Keeping with its mission to enhance community life, the Silver Bay Public Library held an open house last Friday to introduce its first juried local artists display. The display, which will be on view for the next couple of months, features local artists Lauri, Stacey, and Chloe Hohman, along with Paul Michalski.
In a recent email to this paper, Shannon Walz, Library Director, wrote, “For our first round, we have a cool set of artists. One wall features Paul Michalski, displaying birds he began drawing as part of his recovery process following a stroke. The other wall is three generations from the Hohman family, another cool intergenerational story.”
The library was established in 1955 to serve the village of Silver Bay and the surrounding communities. The mining and construction companies donated furniture and equipment, while money for supplies came from various local organizations. Additionally, working staff members volunteered their time. The first library was housed in a small section of the Municipal Building, and in 1967, a new and separate library building was dedicated. The library’s growth continued as it joined the Arrowhead Regional Library System in 1973, which enabled a wider range of resources and services, and the North Country Library Cooperative in 1980, facilitating collaboration with other libraries in the region.
Early this year, the newly created Art Selection Committee put out a public call for local artists to submit their work for consideration. The six-person committee consisted of two members of the Library Board, two from the Friends of the Library, the arts management person from Tettegouche State Park, and Library Technician Julia Kloehn.
“The Friends of the Library group really helped the (arts) project get up and running,” Walz said. She also credited a mini-grant from the Arrowhead Library System (ALS).
Kloehn said, “We want to highlight local artists and support their work.” She went on to say that the selection process is open to all visual artists, including beginners.
In the library, one wall displays the drawings and paintings done by three generations of the Hohman family. Matriarch Lauri Hohman writes in her statement, “I believe that everyone possesses an innate capacity for creativity and that this passion can be channeled into any aspect of life, rendering it more enjoyable and fulfilling.”
Her daughter, Stacey, author and creator of “A Coloring Journal for Your Journey”, worked with older adults for 17 years at the Minnesota Veterans Home in Silver Bay. She credits her mother and daughter Chloe, the third generation, with helping her find her own artistic style and inspiration.
Chloe is a Fine Arts major at the University of Minnesota Duluth. Her artistic family gets the credit for inspiring her work. “My goal within my art is to be more than just something beautiful to look at–I want it to be an inspiration for other young women to pick up a paintbrush, pencil, or whatever tool they choose, and to believe that their art can make a difference.”
The colorful and dynamic paintings and drawings on the Hohman wall are inspirational.
The other wall is dedicated to the colored pencil drawings of local birds created by Paul Michalski. Michalski is a 32-year resident of Silver Bay, was a pastor for three decades, and served as an EMT on the Lake County Ambulance. In May of 2023, he suffered an ischemic stroke that affected his language, cognition, and vision.
His artist statement says, “In October 2024, Paul picked up a colored pencil and drew a bird, no sketching. He was amazed at what he had done, as he had never drawn before.” He spent his morning hours drawing one or two birds and then mailing them to his grandchildren, other family members, and friends. “We named these drawings, ‘Blessings From My Stroke,’ from his Artist statement.
The committee will issue another call for submissions in January, with a deadline of March 31, 2026. The Application process is straightforward. Artists are asked to include examples of their work, not necessarily the ones they’d like to see in the display. The committee will review all submissions and select a diverse range of artworks for next year’s display.
The work and stories of all four of these local artists are truly inspirational. You may see it displayed in the library, which is open Monday through Thursday from 9:00 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. and Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. The library is closed on Saturday and Sunday.
