Art
Radio (A Reflection and an Event)
Before I start to talk about Luke Moravec and Bill Siemering, who visited the University of Minnesota Duluth on Zoom Wednesday afternoon, I want to talk a little bit about why I love radio so much. (more…)
Duluth Art Institute exhibitions moving to U.S. Bank building
The Duluth Art Institute has announced the location of its new gallery space. After 50 years at the St. Louis County Depot, the region’s foremost public art venue will move its galleries to the fourth floor of the U.S. Bank Building at 130 W. Superior St. (more…)
Duluth Book Releases in 2024
Every year a gob of books by Duluth-area writers and/or about Duluth-area topics hit the shelves of local bookstores and warehouses of e-commerce corporations. Here’s a look at what’s new and coming soon in 2024. (more…)
The most prestigious flagpole in Duluth. Or perhaps anywhere.
The Soldiers and Sailors Monument. (Photo by Matthew James)
A few weeks ago a postcard of the Soldiers and Sailors Monument appeared on Perfect Duluth Day that included the text “by the noted sculptor Paul W. Bartlett of Paris.” That didn’t seem like a particularly French name to me so I decided to see if he was actually a noted sculptor and actually from Paris. Both counts proved accurate.
Bartlett was from Connecticut, but grew up in France and spent a considerable amount of time in Paris. But Bartlett only designed the statue in front of the monument. The architect Cass Gilbert designed the base that supports the flagpole. And both of these people gained considerable attention during their respective careers. Their most prominent works are within a few minutes walk of each other in Washington D.C. And when I learned this, I was attending a conference in Washington D.C., so I paid a visit to those works. (more…)
Tim Cortes Studio West open in Duluth Heritage Sports Center
Heritage Center 'warming house' converted to art studio - Duluth News Tribune | News, weather, and sports from Duluth, Minnesota
Local artist Tim Cortes has been commissioned to complete pieces for the University of Notre Dame and the Minnesota Twins.
duluthnewstribune.com
The Duluth News Tribune reports artist Tim Cortes has opened an art studio and gallery in the former warming shack at the Duluth Heritage Sports Center’s Sill Arena.
U of M honoring work and legacy of George Morrison
Minnesota Public Radio reports on the new George Morrison Center for Indigenous Arts at the University of Minnesota, which serves as an “interdepartmental study center to support the creation, presentation and interpretation of Indigenous art in all its forms.” Morrison was a renowned abstract painter and sculptor, and a member of the Grand Portage Band of Lake Superior Chippewa. He died in 2000.
The inaugural exhibit at the center is on display in the Katherine Nash Gallery until March 16. It includes work by Duluth-based artist Jonathan Thunder.
Duluth Art Institute continuing search for new space
Duluth Art Institute plans for year of continuity amid change - Duluth News Tribune | News, weather, and sports from Duluth, Minnesota
The nonprofit will be leaving its longtime galleries in the St. Louis County Depot, but is searching for new space — and continuing programming at its Lincoln Park building.
duluthnewstribune.com
The Duluth News Tribune reports the nonprofit Duluth Art Institute is searching for a new home as it prepares to leave the St. Louis County Depot, where it has had galleries and workspace since 1975.
Former Duluthian teaching painting online
Former Duluthian Nancy Valentine teaches bamboo painting online (thanks to an arts grant).
Coloring pages related to this project are available via Google Drive.
2023: The Year in Duluth Gig Posters
Behold another year of Duluth rawk and/or roll as visually displayed via Perfect Duluth Day’s traditional year-ending gallery of gig posters. (more…)
Thoughts on Flags, Art and a State of Perpetual Revolution
This post is about the new Minnesota State Flag, about abstract art, and about the exhausted feeling I get in contemporary politics. (more…)
Frau Holle’s Werkhaus
Frau Holle’s Werkhaus is Duluth artist Joellyn Rock‘s latest mixed-media installation, on display at the Tweed Museum of Art through February as part of the University of Minnesota Duluth’s faculty and staff exhibition Everything & Nothing. It was first exhibited in the group show Catching Up / Resurfacing at Joseph Nease Gallery. (more…)
PDD Gift Guide 2023
Welcome to the 2023 PDD Holiday Gift Guide, an annual tradition that highlights products made in Duluth and the surrounding area. You’ll find 16 gift ideas here, but the comment area is open for suggestions. (more…)
Selective Focus: Masha Conner’s Character Drawings & Pro-Choice Art
When Masha Conner isn’t working as a nurse at WE Health clinic, she can be found pouring her passion for abortion access, drag shows and cosplay into her character designs. A collection of her drawings and a recent interview can be read below: (more…)
Arty Duluth Concert Ticket Stubs
In general, concert tickets are not attractively designed. These days people show up at the gate with a computer printout as evidence of admission purchased online, or more often just hold up their phone to display a code. When there are physical tickets involved, they tend to be nothing more than a faded Ticketmaster logo with the show details in grey, all-caps print. And that’s just in the case of mainstream traveling artists.
