David Beard
Tim Kaiser at Jefferson Peoples House
Tim Kaiser celebrated the kickoff of his crowd fundraising event by performing at Jefferson Peoples House in Duluth.
Minnesota Cup overfloweth with Northlanders (maybe, if you help)
Minnesota Cup event at the Green Acres Barn Event Center.
Minnesota Cup is an innovative idea competition. According to Mark Dayton on the website:
The Minnesota Cup celebrates and encourages the unique character that makes Minnesota a special place to do business. From our rich history of entrepreneurship to our impressive list of Fortune 500 companies, Minnesota is where great ideas become great companies. Attracting more than 8,000 entries since 2005, the Minnesota Cup is now the largest statewide new venture competition in the country…. I am grateful for the support provided by the Minnesota Cup’s lead sponsors, including: the University of Minnesota; Wells Fargo; Carlson Companies; Digital River; General Mills; UnitedHealth Group; and the state of Minnesota. This is an excellent example of how public and private partnerships can work together and encourage new business development in Minnesota.
It would be great if I could post every year about a Northlander winner of this competition (and celebrate the cash as well as mentor support this program offers new businesses). But I can only do that if you apply with your amazing business idea.
Ruffed grouse release 2/5/15
Several days ago, one of our great local conservation officers brought in a ruffed grouse with a head injury to Wildwoods. The grouse has made a full recovery, so today, Sarah and Trudy released her back into the wild. The grouse exploded from the transport kennel and quickly disappeared into the woods.
ARAC seeking new board members
I have been a board member at the Arrowhead Regional Arts Council for, like, four years now. It has enriched my life immensely. Immensely. Consider joining as an Duluth member, at-large.
ARAC is currently accepting applications for the upcoming term starting in June. Positions that will be available include a board representative from Koochiching County and at-large members from any of the seven Arrowhead region counties.
For more information on becoming an ARAC board member and how to apply, click here.
ARAC Organizational Grants Awarded
The Arrowhead Regional Arts Council awarded a total of $93,840 in two-year operating support grants in January. There were eight organizations awarded out of 11 applicants. The program awards up to $12,000 over a two-year period to established nonprofit regional arts organizations to maintain their ongoing operating needs and services. The following is a list of organizations granted:
- County Seat Theatre, Cloquet
- Lake Superior Community Theatre, Silvery Bay
- Matinee Musicale, Duluth
- Mesabi Symphony Orchestra, Virginia
- Nordic Center, Duluth
- North Shore Music Association, Grand Marais
- Northern Lights Music Festival, Inc., Aurora
- Twin Ports Wind Ensemble, Duluth
ARAC also awarded a total of $39,090 in rural and community art project grants. There were nine organizations awarded out of 10 applicants. The program provides grants up to $5,000 to nonprofit, regional arts groups to support community- or artist-initiated arts activities that will affect the group and/or the community it serves. The following is a list of organizations granted:
- Chalk.a.Lot, Two Harbors
- Cook Area Chamber of Commerce, Cook
- Friends of B’nai Abraham, Virginia
- Good Harbor Hill Players, Grand Marais
- Grand Rapids Area Male Chorus, Grand Rapids
- Grand Rapids Players, Grand Rapids
- Great River String Ensemble, Aitkin
- Itasca Choral Society/Itasca Community Chorus, Grand Rapids
- Minnesota State Old Time Fiddle Championships, Virginia
Blind Tigers, Zombie Robots, karaoke, acoustic guitar, trees in the dark
Tracing backward … (more…)
Pixel Farmer Yields Big Harvest for Locally Laid
Friend and local pixel farmer Lucie Amundsen yielded a big harvest when she wrote a reply to a letter complaining that her actual farming operation (“Locally Laid”) was too spicy for the grocery aisle.
She’ll be on the Daily Circuit (MPR) today; the story has been picked up regionally here and here and here.
Duluth creativity (and Duluth passion for sustainability) on the map!
Ken Marunowski @Zeitgeist
My friend, colleague and local artist Ken Marunowski has art on display at the Zeitgeist.
It’s a new body of work, and it’s worth a look.
Robert Adams on Display
I stopped by the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Duluth, on College Street, to see the art on display by Robert Adams.
The exhibit includes didactic panels that really opened up Rob’s art to me. It made clear the conscious efforts to blend the formalism of Josef Albers and the playfulness of Rosenquist (or at least of pop art like Rosenquist’s) with a public commitment to the environment and a personal exploration of identity. (more…)
Superior Curling Club was fun
I spent Saturday afternoon watching friends play at the Superior Curling Club.
According to its website, the current club location was built “during the late 1980s.” “A modern new four sheet club was built at the Head of the Lakes Fairgrounds. Superior curlers worked out an agreement with the city and county on the funding of the club. The county and city contributed two dollars for every club dollar, and the curlers put in many thousands of hours in the actual construction of the new club.”
It’s a nifty facility, but it’s an even niftier sport to watch on a cold afternoon.
Holidays and Such
I saw the Wise Fool Shakespeare production of A Christmas Carol this afternoon with Lucie Amundsen.
