Jason McDonald is a glass artist with a particular passion for Venetian furnace techniques. He uses these techniques to speak about barriers BIPOC people face in accessing creative spaces, as well as the wild joy of chasing technical pursuits. He began his glass career at the age of 14 at the hilltop artist program, Tacoma Washington. He is a Windgate Fellowship recipient, was a contestant on ‘Blown away’ season 2, and has been awarded residencies at Pittsburgh glass center and Pilchuck Glass school. He has taught at Penland school of craft, Pittsburgh glass center, Pilchuck Glass School, Pratt Fine arts, The Studio at Corning Museum of Glass, Urban Glass, and elsewhere. He received his BFA with honors at California college of art and was awarded the presidential fellowship at Tyler School of Art and Architecture where he earned his MFA.
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The Marketplace Gallery features glass pieces for sale designed and made by Foci MCGA artists. We have a variety of glass items including housewares and gifts, functional items, sculptural objects, and jewelry. We are proud to welcome and feature a broad community of local glass artists in our gallery.
Puzzlers will love this new item! Available in large or small, this wooden puzzle was created using a photo of a special painting done by a former employee, Marilyn. Iconic images of Nipper, Prince & Dylan are in the windows.
MNspin: Minnesota has been a player in the international music scene since the Andrews Sisters stole music lovers’ hearts in the 1940s. From Atmosphere to Spider John Koerner, Bob Dylan to Prince, Cantus to Semisonic, Cloud Cult to Trampled by Turtles, the Minnesota Orchestra, Bobby Vee, the Replacements, Maria Jette, The Steeles, Robert Robinson, Owl City, and so many others have made their mark on the world, but they also had their start in Minnesota.
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Now Minnesota musicians can connect with new audiences through MNspin, an online collection of Minnesota music curated by local experts that launched winter 2017. The collection features a curated selection of works by Minnesota artists of all genres. Anyone may stream music from MNspin. A library card registered with Hennepin County Library is required to download music.Minnesota artists gain exposure, and music lovers can explore the rich diversity of the local scene and find new favorite local artists and bands.
The Night Sky, Indigenous Knowledge, and Living Connections to the Cosmos
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Marvel at the aurora in this artistic, spiritual, and scientific masterwork by Indigenous collaborators. An exploration of human connection to the aurora, the Milky Way, and the wonder of the universe above us, with gorgeous photographs by a master photographer.
For millennia, humans have marveled at the night sky: the wonder of the aurora, the glory of the Milky Way, and the peace that comes with stargazing. In this remarkable book, Travis Novitsky’s photographs portray these marvels, while astrophysicist Annette S. Lee discusses how Western science and Indigenous knowledge can work together to provide a deeper understanding of our place in the universe.
Novitsky has been photographing the night sky for decades, and his vibrant images reflect and transmit the experiences he has had under the night sky. Astrophysicist and artist Annette S. Lee has been teaching about the stars and creating art that shows them for more than 30 years. She provides a brief but thorough overview of how Western science explains the aurora, from the 17th-century astronomers who first studied sunspots to the 21st-century acoustic scientist who recorded their sounds. Lee also presents examples of the ways Indigenous skywatchers have seen the sky and our place in it.
Both authors write of the wonders of starbathing: sitting quietly under the stars, knowing that humans have always done this, knowing that we literally come from the stars. Working together in this remarkable book, they bring the aurora to readers.
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Author
Travis Novitsky, a lifelong resident of the north shore of Lake Superior, is a nature and wildlife photographer living in Grand Portage, Minnesota. He is most known for his images portraying the wonders of the night sky. His work is prominently featured in the documentary Northern Nights, Starry Skies, a film that he narrated and co-produced along with PBS North and Hamline University’s Center for Global Environmental Education. During the day, he works for the Minnesota DNR as the park manager at Grand Portage State Park. He is a mixed-race Native American of Ojibwe, French, Swedish, Russian, and Polish ancestry and a member of the Grand Portage Band of Lake Superior Chippewa.
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Annette S. Lee, PhD, MFA, is an award-winning visual artist, science communicator, and civic engagement leader who leads social transformation work with Indigenous communities worldwide, especially Ojibwe and D(L)akota people on Turtle Island (North America) and Mni Sota Makoce (Minnesota). She has been working at the intersection of science, art, and culture for a lifetime and continues this work as executive director of Native Skywatchers and as a self-employed visual artist. Annette is a member of the International Astronomical Union, and she holds academic positions as an adjunct professor, Centre for Astrophysics, University of Southern Queensland, and associate adjunct professor, Department of Astronomy & Astrophysics, University of California-Santa Cruz, where she is also an OpenLab Arts Collaborative researcher. She is a mixed-race Native American of Lakota, Chinese, and Irish ancestry.
For many of us, this may be the most robust holiday season in years: bigger gatherings, perhaps bigger stockings.
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Or, maybe you came to appreciate a more subdued season, and want to carry on (quietly). Either way, the Store at Mia has you covered with artful objects for celebration and contemplation, festing and nesting.
