Great Lakes Atelier of Fine Art’s 2026 Student/Instructor Exhibition: What You Missed Last Weekend

It started with an idea. It became a world class art school attracting dedicated students from across the country to Duluth. This past weekend the school hosted its ninth annual Student/Instructor exhibition. 

The church, St. Peter’s, was on its way to demolition before the Larsons purchased it and turned it into a fine arts academy. It’s a staple of traditional training in Classical Realism and it’s the only place like it in the Northland, and among only a handful of its caliber in the nation. The four-year program is modeled after the traditional European Atelier system of training. The focus of the Atelier is to train individuals in Classical Impressionism. On day one, the student starts with pencil in hand, and over the course of the apprenticeship will systematically work their way through the program at their own pace, eight hours a day, five days a week.

There were examples of full-time student work, part time student work, instructor work, and children’s class student work on display. Here are some things we saw:

Patrick Glander, one of the school's first grads, is now an instructor.

 

Related Links

A Visit with Jeffrey T. Larson, Founder of the Great Lakes Academy of Fine Art

Rewarding Insights About "Seeing" from a Dialogue at the Great Lakes Academy of Fine Art

Weekend Open House Shows Why the Great Lakes Academy of Fine Art Is a Gift to Our Community

More on Jeffrey T. Larson here: http://jeffreytlarson.com/

The Atelier’s website: http://greatlakesatelieroffineart.com

Background on Jeffrey T. Larson: Jeffrey T. Larson was born in 1962 in Two Harbors, MN and grew up in the Twin Cities. Jeffrey has been trained in the manner of the Old Masters at the prestigious Atelier Lack, a studio/school whose traditions and training methods reach back through impressionism and the 19th century French Academies. He followed his four-year formal training with museum study in the US and Europe and has been painting full time for over 30 years. Jeff recently won the Draper Grand Prize honored by the Portrait Society of America, the country’s most prestigious portrait painting competition. 

Margarida Sardinha's Da Vinci Simulacrum: Catch It If You Can

#10 Heart Sound

We're all familiar with the story of Christopher Columbus who in 1492 set out to find a passage to India by traveling westward across the sea. While listening to a lecture today regarding the significance of this man's conviction that the earth was round and the challenges he faced, the lecturer made a reference to American author Washington Irving. Most Americans know him best for stories such as The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Rip Van Winkle. He was also one of the first magazine editors to publish Francis Scott Key's "The Star Spangled Banner."

In 1815 a financial disruption prompted him to cross the Atlantic to salvage his family's trading company. After two years he was forced to declare bankruptcy. Instead of returning to the States, he remained in Europe and pursued a writing career, inspired in part by Sir Walter Scott, author of the novel Rob Roy, whom he'd spent some time with in 1817.

Irving left England to explore the Continent. At one point, while in Paris, he received a letter from a friend encouraging him to come to Spain. He was told that a number of manuscripts had been recently been made public. Like any real writer that I've ever known, he was always on the lookout for good stories. Being given full access to a remarkable collection of books and documents pertaining to Spanish history, Irving began several books at once, the first being A History of the Life and Voyages of Christopher Columbus.

As I listened to the lecture on Christopher Columbus, Irving's time in Spain was commented on, specifically his time spent staying at The Alhambra in Granada. Naturally, as soon as I heard mention of The Alhambra, a unique palace/fortress in the Andalusia region, I immediately thought of Margarida Sardinha's richly rewarding 2015 art exhibition titled Symmetry's Portal which was inspired by this self-same place. 

This memory/connection was fresh on my mind due to a recent press release regarding her latest installation titled Da Vinci Simulacrum, which will be opening this coming Saturday, 23 April, at the Museu Ibérico de Arqueologia e Arte de Abrantes (MIAA). The show is curated by Hugo Dinis and supported by Garantir Cultura and Abrantes Municipality, Portugal, in partnership with Figueiredo Ribeiro Art Collection. It will be on display through 25 September.

The Lisbon-born Sardinha has been receiving much-deserved recognition for her labors in the arts these past two decades. I first became aware of her work circa 2010 and have been perpetually impressed ever since. What impressed me (or attracted me to her ideas) was the manner in which she synthesized and distilled concepts from literature, philosophy, religion, science, mathematics, technology and art. The concepts she wrestles with are expressed in a range of mediums including experimental film and other formats.  

