Hello NWFA Members and Friends!

Whether you're surrounded by a winter wonderland or enjoying warmer weather elsewhere, we hope you're cozy and having a great time. We're off to an amazing start in 2026 and can't wait to keep the momentum going!

UPDATE: Due to extremely cold weather on the original date, the North Woods School Empty Bowl event has been rescheduled for tonight, Thursday, Feb 5. The event, which supports Cook and Orr Community Food Shelves, will run from 4:30 to 7 pm at North Woods School. The Gallery will be participating this year with two fun children's activity tables.

Exciting News!
"Up North Reflections" is officially up and available for viewing. Stop by during Gallery hours to vote for your favorite – we promise, it won't be easy to select from our 72 incredible entries! Winners will be announced, and prizes awarded at the reception on Friday, February 27, from 5 to 7 pm.

Our January Garage Sale was a huge success, raising $850 in profits for the gallery! A big thank you to everyone who donated their gently used items and to those who braved the cold to support our first fundraiser of the year!

Open Art Mondays will continue throughout the winter. Join fellow artists every Monday from 6 to 8 pm at the Gallery to "do art." No registration is required! Fun, friendship, and creativity will be flowing!

Attention Woodcarvers! Join experienced woodcarver Howard Hilshorst every Thursday from 10 am to Noon at the NWFA Gallery. This group keeps growing and getting more interesting each week. You can learn, practice, or improve your wood carving skills. Materials and tools will be provided, or you can bring your own project to work on.

New Saturday Hours: The gallery will be open Thursdays and Fridays from 10 am to 4 pm and Saturdays from 10 am to 2 pm. Starting in April 2026, we'll also be open on Wednesdays.

Please check our website nwfamn.org for updates throughout the month and let us know if you have any news to share and add  to future newsletters.

Each Monday artists are invited to "do art" with others at NWFA gallery from 6 to 8 p.m. No registration required. Hope to see you there!

The popular Wings Mural in Cook City Park by the Library and gazebo, has been duplicated and set back in place! The original was made up of feathers painted by children during NWFA Summer classes . Thanks to Lyn Reed and Lauren Nelson. The mural is up now, go check it out!

MN Public Radio Art Hounds…2025

From July 17 2025 Art Hounds interview MPR:

Live music by the lake

"Jeanne O’Melia, who lives on Lake Vermilion, makes her way to Cook, Minn., every Wednesday evening — often by boat — to enjoy the free live music at the gazebo downtown. Attendees are encouraged to bring chairs and blankets. In the event of rain, concerts move indoors to the VFW.

The music runs from 6–8 p.m. on Wednesdays throughout the summer. Next week, central Minnesota cover band JustUs takes the stage. On July 30, Native American Music Awards Hall of Fame inductee Keith Secola performs.,,,,mprnews.org/podcasts"

https://www.mprnews.org/episode/2025/07/17/art-hounds-shakespeare-music-and-pottery-all-outdoors

ListenMPR News“On fabric, dragons and freedom”

Listen to this broadcast here.  If you select “Cecilia Rolando” online within the article you will see Rolando artwork.

Jan. 16 2025 Art Hounds on MPR News

A stitch in time

Lyn Reed is a former art teacher and a ceramic artist living in Orr, but she made the trip to the Northwoods Friends of the Arts in Cook, Minn., to take in the joyful colors and compositions of fabric artist Cecilia Rolando of Ely.

Entitled “Piecing it Together,” the exhibit runs through Jan. 31. Several small quilts designed and sewn by NWFA’s Round Robin Quilt Group are also on display. 

Lyn Reed offers this look around the gallery, where the colors and textures provide a welcome burst of inspiration in January.

Lyn says: She calls it fabric collage, and that’s exactly what it is. She must have just an incredible resource of fabrics because I notice fabric from Southeast Asia … Japan … she’s used doilies, antique lace, gingham …There’s a piece I really like that’s red and white spiral.

She cuts different pieces of different sizes, and she’s collaged those together. You can see that she’s layered them. She’s using all different types of stitching, and the lines actually look as if they’re in a drawing. The compositions are really beautiful. 

It’s like a cornucopia of all different types of fabrics from around the world. If you love fabrics, you will enjoy Cecilia’s work.

— Lyn Reed

Thank you to artist and NWFA member, Lyn Reed, for volunteering to be interviewed by MPR News “Art Hounds”.