October 2020 Posts

Selective Focus: Holley Morgenstern

Oct 23, 2020 No Comments

Holley Morgenstern of Sparrow & Berry is carrying on a family tradition of making dolls. Her designs are modern and whimsical, giving a fun spin to heirloom dolls. The critters, faces and even the materials she uses vary wildly, and each doll has its own personality and is one of a kind.

HM: My name is Holley Morgenstern and I am the face behind Sparrow & Berry. I make handmade modern heirloom cloth dolls. There are several categories of doll makers, I fall into the soft sculpture category and would also fall under fiber art.

My work is made primarily of cotton, linen and wool. I do use some synthetic fibers for the shaggy/furry, more traditional stuffed animal type dolls. I frequently use bits of vintage trim, fabric, buttons and upcycled components as well.

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Art , ,

The Slice: Windows into Grief

Oct 22, 2020 No Comments

Mary Plaster explains how Duluth artists honored All Souls Night through “Windows Into Grief,” an event held across Duluth storefronts.

In its series The Slice, WDSE-TV presents short “slices of life” that capture the events and experiences that bring people together and speak to what it means to live up north.


Art, Videos , ,

Then and Now: Looking Down 43rd Avenue West

Oct 22, 2020 No Comments

The top half of the graphic above is from a real estate advertisement in the Oct. 22, 1920 edition of the Duluth Herald, promoting lots on 43rd Avenue West near Eighth Street in West Duluth. The bottom half is an attempt to capture the modern perspective via Google Maps. In the modern view, trees block three of the four homes shown in the 1920 view, but one of them can been seen and the other three, though not in view, are still standing.

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History , ,

Golden Bulldog owner still struggling to open pub near UMD

Oct 21, 2020 2 Comments

Imran Khan’s longtime vision of a drinking establishment in Duluth’s Endion neighborhood briefly came to fruition in February. Then the COVID-19 shutdown happened.

Since late August, Khan has described the status of his business as “partially open,” though the doors have generally been locked. Those hoping to try out the Golden Bulldog will need to wait while the search for a bar manager continues.

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News and Current Affairs ,

Heely Tricks with JamesG: September 2020

Oct 20, 2020 No Comments

Another monthly installment of wheeled-sneaker stunts from former Duluthian James Geisler, also known as the hip-hop artist JamesG.


Videos ,

Hoops Brewing wins gold, Earth Rider two silvers at GABF

Oct 20, 2020 No Comments

Duluth’s Hoops Brewing won its first Great American Beer Festival medal at the 2020 awards ceremony held Oct. 16. Hoops’ 325 Pineapple Chili was awarded the gold medal in the Chili Beer category. It’s the fourth year in a row that a Duluth or Superior brewery has won a gold medal at the festival.

Earth Rider Brewery in Superior took home two silver medals this year — Royal Bohemian Pilsner in the Kellerbier or Zwickelbier category and North Tower Stout in the Oatmeal Stout category.

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News and Current Affairs ,

Lincoln Park Mural Project

Oct 20, 2020 No Comments

Artist Moira Villiard and her team created a mural at 2024 W. Third St. this past summer through a number of artist grants. The team included Michelle Defoe, Aurora Webster and Heather Olson. This video was produced and edited by Dudley Edmondson.


Art, Videos , ,

Mystery Photo: Owl Studio

Oct 20, 2020 No Comments

The back of this postcard photo indicates it was shot at the Owl Studio, 10 E. Superior. St., next to Duluth’s Empress Theatre. It’s the same address as the Wide Awake Studio, which was featured in a previous Mystery Photo.

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History, Photos , ,

Creating Apart: Adam Swanson

Oct 19, 2020 No Comments

The pandemic gave Adam Swanson time to complete 14 paintings of endangered animals. But it also gave him time to think. In this short documentary by filmmaker Mike Scholtz, Adam wrestles with the importance of art, and art openings, in our lives.

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Art, Videos , ,

Duluth You & Me: A Storm on Lake Superior

Oct 19, 2020 No Comments

Use the link below for a printable PDF for your drawing and coloring pleasure.
Duluth You & Me: A Storm on Lake Superior

Follow the Duluth You & Me subject tag to see additional pages. For background on the book see the original post on the topic.


Art , ,

Breanne Marie & the Front Porch Sinners – “Central Hillside ’91”

Oct 18, 2020 No Comments

Presenting the world premiere of “Central Hillside ’91,” the new single and video from Breanne Marie & the Front Porch Sinners. The song is full of early 1990s nostalgia, and the video was shot and edited by David Syring, with scenes captured in Duluth’s Central Hillside neighborhood, of course.

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Music, Videos ,

Mick Jagger digs Duluth Art Institute; Esko woman still missing

Oct 18, 2020 1 Comment

Duluth is mentioned six times in The Burnt Orange Heresy, a new movie starring Elizabeth Debicki, Donald Sutherland, Claes Bang and Mick Jagger. The fictional Duluth Star Ledger newspaper also appears, featuring the headline “Esko woman goes missing.”

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Art ,

The Musician as Inventor

Oct 17, 2020 7 Comments

The recent passing of Eddie Van Halen reminded me of a favorite topic: the musician as inventor. I refer to the invention of objects, techniques, and concepts. It’s invention in the service of an art form. For instance, musical instruments are invented, then shaped with further inventions which make additional modifications possible. Musicians have always been inventors. Here are some of my favorite examples.

Rock and Roll Itself

The invention of rock music, with its pedigree of blues, gospel, and so on, is these days commonly attributed to Chuck Berry in the early 1950s. Berry produced the musical mutant that would conquer the world when he combined rhythm and blues with country and western guitar licks, then packaged it with guitar solos and other showmanship. His signature duck walk may be considered a lasting invention, still in use by Angus Young of AC/DC who credits Berry for, well, everything. Berry was influenced by Sister Loretta Tharpe, whose 1944 song, “Strange Things Happening Every Day,” is sometimes considered the first rock record.

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Music ,

Selective Focus: Hannah Palma

Oct 16, 2020 No Comments

Hannah Palma is a potter who has blended her love of woodcut printmaking into her process of working with clay. This week she talks about that combination, and how our big lake inspires her designs.

HP: I work with earth; I work with clay. I feel like all my life ceramics was calling me to it in one way or another, but it wasn’t till my time at the university that I found it would be my deepest passion.

I was born and raised here in Grand Marais, where my love and curiosity for the wild and nature was fostered. I grew up in a little cabin on big land where when the leaves left for the winter you could get the slightest peek of the never ending view of Lady Lake Superior.

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Art ,

The Slice: Ian Alexy

Oct 16, 2020 No Comments

Musician Ian Alexy is documenting his life and career during the COVID-19 pandemic through a documentary titled Making it Shine.

In its series The Slice, WDSE-TV presents short “slices of life” that capture the events and experiences that bring people together and speak to what it means to live up north.


Music, Videos , ,
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