Selective Focus Posts

Selective Focus: Andrew Remer’s Marbles, Glass Art & 3D Printing

Aug 03, 2021 No Comments

Andrew Remer has been working with glass since 2016. After taking a class in Minneapolis, he began experimenting with the medium along with some friends. The group rented hourly studio time at Potekglass and later built a garage studio in Shakopee. Remer moved to Duluth in 2019 and began working at Lake Superior Art Glass. He branched out on his own into a full-time artistic career during the COVID-19 pandemic, completing commissions and attending several festivals to share his art.

Read More


Art , , , ,

Selective Focus: Fishnetstockings at Joseph Nease Gallery

Jul 14, 2021 No Comments

Across the globe, one discovers mermaid tales clinging like barnacles onto historic seaports, sharing themes of the cross-cultural outsider, environmental imbalance, and gender inequality. During the summer of 2021, see Fishnetstockings projections at Joseph Nease Gallery in Duluth during open gallery hours.

A gallery talk, featuring a discussion with the artists and some images of what went on behind the scenes as the projections were created happens Thursday, July 15, from 6 to 7:30 p.m.

Read More


Art, Videos

Selective Focus: Lupines

Jul 11, 2021 No Comments

Numerous photos of lupines near Duluth and the North Shore have been shared recently on Instagram. The Wild Lupine (Lupinus perennis) is native to the area, while others are considered invasive species. Their flowers can be pink, purple and white in color. Please enjoy the collection of photos we pulled of local lupine sightings.

Read More


Photos , ,

Selective Focus: Kirsten Aune’s North Coast Fashion

Jul 03, 2021 No Comments
model in window

Kirsten Aune Textiles outfit

Kirsten Aune has lived in Duluth for a number of years, working in textile and garment design. She has a fashion show upcoming in her new showroom, Kirsten Aune Textiles, at 12 N. 21st Ave. W., in the heart of our blessedly reviving Lincoln Park Craft District. It goes down July 17, with two showings, one at 4 p.m. and one at 5 p.m. Most of the fashions being shown will be for sale or can be custom ordered. Mary Mathews, a master sewer, will be modeling her own creations out of Aune’s fabric. The showroom is stocked with household items as well as clothing, and Aune notes that you can order custom printed fabric by the yard there as well.

Read More


Art ,

Selective Focus: A Year of Sunrises with Ron Benson

Jun 23, 2021 No Comments

Stoney Point, March 6, 2021

Ron Benson, a Duluth glass and ceramic artist, began posting daily photos of sunrises over Lake Superior to Facebook during the first winter of the pandemic. I hadn’t known him as a photographer, so I was surprised. He posted these images almost every day, and they were amazing. I knew, and eventually thousands of people knew, that he’d be out perched on rocks as ice water slammed or sloshed, aiming a camera at the sunrise, every day. It was impressive.

Read More


Art, Photos ,

Selective Focus: Diane Keinanen’s Glass Art

Jun 11, 2021 No Comments

Diane Keinanen started creating glass window hangings 20 years ago after attending a community education class on stained glass. The medium then became a “lasting love” for her. In addition to glass art, Keinanen explores woodworking and has worked as a registered nurse for 28 years. Over the course of the pandemic, Keinanen has created live streams while creating her stained glass art. These live streams have included stories about her life and her experience as a transgender woman. More pictures of her work can be found on her Facebook page and YouTube channel.

Read More


Art , , ,

Selective Focus: Shaun Chosa’s Wheat-paste Project at AICHO

Jun 06, 2021 No Comments
Shaun Chosa's art on the wall

Shaun Chosa created a group of images to be wheat pasted on the wall at AICHO — seen here with some of the folks who helped make it happen.

The American Indian Community Housing Organization, which has become a force for enabling Native voices in Duluth and bringing radiance to the city, worked with In Progress, a multi-media arts organization in St. Paul, to create this installation of Shaun Chosa’s strong images on the walls of AICHO’s headquarters, 202 W. Second St.

Read More


Art ,

Selective Focus: Deep Cuts Hair Salon

May 22, 2021 No Comments

Deep Cuts hair salon opened in August 2020. Bee Golding started the salon after five years of working with hair because they “love meeting and connecting with new people.” They work together with their partner Jes Golding, who helped Bee with the mission and aesthetic of the shop. “In fact, I almost quit cutting hair, but Jes encouraged me to create our own environment instead. Barbershops are traditionally very stereotypically masculine places that don’t always feel the most welcoming to LGBTQIA2S+ folks and I wanted to change that.”

Read More


Art , , , ,

Selective Focus: Carl Gawboy’s Life Well-Painted

May 20, 2021 No Comments

A Life Well Painted

This text, taken from the curriculum written by Wendy Savage, serves to introduce Carl Gawboy — a foundational artist in this region.

At Tweed Museum of Art this winter of 2021, Carl Gawboy’s stellar paintings were featured in the exhibition “A Life Well Painted: The Art of Carl Gawboy.” It featured 36 narrative paintings. Carl Gawboy is a highly respected Ojibwe and Finnish artist; he paints the beauty of everyday life of his Ojibwe people. He is an Elder and enrolled member of the Bois Fort Band of Chippewa in Northern Minnesota. Carl has been creating art since he was a child at his Finnish mother’s kitchen table. Carl’s father was a trapper, and his mother was a teacher and farmer. Carl went on to college and studied art and history, and researched the fur trade era.

Read More


Art ,

Selective Focus: Help Wanted

Apr 23, 2021 1 Comment

Perfect Duluth Day is looking for a new curator for its ongoing Selective Focus feature. Applications are being accepted through May 9.

Curator sounds artsier than coordinator, right? And it’s not really a writing thing, is it? Well, maybe it’s a bit of all three.

Read More


Art ,

Selective Focus: Look at the Birdy

Apr 08, 2021 No Comments

Recent photos of local birds via Instagram.

Read More


Photos , ,

Selective Focus: March Aurora

Mar 22, 2021 No Comments

This past weekend’s aurora did not disappoint. Gathered here are some of the best shots, culled from Instagram.

Read More


Photos ,

Selective Focus: Nature’s Winter Artistry

Mar 11, 2021 1 Comment

Select Instagram photos showing a few of nature’s icy art projects.

Read More


Art, Photos

Selective Focus: The Old West End

Feb 25, 2021 No Comments

Photographer Nik Nerburn (previously on PDD) has just published a book of photos and stories following the last few years of transformation in Duluth’s West End, more recently and commonly known as Lincoln Park. We get a sneek peek at a few of the images in the book.

Read More


Art, History, Photos , , ,

Selective Focus: Icy Blue Gitche Gu

Feb 19, 2021 No Comments

Via Instagram, select images of Lake Superior in wintry blue.

Read More


Art, Outdoors, Photos ,