Grand Portage photographer Travis Novitsky took this dawn shot at Hollow Rock recently. His work can be viewed at www.travisnovitsky.com

Fun times this week, with art shows, the Volks Ski 400, dinner theatre and lots of live music.

"Shout! The Mod Musical" will be performed as dinner theatre at the Harbor Light Supper Club & Bar on Thursday, Saturday and Sunday. The cast includes

First up is dinner theatre, when “Shout! The Mod Musical” opens at Harbor Light Supper Club & Bar for a three-show run as a dinner theatre production. Performances are at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 9 and Saturday, Feb. 11 and at 2 p.m. Sunday.

The Grand Marais Playhouse and Harbor Light are collaborating on this fun musical, which includes a three-course dinner and great performances by Kerri Bilben, Karen Blackburn, Molly Hicken, Hilja Iverson, and Karina Roth. They will be accompanied by Kay Costello on piano, Stacey Hawkins on keyboard and Kris Johnson on drums.

(Note: We’ve been assured that this is the “uncensored” version of the blockbuster Broadway musical, so it should be a lot of fun.) Tickets are $35 and can be reserved at  387-1142 or e-mail cewalinc@boreal.org.

A cross-country ski trail at Golden Eagle Lodge.

The two-week Winter Tracks festival concludes this weekend with the Volks Ski 400 on Saturday where individuals and teams attempt to ski the entire 400K Nordic ski trail system  in one day. By the way, the trails in Cook County are the largest groomed cross-country ski trail network in the U.S.).

Registration is $10 and includes a donation to the Children & Nature Network and a T-shirt. For more info and to register, visit at www.volksski.com.  Cascade Lodge is also offering a candlelight luminary ski event on Friday night from 6-8 p.m. A bonfire and hot chocolate will be available. For a complete listing of all the activities, including guided snowshoe tours, click here.

There’s more going on this weekend, too.

The Winter Plein Air exhibit at the Grand Marais Art Colony continues through Sunday with more than 100 paintings created by regional artists, many

"The Grand Master" by Mary Pettis. Photo by Kjersti Vick.

of whom stayed at Menogyn last week and painted there. There are some wonderful paintings in this exhibit. The Art Colony is open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. every day through Sunday.

By the way, the Art Colony has a public Facebook page. Check it out here.

Not only are there photos of the Winter Plein air exhibit, but Kjersti Vick, the events coordinator at the Art Colony,  has included photos of many of the snow sculptures crafted last week throughout the county as part of the Snow Sculpture Symposium.

Here are some of the snow sculptures:

Tom McCann's snow sculpture is at Gunflint Lodge.

Dave Seaton's sculpture is at Bearskin Lodge.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For a look at all the sculptures and the sculptors making them, click here. Photos by Mark Tessier.

A new art exhibit opening has just popped up. The Johnson Heritage Post has arranged for an exhibit of the permanent collection in the JHP and Cook County Historical Society’s vaults. The exhibit opens with a reception from 5-7 p.m. this Friday night, Feb. 10

The collections include paintings by Birney Quick, Howard Sivertson, Harvey Turner, and Ellen “Ma” Douglas. The late 19th century pencil sketches by Judge Geo. Durfee will also be displayed for the first time in many years.

The exhibit will continue through March 3. The JHP will be open on Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. during that time. For more information and to arrange to see the exhibit at different times, contact the gallery at 387-2314, or call Don Davison at 387-1698.

In other art news, the Grand Marais Art Colony’s Wednesday Life Drawing series begins tonight at 6:30 p.m. at the Art Colony. It is open to artists of all mediums. No instruction provided. For more info, call 387-2737.

Next Wednesday at 5:30 p.m., the Art Colony will host a Question & Answer session for emerging and established artists interested in exhibiting at the Grand Marais Arts Festival this summer. The Arts Festival will be July 14 & 15. The Art Colony recently received a grant from the Minnesota Arts Board, the only festival funded by the Arts Board in the northeast region of the state, which will helped fund this event as well as the festival itself. All artists are invited next Wednesday. For more information, call 387-2737.

Also, there are still openings in a great glass class, “I Heart Glass”  with Nancy Seaton from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday at the Art Colony. Call 387-2737 for more info.

Here’s a scoop. The Mountain Stage Radio Show, will return to Grand Marais this fall. The show, whichwas on the campus of North House Folk School last September, returns again during Unplugged: The Northern Harvest, which is from Sept. 13-16 this year. It will record two shows while it is here.

Mountain Stage is a popular radio show that features music in the folk, roots and Americana traditions. It is listened to by audiences worldwide and is produced by West Virginia Public Broadcasting and distributed by NPR. More than 1,400 tickets were sold for last year’s event, and it was a smash hit.

This year’s show is a partnership between  the Cook County Visitor’s Bureau and North House. Tickets will go on sale July 1.

