Duluth MN Art News and Information from Perfect Duluth Day

Art Posts

Ripped on the Art Gallery Stroll in 2006

[Editor’s note: For this week’s essay we’ve once again pulled out a relic from the drunken compendium of Slim Goodbuzz, who served as Duluth’s “booze connoisseur” from 1999 to 2009. Twenty years ago the Sultan of Sot took a tour of Downtown Duluth art galleries and composed this article for the June 5, 2001 edition of the Ripsaw newspaper.]

Let’s get one thing straight: I love art. I mean, there’s no greater art than getting drunk. So, with that in mind, I’m on my way to the Art Gallery Stroll — the first of five monthly, multi-gallery art receptions this summer in Duluth. Pop those corks, artsy-fartsies; I’m out to get completely, utterly and entirely fucking Brandenburged.

Art receptions, as any seasoned alcoholic knows, are the most abundant source of complimentary wine in the world. But this adventure is about more than saving money; it’s about improving my health. Instead of sitting on a stool in a smoky room and staring dumbly at myself in a Budweiser mirror behind a bar, tonight I’m going to air out my hemorrhoids by walking around and staring dumbly at, for example, a clay sculpture of a bear with a cup and saucer on his head.

A Literary Summer Begins

It’s been a very literary summer in Duluth and Superior.

First, the Duluth Failed Poets Society met at Wussow’s Concert Cafe to celebrate a new book. Laminated Wildflowers is a celebration both of craft and of community. (It’s also a sequel to Murder Your Darlings.) Photos and video of the event are available on Instagram.

Ish Meets a Mermaid

Written and directed by Duluth’s Jonathan Thunder, the short movie Ish Meets a Mermaid was produced in 2025 and premiered at the Historic State Theater in Ely during the Ely Film Festival in March 2026. It recently made its Duluth debut at the Zeitgeist Minnesota Film Festival.

Bug Ball fundraiser has Prøve Gallery buzzing

Dressed in gowns that look like they came straight out of a doll house, a few artists met at Prøve Gallery last week to shoot a promotional video for their upcoming gala. As soon as the bug garments and masks were placed on the models’ heads, the poses came out.

“A mask is transformative,” artist and Prøve Collective board member Cherry Koch said, watching the models move around the room in playful bug-like fashion.

Selective Focus: Chosen Family & Mutual Aid with Carolyn Olson

Centering on themes of mutual aid, chosen family, snapshots of the home and community spaces, Carolyn Olson works with gouache, pastel and oil to create narrative paintings. Her work has included scenes from laundromats, overnight parking areas, community gardens and food distribution locations. The subjects in her work are often presented with unrealistic body proportions to bring out different energies in the characters or accentuate the task at hand.

Writers Speak Out: Power to the People

Writers Speak Out: People Have the Power was held at Wussow’s Concert Cafe on April 21.

Making it Up North: Lenore Lampi

Ceramicist Lenore Lampi discusses the transition from being an art teacher to a full-time artist, the inspiration behind her “Scrolls Interrupted” series, and the unique techniques she uses to bring her sculptures to life — including the use of furniture gilding wax and birch-inspired motifs.

Making it Up North is a PBS North series that explores stories of creative artists, artisans and entrepreneurs engaged in honing their skills, following their passion and realizing their dreams.

Former Duluthian Nik Nerburn exhibits at MIA

Still from Nik Nerburn’s “Going Out For Cigarettes.”

The Minneapolis Institute of Art has announced former Duluthian Nik Nerburn will have work on exhibit there March 21 to June 21.

Making it Up North: Alt Creative

Melissa Weisser and Tammy Underwood talk about how Alt Creative has grown into a vibrant arts collective of 50 creators.

Making it Up North is a PBS North series that explores stories of creative artists, artisans and entrepreneurs engaged in honing their skills, following their passion and realizing their dreams.

Lisa Fitzpatrick recognized with environmental film award

Lisa Fitzpatrick creates a tiny tableau of the St. Louis River estuary in “River Creatures,” an artwork that is part of “The River Speaks” exhibit at Wussow’s Concert Cafe, organized by the St. Louis River Alliance. (Image via the St. Louis River Alliance’s Instagram page.

Duluth-based artist, animator and climate advocate Lisa Fitzpatrick was recognized with an Outstanding Environmental Film Award at the Short. Sweet. Film Fest., an event in Cleveland, Ohio that highlights short features. Her submission, Love Song for Earth, was part of the festival’s environmental program on March 4.

Meet the Moment: Writers Speak Out

Meet the Moment: Writers Speak Out was held at Wussow’s Concert Cafe on Feb. 26.

Making it Up North: Catherine Meier

Visual artist Catherine Meier shares her journey from hauling cattle across the Great Plains to creating deeply immersive animations and drawings on Minnesota’s North Shore.

Making it Up North is a PBS North series that explores stories of creative artists, artisans and entrepreneurs engaged in honing their skills, following their passion and realizing their dreams.

Jonathan Thunder’s Digital Tampering Reel

This compilation shows various animation projects Duluth artist Jonathan Thunder has worked on in the past decade, including his own projects, collaborations and works for hire.

Exhibitions celebrate Indigenous art

Illustration by Carl Gawboy.

Two fine-art exhibitions and the music of a Minneapolis recording artist are featured at the Duluth Art Institute in shows running through April 3. A reception for the artists is on March 26 from 5:30 to 8 p.m.

Making it Up North: Bailey Builds

Meet the couple behind the wood art seen all over Duluth. After 15 years in production management, Anna and Nathanael Bailey took a leap of faith to join forces and create Bailey Builds.

Making it Up North is a PBS North series that explores stories of creative artists, artisans and entrepreneurs engaged in honing their skills, following their passion and realizing their dreams.