Upcoming Exhibits

Water Works
Celebrating our most precious resource and the artists who share in the primitive pull towards H2O
June 20 – August 25
Gallery Celebration: June 20, 5 – 7pm
Weekly enhancement events June through August
Closing event: August 15, 5 – 7pm

“They both listened silently to the water, which to them was not just water, but the voice of life, the voice of Being, the voice of perpetual Becoming.” -Hermann Hesse, Siddhartha

Water is a source of continuing fascination – there is an undeniable visceral connection to this literally life giving force.  Water takes up sixty-five percent of our bodies and it was in hot, bubbling pools of water that living organisms originated. We’ve all seen the stunning beauty water can create, as well as the devastating destruction it can cause. Artists of all different mediums - painters, ceramicists, fiber artists – rely heavily on water to bring forth their creations. Water centers us, inspires us, and mesmerizes us. It provides recreation, transportation, and economic possibilities. We clean with water, consume water, tend gardens with water, and live by water. The United Nations declared 2013 ‘the year of water’ and the Duluth Art Institute is dedicating this summer to celebrating this sacred resource with artists who share our primitive pull towards H2O.

Water Works shows off artists like Robert Porkorney, an avid surfer in both Duluth and California, who depicts the source of his recreation and enjoyment in breathtaking paintings of Lake Superior and the Pacific Ocean. The exhibit features the ceramic wall installations of Liz James who draws on the glistening shimmer of light on water for her three dimensional visions. The exhibit also highlights the work by artists who engage with the liquid in ways not so literal. Artists who depict the power, danger, drama and delight that water, and specifically Lake Superior, has to offer.