Illustrating Hunger and Homelessness: AC Kirk
Art by Nelle Rhicard at reframeideas.com.
A group of University of Minnesota Duluth faculty, students and community artists came together to explore strategies to communicate the stories of frontline workers in housing and food insecurity. UMD students met AC Kirk, the Farms Coordinator at the Family Freedom Center in Duluth. (more…)
Sir Duluth and Father Hennepin on Mushrooms
Letters exchanged between Father Louis Hennepin and Daniel Greysolon, Sir Duluth. From a special collection at Northern Illinois University, translated from the French by Peter S. Svenson.
To: Daniel Greysolon, Sir Duluth
Montreal, New France
From: Father Louis Hennepin
Rome
Date: August 23, 1701
Dear Duluth,
Remember our exchange when you rescued me from my kidnappers? I asked you, “Do you have to look so much like a French musketeer?” And you replied, “I am literally a French musketeer. Do you have to look so much like Friar Tuck?” Forgive me. An old man on my deathbed, let me put things right. I anticipate my reward but I look back at the enemies I made. I hope you were not one. I only spent a short while in New France. And we did not know each other well. But we tore it up, didn’t we? I should think they will name a city after you someday. I will be content with a street or two named after me, perhaps a bridge. One doesn’t wish to be prideful. But you deserve your glories.
One thing bothers me. Please tell me what you remember of our time on Lake Superior, our final full day together. My memories of the event are confused. We caught no fish yet we were out there for hours.
Please accept, dear Sir, the expression of my most sincere feelings.
Louis
Morgan Park church wins place on national registry
United Protestant Church member Bob Berg, left, Moderator Marna Fasteland and Pastor Mitch Nelson stand in a back balcony inside the church sanctuary. The Morgan Park church was recently added to the National Register of Historic Places. (Photo by Mark Nicklawske)
A monumental concrete block church constructed by idle steelworkers in early 19th-century Morgan Park earned national recognition last month and will be a stop on a historic building tour this weekend in Duluth. (more…)
Duluth playwright interviewed on NME
Duluth playwright Mark Stanfield was interviewed for an article published this week in the British arts and culture website New Musical Express, or NME. (more…)
Ian Alexy – “Dancing in the Dark”
Ian Alexy offers a take on Bruce Springsteen’s “Dancing in the Dark” on his new EP of cover songs titled Campfire Extraordinary.
The performance footage in the video was shot by Sarah Jane Hale with assistance and lighting by Dan Dresser. The additional footage is from two educational films, Asking for a Date (1949) and Show ’em the Road (1954).
Armory fundraiser event seeks art submissions
The Armory Arts and Music Center is celebrating the 109th anniversary of the Historic Duluth Armory on Nov. 15. The fundraising event will feature 20-25 artists and their works, focusing on the theme of the evening: Preservation. (more…)
Postcard from the Willard Motel
This undated postcard shows the Willard Munger Inn circa 1970, when it was simply the “Willard Motel.” It is still in operation in Duluth’s Norton Park neighborhood. (more…)
The Duet of a Lifetime: Viola Turpeinen and William Syrjälä
North Shorror! 2024 Call for Art
It’s time to reanimate those brains!
North Shorror! 2024 will be taking place from Oct. 11 to Nov. 2 at the St. Louis County Depot in Downtown Duluth. The annual eerie event features regional artists of all kinds in celebration of the spookiest season. The aim is to create an extraordinary space to build community connections … while also giving visitors the chills. And the organizers are looking for art to fill up the Haunted Art Gallery and visitors’ senses to do just that. Check out the Call for Art to learn more, and see the Proposal Form to send in an idea. Proposals are requested by 11:59 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 22. Earlier submissions are appreciated.
Minnesota State All Fair Hair Team 2024
From the guy who brings us the annual All Hockey Hair Team, here’s an abbreviated rundown of what was flowing at the Minnesota State Fair.
Ripped at Tom’s Burned Down Café in 2004
[Editor’s note: For this week’s essay we’ve once again pulled out a relic from the archive of Slim Goodbuzz, who served as Duluth’s “booze connoisseur” from 1999 to 2009. Twenty years ago the Sultan of Sot paid a visit to the Town of La Pointe on Madeline Island and composed this article for the September 2004 issue of the Ripsaw magazine.]
Holy crap is it a beautiful night out here on Madeline Island. It’s warm, with a cool breeze coming off the lake, and I’m sprawled out on the sidewalk polishing off a 40 of Mickey’s Fine Malt Liquor and watching the Northern Lights burn across the entire sky, like the good Lord himself is vomiting white Russians all over the universe. I’m thankful to be alive. I’m lucky to be alive, too, as there are a lot of ways to die on this island, all of them alcohol related.
