Coloring Contest 2009 Winner!

I had to go through many great coloring entries this year 

and here is the winner in the "11 and under" category!

Robyn has some mad coloring skills and it shows! 

Enjoy your new little narwhal!

The illustrations for the contest were created by Glenn Watson.
Thanks to everyone for participating!

Art Shanty 2009! (Plymouth, MN: Medicine Lake)

Let's start with the end of my story.

It's time to take my shanty down. The weekend it was up included some beautiful weather that was a welcome break from a stretch of 0 degree temps. A crowd of 3,000-4,000 also showed their enthusiasm for the break by venturing out on the ice for a good ole' art shanty experience.

The day that I had to take my shanty down was quite windy, but I was very thankful for the toasty respite from the cold hangning out with the Imperial TransAntarctic Expedition folks, who filled me up with soup and oatmeal and told me some wild tales. I wish them all the best with their adventure.

I was able to pop in to visit my new artistically inclined neighbors, completing my personal mission to sing some Danzig in the Norae Shanty, one of the most memorable shanties from my 2006 visit.

Inside of my own shanty, I kept folks busy making valentines and coloring arctic animals while I read them some Inuit mythology and handed out some cups of spicy Mayan hot chocolate. I also collected data on the coldest temperature people have ever experienced in life and people always hone right in on it and tell some pretty interesting tales of their own about saunas in -20 weather and wolf moons with a necklace of ice crystals. Fantastic stuff. Thanks for sharing everyone! My coldest record so far comes from the coast of Alaska at -98 with windchill!

Kids really dug my shanty, especially the little girls with their

pale pink snowsuits who wanted to go into the PINK shanty. None of them asked what the prizes were for the coloring contest but they took their entries very seriously. I left my shanty for awhile at the end of Sunday to let people have it to themselves and they left behind little notes for me and pasted up art in the window.

So, now I end my entry and start of the trip that I took, pink shanty n' all, up further north during the dead of winter, to bring a little extra to the Art Shanty show.

Thanks Art Shanty for having me!

Art Shanty 2009

Keep an eye out here for a travel blog for my venture up north to be a part of Art Shanty in Plymouth, MN during the Jan. 31/Feb 1 weekend.

More info on Art Shanty: 

ARP!'s special Art Shanty Projects section

Art Shanty website

I'm currently working on modifying my shanty. It'll be made up of more and smaller sections but larger overall. This will make it easier to haul and I can increase the people capacity on the ice (+ it'll get a fresh coat of paint).

ADOPT A GLACIER

Illumination: Quick snap from closing ceremony

Also, here is a link to Confronting Climate Change in the Great Lakes Region: Impacts on Our Communities and Ecosystems: The 2005 Updated Executive Summary.

It covers information on anticipated changes in our climate (summers are more dry; winters are wetter; when it does rain in the summer, it floods or it rains during a harvest vs. during a growing time). Also it has information on possible changes in fish species, for example, less ice coverage would mean a diminished whitefish population since their eggs would not be protected in the winter months. I'm recommending this because it is broken down into easily consumed bits and is directly relevant to the Great Lakes.

Residuals

I had to close the shanty today due to the weather advisories. No one was on the Bay today, and for good reason. I know that some people wanted to come on the last day so I am having some open hours next Saturday, February 16th from 11-2.

Currently there are large waves of snow on the Bay. It's somewhat awesome to see.

Some things to keep in mind:

Wednesday is the Cold Weather Artists talk at Escape Java. See what the Blink grant recipients have been up to in this almost-record-breaking jolt of a winter.

The coloring contest pages are due this Thursday! Don't be shy and turn those puppies in! The shanty is pretty much closed so go to Indie Coffee to picked coloring sheets up/turn sheets in.

Only one more weekend folks!

If you see my blue sled next to my shanty, I'm on the ice!

PRESS:
Article with Isthmus

Also, the cold weather artists are having a discussion open to the public at Escape Java Joint the 13th at 6:30. More info here.