David Beard
Superior in The New York Times
Superior appears briefly in The New York Times opinion piece “This Chemical Kills. Why Aren’t Regulators Banning It?” (more…)
Ken Bloom’s Retirement Party
Last night, I visited the Tweed Museum for the Ken Bloom retirement party. Normally, the retirement of a colleague at the university would not be something to draw attention to — but Ken Bloom is different, and I’d guess two hundred people were at the Tweed to share in the event. (more…)
Duluth Trivia Deck Sampler #14
More from the deck found at Savers …
1. Who sculpted the statue of Daniel Greysolon Sieur du Lhut at UMD?
2. Where was that statue cast?
3. When did UMD become a campus of the UM system?
4. Who was the first provost of UMD?
5. Which US President visited UMD in 1963?
6. Which UMD graduate was “Carlton the Doorman” on TV’s “Rhoda”? (more…)
Duluth Trivia Deck Sampler #13
More from the deck found at Savers …
1. In 1871, who ridiculed the City of Duluth in the House of Representatives, helping to defeat a land grant bill?
2. What was “The Clark House”?
3. Who was J. B. Culver?
4. When was the Grand Opera House destroyed by fire?
5. Who was Oliver G. Traphagen?
6. In 1891, what downtown Duluth building was called “the handsomest and costliest building in the Northwest?
Duluth Trivia Deck Sampler #12
A few years ago, I bought a Duluth Trivia game at Savers. Here are some more questions.
1. Where is the Chambers Grove picnic area?
2. What is the name of the annual dog sled race that begins in Duluth?
3. What is the name of the longest fresh-water sandspit in the world?
4. How many stars are in the cluster of stars in the official seal of the city of Duluth? What do they represent?
5. Who was William T Boutwell?
6. When was Fond du Lac annexed by the city of Duluth?
Shark Watching Society
I spent part of Wednesday in front of a bonfire setting marshmallows on fire. There is really no point to slowly toasting them when you can set them on fire, after all. It was a meeting of the Lake Superior Shark Watching Society. (more…)
Art in an Unusual Place
Photo of Artist by Carrie Boberg
I went to see the exhibit by Rob Adams, as discussed on Radio Gallery. It’s being shown within the workspace of a professional design company in Downtown Duluth. (more…)
Pictures of Spring
Naomi’s photography blog is great at sharing images of Duluth. Yesterday she shared this beautiful image of the return of Spring.
Ken Bloom’s Tweevening
Ken Bloom packed the Tweed for a “Tweevening.” Ken is a photographer who directs and occasionally curates shows, and as he retires, the Tweed is celebrating his medium. (more…)
Where in Duluth?: First Trailwalk of the Season
Is this too easy? I only get here a few times a year, so it seems alien landscape to me.
Can you tell I have a new phone?
May the Fourth (Doctor) be with You on Free Comic Book Day
May Fourth was a great day for nerds around the Duluth area. Claimed by Star Wars fans with the slightest bit of imagination, only the slightest, the Fourth of May is Star Wars Day. I cringe, still, every time I hear someone say “May the Fourth be with You.” Except when William Shatner says it, because the irony I read into it is delicious. (more…)
Francis Chapin at the Art Institute of Chicago
Railroad Yard, Duluth, 1918–1965
There are a few works by Francis Chapin at the Art Institute of Chicago. More info about Chapin can be found on Wikipedia. (more…)
Coal Depot, Duluth Harbor
Coal Depot, Duluth Harbor, Stuart David Klipper
The Art Institute of Chicago has many cool works of art with a Duluth connection available online. (more…)
Eric T. Anderson of Duluth
This photo of Eric T. Anderson, age 56 circa 1963, born in Duluth, is part of the collection at the Art Institute of Chicago. It was taken by Danny Lyon.
I don’t know the story or the man. Do you?
From Jinny Moe’s photography collection
Virginia “Jinny” Moe of Duluth donated this work to the the Metropolitan Museum of Art: Boy and Girl Holding Hands, ca. 1850, by Bennet. (more…)
Worden Day in Metropolitan Museum, via Julie Nunull Marshall
Another item at the Metropolitan Museum of Art is this item donated by Julie Nunull Marshall of Duluth. (I can’t find any records about her easily, beyond the record of generosity and taste.)
In the 1970s she donated Arcana II, 1969, by Worden Day to the Metropolitan.
Worden Day is now deceased, but immortalized by the generosity of a Duluthian.
Winifred E. Higgins in the Metropolitan Museum of Art
A huge collection of world art is available online at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. This “charger” (which won’t do anything for my cell phone) was owned by Winifred E. Higgins, who lived at 2401 E. Second St. in Duluth.
The charger was manufactured by the Kalo Shops, which Wikipedia calls “the leading maker of Arts and Crafts movement silver in Chicago.”
(I didn’t know either — a “charger” is a plate that sits under the other plates. Your server places your salad plate atop your charger, then your soup bowl atop your charger, then your dinner plate atop your charger, before the charger is removed for dessert.)
Kathy McTavish named an inaugural Jerome Hill artist fellow
The Jerome Foundation has announced the first recipients of the new Jerome Hill Artist Fellowships program. Duluth-based artist Kathy McTavish was among the artists chosen from 1,172 applications. (more…)
No Empty Bowl?
WDIO tells me Empty Bowl is off, this year. I own five bowls, and I have probably broken five more — these things get used in my home. I love useful art, and Empty Bowl fills my heart and home with useful art.
Colleagues who throw pots as an art form worry that Empty Bowl hurts the market for pottery, but I would say that the twenty bucks I spent there would never have been spent on something in a gallery — it is the confluence of art and charity that makes Empty Bowl magic.
What is next for Empty Bowl? I don’t know, but I hope it returns.
Split Rock Review, Spring 2019
SPLIT ROCK REVIEW — ISSUE 12
Split Rock Review is a not-for-profit publication that features literature and art that explore place, environment, and the relationship between humans and nature.
splitrockreview.org
Issue #12 of Split Rock Review is available. My favorite piece is “Transfers” by Hava Zitlalik.
Tim Kaiser – “Organelle”
Tim Kaiser appears to be reorganizing his recordings on SoundCloud, and so this gem appears on my feed. (more…)
Entangled lives: Poles and Jews; Europe and Africa
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iha3OS8ShYs
University lectures showed me quite a bit about the entangled lives of the past that shape our present. Last Thursday, Dr. Deborah Petersen-Perlman gave a historical tour of Poland. She opened with a video that shows the borders of European nations, beginning hundreds of years before the invention, even, of the nation-state. (more…)
Duluth Blogs: How to Collect Baseball Cards
Today, I point to another blog by a Duluthian, this time John Boucha. You can tell because his name is the URL. (more…)
Duluth Blogs: Sister Scotland
I’ve been discovering blogs by Duluthians lately. Sister Scotland collects the observations of a Superior student as she studies abroad. Some observations, about the taste of haggis … well, I will never be okay with food cooked in a stomach. It feels like duplication of effort; we only need one stomach in this process. But others, they are just playful thoughts on life. (more…)
Sketchbooks at Brooklyn Art Library: Daniel Levar
Daniel Levar was a Duluthian in Minneapolis at the time he submitted this sketchbook to the Brooklyn Art Library. (more…)