The AI Revolution and Marketing (Part One)

"If you're not thinking about AI, you're not thinking." ~ Chris Meyer

Cick to enlarge.

One of Paul Gauguin's most famous paintings is a series of questions: Where do we come from? What are we? Where are we going? It’s the last of these questions that especially concerns many of us today. Where are we going with regards to the impact technology is having on our lives and careers? AI is but one facet of the current tech revolution which is re-shaping our lives in ways as yet unknown.
 

In the news media AI seem to be everywhere now with new stories appearing every day. Many play on our fears, stoking concerns about plagiarism, cheating in school, the energy drain caused by AI data centers, mass layoffs and Hollywood-inspired Terminator scenarios.

Other stories present AI as a game changer that will eliminate unemployment and make all of our lives better. Still others suggest that all this hype is a big nothingburger. (On August 6 NPR aired a story titled “10 reasons why AI may be overrated.”)

By way of contrast, Reason magazine recently devoted an entire issue to the AI phenomenon, underscoring its significance. Articles ranged from utopian to dystopian, practical to far-fetched, deepfakes, warfare and poetry. In short, AI touches everything. To be sure, they also issue warnings and underscored AI’s current shortcomings, including Google’s debacle of 2024.

In this article we’ll highlight some of the ways AI is already being used by marketers. A follow-up column will address ethical concerns, risks and other related matters. 

AI in Marketing

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is revolutionizing the field of marketing by enabling more efficient, personalized, and data-driven strategies. 

 

Many of the ways AI is being used in marketing are simply extensions of decades-long trends. For example, personalized recommendations. E-commerce platforms like Amazon use AI to analyze user behavior and recommend products tailored to individual preferences, increasing the likelihood of purchase. It’s not really new. It’s simply been enhanced.

 

AI algorithms are now being used to analyze vast amounts of customer data to identify distinct segments based on behavior, preferences, and demographics, allowing for more targeted marketing campaigns. This allows companies to create more personalized marketing campaigns, improving the effectiveness of their marketing efforts by reaching the right audience with the right message. Though customer segmentation has been taking place for decades (Chromaline was doing this in the late 1980s using a Unix computer operating system) AI can process and analyze data much faster and more accurately than traditional methods, enabling businesses to better understand their customers and tailor their marketing strategies accordingly.

 

AI is now being used for Chatbots. Virtual Assistants have come a long ways since Microsoft’s intrusive Clippy, who first appeared in Office 97. 

 

There is currently widespread use of AI for all manner of content creation. The use of AI for ad copy, blog posts, social media updates, and email newsletters is saving time and resources for many marketers. During the 2022 Winter Olympics in China, AI algorithms were generating basic news reports, summarizing event outcomes, and even providing insights based on data analysis. The technology was often used to produce quick, straightforward reports on events like Olympic competitions, where speed and accuracy are important.

 

Many companies are now using AI to predict future trends and customer behavior. Trained on historical data, machines can identify patterns and relationships. Predictive analytics is especially useful for companies that invest heavily in research to develop new products.

 

Walmart uses AI for dynamic pricing which adjusts prices in real time based on demand, competition and other factors, to seize opportunities and maximize profits.

 

AI tools are also being used to gauge consumer sentiment based on media posts, reviews and other user-generated content. Some use this information for reputation management, though small companies can get a feel for how they are perceived by occasionally reading reviews on Yelp and similar platforms.

Ad targeting and optimization is now being managed by AI on platforms like Google Ads and Facebook Ads. Mailchimp and SendGrid now use AI-driven algorithms to personalize email content and optimize send times for better engagement and conversion rates.

 
I myself have been reading, writing and thinking about AI since 2016. In order to understand AI’s strengths and limitations, I’ve been experimenting with several large language models (LLMs) and various AI art programs. For example, with ChatGPT you can feed your blog post into the prompt box and instruct it to give you 10 potential titles. In seconds you have 10 headlines to play with. Or if writing a book, you can request themes for 10, 20 or 30 chapters. And Voila! There you have it.

 

In other words, it’s great for brainstorming. (I asked ChatGPT for 24 chapters on a book about cars. If I were to follow through it would be a most interesting and comprehensive read.)

Red Flags
“Not too long ago there were many concerns raised regarding students using AI to write their papers,” said David Beard, Professor of Rhetoric at UMD. “Today, colleges are encouraging getting familiar with AI.” He directed me to UMD’s Dr. Liz Wright, who is currently developing a class on the use of AI among writers -- understanding when and how and how best to use it. 

