Mayor Ness Press Conference Praises Local Arts Community

Tuesday's Duluth News Tribune had a story on the front page of its Local section by reporter Mike Creger titled Report: Arts push Duluth's appeal. The essence of the piece was to announce a press conference that Mayor Ness would be conducting that morning in a couple hours having to do with a report developed by national urban-planning experts who visited Duluth in 2005 and again in 2011.

Creger's article begins:

Six years of talking and building on progress culminates in a report to be released today that outlines a vision for the vitality of the eastern downtown, hillside and waterfront areas of the city.

Mayor Don Ness will talk about “The Duluth Creative Corridor” at a 10:30 a.m. news conference in the lobby of the Zeitgeist Arts Building on East Superior Street.

National urban-planning experts joined Duluthians beginning in 2005 to talk about ramping up the public appeal of Old Downtown and its surroundings.

His relatively brief article summarizes the findings of these experts in a concluding paragraph:

“The Duluth Creative Corridor will reposition Duluth as one of the country’s great urban places,” it reads. “As evidenced by its exceptional progress to date and the continued support for a bold, shared vision, the city has the requisite public and private leadership and fortitude to make that happen.”

But what I want to know is, what did Mayor Ness say at the press conference? Why was there no follow up story in the paper the next day?

I'm curious if the media shows up for these press conferences. The Perfect Duluth Day community blog had no article, only a copy of the 78-page report to download. The Trib likewise enables you to download the report on its website as well, which the public can likewise obtain by going to Mayor Ness' website. I doubt the Reader had anyone there because Tuesday is their push to go to press by Wednesday. Maybe we will see something in a month in Business North?

The visits from our national city-planning experts were no small deal. There were as many as a thousand people from a whole range of constituencies involved in the meetings and walking tours that comprised their 2005 and 2011 visits.

The report calls what happened a "charrette," which seems to be an interesting word selection. It's French in origin, and means, "a final, intensive effort to finish a project, especially an architectural design project, before a deadline."

I like the sound of the word, but when I look for a synonym in the thesaurus to put it in laymen's terms, there are no synonyms, not even in Rodale's Synonym Finder, a much larger volume. I would like to see what we can do to bridge the gap between the people who use words like charrette and those who couldn't even guess what it means.

Page 5 of the report states, "Duluth's progress since the 2005 charrette has been remarkable." Of this I can find many who will attest the same. But there are still many arts community issues yet to be addressed, and it wasn't that long ago that I recall a Duluth News Tribune article noting that our Central Hillside, where many of our artists live and which is adjacent to the "arts corridor," was one of the five most impoverished neighborhoods in the nation.  

I'll glean what I can from the report and will try to pass it on. We march forward with cautious optimism.

Last Night on the Scene

Vince Larson's piece drew me in.

Unless you've been sleeping under a rock you probably noticed that this week has been Duluth/Superior's (DuSu) 14th Annual Homegrown Music Festival, with 175 bands in countless venues around the Twin Ports including the relatively high profile Trampled By Turtles, just back from a stint on Letterman.

If you've got a day job it's hard to take in so much night life, so I relegated myself to catching as many of the art openings as possible, which had more reasonable hours. I believe this was the first year the Homegrown Art was linked to the Homegrown Music, and it made sense. The bands played later hours, so nearly any night of the week you could take your date to a nice dinner, catch some art and have the rest of the evening for dancing, be-boppin' or jiving. What's your pleasure?

Tonight's officially the last night, if you're not worn out yet, an eight-day week. Still not too late to catch some action. Head to www.duluthhomegrown.com to see what's hot.

***

Nancy Miller's Dylan is a big "Yes!"

Friday night I was able to catch the openings at Ochre Ghost and Washington Galleries before heading down to Cirque Du Soleil. After the circus, a spectacular event about which much more could be said, we tried to get in to Tycoons to see Uprising. The place was over capacity and we decided to get some rest instead, getting home near midnight anyways. From what I hear we missed a great show.

At the Ochre I met Vince Larson, an artist who has also been part of the ad agency scene like myself. He had a striking piece on the back wall. Nancy Miller's mosaic Dylan is yet another fabulous addition to her eye-catching Dylan tributes. Last year during Dylan Fest her bust of Dylan was featured in the window of this same gallery.

I also had two pieces on display here, Episode 34 and my portrait of Mingus. In the front of the space there were three very small pieces by Robert DeWitt Adams that I liked and this other very interesting tryptich with echoes of Rauschenberg.

Echoes of Rauschenberg were evident in this tryptich at Ochre Ghost.

Saturday night the PROVE Gallery featured another great collection of Homegrown Art curated by Jeredt Runions and team. The show included works by Tara Stone, Adam Swanson, Tara Lynn Austin and many others. It was nice to see the gallery so packed, with many new faces checking out the scene. The regular gallery hoppers were there as well. You could hardly turn around without bumping into an artist, musician, writer or fan of the arts.

The PROVE is such a wonderful space for art. Part of it is due to the fact that they have a different mission. Unlike many of the other local galleries that cram paintings into every available space, the shows and events here feed plenty of breathing room for each piece. The collective has done an admirable job of refurbishing what had once been a run down basement space into a showcase for artists and their works. Last night's show was called Saturday Morning Cartoons, and many of the pieces were as whimsical as the show's name. This picture here of a young woman looking at Adam Swanson's work struck me funny because it looks as if one of Swanson's animal characters has leaped from the painting onto the woman's shoulder.

