Last week I was all excited to announce that Start Seeing Art had mapped 100 works of public art across the Twin Cities (if ‘across’ means primarily in St. Paul). But in the past week alone we’ve added 25 more works of art. Along the way we’ve identified some previously unknown artwork, explored local history and started branching out into Minneapolis (including work by John Grider, one of City Pages 2007 Artists of the Year).
Category Archives: Twin Cities
Start Seeing Art Hits 100
My little side project, Start Seeing Art–which maps and identifies public art in the Twin Cities of St. Paul and Minneapolis–hit 100 yesterday. The site has now mapped 100 pieces of public artwork.
It’s been a fun little project. I’ve really enjoyed discovering local art and finding some of our own local artists. Folks like Alvin Carter, Seitu Jones, Craig David, Ta-coumba Aiken, Marilyn Lindstrom and others–their work is all over the Twin Cities. I think Craig David pretty much owns St. Paul’s West Side (the West Side Citizen’s Organization named him “West Sider of the Year”). I’ve mapped nine of his works, seven of which are on the West Side. And I know of a few others I haven’t covered yet.
It’s also painfully clear that I have a long way to go. I’ve focused on St. Paul because it’s closer and I know it better, but I’ve barely scratched the surface of public art in Minneapolis. And they’ve probably got a lot more public art than St. Paul.
High School Students Actually Read
This article about a high school book club should brighten any writers day. Apparently more than 100 students are a part of a book club at Edina High School that meets once a month at 7:45 a.m.
Not only do they have high schoolers reading books, but they have them getting up early to talk about books. There is yet hope for the future.
Monkey Outta Nowhere Launches Local Art Site
About a week ago Monkey Outta Nowhere launched its first independent project, a local art site called Start Seeing Art. The site is all about finding and identifying public art in the Twin Cities of St. Paul and Minneapolis, Minnesota, so it can be enjoyed and appreciated.
Too often I’ve either not known a work of art existed in my neighborhood and missed out on it entirely, or I’ve known about the work but I can’t find any information about the artist or the name of the work. So the site is an attempt to find that local artwork, identify it and chart it using a Google Maps mashup so others can more easily find and enjoy it. You can look at the map and see all the works of art across the Twin Cities.
So far Start Seeing Art is in the very early phases (only 11 pieces of art so far) and isn’t much to look at. I’m focusing on content and the technical side before I worry too much about design. In general, I’m trying to follow 37Signal’s Getting Real approach and building Start Seeing Art quickly and cheaply. I’d rather get the content out there and get it working now, even if it doesn’t look so hot, rather than wait six months for a beautiful backend system that costs thousands of dollars (which I don’t have).
We’ll see where it goes and if it turns into a self-supporting media empire. If you know of anyone interested in advertising or sponsorship, please contact me.
Goodwill Junk Art
This bird sits on University Avenue in St. Paul, beckoning pedestrians from the street up through the parking lot to a Goodwill store. It’s called “Red Alert” and it’s by Al Wadzinski.
It just seems right–a sculpture made of junk in front on a second-hand store.
Artsy Twin Cities Photo Group on Flickr
I gave in and started the Artsy Twin Cities photo group on Flickr today, a group for public art in the St. Paul-Minneapolis area. I say ‘gave in’ because I’ve been thinking about doing it for a while and finally decided to just do it today. I’ve been surprised that nobody had started a group like this before (there’s a group graffiti and groups for local art museums, but nothing for art across the Twin Cities, and specifically public art).
There’s just so much great public art in the Twin Cities and it’s so easy to completely ignore it. It’s also not always easy to find out what each piece is called and who the artist is. Sometimes you can find out fairly easily online, but not always. I’m hopeful that the group will help people stop and enjoy art.
Add this to my Como Park group and I’ve got a little local theme going. We’ll see how long I last before launching my Twin Cities Architecture group (OK, I lasted about five hours. But I blame the St. Paul Real Estate blog.)