 

“Assuming that the technology stays,” Dr. Wright said, “we have to prepare our students for it.” We also need to be aware that AI is environmentally dangerous, she added, foreshadowin our next column.

 

In many respects AI is big tech’s latest shiny new toy. No one knows yet what will come of it, but we’d be remiss if we failed to examine some of the red flags many observers are waving. 

# # # #

Originally published in Business North, September 2024

Related Links

A.I. Is Already Taking White Collar Writing Jobs. Who's Next?

Interview with David Asch Offers Insights On A.I. 

Surviving AI by Calum Chace Is a Must Read for Those Who Plan to Be Here in the Future

Twin Ports Arts Gossip and a Plug for Zenith Bookstore

Zenith Bookstore, Central Avenue

This is an off-the-beaten-path blog post, a catch-all of miscellaneous notes from the local scene.

THE TWEED
As most in the Duluth art scene know, Tweed Museum of Art Director Ken Bloom stepped down and left a vacancy there. As of his retirement party in June, there was no word of any immediate prospects to fill the position. More recently, word passed through the breeze that a replacement has been lined up, an announcement coming soon. I've heard that she's going to be quite excellent. If I'm not mistaken we'll learn more within the next two weeks.

UMD SCHOOL OF FINE ARTS
The holidays were painful for some this year. A decision had been reached in late autumn to merge the School of Fine Arts with the College of Liberal Arts. Dozens of jobs are being cut and even those who were not cut are heartbroken over the friends who are being forced to move on. According to the Minneapolis Star Tribune, jazz studies is "dropping from a major to a concentration, and the masters in English program won’t accept new students for two years. Early-childhood studies will be suspended and relaunched in the future."

Evidently declining enrollments are the culprit. UMD has nearly 4000 fewer students than when my children were looking at colleges. Rising tuition costs have no doubt a been contributing factor to the drop in enrollment.

In its most basic form, a college education is a product. Determining how to price a product is one of the challenges every manufacturer wrestles with. Price, in theory, should correspond to value. Does the drop in enrollment suggest that a college education is no longer a no-brainer?

It's a weird time for young people who have grown up receiving mixed messages. On the one hand, they're told that without a college education they will be left poorer and in society's lower tier. On the other hand, they keep hearing about the burden of debt they will be forced to carry if they do choose college. It's a tough decision point.

Alice Cooper's song Eighteen comes to mind here. "I'm eighteen, and I don't know what I want."

THE HISTORIC DULUTH DEPOT
Word on the street is that Oneida, the company that has been managing the Depot these many years, is now yielding control to another company that will manage the property that houses the Train Museum, Duluth Art Institute, St. Louis County Historical Society, the Underground, Playhouse offices and more. It's my understanding that the exorbitant fees for experiencing the exhibits here will soon be significantly cut, giving more people access to the WWII Museum and other collections.

This is hearsay, and I have as yet not been able to find a confirmation.

DAI MEMBER SHOW
For many years the Member Show has taken place the third week of January. This year the Opening Reception is slated for Thursday, February 6, 5 - 8 PM and will be on view through March 1, 2020 in the Great Hall. All Art Institute Members are invited to contribute one new piece that has been created in the year 2019. Make sure your membership fees are up-to-date.

This same evening will be the opening for Laura Andrews & Paula Gudmundson's Integrated Vision in the George Morrison Gallery on the Fourth Floor. Details here.

Do you like books but want to support our local alternatives to Amazon?
I picked up thie FREE Indie Bookstore Roadmap yesterday at Zenith Bookstore.
Thank you, Bob and Angel for planting your store in our community.

* * * *

You can see The Bookstore at Fitgers here as well. Zenith and Fitgers are, not
adjacent to one another, nor is Sweet Peas in Two Harbors a short hike away,
though each June thousands of runners have traipsed this path from there past
Fitgers. I'm guess you can find this free map at any of the stories you see here.

* * * *

I'm going to call this a wrap. It's the first Saturday of 2020.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend.

Local Art Seen: Sculpture Show @ the Tweed. Museum Director Ken Bloom Retires.

"Pair, Pear" by Isidro Blasco (detail)

The food was good. The music was good. The speakers were good. The afterparty was good. And the setting was great.

After 15 years, that fellow from Brooklyn, the one who some thought would never stay, seemed like he'd never leave. And actually, the big surprise might be that he isn't really leaving. That is, he's not leaving Duluth, he's only stepping down from his position as museum director.