Two pieces by Lindsey Graskey were back on the left. Graskey is another young independent artist whom I was unfamiliar with. She explained, "I'm just getting back into it. Here collage/mixed media pieces created a striking impression, again perfectly suited to this show's theme. Kudos to the curator.

Many of us lingered for quite some time, but the crowd thinned in order to begin attending music venues.

When I arrived at Sacred Heart, in the company of friends, I found a full house entranced by the music of the Marc Gartman's Fever Dream featuring Gartman, Steve Garrington and Alan Sparhawk, who seems to be really getting around this week.

At the back of the room Mayor Don Ness seemed to be actually glowing. (Maybe that's the way he always is when he's out on the town with Laura.) The Homegrown Music Festival draws out such a large amount of community involvement. Perhaps it was the music or perhaps the ambience of this very special place, but there's no denying the atmosphere tingled a bit.

I asked Mayor Ness about his interest in music. "I never played in a musical band," he said. He noted that he was the only one in his family without a gift in music. "I really appreciate the talent here and see it as my role to promote and support it."

Ness went on to say, "We've made a lot of progress in the arts. It's a different city than it was. You can really see the broader community embracing the arts."

I mentioned one of my own new interests and asked his opinion about restoration of the Armory. "I think people aren't opposed, but they're a little cynical about it. There's been a little progess," he said. It's a great building and needs to be saved."

For what it's worth I'll throw in this plug for the Scarlet Rivera concert coming up May 18 at Weber Hall. All proceeds go to the restoration of the Armory. Scarlet, whose thrilling violin is the spice that gave Bob Dylan's Desire album such flavor, will be accompanied by Gene Lafond and the Wild Unknown. You can purchase tickets for Desire In Duluth here at Ticketworks.com.

The night was still young when I began heading west toward home. Most of those at Sacred Heart wove their way to other venues for yet more music at Sir Ben's, Carmody's, Roscoe's, Pizza Luce, Tycoon's, Lake Avenue Cafe, Rex, and a host of other great spaces for music and entertainment. I myself dropped into the Powerhouse in Proctor to catch the Centerville All Stars who were working up a sweat and playing the hearts out. Way to go. Dance floor was active, lots of smiles on faces. They really know how to rock.

Meantime, life goes on. I managed to get home before turning into a pumpkin. Lights out. And much more to look forward to.

Sacred Heart after dark. Sparhawk, Gartman and Carrington.

PLEASE CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THAT YOU MIGHT ENJOY THEM MORE FULLY.

Manhole Covers Placed This Afternoon On Bob Dylan Way

The occasion: Bob Dylan's 70th birthday.
The event: Two new manhole covers placed on Bob Dylan Way featuring Dylan-themed art.

A small collection of friends, family and Dylan fans assembled to watch as two artist-designed manhole covers were installed, plus a few members of the media. Mayor Don Ness and David Ross, president/CEO of the Duluth Chamber, were also present for this unusual and ground-breaking event. Mayor Ness made a few remarks at each location.

The first manhole cover to be designed was at the intersection of Bob Dylan Way (Michigan Street at this point) and Fifth Avenue East. Designed by Laurel Sanders, the concept was derived from Dylan's song "Subterranean Homesick Blues." When I listened to her speak to the camera for our local TV news, she expressed that she's been a "huge Dylan fan" since 1963.

The second manhole cover was placed on the sidewalk in front of the Fitger's Brewery complex. Mayor Ness again made remarks and the designer of this second piece, Marc Zapchenk of Shoreview, was likewise photographed and interviewed. Zapchenk's design utilizes two guitars drawn like a yin and yang symbol with the inscription, "Bob Dylan Way, Duluth Minnesota."

While waiting for the first manhole cover to be installed I overheard the parents of one of the artists exclaim regarding Mayor Ness, "He looks like a kid." Yes, indeed, he is youthful in appearance, but far smarter and wiser than his appearances belie. On the several occasions we've spoken, including a short spell while waiting for the family and fans to arrive at the second location tonight, he's clearly demonstrated the astuteness that has made him successful in a city that tends to maul its elected officials. The respect he's achieved was earned the hard way.

Interestingly enough, Bob Dylan had to earn his respect the hard way as well. The folk scene and the New York scene were as complicated as any place where power is at stake. Folk musicians were expected to churn through the deep traditions of folk to create their play lists. According to John Hammond, young Bob Dylan chose an alternate path. He wrote his songs, at an amazingly fast clip. Folk music peers were both annoyed and impressed.

This afternoon I had an opportunity to mention to several people that when I came to Duluth the papers were aflame with arguments about selecting a road to name after Bob Dylan. This political scruff went on for near two decades until Mayor Ness championed the cause and put an end to the bickering. Duluth's most famous native son deserves the recognition.

After the manhole covers were put in their places we went inside to the Red Star Lounge to sing happy birthday to Bob (whom we believed was with us in spirit) and listen to Jim Hall (right) play a sparkling set of Dylan songs in tribute. Various musicians will continue to make music til midnight, but I slipped out early. We still have a busy week ahead and I just wanted to share here some of what's happening.

Tomorrow night, there is an art opening from 6-9 at Ochre Ghost Gallery featuring Dylan-inspired art... and once again, I plan to be there. Some of it is likely to be mine.