The monthly magazine, North Shore Highway 61, is holding the 1st annual Reader’s Choice Restaurant Awards. Participants are eligible to win a $50 guest certificate to their favorite restaurant. Click here to fill out the ballot.

The Arrowhead Regional Arts Council is hosting a seminar on “Artists and Legal Concerns” in their offices at  the Marshall Professional Bldg.,  1301 Rice Lake Rd.,  Suite 120  in Duluth on Tuesday, Feb. 21 at 2 p.m. Attorney Brian Lukasavitz will discuss the basics of copywriting, contract considerations, taxes and using the Internet. For more information, visit the ARAC site here.

"Bad Ice," a Hipstomatic photo by Layne Kennedy, taken at Lake Harriet last week.

Photographer Layne Kennedy has an exhibit at the Minneapolis Photo Center entireld “The Art of the iPhone.” The exhibit features some of work  Hipstamatic photos taken with his iPhone. Kennedy has a book of his Hipstamatic photos at the publish on demand Website, blurb.com. So see the book, click here.

Eric Pollard (Actual Wolf) will have his debut on WDSE’s The Playlist on Thursday night at 9 p.m. The show will also feature the cast of Renegade Theater’s  production of the Tony Award-winning show, “Spring Awakening” and choreographer Amber Burns.

The Northern Fibers Retreat is next week, Feb. 15-20 featuring workshops and public events at North House Folk School and the Grand Marais Art Colony.

Two “Lunch and Learn” events are planted. Karen Lohn will give a presentation on her book, “Peace Fibres: Stitching a Soulful World,” at noon, Friday, Feb. 17 at the Folk School catered by the Crooked Spoon, and Nancy Daley will give a presentation on paper making at noon on Saturday, Feb. 18 catered by The Pie Place. Call 387-9762 to make your reservation.

Also, the Art Colony will hold a “Show & Share” event hosted by the Northwoods Fiber Guild from 7-9 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 17. Everyone is invited to bring a fiber project they are working on to share with the group. Refreshments will be served.

Check out the Web sites at North House and the Art Colony for more information about the classes being offered.

Oh, and not to forget, the Celtic band,  McInnis‘ Kitchen ,will perform for a concert and dance at North House Folk that Saturday night, Feb. 18. Stay tuned for details.

There are lots of music opportunities this weekend, too. Here’s the schedule:

Wednesday: Feb. 8

• Bump & Barbara Jean, Bluefin Grille, Tofte, 8 p.m.

Thursday, Feb. 9

• Joe Paulik, Poplar River Pub, Lutsen Resort, 6 p.m.
• Locals‘ Music Night, Cascade Lodge Pub, 7 p.m.

Friday, Feb. 10

• Timmy Haus, Mogul’s at Caribou Highlands, 3:30 p.m.
• Bump & Barbara Jean, Harbor Light Supper Club, 7 p.m.
• Community Music Circle, singer/songwriters invited, at the Old Playhouse above Betsy Bowen’s Studio, 301 1st Ave. W, 7-8:30 p.m.
• Gordon Thorne, Bluefin Grille, Tofte, 8 p.m.
• Eric Frost, Cascade Lodge Pub, 8 p.m.
• Timmy Haus, Papa Charlie’s, 9:30 p.m.

Saturday, Feb. 11

• Pete Kavanaugh, Mogul’s at Caribou Highlands, 3:30 p.m.
• Bump & Barbara Jean, Papa Charlie’s, 3:30 p.m.
• Joe Paulik, Papa Charlie’s, 6:30 p.m.
• Trails End Band, Gunflint Tavern, 9:30 p.m.

Sunday, Feb. 12

• Two Many Banjos, Papa Charlie’s, 3:30 p.m.
• Rio Brio, Brazilian music, Bluefin Grille, Tofte, 6 p.m.
• The Sivertones, Gunflint Tavern, 6:30 p.m.
• Maxi Childs Trio, Harbor Light Supper Club, 7 p.m.

Monday, Feb. 13

• Bella Ruse, Papa Charlie’s, Lutsen Mountains, 8 p.m.

Tuesday, Feb. 14

• Pete Kavanaugh, Poplar River Pub at Lutsen Resort, 6 p.m.
• Open Mic Night, Bump Blomberg, Papa Charlie’s,  7 p.m.

We have received and/or found a lot of cool photographs this week. We’ll start with the owls. The first one is of a Great Grey Owl, which was a favorite on Facebook this week.

Photo of the Great Gray by Necole Cooper Cameron.

Paul Sundberg posted a series of photos he took of a Hawk Owl. To see all of them, click here.

Paul Sundberg got this great shot of a Hawk Owl.

To change up a bit, here’s a photo by Stephan Hoglund taken in Texas.

Texas desert by Stephan Hoglund.