For Ken Bloom it will be a new chapter, not the end of the story.

He's not the first East Coast or West Coast artist to have move here and fallen in love with the region. Bloom's passion is photography, and his aim will be to stay, with wife Danielle, and have Duluth his continued "base of operations."

When it comes to the economics of retirement, you can own 40 acres here or 40 square feet in Manhattan, so why go back? (For my fact checkers, this is hyperbole, but not by much.)

UMD catered the food, Blackwoods the bar, with short farewell remarks by Jim Klueg (an art prof at UMD's School of Fine Arts), Rick Smith (director of the American Indian Learning Resource Center), Annie Dugan, and Ken himself, the highlight being Ken's screeching mike. (Just kidding, again.) These were followed by musical performances by Soprano Alice Pierce and pianist Jacqueline Foley.

The talks began with Jim Klueg welcoming us, then introducing Rick Smith, who thanked Ken for being respectful of the sacred items in the collection including repatriated spirit bags and birchbark scrolls.

"Time Bomb" by Karess Pastore

Klueg then introduced Annie Dugan, former director of the Duluth Art Institute, among other roles here in the region. Annie was in school when he first learned of Ken Bloom's selection to be Tweed Director. The person who informed her said, "He's not going to last long at all. He's from Brooklyn and doesn't even try to hide it."

Dugan said that while she was at the DAI "Ken came to openings, but also came back to look at the work." This is what impressed her. He cared about the art and took time to engage it. She spoke briefly about the importance museums like the Tweed offer "in service to the art, the cultural context, people and the stories."

"Cubic Herd" by Leslie Bohnenkamp

Always eloquent, she spoke about the challenges art museums face today, citing a New York Times article "Can Museums Find A Way Forward?"

Ken Bloom was then introduced and he began by indicating that all he did was "under the watchful eye of George and Alice Tweed." He talked about the mission of the Tweed, that it was an elevating opportunity for the whole community. The Tweeds gave their collection the the University so that it would be shared.

Ken Bloom awaiting introduction. 

"This museum is unique," Bloom said. "It is about us, our collective history. All exhibition s and acquisitions are paid for by you, the community. UMD pays for overhead and staff, but this is your museum."

Though he's lived in New York, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Japan and elsewhere, he is retiring here "because the lake got me. And my wife Danielle got me,..."

He noted that this was his first real opportunity to craft a collection. And at this moment the current show of art by Minnesota's Native Americans provided a visual endorsement of his description of our region as "the Ojibwa Riviera."

He closed with this takeaway: "Art is our way of expressing our community and our time here on earth."

EdNote: Except for the photo of Ken above, all photos here are from the sculpture exhibit upstairs featuring works currently in the Tweed collection.

"Untitled" by Isidro Blasco

"Figure Fragment #AV" by Orazio Fumagalli

Related Links
Powerful Images & Native Stories Fill Main Hall at the Tweed
Museums Confront Their Crowded Basements

Meantime, art goes on al around you. Get into it.

Resonance: Tribute to John Steffl Reveals the Extent of His Impact on the Northland Arts Scene

Anne Dugan, arts curator, shared remarks about John Steffl's life and work.

Wednesday, September 19, the North Shore Bank of Commerce held an opening reception for a retrospective featuring artwork by the late John Steffl. Titled Resonance, the event turned out to be a virtual "who's who" of nearly everyone important in the local arts as well as attendees from out of town like an extended family paying tribute to someone whose life has been a fountain of influence.

It's well-known that the former UMD instructor, DAI director, North Shore Bank curator and artist has been at war with cancer for many years. Early this summer he passed away at home at age 69. The exhibition, which will be on display through December 7, is a tribute to a man whose work and life inspired many others.

One of his ceramic pieces, probably worth its weight in gold.

His creative expression flew in a variety of directions, and the work displayed captures several of these wings. He initially came to Duluth to get a Masters degree under the tutelage of Glenn Nelson, one of the most well-known teachers of ceramics in the country. Several examples of Steffl's ceramic work are on display at the bank.

No one would have criticized him for remaining a ceramicist. His creative explorations led to large-scale paintings that searched for the boundaries of design and liberation. If you visit the bank you'll see many of these large canvases that seem at times to be an expression of what Picasso once said, that “every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up.”

I remember being impressed with his large canvases
when I first arrived in Duluth in 1986.

