Dawn and Sea has graced the walls of Cook County High School since George Morrison donated it to the school in 1952.
The George Morrison painting donated to Cook County High School in 1952 is currently valued at $30,000 and will soon take to the road in a tour lasting through May 2015. It needs a little facelift before it’s ready to go, however, and a little help paying for that facelift.
The Minnesota Museum of American Art will be including the painting, entitled Dawn and Sea, in a national tour and has volunteered to pay half the $3,500 needed for restoration of the painting.
Cook County Schools, the Grand Marais Playhouse, the North Shore Music Association, the Cook County Historical Society, Cook County Community Education, and the Grand Marais Art Colony have teamed up to support a benefit concert at the Arrowhead Center for the Arts (ACA) in Grand Marais on Saturday, October 6 to raise the rest of the money needed to restore Dawn and Sea.
Morrison (1919-2000) was born in Chippewa City, grew up in Grand Portage, graduated from Grand Marais High School in 1938, and went on to become a renowned artist.
Keith Secola, an award-winning Ojibwe musician, is one of the talented musicians who will be performing to raise money to restore Dawn and Sea.
Morrison received a Fulbright scholarship to study abroad in 1952 and eventually taught at numerous institutions including Cornell University in New York, Penn State, Rhode Island School of Design, and the University of Minnesota.
Morrison’s work was exhibited at many well-known and prestigious museums during his lifetime, including the Minneapolis Institute of Arts and the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis; the Plains Art Museum in Fargo; the Heard Museum in Phoenix; the Grand Central Modern Gallery, the Touchstone Gallery, the Whitney Museum of American Art, and the Museum of the American Indian, all in New York City; the Art Institute of Chicago; the Toledo Museum of Art; the Detroit Institute of Arts; and the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts.
Morrison lived in Grand Portage after he retired.
According to the website of the Plains Art Museum in Fargo, North Dakota, “George Morrison was inspired by nature. Encouraged by his Chippewa heritage and their philosophy, Morrison believed nature to possess a magical and spiritual vitality. He sought to express this vitality through his art. His paintings and wood collages contain abstract images of trees, rocks, rivers, and sky. A repeating theme in his work is the horizon line, a long-time fascination for the artist. He based his paintings, drawings, wood collages, and sculptures on it.”
A special guest at the concert will be Keith Secola, an award-winning Ojibwe musician originally from the Iron Range who performs music in a genre he calls Native Americana. His website describes him as a folk & blues rocker who sings and plays Native flute and guitar. “Keith’s famous song NDN KARS is considered the contemporary Native American anthem and is the most requested song on Native radio in the U.S. and Canada,” according to the website. Some people remember Secola from his two appearances at the Grand Portage Lodge & Casino during Rendezvous Days.
Also performing at the ACA on October 6 will be George Morrison’s son Briand Morrison on the guitar with singer Roxann Berglund; Grand Portage drum group the Stone Bridge Singers; blues musician Pete Kavanaugh, and storyteller Rose Arrowsmith DeCoux, all of Cook County. Minnesota Museum of American Art Director Kristin Makholm will appear onstage as well.
Tickets are $15 for adults and $5 for students, available online at www.arrowheadcenterforthearts. tix.com or at the box office one hour before the performance. A social hour with refreshments will begin at 6:00 p.m., and the concert will begin at 7:00.
When the Dawn and Sea returns to Cook County in 2015, it will be hung in the Arrowhead Center for the Arts.
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