Heely Tricks with JamesG: November 2020
Another monthly installment of wheeled-sneaker stunts from former Duluthian James Geisler, also known as the hip-hop artist JamesG.
Selective Focus: Kathy Johnson Anscomb
Artist Kathy Johnson Anscomb has used the new perspective she had during the pandemic — stuck inside, looking out the windows at the same view day after day — and turned that into inspiration for new work this year. This week in Selective Focus, we hear how this series came to be.
KJA: Lately I’ve been painting with acrylic or ink on canvas, I’ve also been having a flirtation with watercolor and have some new things on the back burner. I’ve worked with acrylics for more years than I will tell, but going way back to junior high when my ninth grade art teacher got me interested in art. It was all about abstract art when I was in the art department at UMD in the 60s, and I’ve loved the freedom and simplicity of working in that style since.
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Avant-Garde Women: The Shakespearean Tragedy of Peggy and Pegeen Guggenheim
The story of Peggy and Pegeen Guggenheim, as told by the Situationist painter Ralph Rumney, reads like Shakespeare: court intrigue, backstabbing, madness, and suicide. Rumney’s book The Consul provides a critical point of view on this fraught mother-daughter relationship cracking up at the cutting edge of the art world.
On Board a Great Lakes Freighter
The film above was discovered with no info such as who shot it, or when and where the scenes were captured. It clearly features Duluth at the beginning and end, however, and appears to be circa 1937. (more…)
Eastman Johnson in the Arrowhead Region
I stumbled on the fascinating story of Eastman Johnson’s time in the Arrowhead Region, and thought Perfect Duluth Day’s historians might weigh in on him. The above landscape, in charcoal, chalk and gouache on paper, shows Superior as viewed from a trading post on Park Point in 1857. After painting portraits of luminaries such as Hawthorne, Emerson, Longfellow and Abe Lincoln, then studying art in Europe, Johnson traveled to Superior, where he had relatives. In 1856 he lived in a log cabin on Pokegema Bay, in what is now the Superior Municipal Forest. (more…)
The Slice: Model Trains at Boathouse Treats and Treasures
Boathouse Treats and Treasures has Duane Benoit’s model train set up for viewing during the holidays. Benoit will be in the store running the train and answering questions on Dec. 11 and 12 from 12:30 to 4 p.m.
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.
Postcards from U.S. Naval Reserve Training Ship Gopher
The undated postcards here show the USS Gopher at Duluth. The vessel had a 34-year history on the East Coast as the USS Fern before being renamed Gopher on Dec. 27, 1905, when it began duty with the Minnesota Naval Militia in Duluth. (more…)
Happy holidays from PDD
Virtual holiday hugs from all of us to all of you.
To visit the ghosts of Christmases past, check out A Perfect Duluth Christmas: PDD’s Holiday Video Showcase.
Steve’s Overpopulated One-man Band – “The COVID Pokie”
From the Iron Range city of Palo, Steve Solkela sings about … you know … what it’s all about.
R.I.P. Sue Sojourner
On a bridge in 1965 (photo by Henry Sojourner) | Holmes County Community Center, February 1965 (photo by Elaine Howmiller, Nashville Tennessean) | Portrait, 2012 (photo by Sam Alvar) | Right to Vote March in Jackson, June 15, 1965 (photo by an unknown civil rights worker)
Author and activist Susan Hasalo Sojourner died in Minneapolis on Dec. 4 at the age of 79. She lived in Duluth for more than two decades, beginning in the mid 1990s.
Sojourner fought tirelessly for justice throughout her life — for civil rights in Holmes County, Miss. and also for women’s liberation and LGBTQ+ rights during her years in Washington D.C. and Duluth. A complete obituary can be found on the Hodroff-Epstein Memorial Chapels website.
Duluth You & Me: Hockey
Use the link below for a printable PDF for your coloring and drawing pleasure.
Duluth You & Me: Hockey
Follow the Duluth You & Me subject tag to see additional pages. For background on the book see the original post on the topic.
Herman Magnusson’s Reinforced Concrete Clothes Poles
Duluthians who have clothesline poles like the one in this advertisement are displaying the work of a gig-economy pioneer. There’s probably not a lot of this type of century-old ornamental concrete lawn stuff still hanging around, but it was certainly made to last and would be likely to survive just about anything except falling out of fashion.
The advertising flier dates to the mid 1920s and comes to Perfect Duluth Day via Jolee Edmondson of Savannah, Ga. She’s a granddaughter of Herman Enoch Magnusson, Duluth maker of “concrete bird baths, seats, benches and clothes line poles.” (more…)
Broken Duluth: Reviewing photos from a 2017 exhibit
In the video above, photographer Kip Praslowicz reviews eight large-format images from his 2017 exhibition Broken Duluth. Prints of the photos are for sale at kpraslowicz.com.
