Isle Royale Forums

I will be applying for the Artist in Residence program for 2020 as a nature photographer. Would like to hear from any other artists about there experiences who were blessed with getting one of these slots.

No relevant experiences to report, but I'm rooting for you, chief!

Likewise as Torpied I have no relevant experience, but I would hope that your life long experience with the Island, the Great Lakes and the Coast Guard should add tremendously to the already fabulous resume of of your photographic work. Make sure you highlight it all.

Thanks so much for the vote of confidence from both torpified and Midwest Ed.

They have announced the 3 persons selected for the 2020 Artist in Residence program. First I would like to congratulate the 3 folks chosen, mixed media, writing and scientific illustration and 6 alternates. I applied as a award winning and published photographer and as someone with over 50 years of exploring the island as a backpacker and spending part of my time in the U.S. Coast Guard on the cutter that maintained all the aids to navigation on Lake Superior and am not surprised I was not chosen. When I was applying, after some research I found that in the last 20 years and around 80 artists chosen there were only 5 photographers. I talked to the AIR Coordinator at the park and inquired why so few photographers were chosen and was told that everybody has an iphone, everybody is a photographer so you need to be creative not the run of the mill photographer.I replied tongue in cheek you mean like photoshopping a polar bear into the middle of Lake Superior, the reply yes be creative. I also inquired about relationship with the island and was told that helps but will not get you over the finish line. So I am bummed out I was not chosen but happy for the folks that were. If IR opens for the season good luck out there and can not wait to see your art.

chief,

I'm willing to bet that your lifelong dedication and experience with The Island actually works against you to some degree. They know you are already "hooked" and therefore they know you'll be back, creating and sharing the same type of artwork that you would as an AIR. It's my observation that they look for people with obvious special talents that can be brought to the The Island, maybe for the first time.

You do some wonderful work and I for one hope you can keep going for a long time and that some day our paths will cross in a more material (face to face) way.

Off topic questions...
On which CG Cutter did you serve? Alder? Or earlier on the Sundew? Or from a different Station? And what years?

Midwest Ed wrote: ↑Fri Apr 03, 2020 2:38 pm chief,

I'm willing to bet that your lifelong dedication and experience with The Island actually works against you to some degree. They know you are already "hooked" and therefore they know you'll be back, creating and sharing the same type of artwork that you would as an AIR. It's my observation that they look for people with obvious special talents that can be brought to the The Island, maybe for the first time.

You do some wonderful work and I for one hope you can keep going for a long time and that some day our paths will cross in a more material (face to face) way.

Off topic questions...
On which CG Cutter did you serve? Alder? Or earlier on the Sundew? Or from a different Station? And what years?

Midwest Ed, Thanks for the kind words. wish you were on the jury. I did consider your observation and I think there is a lot to it. In my research on who has been chosen over the years had me sometimes scratching my head, not about whether the chosen art was art but how you could relate that to the park. Art is in the eye of the beholder. I will not kid you I am disappointed I was not chosen, I had thought what an honor and a great way to pay back, if you will, the debt I owe the island for my lifelong journey of discovery and joy.

I reported aboard the CGC Woodrush homeported in Duluth in February of 1977 as a QM2, Second Class Quartermaster, there were still crew aboard that were involved with the sinking of the Fitzgerald. Roughly a year later we swapped crews with the CGC Mesquite where we were still homeported in Duluth, where I was promoted to 1st Class and actually qualified as an underway deck watch officer, kinda unusual for an enlisted man. I would take leave and have cutter drop me off at Windigo and then week later pick me up at Rock. Its a hard feeling to describe seeing IR from the deck of a cutter for the first time as a young man returning to IR that my father brought me as a little boy 12 years before. In fact i requested the Woodrush so I could get back to IR. I left the Mesquite in 1980 when I was promoted to Chief Petty Officer and reported aboard a USCGC Venturous on the west coast.

Maybe one day our paths will cross until then stay safe and may you have fair skies and following seas.

If I know we're going to meet, I'll try to bring you a couple of items that came from the CGC Woodrush (and I think stenciled, spray painted "Woodrush"). I'm sure the statute of limitations has expired for "whomever" the inebriated MTU student or students was/were that decided to take a midnight, self guided tour in 1975 or 76 while the Woodrush was moored in Houghton. I'd forgotten all about it until a few years ago when I cleaned out the garage. Not a proud moment but it is what it is.

Last summer I met the AIR who worked on soundscapes, and he gave a really interesting presentation both on his prior work, and what he had done in residence. He took sound surveys of morning bird song to quantify aspects of the sound, that could form a baseline for wildlife biologists in future studies. He also did a lot of recording and listening to various sounds, like rain hitting rocks, waves hitting beaches, and a moose bashing through a swamp. It was really interesting!

Midwest Ed wrote: ↑Fri Apr 03, 2020 4:23 pm If I know we're going to meet, I'll try to bring you a couple of items that came from the CGC Woodrush (and I think stenciled, spray painted "Woodrush"). I'm sure the statute of limitations has expired for "whomever" the inebriated MTU student or students was/were that decided to take a midnight, self guided tour in 1975 or 76 while the Woodrush was moored in Houghton. I'd forgotten all about it until a few years ago when I cleaned out the garage. Not a proud moment but it is what it is.

Me and a couple of shipmates got 86'd from the Library Bar, not sure it was a proud moment or not but it is one hell of a story. Showed back up in Houghton 30 years later and went into Library and asked for owner but got manager, I told him I was 86'd back in the 70's and wondered if Statue of limitations had also expired he cracked up laughing and gave me lunch on the house! I would pay good money for anything that has Woodrush on it.

So many stories of my time on the lake if we meet I will bring those.

I know we're getting far afield from the original thread topic, but since you started the thread I'll diverge a bit more. In 1975-76 I lived above the Library Bar. The apartment was actually above what was then the Crown Bakery, but we could step through our living room window onto the roof of the Library where we would frequently install lawn chairs and one of those large pressurized barrels of an adult beverage. The owner you referred to was Jon Davis. He pulled me aside one day to tell me that I presently held the lifetime "honor" of cashing by far the most checks at his establishment. I also worked as the janitor at the Suomi Bakery and Restaurant. In my "spare" time I worked on and received a BS in electrical engineering.

Midwest Ed, PM me if you would like to continue about our miss spent youth in the pursuit of what I do not know even to this day

shoot, Chief, if I were on the AIR jury, I'd have chosen you too. I can't imagine there were other applicants who better grasped the spirit of the place.

Also, FWIW, I've relished eavesdropping while you and Midwest Ed jawed about the old days! (And could you have crossed paths, in the 70s, at the Library Bar?)

Torpified,

We very well could have unknowingly crossed paths. I agree that chief would have made (and still could in the future make) a great choice for AIR.
BTW, if we had been confronted about being off topic my last retort would have been to point out that The Library Bar is located on Isle Royale Street.

Thanks Torpofied and Midwest Ed for you support and kind words. IR is where I am most at peace and everything is right even in a Lake Superior storm in a lean to with 8 other folks,and thats from someone who lived in the shadow of Denali. truly hope i cross paths with both of you