When John Steffl was diagnosed with lymphoma in 2004, ceramics and painting were no longer viable for him due to the debilitating nature of his treatment. This did not stop him from curating some fabulous shows at the NSB. His new fascination as an artist became flowers, and much of his flower-themed digital photography can be seen in the bank's hallways this fall.

The reception ran from 5:00 till 7:00 p.m., punctuated by a some remarks by three speakers. Larry Johnson, retired CEO who had been with the bank 55 years, welcomed us and then introduced Annie Dugan, who has now taken on the mantle left behind by John as curator for the North Shore Bank. Annie, as always, brings an exceptional brightness and knowledge to events like these, noting John's influence and highlighting features of the work on display.

She then introduced Neil Cuthbert, former VP of Programs for the McKnight Foundation. Neil began by describing how he'd hit it off with John when the met 30 years ago. This was, of course, a problem, because it is somewhat understood that foundations must remain somewhat immune to personal influence or favoritism and keep a professional distance. John was director of the Duluth Art Institute at the time and Neil admitted he was impressed with what John was doing there when their friendship began. According to Neil it was through John's leadership that the DAI became a "community." Because of Neil's statewide reach he could see that what was germinating here was unique in Minnesota, opening peoples' minds to the arts. He stated his conviction that the vibrancy of the arts here in the Northland could be traced to John's influence.

The cross-section of artists of all stripes present here last night would certainly seem to affirm that there was a measure of truth in these remarks.

If you are able, find a way to visit the North Shore Bank sometime this fall. It's located at 131 West Superior Street, a section of downtown not plundered in the first phase of the Superior Street renovation. And if you go, be sure to pick up the handout, which includes not only pricing but also Ann Klefstad's excellent distillation of Steffl's life and career.

It goes without saying, the spread from Duluth Grill was exceptional as alway.
A special thank you to Tom Hanson and crew.

Related Links

Community Remembers Artist, Curator John Steffl
"Sick" -- About the Tweed Acquisition of a recent Steffl work.

Meantime art goes on all around us. Get into it.

Local Art Seen: Tribute to Russell Gran

After the closing of Washington Junior High School in the Central Hillside community of Duluth the building was converted to residences for the Washington Studios Artist Cooperative. One of it longest residents, Russell V. Gran, recently passed away and a special art event was held this past Thursday at the gallery there, curated by Eric Dubnicka, former curator at the Tweed Museum of Art and friend of Mr. Gran.

I've crossed paths with Russell Gran seemingly countless times over the years during annual studio tours or while covering art shows in the Washington Galleries, including a few shows featuring his own paintings. Even so, there was much I didn't know about his life and how he came to be living in Duluth. From the obituary this past week I learned he was not only a Denfeld valedictorian, but also a UMD valedictorian.

His first career was teaching before moving to Hartford, Connecticut in 1959 where he became an underwriter for the Traveler's Insurance Co. While in Hartford, he took graduate courses in literature and painting at Trinity College and the University of Hartford. In 1971 he moved to Boston and continued working as an underwriter, this time for Blue Cross/Blue Shield. Because of his mother's health he returned to Duluth where he completed his master's degree in studio art at UMD.

His obituary mentions a gruff exterior that served as a facade for a humorous, sensitive and loving man. This gruffness must have become something of a trademark since this week's Duluth New Tribune story about the exhibition notes the passing of "a loveable curmudgeon." In point of fact, in 2012 Gran titled one of his art exhibitions Curmudgeon.

The June 22 art show at the Washington Studios Artist Cooperative was a celebration of his both his art and his life, titled Russell V. Gran: A Lift's Retrospective. Here are some of the paintings that were displayed and/or sold that evening.

He lived a full life, and left a big mark on a small part of the world.

A very special man, he will be missed.

Local Art Seen: Pop Evolution Exhibit at the Tweed Is Worth Writing Home About

"Turning a Blind Eye" by Jerry Ott

"I am a deeply superficial person." --Andy Warhol

Sixties Pop had come of age when I was becoming an art student at Ohio University and, to be honest, I didn't like it. At the time I was immersed in the painterliness of the abstract expressionists and modern impressionists. Dada and surrealism captured my imagination, and Warhol's screen printed gaudiness did not. And I especially hated Lichtenstein's blown-up cartoon panels.

