminders. There's a Bob Dylan Birthday Brunch at Tycoon's Alehouse this morning from 11 a.m. till 2 p.m. and Bob Dylan Birthday Cotillion featuring Scarlet Rivera, Gene LaFond and Amy Grillo tonight at the Clair Nelson Community Center in Finland.

If you're inclined to stay in town, the 19th Annual Battle of the Jugbands is taking place today at Amazing Grace from 1 - 8 p.m.

Music, music everywhere. It's a beautiful thing.