Minnesota Marine Art Museum

Visitors from Norge

For five days my second cousin and his wife, Heine and Kari, from Norway, came to Northfield. We had a nice visit, and we were able to, once again, show off our town and southern Minnesota.

First we took them to a small town 4^th of July celebration – the oldest ongoing celebration in Minnesota. North Morristown has put on a 4^th of July celebration for 131 years, serving homemade pie, food offerings at concessions stands and live music. We enjoyed listening to the blue grass band Monroe Crossing, and traipsing over muddy paths for food, in-between rain storms.

Fireworks in Northfield were delayed until the next evening due to the rain. We walked down the street from our house to watch them on Friday, July 5^th .

We visited other relatives in the area…our grandfathers are the link. They were brothers…one went to America, the other stayed in Norway.

Me, Kari, Heine, my cousin Cindy and my aunt (in front).

Scheel’s, in the Eden Prairie Center, was a fun place to look around, especially for a hunter, which Heine is. But the home décor portion of the store is lovely to peruse too.

A beautiful field of coneflowers in the gardens outside the Marine Art Museum.

Eating outside, when possible, either on our deck or at a restaurant is always nice in the summertime and it was possible much of the time Heine and Kari were with us.

Lunch along the Mississippi River in Winona.

We went on a day trip to Winona. We stopped at Lark Toys in Kellogg for fun, and had a picnic lunch on the banks of the flooded Mississippi River.

We enjoyed the gardens around the Minnesota Marine Art Museum and went inside for a look around.

We stopped at Lock & Dam #5 north of Winona, and meandered around Lake City’s marina on our way back to Northfield.

We showed off the Norwegian immigrants historic Valley Grove churches and cemetery.

We hiked to Hidden Falls in Big Woods Nerstrand State Park.

Heine & Kari celebrating their 45th anniversary in Northfield, Minnesota.

We shopped downtown Northfield and celebrated Heine and Kari’s 45^th wedding anniversary at the Reunion in downtown Northfield.

The last stop was at Lakewood Cemetery to visit the graves of my grandmother and grandfather and beloved Auntie Ag.

My grandfathers gravestone at Lakewood Cemetery. He was the brother to Heine’s grandfather, Johannes.

We were able to get in to view the beautiful Lakewood Chapel, with 10 million 3/8 inch tile mosaics throughout.

One of the many angel mosaics in Lakewood Chapel.

Time flew, conversation and laugher abounded, family ties entwined.

Last month we went on a Sunday Drive down Highway 61 towards Winona, Minnesota. The sun was shining bright and we enjoyed the scenic views of the Mississippi River. Because it was late March, the trees had not budded out yet, and we saw a lot more of the water than driving the same route in summer or fall when the trees are full. It’s a beautiful drive anytime of the year, but I it was nice seeing more of the river this time.

Our first stop was Lark Toys, a very unique and fun stop. Lark Toys is a toy museum, a retail store with a large selection of wooden toys, vintage-style toys and a fine book shop. The museum has glass enclosed displays with all sorts of games and toys from bygone years that prompt many memories and a delight to see. There is an indoor carousal you can ride, a candy store to buy old-fashion candies, and an ice cream shoppe.

Inside one of the glass enclosed display cases of antique toys in Lark’s Toy Museum.

Our next stop was the Marine Art Museum in Winona. It seems an unusual place for such a quality museum, but I assume it’s because of the two colleges in Winona, and probably a generous donor. It is on an inlet of the river, close to downtown but in a more industrial part of town. The tagline on their website is “Great art inspired by water.” I like that because I like water, and I like art.

The museum has permanent displays and changing exhibitions. Some works of Fred Somers, a talented and inspiring Northfield artist, were on display the day we were at the museum, and also an exhibition about the Titanic, with art pieces to go along with that tragic story.

Exhibitions change which provides new artworks to see, but the permanent displays are wonderful too. I don’t know much about art…I never took an art history class (but wish I had). I really enjoy admiring the artwork. I marvel at those who can paint. I often think, “this piece started out as a blank canvas!” A lot of the pieces (but not all) in the museum focus on marine art, thus the name.

There were two ship’s figureheads in the lobby of the Marine Art Museum, reminding us to wear our masks.

There are two permanent collections: American artists and European artists. The American collection is “historical works by American artist spanning the length of the nation’s history”. I don’t know many American artists, but I’m learning. The European collection had pieces by artists I recognized, such as; Monet, van Gogh, Degas, Renoir, Picasso and more.

Understandably photographs were not permitted (except in the lobby). There is a nice gift shop where I bought some postcards.

This is a post card I bought in the museum gift shop. I liked the colors and style of this Renoir painting, from the European collection.

It’s worth the drive to Winona to check out this interesting and amazing museum.

Artist: Adam Turman

I’m beginning to notice the interesting artwork of Adam Turman. He is an illustrator, graphic designer, printmaker, and muralist from St Louis Park, MN. I was first introduced to his work when my son hired him to paint a eye-catching mural on his office building, depicting different landmarks of Minnesota and Minneapolis.

Hard to capture the extent of this wonderful mural by Adam Turman, depicting Minnesota and Minneapolis landmarks.

A closer look at part of an Adam Turman mural in Uptown.

The next place I noticed his work was at a St. Paul Classic bike ride, an annual event that we’ve participated in a few times. Turman has designed several t-shirts for the event over the years. A lot of Turman’s artwork includes a bicycle which, he writes, “is one of his favorite outdoor activities.”

And recently, at the Minnesota Marine Art Museum in Winona, MN (which Is located right on the Mississippi River) I noticed artwork by Adam Turman on display. It was fun to discover it there. In 2016 he was commissioned to paint three works.

One is a large mural for the museum. It features the Mississippi River in Winona.

The plaque reads: “He painted a push boat frequently seen moving barges right outside the Museum, with a pod of American Pelicans overhead. The dramatic waves are influenced by Japanese wood block artist Katsushika Hokusai’s style while the sky and bluffs are in Turman’s distinct, simple and bold graphic style.”

Titled: *Sugar Loaf* This is the one of two prints in a series, commissioned by the museum.

The museum also commissioned Adam to create a series of two pictures depicting landmarks distinctive to Winona. The originals are on display at the Minnesota Marine Art Museum, along with some other prints of Adam Turman’s.

Titled: *Mississippi*
“This is the second print the Museum commissioned and we want to celebrate what makes Winona special. The herons and the boat-house are iconic to Winona, so I made sure to highlight those in the piece.” Adam Turman

The Museum store had several postcards of Adam’s work and I was attracted to this simple design (below) with white birch trees, a red cardinal, and the back of a red bicycle and tire leaving a trail in the snow. I brought that one home with me.

This is a postcard featuring a print of Turman’s, that I purchased at the museum store.
Titled: Cardinal (2011)

As with all artists, Adam Turman has his own unique style. As he becomes more well-known it will be fun to find his art in different places.