Where's Art?

Tia Keobounpheng's exhibit DeFUSE at the Duluth Art Institute takes on the past - the traumatic past - and wonders if, having experienced trauma, there is a way for folks to diffuse (or de-fuse) the resulting emotions and behavior.

More information about  the Virtual Essay Reading by Heid E. Erdrich about Carl Gawboy tomorrow beginning at 5:00pm is here.

The Painter and the Thief is streaming on Hulu and you can watch it here,

and here's the skinny on Boo Paterson's new book.

Annie Dugan let's us know about a few great reasons to celebrate art this week:

AICHO's American Indian Community Housing Organization Arts Program has been designated as a Regional Cultural Treasure by the McKnight Foundation, for its ongoing work to honor "the resiliency of Indigenous people by strengthening communities and centering Indigenous values [and providing] a year-round space within Gimaajii-Mino-Bimaadizim for Indigenous artists to showcase and sell their work."

Not surprisingly, Annie Dugan is urging us to not just enjoy the warmth and sunshine ... pick up a piece of scratch paper (or your nice journal) and add a sketch to your observations. 

  For pointers, she turns to Clare Walker Leslie's article To Draw Nature, Pick Up a Pencil and Really Look in the New York Times.

Annie talks about a few events this week, some virtual, some in person (with masks, of course) and some that are either. These include:

- online artists workshops offered by Springboard for the Arts in media preservation and e-commerce, 

- an in-person exhibition of the art of graduating studetns of Great Lakes Adcademny of Fine Art, and

The Homegrown Music Festival has always been about more than music. As the website says, "What started in 1999 with ten acts has matured to an eight-day community-wide local music, arts and cultural extravaganza."

The Joseph Nease Gallery has just the ticket for a chilly week to come: the live, in-person (but by appointment only) opening of a new exhibition in their gallery, A Warm Reset, featuring Tara Austin, David Bowen, James Brinsfield, Cary Esser, Liz James, Matthew Kluber, Kathy McTavish, Allen Killian-Moore, and Tim White.

Annie Roseen is the director of Duluth's  BOLD-choice Theatre Company.

There's always been some ... tension .... between art and "crafts."  Not "craft," mind you, but "crafts."

Resolve the tension with coffee and eggs Sunday at the Virtual Fika & Slöjd: Folk Art Eggs session, Sunday at 1pm courtesy of the Nordic Center.

Explore the craft of art and the art in crafts while learning how to make painted, folk art Easter eggs.  Or BYOC (bring your own craft).

You still have a few hours left to share "your drawings, photographs, poems, rants, comics, notes, doodles, your abandoned Etsy pages, the true crime theories you’ve obsessively “solved,” your rabbit holes, and your visions for awakening from this long hibernation." Tonight at 1pm is the deadline for submission to the  Prøve Collective's upcoming zine called Emerge. 

All the submission details are available here.

Duluth's Nordic Center is kicking off Women's History Month (and International Women's Day today) with an exhibition called Nordic Crowns & Beyond: In Praise of Women.

There is a virtual gallery and several other events associated with this exhibit; more information is here.

Photographer Bryan Hansel is sharing some of knowledge through a series of online photography courses, thanks to a grant from the Arrowhead Regional Council on the Arts ... you can find out more about the Master the Basic Craft of Photography Online Class here.

One of the oldest galleries in America shuttered its doors after selling $80 million worth of fake art.

Tomorrow (2/23) at 7pm, WDSE presents a virtual screening/sneak peek into In This Place.  It's a project that's part of a larger effort called Moving Lives Minnesota: Stories of Origin & Immigration, exploring "the histories of the many communities who have moved through and to Minnesota."

Here's something to make you feel all warm inside:  there's finally a way to watch all Bob Ross, all the time (PBS Painter Bob Ross Gets A Happy Little Digital Channel).  It's live on Samsung now, hits Roku May 18, and will expand to other video-on-demand (VOD) platforms in the coming months.