When it comes to shows featuring local bands, there often are no tickets involved at all. Admission is frequently free or it’s a cash-at-the-door affair. But there are a few occasions where tickets to local shows get arty. (more…)
Selective Focus: Maelo Cruz’s Comics and Paintings
Photo by Jess Morgan
A few years after moving to Minnesota, Maelo Cruz self-published a 64-page comic called “Part Timer,” about a character who “dreams of being a full time artist while working a regular job that sucks the life right out of them.” His artwork is primarily autobiographical and self-reflective, giving viewers a glimpse of his experience living and growing up in Puerto Rico and fatherhood. View and learn more about his comics, below. (more…)
Selective Focus: Kathryne Ford’s Paintings, Prints and Visual Art
Photo by Nia Sayler.
Duluthians who love the local music scene may have stumbled across Kathryne Ford dancing with her acrylics while live painting. Ford performs most Tuesdays at the Rathskeller with jazz group the Hot Club of Duluth. A collection of Ford’s work called “See the Bloom” is on display at Wussow’s Concert Cafe through the end of October. Below is a recent interview and some snapshots of her artwork. (more…)
Untethered: Patricia Canelake
Over the summer, Prøve Gallery hosted Untethered, an exhibition of paintings and prints by Patricia Canelake of Knife River. In this video by Frank Sander, Kelsey Lundberg interviews Canelake about the simple figures and animals, leashed and unleashed, that are the focus of her work.
Free Republic of Duluth Funnies, 2005
Below are artifacts from the Richardson brothers 2005 Free Republic of Duluth events. The idea was a Duluth secession into a city-state embodying Situationist ideas of art-as-life. It culminated in a community art event at Washington Studios where these were displayed. Allen and I created these in the spirit of détournement, the practice of subverting commercial art like comic strips to revolutionary ends. Our house became a collaborative artspace freakout, reflected in the fact that the lettering in the last strip was done by someone I can’t remember, it could have been anyone, some citizen of the Free Republic … (more…)
Selective Focus: Brittany Plachecki
Applying their studies in art history, excitement for horror and queer theory, Brittany Plachecki creates colorful character designs. One of their most recent projects was co-founding Pride Walks Superior, a collaborative initiative to get LGBTQIA2S+ youth involved in an affirming, creative, and kid-friendly-setting. Pride Walks also helped introduce young artists to the process of doing gallery shows, documenting their work, and selling it. Brittany’s pieces are perfect for getting into the spirit of fall and spooky season. View photos of their art and a recent interview about their work below: (more…)
40 Below: The Toughest Race in the World
Duluthian Marius Anderson’s film 40 Below will be the featured film on Friday, Oct. 6 at the 2023 Duluth Superior Film Fest. The film follows entrants in the Arrowhead 135 race in International Falls during the depths of Minnesota winter. It’s one of many Minnesota-made films screened at the fest; the full schedule is on the Duluth Superior Film Fest website.
Below are more Minnesota-made movie trailers. (more…)
9/11, Never Forget Evil
When I was a little kid, I had a friend named Ron. Ron was different, unique and interesting. All people appeared this way to me at that time. Ron stole a pair of shorts from my mother’s clothesline. My mother’s friend caught Ron downtown and yelled at him, “nice shorts!,” and then drove off. I didn’t understand why Ron didn’t get to have a colorful pair of shorts. He was different, unique and interesting like me. Then they cut my hair. I cried, “I look like a bald-headed monkey.” My grandfather said, “his hair was so long because of the Indians up there.” They sent me to a Catholic school. I’m white. My language was stolen from me. My culture was stolen from me. My friends were stolen from me.
Ractalfece is canceled
Hello everybody, this is John Holden, aka, Ractalfece. Over the years, I have been honored that Perfect Duluth Day has been posting my YouTube videos. Unfortunately, YouTube has terminated my account.
I wrote to them; said it was art. They didn’t restore my account. So I’ll be dusting off my old website — totalvom.com. Come find me.
Duluth artist exhibits at Minnesota State Fair
Duluth artist Pat Hagen leapt a huge hurdle to exhibit at the Minnesota State Fair — producing some of the best work in the state. (Photos via Pat.) (more…)
Champ the Bulldog: Bronze Edition
Sculptor Nick Legeros recently completed a bronze sculpture of Champ the Bulldog, mascot of the University of Minnesota Duluth. The statue was installed on Aug. 8 near the walkway in front of the Darland Administration Building.
Whither the Depot Foundation?
As there is such a tussle coming about the Depot, I wondered — what is the role of the Depot Foundation in keeping the Depot afloat? (more…)