The imagery on this page is from her current show, Da Vinci Simulacrum. You can see more by visiting https://www.margaridasardinha.com/work/20

Other themes from past shows include Wave-Particle HyperLightness, Oxymoron Tiling, Hyperbolic Hyparxis, Symmetry's Portal, London Memory and Darkness Reflexions. 

To learn more about Margarida Sardinha visit 

https://www.margaridasardinha.com/about

 

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Links to my first two interviews with M. Sardinha

2013

Artist Margarida Sardinha Talks About London Memory multi+city

2010

Ten Minutes with Artist Philosopher Margarida Sardinha

The TEXT Show and SNÖBARN

Here's a press release I received this weekend about the upcoming art event at the Prøve in downtown Duluth. Looks like a lot of interesting images and sounds will be on the docket. I'm certain there will be openings at Washington Gallery up the street and at Ochre Ghost down the alley. Hope to see you there.   

Babel, a piece I'd intended to submit.

DULUTH, MN - February 27th, 2013 - A nationally represented exhibition will open March 8th, 2013. Prøve Gallery is excited to open 'Text', which showcases art from 19 artists from all over the country. This exhibition features work that is either text based or incorporates text. The opening reception will include an outstanding musical performance by Snöbarn as well as the musical talent of the DJ collective, Crunchy Bunch.

'Text' will feature a wide variety of art and artists. From Minso Kim's untitled interactive installation that entices viewers to instead listen to what the art has to say to Mark Addison Smith's interactive book 'Red' which allows the viewer to build their own one page experience. This exhibition artists are Ken Kollodge, Catherine L Johnson, Melissa Wagner-Lawler, Tim Kaiser, Molly Roth-Scranton, Apthin Rapp, Minso Kim, Aaron Squadroni, Adam Winnie, Jade Hoyer, Mark Addison Smith, Jan Estep, Hilary Greenstein, William Sattler, Byron Johnson, Jiae Park, Alice Walsh, Kenneth Steinbach, Carolyn Ellis, and Sissorelle Ferox.

Atmosphere and music throughout the opening night will be provided by the Crunchy Bunch with a live performance by local sensation, Snöbarn, at 8:30. Refreshments will be provided by Lake Superior Brewing. This event is free and open to the public

Morgan Exhibit at Zeitgeist: Catch It If You Can

"The artist fills space with an attitude. The attitude never comes from himself alone." ~Willem de Kooning 

Last night was the opening for a new exhibition of paintings by Bill Morgan, a UWS professor with strong roots in the painting traditions. When we spoke earlier this month he shared his relish for abstract expressionism, and his love of applying paint to surfaces.

When I arrived a few minutes early it was like any quiet evening at this cafe in the Zeitgeist Arts Building. I looked around, walked upstairs and found Penny from Perry Framing placing name tags and putting finishing touches on the exhibit.

Since its opening a couple year back this balcony area has been showcasing artists' works, but never in such volume as this. Usually a few paintings have been spaced out casually against the restored brick walls that augment the feeling of an old country art space. Morgan's paintings were generously distributed as if the curator were saying, "I really want you to see as much of this work as possible because it's really worth seeing."

And it is worth seeing. Morgan arrived with his lovely wife after I had eyeball-scanned every surface. I'll return to enjoy the work another time when I can be more leisurely about it.

The pictures and paintings have been hung thematically. One section clearly shows the influence of Mexico. One piece is tagged Milagros, which is miracles in Spanish. Nearby is another titled Imaginary Mexican Chapel. There were a few of these and if you've been to a Mexican chapel you'll recognize echoes of the experience in these works.

In the back of the room there were several paintings with Japanese or Oriental influence, faces perhaps from the theater or a Samurai dream.

On the wall to your left at the top of the stairs are numerous pieces combining painting and collage, reminders of art movements that passed through the mid-twentieth century. The collages included words and though Morgan had said they were simply design elements, one had to wonder when the word Mapplethorpe descended from the sky in one of these grey designs.

There is great variety in terms of color, sometimes vibrant sometimes muted, and theme, but overall the collection hangs together as the work of a man who seems to love the creative process, of making pictures moving paint around within defined spaces. I encourage you to catch the show...

Looking for a place to grab a bite downtown? What a great environment for enjoying a fabulous lunch.