Despite my own feelings about the movement, which originated in New York with the likes of Andy Warhol (who I did feel was doing interesting things) and Roy Lichtenstein, Claes Oldenburg and James Rosenquist, the movement was highly influential, opening up new terrain for young artists and altering the landscape significantly by once again forcing the question, "What is art?"

All this to say that there is an exciting new exhibit in the Special Exhibitions Gallery at the Tweed Museum of Art through the end of March. The show is titled Pop Evolution, with works curated from the Tweed's permanent collection.

"Truck" by Warhol

What's impressive about the Tweed show is that it shows how widespread the Pop Art influence became. The superstars of this movement may have been the ones with top billing in New York, but the streaming colorwheel of their influence flowed everywhere. The ubiquitous Andy Warhol may have been the ringleader, but he hardly acted alone. Artists like Jackson Pollock, Robert Rauschenberg and Larry Rivers may have helped pave the way by knocking down some of the fences, but art wanted to be free... free from constraints, and to a large extent free from the galleries. (Warhol's art today is hardly free, though. Van Gogh, Picasso and Warhol works are among the most expensive a billionaire collector can own.)

When one reads about Pop Art today, the art history books make reference to the subject matter being one of its hallmarks. That is, instead of being about important subjects, the lens of the artists' eye was focused on the mundane, the ordinary, and in the case of soup cans or Brillo boxes, commodities. This later led eventually to installation-type shows that the general public would have yet greater difficulty appreciating or understanding. At least Warhol's Marilyn was interesting, even if gaudy. But what does one make of a dozen railroad ties lying in the middle of a gallery space?

"Love Cross" by Robert Indiana

Two pieces by Mildred Howard on collaged found papers.

"Sitting Bull" by S. Patricia McMahon

The dada movement that preceded Pop was anti-art and anti-capitalist. Andy Warhol emerged from an ad agency background that had Capitalism written all over it. In some ways Madison Avenue and Warhol's Factory were two peas in a pod.

Pop Art was in many respects a mirror of what was happening in the broader culture as values of all kinds were being brought into question. Here are some links about Pop Art that you may find informative:
What Is Pop Art?
Pop Art -- The Art of Popular Culture
The Emergence and Evolution of the Pop Art Movement

Pop Evolution is just one reason to get up to the Tweed. There's plenty more to see in the museum's various galleries. If you have not been there in a while (on the UMD campus) then you owe it to yourself to find a way.

EdNote: Bill Shipley, who spent most of his career in the Big Apple art scene, will be giving a gallery talk about this exhibition on March 11, from 2-3 p.m.

Jerry Ott, "Turning a Blind Eye"

Art is exciting, and there's a lot of it happening here in the Twin Ports. This Thursday will be the closing reception to the Duluth Art Institute Member Show and opening for Carla Hamilton's Gezielt (Targeted) and Elizabeth Kuth's "Rooted Expression." Also on display will be the Emerging Photographers exhibit in the corridor gallery.

And this coming Saturday the DAI Art Film Series begins, eight art films with discussions afterwards. The first film is "Frida" with UMD's Jamie Ratliff leading the post-show discussion. The films begin at 10:00 a.m. at the Zinema. (Admission is $5)

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

Duluth Media Meet & Greet Sows Seed Thoughts for a New Journalism

John Hatcher (left) with Jeremy Iggers during part 2.

Yesterday I attended a Duluth Media Meet & Greet event concocted by UMD associate journalism professor John Hatcher and Dana Thayer. The aim of the lunch hour gathering was to test the waters as regards how to better serve the community as journalists. The interesting feature here is that historically the various media channels seek to scoop one another and thus perceive their peers as adversaries in a competitive local market. The relatively unique notion being proposed here is that perhaps in light of the challenging manner in which the Internet has re-shuffled the deck, there may be benefits to throwing out the old ways of doing things and playing a new hand.

John Hatcher served as moderator for the gathering which took place at Teatro Zuccone in the Zeitgeist Building. Two presenters had been invited, the first being Jan Schaffer, editor and journalist with J-Lab of Philadelphia who joined us through Skype, followed by Jeremy Iggers, founder and executive director of the Twin Cities Daily Planet.

Jan Schaffer Skyped in from Philadelphia

Ms. Schaffer gave us a tour through the changing media landscape by noting trends. You could tell she had plenty to say, but the brevity of our time together was somewhat restrictive. Here are a few of the highlights regarding current media trends across the country.

