Art Posts

Trampled by Turtles’ song deserves Oscar

There I was, sitting in a cavernous multiplex theater at Duluth 10. The movie, The Way Way Back, is one that I had actually chosen by accident. Or chosen erroneously, I mean. The Mrs. and I were on an impromptu date night and picked The Way Way Back thinking that it was actually another movie I had heard about.

A good 30 minutes in I realized both my error, and that the film was not what I had hoped for, a fluffy summertime coming-of-age story, and that it was instead a sort of dark, introspective coming-of-age story that just happened to be placed in a summer setting. At points during the movie I could actually viscerally feel my own awkward teenage summer loneliness flaring up in some deep, dark buried place in my gut. So the film makers nailed that part.

Call for Photo Submissions: 4x V3.0

The Duluth Photography Institute’s 4x exhibit is back (pronounced “Four-by” as in 4×6, 4×8, etc.) We are hoping to get over 200 submissions this year!

Ennyman interviews Adam Swanson

The Ennyman interviews artist Adam Swanson here. Good read.

Call for Art: My Funny Valentine

Washington Gallery is looking for funny, silly, sappy, quirky, corny, odd, goofy and peculiar musings on love and romance in the form of visual, written or fine art for a show opening Feb. 14 entitled “My Funny Valentine.” The deadline is Feb. 7.

Duluth Superior Film Festival

DSFF6 DSFF5 DSFF3 DSFF2 DSFF

I was able to attend a recent Duluth-Superior Film Festival party. At the risk of turning PDD into a celebrity gossip sheet — can you spot the local arts personalities?

Call Me Mental

Tomorrow I will be embarking on a story-telling campaign to break the stigma of mental illness. The project, ‘Call Me Mental,’ is a partnership between the Human Development Center and Lola Visuals. Stories will be released in episodes online along the trip and a feature length documentary will follow later this year.

We are also asking people to submit their stories, in any format, to our website. If you choose to remain anonymous, that is absolutely okay. You can also check out our Kickstarter if you would like to help support this project.

McKnight Exhibit of the work of Duluth Artist Catherine Meier

Congrats to Duluth artist Catherine Meier. I drove 160 miles to see her opening at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design — and it was worth it.

Meier
(Catherine Meier, “I could hear voices on the wind, Sage Creek Rim Road” (right panel), Graphite on paper)

Photography

I was in the Duluth Photography Institute last night. The current exhibit was a little spicy (about bondage) — but that’s what art institutions give us — something spicy to challenge the mind, right?

DPI

Duluth-area Literary Vibe: Zines, journals and other lit publications from the region

I was at the Prøve Gallery last week and was happy to see a blossoming collection of literary magazines beside the small press books from Holy Cow! and the fine art. I thought it might be fun to catch folks up on the literary publications in our community.

Nominations close Feb. 1 for Northeastern Minnesota Book Awards

Celebrating books about northeastern Minnesota published in 2013. Send one book plus $25 nomination fee to UMD Kathryn A. Martin Library. Winners will be announced May 22. 

26th annual NEMBA call for nominations

Couple of “streaming” videos from the cold

This second video is much less lovely and mildly NSFW.

Networks of art, history, laughter

The weekend was full of immersion in networks of art, history and laughter.

On Friday, I went to the MacRostie Art Center in Grand Rapids for the “Bridge” exhibit.

The exhibit is remarkable, and negotiations are under way to bring it to Duluth. From the text, the exhibit is “the result of two years spent documenting the stories of people affected by 2007′s I-35 bridge collapse by photographer Vance Gellert.

“Last Summer at Bluefish Cove” takes its encore before regional festival

UMD Theater’s production of Last Summer at Bluefish Cove is one of only five productions selected to compete in the six-state Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival regional competition in Lincoln, Neb. from Jan. 19 to 25.

To help defray traveling costs, UMD is hosting an encore performance of this highly acclaimed show at the Marshall Performing Arts Center on Jan. 16.

2013: The Year in Duluth Gig Posters

Click on any thumbnail to see the full-size image.

Manheat Eats Low Breaker

Rough video from the Duluth Does Low concert — Dec. 12, 2013.

Merry Christmas.

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