About
Our story started 40 years ago with a casual gallery in the basement of Howard Sivertson’s home, run by daughter Jan Sivertson.
While running the Grand Marais gallery became a passion for Jan, Howard pursued his painting full time. These roles continue today.
Grand Marais is an artsy harbor village filled with adventure seekers and creatives. It boasts a unique lifestyle and community.
Sivertson Gallery has grown into a destination gallery in downtown Grand Marais, where artists of the north and far north sell their work.
Sivertson Gallery expanded to Duluth in 1995 when Siiviis opened in Duluth’s Canal Park waterfront district. In 2022, Siiviis was sold to Amanda Clark.
We are bursting with fabulous art of the north, and we’ll introduce you to the best artists of the region.
Our story started over 40 years ago
We’ve been focused on art of the north from the first casual gallery started in Howard Sivertson’s basement years ago, to Jan Sivertson’s Grand Marais destination gallery open today.
After spending three years living in a one-room Brimson, Minnesota cabin, Howard Sivertson came out of the woods in 1980 with refined skills and the dream of painting the scenery and stories of his childhood spent on Lake Superior’s Isle Royale, where he grew up as part of a third-generation commercial fishing family. He moved to a new home in Grand Marais, Minnesota, and painted.
Meanwhile, Howard’s daughter, Jan, had finished college and was living in the small town of Lutsen, Minnesota—just down the Lake Superior shoreline. Together they created a small retail space in the basement of Howard’s new Grand Marais home and opened a gallery. Jan and Howard divided their time between gallery duties and making art, and soon invited a few artist friends to show their work in their new shop.
Sivertson Gallery was born.
Howard quickly realized how much he wanted to “just paint” rather than run a business. Fortunately, the gallery had become a passion for Jan and in 1982, she moved the gallery to downtown Grand Marais—leaving Howard free to pursue his painting full time.
Grand Marais is an artsy harbor village filled with adventure seekers and creatives
Sivertson Gallery was now selling art from a small, white house in downtown Grand Marais, a stone’s throw from Lake Superior.
Jan began collaborating with emerging northern artists including Betsy Bowen, Liz Sivertson, Jim Brandenburg, Dave Gilsvik, Rick Allen, and others. The region’s many assets—animals, landscapes, history, and unique lifestyle and community—were being expressed through their art. This original group of artists are still selling their work at Sivertson Gallery, over 40 years later—and are known nationally for their creativity and talent.
Early on Jan also traveled to far north Canada and Alaska and brought the work of many Inuit sculptors and Cape Dorset printmakers back home to Sivertson Gallery. The gallery grew, evolved, and expanded in the creative community of Grand Marais.
Eventually a newer, bigger gallery was built when Jan purchased and remodeled the Humphrey building, the current home of Sivertson Gallery.
Duluth is a vibrant city on Lake Superior with steep hills and people who love winter
In 1995, Sivertson Gallery expanded to a second location when Siiviis (named after Severin Sivertson’s retired fishing boat) opened in Duluth’s Canal Park waterfront district. Ships from international waters arrive in Duluth from March through December and can be viewed right outside the gallery’s front windows.
In 2020, Sivertson Gallery celebrated 40 years of business and Siiviis marked its 25th anniversary year. We thank our amazing artists for their work, and thank our inspired staff for sharing beautiful art with others.
In 2022, Siiviis was transitioned to new ownership when Amanda Clark took over and rebranded as Siiviis Gallery. Amanda brings fresh energy to a thriving Duluth artistic community, and Sivertson Gallery and Siiviis Gallery will continue to work together showcasing the best artists in the region.
We are bursting with fabulous Art of the North!
“Art of the north” reflects Lake Superior’s beauty, environment, history, and people—and includes the unique regions of far north Alaska and Canada.
Our newest gallery is right here—on this website. We have hundreds of prints, originals, and works of art in a 24/7 shopping experience. You’ll find new, original art here every month. We include a wide range of prices to suit all budgets. And we’ll introduce you to the best artists of this region and deliver their work directly to your doorstep.
Ready to see some art of the north?
