The Homegrown Music Festival is seeking photos from the 2012 festival for use in the Field Guide. Large, print quality photos, please — most camera phone photos are not going to cut it.

Please send photos / more information / mailing address for discs: transistormag [at] gmail [dot] com.

Thank you, fans!

Ok, I had written this a week or so ago, then didn’t publish, but now with the next film showing up … I have to say something …. is Duluth the epicenter of icky?

With several filmmakers coming to Duluth and making films which extol the … er … um grittier nature of our fair city, I’ve come to wonder if we aren’t letting others define how others see us with their films. Firstly, hats off to anyone who can herd all the cats and get a film or video made, I know because I’ve done it.  I’m not decrying the fact that these director/producers are here and making us look “horrible” or licentious or evil cultish. Truly, thanks for shooting your show here! But come on! Isn’t Duluth worthy of something cute, quirky, poignant, beautiful or at least just mundane? You are correct to say, “STFU Baci and just make a film yourself!” and you’d be spot on to say so. I wish nothing more than I had the time to put toward making a film, set in Duluth, that showcased how perfect our days here are.

For the past 56 days of their Kickstarter fundraising campaign, members of the local band Snöbarn have been working their tails off. They’ve been playing live sets (upward of a dozen during the past two months), doing interviews on radio and TV, and madly promoting their cause via social media. Now, more than ever, time is of the essence. Their online fundraising window on Kickstarter will finally close late Sunday night (or very early Monday morning), Feb. 4, at precisely 2:35 a.m.

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Duluth photographer Gage Salyards is battling papillary thyroid cancer, but he still has plans to study with one of the most famous and renowned travel photographers on the planet, Trey Ratcliff, in New Zealand. Obviously all of his financial resources of late have been invested into regaining his health, so he’s doing what all the artsy folks are doing these days and reaching out to the Internet for help.

See his gofundme.com campaign to make a donation, and check out his portfolio and more information about his photography at eyeamgage.com.

His workshop begins on Feb 6, so the clock is ticking. As of this posting he is 3/4 of the way to his $10,000 goal.

I love this new(ish) show on KUMD. Check out recordings from past shows here [Jill Hinners, Deborah Cooper, Cheryl Reitan, Sheila Packa, Gail Trowbridge, Meredith Cornett (total self-promotion, please forgive me), and many others!]. “Women’s Words” airs at ~1:30 and 3:30 p.m. on Sundays as part of the Women’s Music Show. If you are a (woman) writer willing to do a short reading from your work, they want to hear from you!

Everyone’s upcoming least favorite film is having auditions Jan. 30 & Jan. 31. Here is the notice with all the info about the film & characters. If interested, please send me an email with any acting experience you have, a pic, and what roles you prefer. Acting experience isn’t necessary. Just be willing to work and have fun with it. Thanks and I look forward to meeting with you.

http://duluthishorrible.blogspot.com/2013/01/casting-call.html

Prøof Magazine is proud to announce the online release of its second issue, (re)collection. This issue addresses the role of memory in the creation and perception of art. The issue features a rich variety of contributors, from the poet laureate of the state of Rhode Island to a teenaged graphic designer from Minneapolis. The art and writing within this issue is stark at times, funny at others, but all of it pulls at the threads of time and self, a craft exemplified by the work of the featured artist, Mayumi Amada. The issue is available online in its entirety, free, and, for Duluthians, come by to check out the print version next week at Prøve Gallery.

This February (maybe), filmmaker Vincent Gargiulo will be coming to Duluth to film a short movie titled Duluth is Horrible. Chip into the Kickstarter here, and/or follow the news on their blog.

Prøve Gallery is seeking artwork for its “Fragility” exhibition, opening Jan. 11. The show is focusing on the beauty, uncertainty and fragility of winter.
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The Medium Control has an Indiegogo Campaign to help fund the renovation of a new store.

