New NLMF season honors founder Veda Zuponcic
Following the recent passing of founder and artistic director Veda Zuponcic, the Northern Lights Music Festival board of directors announced that the 2026 festival season will continue as planned, honoring her vision and more than four decades of dedication to music education and performance. (more…)
This is America: Duluth in 1946
This clip is from a 16-minute educational film from 1946 called This is America: Great Lakes, focusing on the segment mentioning Duluth. The full film, embedded below, explores the industrial powerhouse of the Great Lakes, detailing the crucial roles of navigation, shipping and the Coast Guard in transporting iron ore, coal and grain to fuel America’s postwar economy. (more…)
ARDC receives Excellence in Regional Transportation Award
A partnership between the University of Minnesota Duluth and the Arrowhead Regional Development Commission has won recognition from the National Association of Development Organizations. (more…)
Making it Up North: Grizz Works Wood Sculpture
Grizz Works is a full-time chainsaw carving business that ships custom art all over the world.
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.
Hagstrom & Forsgren Furniture opened in 1926
Hagstrom & Forsgren Furniture Company in Duluth’s friendly West End held its grand opening event 100 years ago today — June 12, 1926. The building at 1910-1912 W. Superior St. is presently the location of Frost River, a manufacturer of canvas bags, canoe packs and other outdoor gear. (more…)
Making it Up North: Highbridge Hills
Highbridge Hills is a 225-acre disc golf paradise tucked away in the woods of northwestern Wisconsin. It features six unique disc golf courses designed by Chuck Kennedy, ranging from tight, technical woods to wide-open bomber lines.
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.
Sparking a Larger Story: Return of Fire to Minnesota Point
For the first time in more than 150 years, fire (“Ishkode” in Ojibwe) is returning to Minnesota Point. A prescribed cultural burn this fall will clear accumulated underbrush and tree debris to restore the ecosystem, allowing native species like red pine and blueberries to regenerate while also mitigating wildfire hazards. (more…)
Postcard from Somewhere on Skyline Parkway
This postcard depicts a scene at one of the many creeks that intersect Skyline Parkway, aka “The Bouvelard,” in Duluth. The postmark is not completely legible, but it shows the card was mailed on June 8 of some year prior to 1917, when the postal rate for postcards was increased from one cent to two cents. (more…)
Superior Street, Sept. 11, 1907, Part 3: Spalding Hotel and Surrounding Businesses
This series takes a detailed look at life on Superior Street on the afternoon of Wednesday, Sept. 11, 1907. The first part of the series provided background details on a photograph shot that day where the street intersects Fifth Avenue West. Part three focuses on the businesses around the Spalding Hotel, including a fight with the city over on-street parking policies by a watchmaker whose pocket watches are still prized by collectors today. (more…)
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. (more…)
International Falls: Icebox of the Nation
The Dispatch is a new travel documentary series visiting 50 cities in 50 states, “searching for the best stories, food, people, and experiences off the beaten path in the USA.” Host Sam Neumann is from Chisago City in central Minnesota, and he chose International Falls and neighboring city Ranier to represent his home state. Some of the stops include the Cantilever Hotel, Hallett Brewing and Border Country Outdoor Adventures.
Puzzling Through the Museum of Ojibwa Culture: Saint Ignace (and Indigenous History in our Region)
On a recent trip through the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, I stopped to visit the Museum of Ojibwa Culture in St. Ignace. The Museum is operated by the city of St. Ignace, and so “the city-operated museum and park portray a vivid picture of life in the Straits of Mackinac over 300 years ago when Ojibwa, Huron, Odawa and French lifestyles met.” (more…)
Making it Up North: Warrior Printress
Janelle Miller and Stacie Renné are the creative duo behind Warrior Printress. From their beloved 1910 printing press, “Gertie,” they create custom, hand-carved, limited-edition posters for iconic regional landmarks like Glensheen Mansion and Bob’s Cabins.
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.
Engraved 1871 Duluth Prints from The Graphic
British weekly newspaper The Graphic ran a story on Duluth in its June 3, 1871 edition — 155 years ago today — featuring three wood-engraved prints of Duluth scenes. (more…)
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. (more…)
Lee Clark Allen – “S.I.I.T. (Said I’m in Trouble)”
Duluth’s Lee Clark Allen has a new music video for a track from his 2025 album My World is Yours. It was shot primarily in Downtown Duluth and Canal Park.
Mystery Photo: Somewhere in the Duluth Area
This image is from a real-photo postcard that was never mailed. It shows an industrial scene but doesn’t seem to offer a lot of clues about the specific whereabouts. The vague location, if we trust the words penciled on the back of the card, is “Duluth Minn area.” (more…)
Barker Bark
The James R. Barker’s security call to the Aerial Lift Bridge announcing her departure is known as the “Barker Bark.” The ship is one of 13 thousand-footers built for the Great Lakes. Built in 1976 by the American Ship Building Company, the Barker is celebrating 50 years of service.
This video was shot April 28 by Jon Columbus, who shoots Duluth-area shipping videos for Dre Designs Great Lakes Marine Products.
Alan Sparhawk with Trampled by Turtles at Fitzgerald Theater
Alan Sparhawk and Trampled by Turtles celebrated their 2025 collaborative album with a performance at Fitzgerald Theater in St. Paul on Dec. 11. The Current captured the entire show on the video embedded above. (more…)
Wild Happenings on an Old Forest Road
The latest montage from the Voyageurs Wolf Project shows the array of critters that trotted down an old forest road over the past year. The trail camera footage was shot in Voyageurs National Park, about 100 miles north of Duluth.
Cloquet’s Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Church dedicated in 1926
The May 28, 1926 issue of the Duluth Herald reports on the upcoming dedication of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Church at 102 Fourth St. in Cloquet. The building is still in use, now serving as Queen of Peace Catholic Church. (more…)
Making it Up North: Gary Mueller
From his early days apprenticing under legendary Minnesota sculptor Paul Granlund to fabricating large-scale public art commissions across the region, Greg Mueller uses raw, reclaimed metal and local history to create striking pieces of community storytelling.
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.
Alan Sparhawk with Trampled by Turtles — “Stranger” (Live at Fitzgerald Theater)
Clean those dashboard cup holders, the Current has released a video of Alan Sparhawk performing “Stranger” with Trampled by Turtles during a Dec. 11 concert at Fitzgerald Theater in St. Paul. Video of the entire show will be released on Friday, May 29, to mark the one-year anniversary of Sparhawk’s second solo album, With Trampled by Turtles.
Postcard from Duluth’s Waterfront in 1916
This postcard of Duluth’s waterfront and manufacturing district was mailed May 25, 1916. Among the fuzzy buildings on the shoreline is F. A. Patrick Woolen Mills at 302 S. Fifth Ave. W., which is on the left and is the only building with readable lettering on it. (more…)
Brewery Creek Terrace project turns eyesore into award winner
The turn-of-the-century brownstone at 627 E. Fourth St. has undergone a $4.3 million renovation by Heirloom Property Management. The public can tour the 20-unit building during an open house Tuesday, May 26. (Photo by Mark Nicklawske)
A once stately turn-of-the-century brownstone neglected for decades and widely considered one of Duluth’s biggest eyesores has received a complete top-to-bottom restoration and begins accepting tenants this summer. (more…)