Public Art

A little more than 5 months ago, I started a new job. I'm now working in downtown Minneapolis. I was pretty excited about working downtown for a lot of reasons. But one thing that's making me happy on a daily basis came as kind of a surprise: there's art everywhere!

I think I was kind of aware of this already, to some degree. There are lots of beautiful fountains and things all around. But I guess I'd forgotten just how easy it is to find. For instance, here's a drinking fountain and a tree planter that are right next to the stop where I get off the bus in the morning.

Aren't they pretty? And really, for no good reason other than to be themselves. I love them.

There are some Minnesota-themed manhole covers on the 1000 block of Nicollet mall.

Corn:

Walleye:

There are also ones with pine cones, showy lady slippers (our state flower), a loon family, and a few others. I wonder how many people walk over them every day and never notice?

There's also murals everywhere. This one is tucked in an alley next to a bookstore:

And finally, this one is totally iconic. There used to be a Schmidt Music store in this building. It's gone now, but the music remains. I took this picture walking into work:

This mural has been around for decades. Here's a much older picture of it, with another Minneapolis icon: