Courtesy of Anne Newcombe An example of wooden art created by Kirsten Hensley of Cedar Lake Workshop is displayed at The Well-Read Raccoon Books and Curiosities on Shelden Avenue in Houghton.

Now that holiday craft show season is wrapped up, it’s time to track down local artists in different locations.

The current show at The Well-Read Raccoon Books and Curiosities is a collection of works by Kirsten Hensley of Cedar Lake Workshop in Houghton. Hensley has had work at the Eagle Harbor Fair and the Poor Artist Sale. She has ornaments, lamps and cribbage boards for sale, but her most popular product is tiles that fit into a unique wooden frame. Using an array of different woods as her palette, she creates these tiles depicting local scenes. You can purchase a frame that fits a few or several tiles, and then purchase the tiles and play with the arrangement. Hensley’s work will be at the Well-Read Raccoon through mid-January.

“When I opened the shop, it was always going to have art,” store owner Anne Newcombe says. “And I wanted that to be local.”

In mid-January, the shop will host a three-women show, celebrating feminism. This year, three women photographers will be displaying at least one defining piece and other smaller ones.

Gina Kerr, of Whispering Wild Market Farm, will be one of the photographers. Melissa Hronkin, art teacher at Houghton Elementary, will also be participating in the show.

“Her stunning photographs of the Keweenaw landscape in the early morning have been favorites of mine,” Newcombe attests.

The third artist to be featured is jd slack.

“I have included several pastel paintings of the Keweenaw,” slack says. “With familiar images, the hills of Hancock and the buildings of Calumet take on something new: colors and shapes otherwise hidden from our normally everyday vision.”

Newcombe is excited about presenting these artists’ works to the public.

“These women have a really unique way of experiencing the Keweenaw, and it would be really cool to have this lifted up in a show,” Newcombe says. “Particularly one that would be viewed by Tech alumni during Winter Carnival; to see the natural flow of this community.”

Dates and other information are yet to be announced.

The shop, at 314 Shelden Ave., Houghton, inside The Market Place, is a public space for art. Travelers actively seek out bookstores, and having art in the shop exposes tourists to things they might not otherwise seek out, therefore enriching their experience of local culture. Newcombe enjoys meeting the artists. She likes that the ambiance in the bookstore is constantly changing, although a permanent resident in the shop is Lynn Mazzenoli’s painting called “Empowered,” a triptych of Wonder Woman, reflecting the theme of the shop.

A Bonsai Guild meets at the shop under the leadership of Heliena Hammond, and Michelle Jarvie Eggart leads a knitting circle. You can join a Second Saturday Six O’clock Sing Along which ends promptly at 7 p.m. so participants can go out for supper together.

The bookstore is currently holding a fundraiser, partnering with Homestead Graphics in Baraga to create bucket hats which say “Follow me to the Well-Read Raccoon.” They are on sale for $30 and all proceeds go to the Humane Society and are for sale at the shop. If you wear it while you’re in the shop, you also get a discount.

Kristan Coleman of ArtbyKristAn will be the featured artist in April. Kristan is an Air Force Veteran and retired high school teacher who recently returned to her passion for watercolor. Her paintings and cards are stunning representations of the natural wonders of the UP and her travels.

The new space, in the former Framed by Kathy shop, is smaller than the previous location, so new books are in the main part of the shop and used books are available through the website for pick-up in the shop.

• Heikinpäivä 2024 will be celebrated on Jan. 27 with the Tori Market at the Finnish American Heritage Center and First United Methodist Church. There will be parade and dances on the Quincy Green, plus a Polar Plunge. Classes at the Finnish American Folk School are underway, as well as at Sew Cranky on Quincy Street in Hancock. “Animal Life, Art from the Kalevala” will open at the Copper Country Community Arts Center, with an opening reception from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m.

• CAPE, on the fourth floor in the old school at 417 Quincy in Hancock next to the Superior School of Dance, is hosting a monthly Art for Peace project. On Jan. 20 from 1 to 2:30 p.m., you can create a handmade journal in the Make it Up! Makerspace. All materials are provided. The lesson is free, but donations will be accepted. Children are welcome, but participants under 13 years of age will be required to have a supervising adult.