Lily Pond at Como Park
As I mentioned the other day, the Lily Pond is one of the attractions at Como Park that captivates me. Check it out in 1910 and again in 2007. Or try this angle, 1912 and 2007.
The Lily Pond was built in 1895. The original wooden bridge was replaced in 1903 with the current fieldstone and concrete bridge. You can easily find postcards from the early Twentieth Century featuring the Lily Pond with an assortment of people in their finest clothes taking in the Victorian water lilies and the flagstone path around the pond, both of which are gone today. The lilies were removed in 1926 when the area became too shady for the lilies to flourish and the pond was soon drained.
That was more than 80 years ago and it doesn’t seem that the pond has changed much since. Its surroundings certainly have, especially lately with the 2005 addition of the Global Harmony Labyrinth and the removal of Kauffman Drive in 2007.
And still the Lily Pond sits there, which is really an anachronistic name since there are no longer lilies or a pond. There’s just an ancient bridge, a concrete floor, stone walls and random pipe remains. It’s peaceful and quiet, but echoes with the past.
Word is that Como Park hopes to someday restore the pond, though they haven’t found the funding to do it.
Como Park
I’ve been talking about local parks a lot lately, but I haven’t said much about one of my biggest obsessions: Como Park. A while back I mentioned starting a Flickr group for Como Park (currently 615 photos and 34 members strong!), and there’s my own collection of Flickr photos, the Wikipedia entry I’ve contributed to and numerous visits.
There’s just something about Como Park that captivates me. It’s got a lake and a zoo and a conservatory. But it also has a 100-year-old abandoned pedestrian bridge and a lily pond that’s been dry for decades, but 100 years ago was quite the attraction. It’s also got cool WPA buildings and lots of sculpture and art.
I think the sense of history and mystery is what intrigues me. The park has changed a lot in its 100+ years, and some things have been forgotten over the years. Some of those forgotten things have disappeared, while others are still standing, covered in weeds and waiting to be rediscovered.
Bruce Vento Nature Sanctuary
Saturday was one of those beautiful October days when you just have to be outside. So after finishing up the required lawn work Lexi and I went on an adventure. We went to Bruce Vento Nature Sanctuary, a former brownfield and railroad yard and now a swatch of park land just east of downtown St. Paul. The site itself has tons of history and interesting features, including the North Star Brewery Cave, an odd Imnizaska/sand castle restoration area (that’s what the sign says, I don’t know what that means), the bluffs, wildlife, planes, trains, great views of downtown, remnants of the train yard, remnants of the Lowertown Depot building (which I still can’t find any information on) and, of course, Carver’s Cave, perhaps better referred to as Wakan Tipi since the cave is sacred to the Dakota people (never mind that the railroad obliterated much of the cave’s grandeur).
It’s a great little park, especially now that it connects to Swede Hollow Park and Mounds Park and now that they’ve added some signage to explain the significance of the area. There’s also more work to be done as they try to connect Bruce Vento Nature Sanctuary with the Mississippi River–no easy task since you have to get past a slew or railroad tracks and the four-lane Warner Road. There’s also a proposed interpretive center, though it’s hard to find specific updates on that (though using the abandoned Lowertown Depot building seems like a no-brainer).
The Clay Pits of Lilydale Regional Park
Earlier this week Lexi and I returned to Lilydale Regional Park to check out the clay pits. We made a bit of an adventure out of it by biking over to Lilydale Regional Park (less than a mile) and then hiking down the trail. We brought along one of those backpack carrier things so when Lexi got tired of walking I loaded her up on my back and the hike continued. Which was a good thing, since by the end of it I was up to my ankles in mud (remember all that rain I talked about?). As usual, we took a few pics and even some video.
We found some pretty amazing cliffs (OK, seriously, who lives here?) that are apparently used for ice climbing in the winter. We also found some mangled metal and concrete, apparently leftover from the Twin Cities Brick Quarry days. It’s hard to believe all this is within sight of downtown St. Paul.
Oh, and some of the video is geeky enough to post right here:
Hiking with Lexi from kevinhendricks on Vimeo.