Something about the Great North calls to artists - whether it's Sam McGee keeping his hands warm inside a giant incinerator, Jack London spinning off novels about snow-dusted wolf-dogs, or Frederic Church compulsively chain-painting a series of iceberg canvases. In that spirit, a new exhibit, "Arthur Heming: Chronicler of the North," opens Friday in the Florence Griswold Museum. Heming (1870-1940) was one of Canada's best-known artists and fully explored the boreal inspirations of his native land (as with "In Canada's Fairyland," shown here). At 2 p.m. Friday, Cassandra Getty, curator of art at the Museum of London, will discuss the artist and his work and influence on other artists. Runs through June 8. Hours 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tues.-Fri. and 1-5 p.m. Sat. 96 Lyme St., Old Lyme; (860) 434-5542, flogris.org.

For more exhibitions, see page D3.