Lucie wrote:
Didn’t make it to the Wise Fool Shakespeare ‘s Christmas Carol? Dude, you missed out. Goosebumps, guffaws and a little case of the verklempts. Thanks cast for giving up your autumn to make my Solstice.
It’s true — community theater is hundreds of hours to produce a work as awesome as this one. I am grateful, as Lucie was, for all their efforts. Jodi Kujawa stole the show, for me, as the Ghost of Christmas Present doing a little fourth-wall breaking, too. But the whole afternoon was awesome, twice as awesome because Sunday was “pay what you can,” so the crowd was even more energetic than you might expect.
I ended today shopping at the Mall, where I saw Brian Rauvola shopping, too. Brian has done as much as any one man can to sustain a culture of photography in Duluth, and it’s good to see him take a breather from that work. I still miss the Duluth Photography Institute, which was his baby.
Ladyslipper at the Red Herring; Arte de Moira
I have a lot of art experiences to relate this week, but I thought I should set aside two today, and a few more this weekend, when blog traffic is admittedly lower, I bet.
Wildwoods Notification about Distemper
A fox was found behaving abnormally, and the St. Louis County Undersheriff was able to walk right up to him and pick him up. He seemed very lethargic, and we were not certain of what we were dealing with, at first. Was he stunned from being hit by a car? However, then he began doing this, and we knew he had distemper. (more…)
Horses and Nerds
Tonight, I am home from the opening of the new art by Patricia Canelake at the Red Herring. This follows a great Nerd Nite last night.
The Canelake opening was awesome.
Chorus and Such
I ended my weekend at the Lake Superior Youth Chorus… (more…)
Snooty Fox Tea and Honey Tasting
The Facebook invitation for the Snooty Fox Tea and Honey Tasting, event indicated 80 people would attend, and that did not feel wrong. Maybe not 80, but the place was packed.
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Thanksgiving Stories
My Thanksgiving started Wednesday, and I want to point a few things out. (more…)
Snow Removal Advice
A friend in Lakeside needs advice on snow removal. (more…)
Art, Friends, Food, Drink
I spent tonight walking from art to art, from food to food, from friend to friend — the midpoint of an art week. (more…)
Give to the Max Day 2014
Today is Give to the Max Day. If you would like Duluthians to be aware of your Give to the Max campaign, maybe post something in the comments?
ARAC Technology/Equipment Grant Recipients
Arrowhead Regional Arts Council granted technology/equipment funding to the following individual artists on Oct. 16. For past program recipients, please contact the office by e-mailing info @ aracouncil.org.
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Night on the Town: Wednesday Edition
I started tonight listening to Darin Bergsven play some jazz tunes. I was there with Darrin and another member of Tangier 57, a local band that has both talent and a sense of humor. They push the same buttons in me that Combustible Edison used to… but not all members of the band knew the reference. What can you do?
At the table was my friend Liz Wright, who recently published an essay about The Negro Motorist Green Book. The Book, “with its list of hotels, boarding houses, restaurants, beauty shops, barber shops and various other services, can most certainly help solve your travel problems. It was the idea of Victor H. Green, the publisher, in introducing the Green Book, to save the travelers of his race as many difficulties and embarrassments as possible.” Liz does fascinating work in the rhetoric of race and gender, and this project seems really exciting to me.
Also at the table was Elias Mokole, a local vocalist whose work I am only starting to understand and enjoy. (Classical music eludes me. And someone who works in as many languages as Elias is crazy rich and complex as an artist.)
When I left, I wandered downtown for a bit — a trip to Rogue Robot, for starters, and then to the Electric Fetus, where I bought the “She & Him” Christmas album for $6 in their 20% off Halloween sale. Oh, Zoey Deschanel… please visit me in Duluth.
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Night on the Town: Tuesday Edition
So I was at the Red Herring, watching the last episode of the first season of Dr. Who (with Christopher Eccleston as the Doctor) and the first episode of the second season. The second season stars David Tennant. Tennant is, possibly, my favorite Doctor. So much so, I am watching Gracepoint.
Kristen Hylenski was there planning the November 9: Fall of the Wall Film and celebration, 3:30 – 8:00. The Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures will show the film “Good Bye Lenin!,” then hold a 1989 dance party. There will also be opportunities to learn about the wall and the fall of the wall.
Paul Lundgren was there. Paul is my hero, in many ways: what I think a writer can be. While I was there, My friend Emily sent me her new song lyrics. She posts them here. The night was hopping for me. Thanks to Heikko for organizing a Tuesday night event that gets me out of the house and among my friends, and that gets me tasting the infused liquors of the Red Herring.
After that, I wandered over to the Zeitgeist. I had grading to do, and I needed some help. While I was ordering my liquid help, I saw Richard Hansen of the Duluth Superior Film Festival… That man never stops, never sleeps. Planning the next festival started the second the last one ended. I also saw Kathleen Roberts and Nick Monson of Prøve Collective get a snack.
Full, rich night.