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Pearl Earrings by The Vintage Royalty
“There’s nothing I love more than a statement earring, and The Vintage Royalty knocks it out of the park every time. Get the Lorena earrings for the bold accessorizer in your life. If you’re looking to make a statement with a more subdued color palette, the Pearl Earrings are a great option (bonus points for the Vermeer reference).” —Anna Dilliard, Adult Programs Specialist
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Amalia’s Mesoamerican Table: Ancient Culinary Traditions with Gourmet Infusions
“One of my favorite things is to shop for a good book. Being from Guatemala, when I find a book by a Latin American author—or, better yet, from Guatemala—you bet I’ll be buying that for family and friends. This year, I’ll be buying Amalia’s Mesoamerican Table: Ancient Culinary Traditions with Gourment Infusions. The book features traditional dishes from Guatemala and Central America, which I find fascinating and a great way to experience different cultures.” —Avi Mylrea, Major and Planned Gifts Officer
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Langhetta Rocking Ride
“As a mom of two young children, I’m always on the lookout for cool and tasteful toys. I’ve got my eye on the Langhetta Rocking Ride and the Mushie Stacking Rings for my son. My daughter loves to draw, paint, and sculpt, so I’m putting together an art cart for her. These Chunkies Paint Sticks are a MUST, and any fun, air-drying clay is a big hit. Since parents deserve fun things, too, I’ve got my eye on this simple gold bangle to stack with other jewelry and this flask for my husband, for cooler nights around the firepit.” —Trina Reski, Senior Advancement Officer, Head of Major and Planned Gifts
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Art is the Highest Form of Hope & Other Quotes by Artists
“A book like Art Is the Highest Form of Hope & Other Quotes by Artists, created and edited by the editors at Phaidon, feels like the perfect gift for someone who loves a cheeky turn of phrase, an amusing anecdote, or the Agony Aunt section of the newspaper. It may also delight someone who adores art and artists and perhaps works in the arts. I happen to be all three, and I think this book will end up in the hands of many of my creative friends, and probably my own (even if I’m the one doing the wrapping).” —Taylor Bye, Design and Editorial Project Coordinator
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Flip clock by Cloudnola
“Amy Thielen, the James Beard Award-winning writer and chef who lives in northern Minnesota with her sculptor husband, Aaron Spangler, came out with the perfect book this year for post-pandemic party people. Company: The Radically Casual Art of Cooking for Others features 125 recipes, plus tips on party planning—enough to freshen your repertoire or inspire the suddenly social. I also love the flip clock by Cloudnola, which presents the time on cards as a kind of narrative: “It’s eleven twenty one.” You actually have to read the time, which makes it seem more like a literary choice than a chronological fact.” —Tim Gihring, Brand Narrator and Editor
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In Our Hands: Native Photography, 1890 to Now
“As a co-curator of Mia’s exhibition ‘In Our Hands: Native Photography, 1890 to Now,’ I’m obviously biased, but the catalogue for the show would make a very special gift to anyone who loves Native art and photography. Featuring essays by a number of prominent artists in the show, alongside gorgeous full-color illustrations, this not-so-little volume pulls together generations of knowledge in a visually compelling and narratively accessible way.” —Casey Riley, Curator of Photography and New Media, Chair of Global Contemporary Art
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Happy shopping! And when you’re done, wrap it all up with colorful paper available in the store from the local Nayana Design Studio or the Native-owned NTVS.
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Become a contributing Mia member and you’ll save 10 percent on store purchases, and you can gift memberships as well. Here, we’ve asked museum staff—who know their artful objects—for their favorites.
It’s made from a converted hunting stand, and it works perfectly as a lefse drive-thru.
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Evansville, MN — We’ve all been through the coffee and fast-food drive-thrus, but they have nothing on this Evansville business. In this week’s Finding Minnesota, John Lauritsen takes us to a drive-through that’s as Nordic as it gets.
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CBS News Minnesota: “You are in the boonies. There is nothing else really out here,” Kim Englund said. “It’s really quiet and we have great neighbors everywhere so it’s a whole, big community that supports each other.”
Lund Township is six miles by six miles. And Kim will be the first to tell you that it’s chock full of Scandinavians.
“A lot of Norwegians. A lot of Swedes. We all kind of landed here from Norway — from here to Grand Forks. And we all like lefse,” said Kim.
And that is good for business. During the pandemic, Kim decided to make lemonade out of lemons. Or in this case, lefse out of potatoes.
“When COVID hit you could see all the drive-thrus were still open. Because that was considered ‘no contact,'” said Kim.
So, she made her own drive-thru out of a deer stand and began selling lefse out of it. It’s about as Minnesotan as it gets.
WCCO
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“Everybody comes and drives through here. They can drive right up to the window. And then we have our menu here and they order. I even have Venmo. That’s new to me,” she said.
“I was like, you guys are crazy,” said Willow Englund, Kim’s daughter.
Those were Wilow’s thoughts when the drive-thru first opened. She still thinks it’s crazy, but Willow brings a lot to the table. In fact, the entire family spends seven nights a week making this Nordic dessert.
“We all mainly have our different jobs,” said Willow. “Peel potatoes or put ingredients in the bowl.”
They make 20 pounds of lefse a night and then sell it between 10 a.m. and noon on Saturdays.
It’s $6 for three lefse rounds and it’s safe to say that business has been on a roll.
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John House is a customer from nearby Melby. “Population 39 and holding,” said John, who has become a regular on Saturdays. “I bought from her for years, before she had this. This was, pretty smart.”
“It’s very unique. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen anything like this before,” said Sue Englund, a customer.
It’s a Scandinavian tradition Kim’s family is helping to drive forward. And she’s hoping other families do the same.
“You have to step up. Everybody tells me grandma made the lefse and it’s time for everybody to step up and learn to make the lefse,” said Kim. “So this is kind of my battle cry. We need lefse makers in all the areas.”
The little, red lefse shack is located a mile north of Evansville on County Road 1. The Englunds are open Saturday mornings in November and December. They say their busiest days are the Saturdays before Thanksgiving and Christmas, and they’ll get customers from the Twin Cities, South Dakota, and everywhere in between.