1) Metro dailies are disappearing. The lack of a content model is part of the problem.
2) Media entrepreneurship is at an all time high.
3) Tech companies are moving into the journalism space. We saw this earlier this year with Jeff Bezos' purchase of the Washington Post, but one also can see the manner in which Microsoft and more recently Yahoo have made their presence known.
4) There's more comic book journalism taking place.
5) She mentioned news games making a resurgence.
6) More collaborations and partnerships happening.
7) Public media partnering with others.
8) New and interesting distribution channels emerging.

Jan Schaffer was there to encourage local media to find ways to work together. She cited a J-Lab report called Networked Journalism: What Works? and encouraged us to visit the J-Labs website to learn more.

Jeremy Iggers of the Twin Cities Daily Planet shared his personal story as a backdrop for how this 21st Century news site came to be. In the early 90's Iggers wrote restaurant reviews and an ethics column for the Minneapolis Star Tribune. He initiated or was part of a pre-internet era version of social media in which readers of the paper would interact with stories, an enormous task as it was conducted by mail. The experience, though expensive, taught him how much audiences want 2-way relationships with journalists.

Another experience that came from outside the box was a regular feature called "Oh My News" in which the readers became the reporters. Each point included an instructive story.

Eventually he created or helped create the online media center T.C. Daily Planet in conjunction with a collaboration between the Twin Cities Media Alliance and Ethics Media. Online media is a moving target, he noted. It's also a challenge as you explore what kinds of groups already exist.

A question and answer period moderated by John Hatcher followed. Is it possible for our local Twin Ports media to collaborate and build something greater than the sum of its individual parts? The audience for this event included not only representation from traditional media but a number of bloggers, which was interesting.

One final point was made by Mr. Hatcher, that they have set up an online media resource called Lake Voice News which offer stories for any of our media to utilize so long as we identify the source.

The meet and greet ended with strong encouragement to finish the food which had been provided on platters by the Zeitgeist Cafe.

* * * *

The impression I got from the event is that UMD leadership has recognized the importance of becoming more consciously linked to the community as opposed to being isolated from it in a monastical sense. Bill Payne and the UMD fine arts leadership has made conscious efforts in this direction in recent years, most visibly in the formation of the Twin Ports Arts Align. Hatcher indicated that now that the university has purchased the former Maurice's office building, the school will be more involved with the downtown community.

It waits to be seen how the seeds from this hour long program will take root in the minds of our various local journalists. It was certainly an interesting presentation, even if a bit brief. Thank you to those who made it happen. 

Local Art Seen: Student Art Shines in Art for Earth Day Gallery Hop

Kailyn Sieler's Mermaid

“It’s not what you look at that matters, it’s what you see.” – Henry David Thoreau

I was able to explore at least half of the participating Twin Ports galleries in this year’s Gallery Hop, and repeatedly rewarded. The other day I shared pictures from the Duluth Art Institute's First Spark student show and thought it might create a nice echo to share a few more pictures of student art that I saw Saturday in Superior and at UMD.

Black and white and wonderful.

The Phantom Galleries – Superior exhibit is titled Seeding the Next Generation, assembled from Superior High School Students by Jeredt Runions, a real connector in the grass roots sector of our arts community. This show is in the New York Building on the 1400 block of Tower Avenue.

Art plays a variety of roles in our lives and in our communities, from therapeutic to social to aesthetic. It’s always exciting to me when I see young people exploring new ways to express all that nebulous “stuff’ of adolescence that is whirling about inside. I am certain that with Runions’ guidance many of young people will have developed new ways of seeing, both themselves and the world around them.

Across the bridge and atop the hill the doors and halls were opened wide for visiting the studio spaces and UMD arts facilities. From painting and drawing to digital and beyond I saw much that was thoroughly engaging. I saw playfulness and seriousness, unpredictability and plenty of material demonstrating that deeper thought was taking place.

The art of print making.

Having immersed myself in the arts program at Ohio University, I experienced some nostalgic moments, especially when I explored the printmaking room with its litho stones, intaglio and the presses.

Learning how to express oneself is a critical part of growing up. Getting exposed to the wide variety of tools for expression is a useful experience. Making art is one channel through which many leaders once traversed, whether it be visual, musical or literary.

“Be yourself, because those who matter don’t mind, and those who mind don’t matter.” – Dr. Suess

There was also a juried student show on display in the Tweed Museum along with a whole raft of other activities to mark the day. Here are some other things I saw in the corridors of the U and in the museum gallery. I got a kick out of the pantone colors served as cookies.

