Twin Ports Stories and More
The stories below were created through a mobile story workshop series held in Duluth in Spring 2018. The workshop series was made possible in part by the voters of Minnesota through a grant from the Arrowhead Regional Arts Council, thanks to legislative appropriation from the arts & cultural heritage fund.
For how to view these stories, see below.
Ivy’s Secret Treasure
A magical walk though a Duluth garden in bloom seen through the eyes of a fairy

Title in the Aris app: Ivy’s Secret Treasure
Mode: View on your mobile device from any location
Lake Phalen Journey
A memoir of a journey through concussion recovery along a lakeside trail


Title in the Aris app: Lake Phalen Journey
Mode: Map-based virtual walk. View on your mobile device from any location by clicking View on each icon as it appears on the map.
Nothing Ventured
A fictional role-play story set in Old Downtown Duluth

Title in the Aris app: Nothing Ventured – Play Anywhere Duluth Story
and Nothing Ventured – Play Anywhere Duluth Story
Mode: There are two versions. The Play Anywhere version is a map-based story with photos that you expereince by clicking View icons on the map to read the story. The Play There version starts at the Zeitgeist in downtown Duluth. The story unfolds at five locations within two blocks of the Zeitgeist.
Canal Park Poetry Walk
A curated selection of classic poetry associated with locations that will bring the poems to life. This collection is family-friendly but does not include children’s poetry.


Title in the Aris app: Canal Park Poetry Walk: Go There and Canal Park Poetry Walk: Play Anywhere.
Mode: There are two versions of this poetry walk. With the View Anywhere version, you view poems with photos of Canal Park locations. With the Go There version, an onscreen map guides you to locations where you’ll access a poem to match each view.
Note : The Go There version requires cell data because there is no wifi outdoors in Canal Park.
How to View These Mobile Stories
- Open the App Store on your iPhone or iPad (sorry, Apple iOS only)
- Search for “aris“
- Download the Aris app
Its category is Education and its icon is a black-and-white triangle - Open the Aris app
- Create Account. Enter a username and password. Email is optional.
The selfie you take will be visible only to you and only within the Aris app. It is not shared. - When the menu of stories/games loads, click Nearby at bottom left.
- Click on the name of the story you want to view
If you’re not in the Duluth area, find them via the Search in the menu at bottom of the Aris app
Navigating through the Stories
Some stories, like Ivy’s Secret Treasure, use a Continue button at lower right of the screen. Just click it to read more.
Other stories are map-based. For Play Anywhere versions, like Lake Phalen Journey, you’ll see an introduction, then an onscreen map. Just click a red icon to see that part of the story, then click View. When done with that part of the story, a new red icon will appear on the map. In some stories, like the Canal Park Poetry Walk, all icons are visible at once, while in others, like Lake Phalen Journey and Nothing Ventured, you’ll see the icons appear on the map in a set order.
For Go There, play on-location stories, you’ll see a blue dot showing where you are, and red icons showing story pages. Move closer to a red icon. When you’re within the gray circle that shows the range, click on the icon, then on the View icon.

