15th Annual Event

Drawing by Sue Rowe at last year's Glensheen Festival of Fine Art and Craft

Metal sculpture by Chris Kilbane at last year's event.

On Saturday, August 15 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., nearly 100 of the regions most talented artists will gather for the 15th annual Glensheen Festival of Fine Art and Craft. This event was named a “best bet” by the Duluth News Tribune and is attended by thousands each year.

Admission is free and parking is free, but Glensheen’s parking lot fills up quickly so there will be a round trip shuttle bus running from the University of Minnesota Duluth’s Maroon Lot B to Glensheen approximately every twenty minutes throughout the day.

Things of Beauty

The Glensheen Festival of Fine Art and Craft is a juried event to ensure that only works of the highest quality, orginality, and craftmanship are accepted. Works may not be mass-produced or created from commercial patterns. Selected artists are awarded for outstanding excellence.

Artists will offer original, handmade objects including painting, photography, glass, pottery, ceramics, wood, jewelry, and fiber. In addition, visitors can enjoy demonstrations by a blacksmith, a glass blower, a painter, and more. Area musicians will add melody to your experience and food vendors will keep you fueled as you shop for those perfect gifts for family, friends, and yourself!

A Glimpse at the Past

House tours will be offered at regular rates during the Festival of Fine Art and Craft from 9:30 a.m. through 4 p.m. Glensheen is a stunning 39-room Jacobean Revival mansion located on a 7.6-acre estate on the shores of beautiful Lake Superior. Built by Chester A. Congdon and his wife, Clara, the interiors of the mansion boast nearly all of the original furnishings and décor that graced the rooms when the home was completed in 1908.

Normally there is a five dollar admission fee to tour Glensheen's exquiste gardens, grounds, and the beach, but on August 15 you can explore them for free.

Glensheen was bequeathed to the University of Minnesota Duluth in 1968 and is now a museum property of UMD. Glensheen is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is a Partner Place of the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

Glensheen is located at 3300 London Road in Duluth. For more information, call: 218-726-8910, 1-888-454-GLEN (4536) or visit http://www.glensheen.org

Papercutting by Ali Logeais at last year's Glensheen Festival of Fine Art and Craft	Jess Durfee demonstrates glass blowing techniques in 2008	Watercolor by Tom Soucek at last year's event

Written by Kathleen McQuillan-Hofmann, kmcquill@d.umn.edu

UMD home page editor, Cheryl Reitan, creitan@d.umn.edu
NEW RELEASES, UMD media contact, Susan Latto, slatto@d.umn.edu, 218-726-8830