Avant-Garde Women: Eliane Brau, the Invisible Icon
Born Eliane Papai around 1935 in Spain, Eliane married her way into a couple other last names; she is mostly referred to as Eliane Brau, using the last name of her second husband. I think of her simply as Eliane, in deference to her singularity. Below I argue that her role in the “Letterist” movement of early 1950s Paris has been diminished; conversely, the achievements of the Letterist men have been overblown. It has been too easy to write her off as a passive “muse” for these men who indeed loved her fiercely. She deserves parity. Sadly, unlike her lovers, there is a distinct lack of information about her on the internet. I cannot even determine if she is still alive. Eliane is an invisible icon.
Selective Focus: Jeff Brown
This week we hear from a behind-the-scenes artist, literally setting the stage for others, creating environments and moods where actors can practice their craft. Jeff Brown is a scenic designer, lighting director and technical director who has worked with the Duluth Playhouse and other theater groups, and expanded his work into designing for museums and other public spaces. Oh, and he loves grilling.
JB: As happens with so many big things in life, I was introduced to the world of theater almost by accident. After some years as an Army paratrooper, I had enrolled at a community college and had one big choice left in order to finish my associate’s degree… A Public Speaking course, or a Stagecraft course? I was not at all interested in Public Speaking, so Stagecraft won by default. I couldn’t have guessed that the course would feel so natural to me and that it would introduce me to people and a field that I had never even considered before.
After being involved backstage in a couple of productions there, I decided to pursue a bachelor’s degree in technical theater, and I transferred to Minnesota State University Moorhead. MSUM had a very active theater department with a strong technical standard, and I benefited greatly from learning scenic design and lighting design along with construction and production techniques.
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Mystery Photo: Twin ‘Tin Man’ Water Towers
The harbor looks busy in this vintage photo for sale at the Superior Salvation Army
I found this framed photo with an unusual view of the Duluth Harbor and Aerial Lift Bridge at the Superior Salvation Army last weekend. It’s signed by Tim Slattery.
Lots of questions about this picture: Was the photo taken from a structure or from an airplane? Can anyone identify the three (!) ships in the port? What jumped out to me were the twin “tin man” water towers on the hill above the bridge. Where were they located and when were they taken down? (more…)
Abrahamson’s Tree Farm
Just wondering if anyone knows if Abrahamson’s Tree Farm is still selling cut-your-own trees? Also what they charge?
Unexpectedly Delayed in Duluth
The date of the written message on this relic appears to be either Dec. 2 or 3, 1905. It is postmarked from Duluth on Dec. 5 and arrived in St. Paul the next day. (more…)
Monthly Grovel: December 2020
Minnesota is under another COVID-19 Emergency Executive Order from Governor Tim Walz until Dec. 19. But the “dial back on certain activities” doesn’t mean the PDD Calendar is barren. There are online events galore, activities outside the parameters of the order such as Bentleyville, and numerous virus-defying events in lawless Wisconsin. So the merry elves at Perfect Duluth Day remain hard at work.
Each month we reach out with one beggarly blog post to remind everyone that human beings and not machines are at work editing and publishing calendar events. So if you appreciate it, drop a few bucks in the PayPal account. (more…)
Duluth photos repaired and colorized: 19th century people/places
Streetcar Barn (1882)
Superior Street and 11th Avenue West
All of the photos here come from the University of Minnesota Duluth, Kathryn A. Martin Library through the Minnesota Reflections website. While most of the pictures on the site have been well preserved, some have been damaged over the years. For six of these photographs, I digitally repaired any damage and then added color. (more…)
Adventures of the Bigger-Than-Weather Boys
This series of advertising postcards by artist and writer Peter Newell promotes the Patrick-Duluth Woolen Mill. (more…)
Virtual Broadway murder mystery musical is set in Duluth
Detective Case is finally on the case. Sing along with Jessica Keenan Wynn in the video above. She plays the role of a meter maid “doling tickets out in Downtown Duluth” until a murder case takes her in a new direction. (more…)
Duluth You & Me: Sled Dogs and Their Mushers
Use the link below for a printable PDF for your coloring and drawing pleasure.
Duluth You & Me: Sled Dogs
Follow the Duluth You & Me subject tag to see additional pages. For background on the book see the original post on the topic.
Bailey is Short Rap
This is basically an in-joke between friends but local and fun enough to post. A diss track inspired by my short friend Bailey. She dared me to do this, is how I remember it.
Music: “Young Thug Type Beat 2018 – ‘Sippin’ | Trap Instrumental 2018” by MADEBYFLOWERZ