We made an old-school Super8 video so you can learn who and what the Medium Control is and more about the new store renovation in the second floor of a Canal Park building that sat empty for 20 years. We’re so excited to share this with Duluth.

Tommy+Kristy
The Medium Control

Two questions:

First: I am working with a journalism student on a news article and in it, the student mentions that a person used to work at a sporting goods store named CZ Wilson. Does that ring any bells?

Second: My daughter is an artist and has created watercolor paintings on seasonal cards (this is not an ad, don’t worry). Now, she would like to take those cards and have them printed on nice stock paper or whatever I really mean to say. Are there good local printers who do that work that people would recommend?

Thank you.

Minneapolis-based director/producer Michael Forstein and his production crew will be in Duluth from Dec. 7-10 to shoot a film written by Duluth East alum Colin Thomsen.

The principle cast is comprised of actors based out of the Twin Cities and Los Angeles, but there is a casting call for Duluthians interested in playing roles that fit the following descriptions:

Very old lady
Mom and small child
Boy age 6-13
Teenage girl
Man age 40-60 with mustache
Middle-aged man
Bartender
Older woman with two small children
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I’m a writer who grew up in Duluth and use the city as part of the setting for a middle-grade ghost adventure called “Johnny Graphic and the Etheric Bomb.” Johnny is a 12-year-old news photographer who lives in an alternative universe in 1935, in which Duluth is called Zenith. Ghosts are real in this world and a few of them have something very nasty in mind for the city. The book is available as a print-on-demand paperback and e-book through Barnes and Noble and other online retailers. Right now, I’m also giving paperback copies away through Goodreads, for any readers who may belong. The book’s website is johnnygraphicadventures.com.

I’m looking for a person knowledgeable in the fine arts of soldering and/or electronics to either commission, or better yet, apprentice under. Teach a man to fish, y’know?

I am an artist and ummm … musician new to the area looking to expand my arsenal and meet up and work with like-minded folks. I have a few specific projects in mind but lack the cognitive capacity for such wonderful crap. Basic synth kits. Circuit modification and highly liquid midi kits are on my mind … Google em.

Prefer to trade work, food, art or any other supplies before cash. I can also do cash.

Prøve Gallery, Duluth’s newest space for emerging and contemporary art, is seeking to give emerging artists the opportunity to gain experience and exposure and further Duluth’s community involvement and interest in the arts.

Call for Art Under $100

All work should be priced under $100. There are no theme or media restrictions. Works can be hung on the wall, free standing, laying on the floor, suspended, etc.
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Has anyone heard of this guy? Norman Pettingill was born in Iron River, Wis. in 1896. He moved to Superior in 1937. He was known for his “backwoods humor” postcards. A hardcover (plywood, actually) book on his work came out in 2010, with an introduction by R. Crumb, who published Norman’s work in the ’80s. He died in 1991. (more…)

Duluth breeds good beards. As Novembeard commences, here is some local inspiration for your month-long beard growing festival.

The rules of Novembeard are simple.

1. Shave on November 1.
2. Don’t shave November 2-30.

Add your own Duluth facial hair icons and chart your beard progress in the comments.

Connie Wanek recently interviewed Duluth poet Louis Jenkins and Tony Award-winner Mark Rylance for mnartists.org. They discuss their collaboration on the play Nice Fish, which premieres in April.

Nice Fish: An Interview in Three Acts

The Washington Studio Artist Co-op is looking for vendors to participate in its upcoming Holiday Show in December. We are looking for folks who make original arts and crafts with their hands and are looking for exposure and to sell their crafts. Our show, “The Art Cracker,” will be on Dec. 8.

If you are interested in selling your crafty wonderful creations, don’t hesitate and contact our gallery director, Ryan Tischer — wsacgallery @ gmail.com.

If you would like more information on how to sign up and/ or are interested in signing up here’s the link. Come one, come all!

Jack Bratrud has a collection of watercolor paintings on display in the Louvre Gallery. His depiction of the Last Place on Earth seems like it shouldn’t go unnoticed on PDD.