ART in ELY

WALLS & SHELVES

Art & Soul Gallery 427 E Sheridan Street

Art by Abbey 545 E Sheridan Street

Organizations

The Art Corner 301 W Sheridan Street

Arts in Ely ArtsInEly.org, FB

ARTISTS’ WEBSITES

Consie Powell ConsiePowell.com

Chris Koivisto Ceramics ElyArt.com

Eric Sherman Photography EricShermanImages.com

Dafne Caruso Arts DafneCaruso.com

Heidi Pinkerton RootRiverPhotography.com

Roy Misonznick Images ElyPix.com

Ely Art Walk ElyArtWalk.org

Ely Photographic Collaborative Find it on Facebook

Ely Folk School 209 E Sheridan Street

Gardner Humanities Trust GardnerTrust.org

Northern Lakes Arts Assn. NorthernLakesArts.org

Tofte Lake Center TofteLake.org

Brainstorm Bakery 402 E Sheridan Street

The Brandenburg Gallery 11 E Sheridan Street

Ely Historic State Theater 238 E Sheridan Street

Fernberg Art Gallery 2267 Fernberg Road

Gallery Ali 6 E Sheridan Street

Kekekabic Studio 118 E Chapman Street

Mayhem Mending 438 E Sheridan Street

Mealey’s Gift Shop 124 N Central Avenue

Ornamental Hermit Studio 132 N 1st Avenue E, by appt

Three Jewels Pottery 206 E Sheridan Street

So many books, so little space! We try to choose the best of those with special relevance to the Ely area and published by small companies without huge budgets, meaning you may not hear of them elsewhere. Check ‘em out!

Local author Polly Carlson-Voiles and illustrator Consie Powell have teamed up again to create a delightful picture book perfectly suited to an Ely audience. Young Nora stays up late enjoying the night sky with Grandma and Grandpa on the dock. Nocturnal wildlife joins the Star Party. The nonfiction pages have helpful notes for creating your own summer night on the dock. A must-have book for the cabin library, you can get it signed at Art & Soul Gallery or Piragis’ Bookstore events on June 3rd and May 27th.

Talking Sky and What We See in the Stars are good companions to Star Party, and just right for the older child or adult who wants to delve deeper into the heavens. Talking Sky presents the Ojibwe perspective on star groupings, including how the sky world reflects the seasons and governs life on the planet’s surface. Greek mythology and indigenous North American traditions are contrasted, noting the strengths of each in applying them to our day-to-day life. Ideas are presented about how pictographs may depict heavenly phenomena, and the likelihood that these ancient rock drawings were created in winter.

What We See in the Stars details some of the science behind our celestial observations in an easy reading style. Learn about moon phases and eclipses, characteristics of other planets, our sun, a history of sky observation tools and technology, and the exploration of deep space and the possibility of life in other solar systems. Lively illustrations help the beginning astronomer understand key concepts.

With a title like The Lichen Museum, you might be expecting a lavishly-illustrated compendium of research on these life forms. But this book is more philosophical, insisting that humans have much to learn from the symbiotic, creative, adaptable, complex, long-lived beings that are lichens. The author suggests that many of humanity’s troubling issues could be resolved by studying and–yes, behaving more like lichens. There are many humorous musings, engaging anecdotes, personal reflections, and some lovely color photos as readers explore how differently humans could relate to time, each other, and the GNP.

What exactly is a “Foundational” tree? In White Pine we learn how such trees are part of our history and culture as well as the base upon which the pyramid of a forest community is built. The iconic tree of our north woods forests, white pine were clearcut nearly to oblivion in northern Minnesota, making more money for lumber barons than the California gold rush made for its investors. Not quite too late, foresters began to discover the importance of the tree’s life cycle and work to see this species thrive again and survive the current threats of climate change and blister rust. If you love a stand or an individual tree, reading this book will grow your affection and understanding, and may even provide some practical protection for the white pine in your life.

Just for fun– Wildlife Anatomy describes the amazing, surprising, and sometimes mysterious features of the bodies and behaviors of a variety of animals. From alpacas to zebras, hundreds of critters practically jump, slither, crawl, and fly off these pages.

For the middle-schoolers (and older ones who like a good plot and quick read), here are two can’t-put-itdown books. Windswept is the most recent story from local author and mentor to the Ely high school student writers’ group (along with Mary Casanova), Margi Preus. Disappearing children and an increasingly dystopic society motivate young Tag to take the risk of going Outside to find her sisters. She joins an unlikely-to-be-heroic bunch of kids on a search for siblings and a better life.

Small Game is a story about a reality entertainment game gone terribly wrong. Survival becomes more than play, and protagonist Mara, whose woodsy childhood resembles that of some Ely kids, has to figure out how to get along with teammates that may be less than trustworthy, while surviving all the trials of living in the north woods without the comforts of her usual life. Both are great readaloud books for campfires.

Chapman Street Books

Quality used books on all topics, including many with local interest. Bring yours in for a discount. Big free box. Home to Prairie Fire Tobacco, with imported and domestic blends. 139 E. Chapman St. 218-365-2212

Immersed in the upheavals of indigenous life at the turn of the 19th to 20th century, John and Tchi-Ki-Wis Linklater made their home in the Arrowhead region and on Isle Royale. A man respected by all who knew him, John–or Jack as his friends called him–was a game warden, guide, and father. Tchi-Ki-Wis was known for her finely crafted cedar mats. The two maintained a life true to Anishinaabe and Métis values and pursuits as much as was possible while their way of life was changing by the advance of white people’s influence on the land and society. This deeply biographical account of their lives includes rare photographs, historically accurate anecdotes, and a sense of what life was like living on Basswood Lake in the 1920s. A challenging portage is a good analogy for the struggles and accomplishments of their lifetimes.

To bring diversity and inclusion to your summer reading list start with How We Go Home. Inspiration and hope hold hands with despair in these oral histories by indigenous North Americans who seek to imagine what “going home” can mean to them. Eye-opening for anyone who’s ever tried to explain to others or themselves why people raised in poverty and oppression can’t just “pull themselves up by their bootstraps.” (And, btw, did you ever try to picture the physics of that?! Truly impossible.) Not an easy read, but a worthwhile one.

When you think of outdoor writing–love of nature, adventure, environmental advocacy–is there any black writer who comes to mind? A Darker Wilderness addresses that missing voice. Tiya Miles describes this as “like walking down a dim urban street that turns out to have always been a sacred wood full of magic.” This anthology covers everyday life and dramatic events, history and present day, woods and fields and rivers. Good literature all.

All these books are available through the Ely Public Library and at Piragis’ Upstairs Bookstore.