I still have more to share about the other work I saw Friday and Saturday, but for now here are a few snapshots from the students' shows, a worthy excursion.

“Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice.” – Steve Jobs

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

U.S. Curlers With Minnesota Roots Are Rock Stars

It is our largest entourage ever for the Winter Olympic Games. This year we have 230 athletes with the U.S. Olympic Team. And since Minnesotans know more than their share about what winters are all about, it's only natural that some of this year's winter Olympians hail from the Land of 10,000 (Frozen) Lakes. Even our Great Lake Superior is frozen over this year, a month earlier than ever before, which is quite a testament to how unusually cold our winter has been.

So, what do Minnesotans do in the winter? There's figure skating, speed skating, skiing (bth downhill and cross-country) and snowmobiling for starters, though the latter of these is not yet an Olympic sport. There's sledding and hockey. And there's curling.

For the full slate of Duluthians now in Sochi check out the special Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics Guide in this week's Reader. Speed skater Anna Ringsred get's a big nod there as well as a long list of women's hockey players who went through our UMD program. There are others to watch as well, but this blog note aims to highlight the U.S. curlers and the four Minnesotans who are part of Team Shuster.

In his first Olympics in Torino eight years ago John Shuster and the U.S. Olympic Curling Team received worldwide accolades for attaining the Bronze Medal in competition with the world’s best. So it was that four years later expectations were even higher. Unfortunately four straight losses crushed those hopes as the team finished 2-7 in Vancouver, Shuster himself benched for a portion of those games.

But the Chisholm native is back, having boarded a plane last week on his way to Sochi along with Minnesota teammates Jeff Isaacson of Virginia, Jared Zezel of Hibbing and Lance Landsteiner of Mapleton.

Dick Wicklund, general manager of the Duluth Curling Club, is proud to be associated with these young men with big hearts and dreams. “It’s an honor, especially when you see how hard they work. Shuster himself plays in three curling leagues,” says Wicklund.

Only Jeff Isaacson was alongside Shuster in that disappointing Vancouver experience. Shuster’s current team was assembled for the 2012-13 season with strong results, and medals. Team Shuster is leaving nothing to chance and taking nothing for granted.

Shuster knows what winning feels like, having taken a gold as the lead in Pete Fenson’s curling squad that won the U.S. Men’s Curling Championship in Utica and again in 2005 at Madison. Shuster has five gold medals now including his most recent in Broomfield as skip, the captain of the team who determines the strategy.

One thing different this time around for Shuster is that he’s bringing his wife and 8-month-old son along.

Their first match is slated for today, and will continue daily till the medal ceremony February 21.

In the event you're not familiar with the terminology of curling, here's a Curling Cheat Sheet from the website Curling for Dummies. That 44-pound stone they slide is called The Rock. That's why I said in the title our boys here are "rock stars." But there are other terms worth knowing. Like what a hack is. Do you know what a gripper is? A house? A button? An eight-ender? The time to learn is now.

Enjoy the action in Sochi.

Civil Faults: Nathan Lyons at the Tweed Student Show

"The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves." ~Shakespeare

Last night I attended the December edition of Tweevenings at the Tweed, in which Rob Leff, a member of the Tweed Board and personal art collector, spoke about the work of print maker and sculptor Dean Meeker. My review of this rich event will be shared sometime later this week.

Beforehand I visited briefly with Nathan Lyons in the corner gallery where the UMD student shows are exhibited. The title of Lyons' show is Civil Faults. The senior art student from Eagan will be graduating this spring,

What struck me is the emergence of a common theme in many of the student art shows that I have seen here and at the Tweed, young people grappling with identity and the meaning of who they are. Lyons' begins his artist statement with these remarks:

In a media saturated culture we are constantly shown how to be a perfect person. We are continually reminded to live our lives to be fictitious ideal individuals, rather than normal. The ceramic series (shown here) shows how we start off innocent, and over time are willing to sacrifice more of our selves in order to achieve this esoteric status. What is left is an unrecognizable person from what we were originally.

In today’s society we are told not to talk about our flaws, to hide our weaknesses and keep them private while glorifying achievements and successes. The stress of reaching such an unattainable status only amplifies our burdens.

The sequence of ceramic raku skulls illustrates the concept, which essentially reveals the psychological damage produced by the real/ideal split in human personality formation, an underlying cause in neurosis.

Meantime, art goes on all around you. Engage.