Just released today, the first video, “Carrera”, from Sadkin, an art/pop music pursuit in Duluth.
Directed by Daniel Benoit, choreography by Andrea Miller and Erin Tope, featuring the members of the music group Sadkin – Max Mileski, Cory Coffman, Nicholas Hanson, Anton Jimenez-Kloeckl & Daniel Vopal. Lights by Jason Nordberg. Filmed at Spark Works in Duluth.
Last night, I visited the Tweed Museum for the Ken Bloom retirement party. Normally, the retirement of a colleague at the university would not be something to draw attention to — but Ken Bloom is different, and I’d guess two hundred people were at the Tweed to share in the event.
Announcing the launch of our podcast.
Grasshopper Girl
Written by Teresa Peterson
llustrated by Jordan Rodgers
Black Bears and Blueberries Publishing
Rez Dog
Story by Heather Brink
Illustrations by Jordan Rodgers
Black Bears and Blueberries Publishing
(March)
The Forever Sky
Thomas Peacock
Minnesota Historical Society Press
(April 1)
In addition to the various (“legitimate,” if you will) literary and arts magazines and journals in the Duluth area, past and present, there is a long tradition of renegade ’zines circulated for short periods of time. What’s technically the difference between the two? Well, a magazine or journal tends to have a glossy cover and be governed by an institution or a nonprofit board of directors. A ’zine tends to be printed on a photocopier for limited circulation and produced by an individual or disorganized group.
This week we feature work that you’ve probably seen around town recently, but may not know who was behind it. Designer Shawn Stigsell has been busy with some fun projects, and he tells us a little about his story, and the stories behind these designs.
SS: I have been working with digital print since 2002 when I attended UMD. A few years ago I lost my job as an editorial designer due to budget cuts. Needless to say it was the best thing that has ever happened to my career. I have grown as a designer since then. Being a freelance designer is challenging because you have to be able to take on the valleys of the grind and time between each project. The biggest reward is seeing that the handwork is paying off by the satisfaction of clients.
Options for the new Duluth city flag have been narrowed down to nine. Finalists were selected by the city’s volunteer flag committee with consideration of input received from an online survey, flag design principles, artist descriptions of the meaning, and overall sense that the flag represents Duluth.
This painting of the Lester River circa 1900 was recently sold on eBay, mislabeled as a painting of “Luster River.”
Jeffrey T. Larson is a painter and founder of the Great Lakes Academy of Art, located in the former St. Peter’s Church, 810 W. Third St. Larson has been working and teaching a classical style of painting in that location since 2015. There will be a student-instructor exhibit at the school May 24-26. Larson talks about his classical training and how working and teaching fit together for him.
JTL: I was fortunate to have found and be accepted into one of the last ateliers (studios) left in the world taking on apprentices and training them in the manner of the old masters. It was a sort of visual Julliard. I work pretty exclusively in oil paints. The tradition that I studied in is really more about retraining your eye to see nature honestly and truthfully as it is about learning how to paint. My style is really my reaction to what I see as beautiful filtered through my personal aesthetics. More simply put, I would call myself a classical impressionist.
Manhatten-based humorist Micah Osler drops the D-word six times in a May 11 piece in The New Yorker titled “Hi, It’s Your Mom, and I Have Some Advice for Your Job Search.”
The article is entirely from the voice of a mother on the phone, mostly offering employment advice based on hot tips like, “Dolores works up in Duluth, and she says that everywhere in Duluth is hiring.”
Photo of Artist by Carrie Boberg
I went to see the exhibit by Rob Adams, as discussed on Radio Gallery. It’s being shown within the workspace of a professional design company in Downtown Duluth.
Ken Bloom packed the Tweed for a “Tweevening.” Ken is a photographer who directs and occasionally curates shows, and as he retires, the Tweed is celebrating his medium.
Ken Bloom, director of the Tweed Museum of Art at the University of Minnesota Duluth since 2004, will retire in June. UMD’s School of Fine Arts made the announcement Friday afternoon, noting there will be a nationwide search for a new director.
Bloom will return to his lifelong photography career and continue to offer his accumulated museum and artistic expertise as a freelance curator and consultant.
Railroad Yard, Duluth, 1918–1965
There are a few works by Francis Chapin at the Art Institute of Chicago. More info about Chapin can be found on Wikipedia.