The downtown La Pointe area is small and concentrated, so it’s not unusual that a cop car has cruised by me a few times now. Each time I wave, and the cop waves back, because everything is fine; the speed limit here is 40 oz. See, unlike most of the United States of America, it’s perfectly legal on Madeline Island to walk around town with a beer in your hand, as if you live in a free country. You can carry your bottled or canned brew from one bar to the next, or just sit on a hollow log in front of the Chamber of Commerce and chug away. This place has everything Duluth has an ordinance against. (more…)
Old World Lakewood Pump House
A fun local architecture channel to be aware of, Arches and Columns. The latest video is about the pump house.
Lanue – “Song For Luella”
Trampled by Turtles – “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door”
Trampled by Turtles performed the Bob Dylan classic “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door” at Thompson’s Point in Portland, Maine on June 30.
Lanue – “Fire in My Mind” aboard Papa Gaucho on Lake Superior
Sarah Krueger goes sailing with Jerree Small, Alan Sparhawk and Emma Deaner in the new Lanue video for the title track of the 2022 EP Fire in My Mind.
The video was shot last fall by Keely Zynda with sound and additional editing support by Ethan Gibbs.
Duluth-area Theater Primer 2024-2025
The time of year for pumpkin lattes, hawk migrations and dramatic performances is upon us. Though plays happen year-round, the fall is when most theatrical organizations begin a new season of productions. This primer lists upcoming shows from a dozen Duluth-area theater entities, but first gives an overview of other theater options in the region. (more…)
Steve Solkela – “Son imbrogliato io gia”
Steve Solkela performs his favorite aria in this promo video for the intermezzo opera La Serva Padrona, which runs Sept. 11-12 at the Lyric Center in Virginia and Sept. 13-15 at the Douglas County Historical Society in Superior. (more…)
Downtown Duluth 1964
This photo of Downtown Duluth, found on the French-language edition of Wikipedia, is dated Sept. 1, 1964. It shows East Superior Street from Lake Avenue looking northeast with the Hotel Duluth at center frame. Note the NorShor Theatre still had its tower marquee, which was dismantled in 1967. (more…)
Illustrating Hunger and Homelessness: Tiffany Fenner
Art by Nelle Rhicard at reframeideas.com.
Food insecurity, housing insecurity, poverty and social justice are intertwined, a knot of problems facing our community. Thirteen percent of Duluthians face food insecurity, and more than 54 percent of renter-households are rent burdened. Often these difficult social problems are addressed by nonprofit organizations that run food pantries or housing shelters. The organization’s workers build affordable housing and support people living on the street. While these workers are heroes, they are also human, and their stories are also intertwined with larger issues like poverty and social justice. These frontline workers are also often former college students who enter the job market with the consequential task of supporting those who others have left behind. (more…)
PDD Geoguessr #25: Duluth Creeks
The lower falls of Chester Creek. (Photo by Matthew James)
Forty-two named streams run through the Duluth metropolitan area, from Mission Creek in West Duluth to the Lester River on the eastern edge of the city. This Geoguessr challenge looks at photospheres from five of the creeks within the Duluth Urban Watershed. (more…)
Ghost Dogs
“The safest way to heaven is to be eaten by beautiful dogs.”
— Kamchatka proverb
My family had a pair of little dogs like on the Black and White scotch whiskey label: a black Scottish Terrier and a West Highland White Terrier. My folks got the Scottish Terrier first, when I was in fourth grade. Being English teachers, they thought it was hilarious to name her Macduff, after the character who kills Macbeth in “the Scottish Play.” Four years later we gave Dad the white Westie for Christmas. He named the dog Budger. Dad died that summer.
Three years passed. It was the summer after eleventh grade. My brother and I ate some LSD after Mom and our sister left the house for the day. This was my first acid trip. We walked to the ice cream shop until we started feeling weird. Returning home we flopped down on the living room carpet and let the dogs come to us. We lay there laughing while Macduff and Budger licked our faces and wagged their tails and sniffed in our ears. I had what felt like a genetic memory of people playing with their dogs back down through the stone age and into deep time. The black and the white dog symbolized more than themselves, and I did too. (more…)
Postcard from the Great Northern Power Company Dam
This postcard, published by the Duluth Photo Engraving Company, was mailed 100 years ago today — Aug. 30, 1924. It shows the Great Northern Power Company Dam, now known as the Thomson Dam and operated by Minnesota Power. (more…)
Duluth’s Ten Most Endangered Places in 2024
The Duluth Preservation Alliance has announced its 2024 list of the ten most endangered places. The list includes buildings with active plans for demolition, properties with uncertain futures and underrecognized places with overlooked history that might be vulnerable to future threats. (more…)
PDD Shop Talk: Labor Day Weekend Edition
For a tad more than 21 years, Perfect Duluth Day has depended heavily on unpaid labor. Though multiple independent contractors receive paychecks for their contributions to the website, the amount of work that goes out has always greatly exceeded the amount of dollars that come in. That’s why we occasionally toss up a post to remind everyone that PDD can always be better or worse based on cash flow, so donations are a big help. (more…)