Staci Drouillard posted this contemplative photo this week.

Photo by Staci Drouillard.

Penny Ortman found a phrase from an Emily Dickinson poem to go with her photo, below.

“I’ll tell you how the sun rose

a ribbon at a time…”

Penny Ortman's "A Ribbon At A Time."

And Don Davison took this inspiring view of the lighthouse walkway in Grand Marais.

"Walkway" by Don Davison.

And last, but not least, here’s a two neat sunrises by Bryan Hansel.

Double Sunrise by Bryan Hansel.

Have a great weekend!

 

 

Stephan Hoglund took this incredible shot of the northern lights last week and got national coverage with it. CNN featured it on its iReport site.

This has been and continues to be a very busy week in Cook County with sled dog races, art and snow sculpture events, ski and snowmobile events, theatre, music and more.

Mark Tessier took this photo of the start of the Gunflint Trail Mail Run Sled Dog race on Monday.

On Monday and Tuesday, 12 mushers and their teams set out from the Devil Track Landing for a two-day race called the Gunflint Mail Run Sled Dog Race. The teams raced to Loon Lake and back to Trail Center where they rested for five hours and then raced back to Devil Track.

Odin Jorgenson  (Coville) won the race with Frank Moe (Coville) coming in scond, Peter McClelland (Isabella) third and Kevin Malikowski (Outing) fourth.

Odin Jorgenson with his winning team at Gunflint Mail Run race on Monday. Photo by Stephan Hoglund.

One of the reasons we’re including this in our arts blog is that Grand Marais photographer Stephan Hoglund was featured on CNN’s iReport Web site with a photo from the race as well as information about it.  Click here to see it.

Hoglund is developing a regular presence there, which is very cool.

Other photographers were out as well.

Also this week, the Grand Marais Art Colony’sWinter Arts Festival featuring the Winter Plein Air event and the Snow Sculpture Symposium started this week, with artists painting winter landscapes at Camp Menogyn

on the Gunflint Trail and snow sculptors beginning to work on snow blocks positioned all over Cook County.

The Art Colony will feature the paintings created

Plein air painter Mary Pettis works on a landscape at Camp Menogyn. Photo by Kjersti Vick.

during the week at an art show on Friday. The opening reception is at 6 p.m. Friday, Feb. 3, with refreshments by Chez Jude. The paintings will be up through Feb. 12.

The snow sculptures throughout the county will be completed on Friday, too, and the public is invited to see them all. The snow sculptures are at  the Grand Portage Lodge & Casino, Harbor Park (Joynes Ben Franklin, Grand Marais Art Colony and Grand Marais Parks Dept. ), Bearskin Lodge and Gunflint Lodge on the Gunflint Trail as well as Bluefin Bay,

Joi Electa and Shanna Hinker work on a snow sculpture. Photo by Mark Tessier.

Chateau LeVeaux, Caribou Highlands and Lutsen Mountains. The snow sculptors include  Bob Fulks  (Clawson, Mich.), Vic Germaniuk and Oscar Mattis  (Thunder Bay), Will Tanner &Friends (Twin Cities), Joi Electa and Shanna Hinker  (Two Harbors) and Cook County residents Tom McCann, Dave Seaton, Ray White and Rick Skoog & Friends.

On Thursday, there is a performance of “For the Birds“ a chamber suite with music, poetry, comedy, tragedy, artistry”  with Zeitgeist & Kevin Kling  at the Arrowhead Center for the Arts at 7 p.m.

The event is sponsored by the North Shore Music Association, the Grand Marais Playhouse and Community Ed, one of three events sponsored by the nonprofits in the next six weeks at the  ACA.

Kling, a writer and humorist, will give a workshop for storytellers, poets and writers at the ACA from noon to 1 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 2. The workshop is $15 or free for anyone who has a ticket for the performance. For more info, call 387-1272.

On Friday, WTIP Community Radio will live stream the Cook County Pursuit Cross County Race on Pincushion Mountain at 1:30 p.m. High school cross-country teams from throughout the region participate in this race, and the program will include interviews and a chance to watch the action as it happens.

Click here to see the WTIP site and bookmark it for the Friday race.

This weekend is also the start of the Winter Tracks Festival, a two-week event featuring everything from snowmobile races to a 400K cross-country ski event, where participants work to ski every trail in the county. The Volks Ski 400 is Feb. 11.

This weekend, Grand Portage Lodge & Casino is hosting the Easter Seals Snowarama. It runs from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. with poker runs during the day and dinner and dancing to the Bed of Roses Bon Jovi tribute band at 9 p.m.

Also this weekend, Lutsen Mountains is hosting a Family Fun Festival including a day of family racing and events on Saturday. The Cook County Ridge Riders Snowmobile Club will hold a fun run on Saturday as well, with Timmy Haus playing music at Devil Track Lodge that night.

And, if you’re fascinated by Dala horses,  master carver Harley Refsal  will give a talk and presentation about the beloved Scandinavian carved horse at North House Folk School at 7 p.m. Free.

So there’s plenty to do this weekend. There’s lots of great live music, too. Check the schedule below for more info.

In other art news, Staci Drouillard interviewed Grand Portage photographer Travis Novitsky about his work in her series, Annishinaabe Way: Lives, Words and Stories of Ojibwe People broadcast on WTIP Community Radio. To listen to this interview, click here.

"All That Glitters," acrylic, by Aaron Kloss, a new artist at Sivertson Gallery.

Sivertson Gallery has new work by landscape painter Dave Gilsvik as well as paintings by Duluthian Aaron Kloss, a new artist at the gallery. Also, the gallery is beginning to receive new work for the Inuit Premiere and it is “spectacular,” said Sherri Moe. She also said Sivertson Gallery in Duluth will be opening this month with a new name as well as a new look. Siiviis is the name of one of the fishing boats owned by the Sivertson family when they fished out of Isle Royale, she said. The gallery will re-open this month with the grand opening set for Earth Day.

Look for the Grand Marais Art Colony’s 2012 Catalog in your mail boxes this week. Copies can also be found at the Art Colony.

The arts organization is offering lots of fun things to do for Valentine’s Day, too, including Community Ink Day, a chance to print your own Valentines (Sat., Feb. 4, 1-4 p.m.), I Heart Glass with Nancy Seaton,  (Feb. 11, 9 a.m.- 4 p.m.) and Wheel You Be Mine? a romantic evening playing with clay  with Joan Farnam (chocolates and wine are the refreshments), Feb. 14 from 5:30-7 p.m. Call the Art Colony to register or for more information at 387-2737 or click here for the Web site.

The key block from Betsy Bowen's "Barn Owl" print.

Betsy Bowen has been working in Texas this month, crafting woodblock prints from “Twelve Owls,” a book written by Laura Erickson which Bowen illustrated. The prints will be available when Bowen’s Studio Gallery opens this spring.

Look for this graphic on the North Shore Highway 61 Web site.

And last, but not least, North Shore Highway 61, which comes

out this week, is offering a $50 gift certificate to your favorite restuarant for participants in the 2012 Reader’s Choice Restaurant Awards. It’s a fun survey. Check it out here.

There’s plenty of live music this weekend, too. Here’s the schedule.

Wednesday:

• Pete Kavanaugh, Bluefin Bay, Tofte, 8 p.m.
• Brett Berka & Friends, Harbor Light Supper Club & Bar, 7 p.m.

Thursday:

• Bump & Barbara Jean, Poplar River Pub, Lutsen Resort, 6-8 p.m.

Friday:

• Jim & Michelle Miller, Mogul’s, Lutsen Mountains, 3;30 p.m.
• Cook County’s Most Wanted, American Legion, 7:30 p.m.
• Gordon Thorne, Bluefin Bay, 8 p.m.
• Joe Paulik and Al Oikari, Gunflint Tavern, 9 p.m.
• Timmy Haus, Papa Charlie’s, 9:30 p.m.

Saturday:

James Moors, Mogul’s, 3:30 p.m.

• Eric Frost, Papa Charlie’s, 3:30 p.m.
• The Sivertones, Papa Charlie’s, 6:30 p.m.
• Joe Paulik, Cascade Lodge Pub, 8 p.m.
• Jeff Ray, Gunflint Tavern, 9:30 p.m.
• Cook County’s Most Wanted, Papa Charlie’s, 9:30 p.m.

Sunday:

• Bump & Barbara Jean, Papa Charlie’s, 3 p.m.
• Al Oikari and Joe Paulik, Gunflint Tavern, 6:30 p.m.

We found lots of interesting photos this week.

First up is a photograph of one of Tom McCann’s vodkacolors, which will be in the show at the Art Colony this Friday. McCann is a plein air painter and likes to paint in watercolors, but the water he uses to dilute the paints freezes in winter, so he decided to try using vodka instead. He said it worked really well above 5 degrees, when it freezes. We’ve had pretty balmy winter weather this week, and McCann painted several vodkacolors for the Winter Plein Air exhibit which opens on Friday at 6 p.m. Here’s one of them.

A vodka-color landscape by Tom McCann.

 

 

There were some wonderful landscapes this week, too.

Ilena Berg took this great shot of the frozen waterfalls of the Kadunce River.

Jeremy Lopez captured the delicate colors of sea fog at sunrise.

Ann Jorgenson's sunset over the harbor is almost surreal.

A beautiful sunrise shot from Bryan Hansel.

A winter landscape on Lake Superior by Travis Novitsky.

Have a wonderful, winter weekend!