When we want to take visitors to see public art in our city the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden instantly comes to mind. From the Hilton conference center it’s a 15-20 minute walk and we hope many of you will get there. Mindful, however, that you will be here in March a (possibly chilly) stroll outdoors to look at art no matter how fabulous may not be appealing. But don’t worry! There are many opportunities to enjoy public art within the comfort of the downtown Minneapolis skyway system.
Your free time outside conference activities will be limited so we’ve put together a brief list of public art installations, almost all of which are situated indoors, accessible on the skyway system, and within blocks of the Hilton. A few (noted) are located outside but may be viewed from a nearby skyway or building lobby.
Here are a few places to see art:
Manship urns
Accenture, 333 S. 7th St. In the street level lobby and outdoor plaza are four large scale bronze urns made in 1917 by St. Paul native Paul Manship, known for his Prometheus sculpture at Rockefeller Center. The urns feature imagery from Native American and classical myth. Five & a half blocks from the Hilton via skyway.
exterior view of Maya Lin's Winter Garden
Ameriprise 901 3rd Av. Maya Lin Winter Garden, 2000. To see it you’ll have to duck outside briefly but this serene gem just a block and a half from the Hilton conference center is well worth the effort. A glass box next to the main entrance houses Winter Garden, which Lin describes as having “the character of a hill, under glass.” Birch trees, granite benches, an uneven wooden floor, a pool of water and wall of water that freezes in winter brings the outside environment inside.
Citizen by Aristides Demetrios
AT&T Tower lobby, 901 Marquette Ave. Citizen, bronze sculpture by Aristides Demetrios (2005). Sit down and take a breather next to this contemporary interpretation of ‘The Thinker,’ just 1 block from the Hilton.
Chamberlain on the skyway level
Cappella Tower, 225 S. 6th St., street level lobby and skyway level. Here you’ll see works by John Chamberlain, Dale Chihuly, James Carpenter and more. This building vies with Phillip Johnson’s IDS Tower for bragging rights as the tallest in the Minneapolis skyline. It was designed by Pei, Cobb, Freed & Partners and opened in 1992. 4 blocks from the Hilton.
Father of the Waters sculpture in the City Hall rotunda
City Hall, 350 S. 5th St. Father of the Waters by Larkin Goldsmith Mead (1906). This classically inspired personification of the Mississippi river carved in Florence sits in the five story rotunda of this Richardsonian style building designed by Long and Kees.
It is said that rubbing his big toe brings good luck!
Tom Otterness sculpture outside City Hall
Federal Courthouse Plaza 300 South 4th Street. Landscape Architect: Martha Schwartz; Sculpture: Tom Otterness (1997) The plaza, designed by Martha Schwartz, features grass mounds planted with jack pines that suggest glacial drumlins: an elongated hill formed by glacial ice. The word drumlin is derived from the Gaelic word druim “rounded hill,” or “mound.” Whimsical bronze sculptures by Tom Otterness are sited between the mounds. Funding for the project came from the U.S. General Services Administration’s Art in Architecture program. Both are 5 blocks away via skyway + a 1 block walk outside.
Lewitt Wall Drawing #473
Oracle Center/International Center, 900-920 2nd Ave. S. Wall Drawing #473 by Sol Lewitt (1992). This large work, executed directly on the wall, is shared between the lobbies of these two buildings on the street level. You can’t miss this one; it’s just one skyway over from the Hilton.
Wells Fargo Center, 90 S. 7th St. Described as a “pedestrian ‘boulevard d’art’ in the city’s busiest crossroads,”the Minneapolis Institute of Arts presents changing exhibits of modernist decorative arts in vitrines located throughout the lobby on street level. At conference time the exhibit Enhancing the Everyday: Modern Design in the Nordic Countries will be on view. While you’re here you can look across 6th street to see the relief sculpture on the façade of the former Farmers and Mechanics Bank, now the Westin Hotel. On the second floor check out the skyway (over 6th St.) by local architect/sculptor, Siah Armajani, who also designed the walkway bridge to the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden. 4.5 blocks from the Hilton via skyway.
Inner Search by Mark di Suvero
Wells Fargo operations center, 231 2nd Ave. S. Inner Search, Mark di Suvero (1979). From the skyway over 3rd St. South you’ll get a great view of this sculpture in the plaza. Di Suvero has 2 others in the Mpls Sculpture garden (Molecule and Arikidea). 6 blocks from the Hilton.
Mosman's Mechanic
Westin Hotel façade. 520 Marquette Ave. Warren T. Mosman (1941) formerly the Farmers and Mechanics bank. Relief sculptures of a farmer & a mechanic flank the entrance to this art deco building on the National Register of Historic Places. You can see the façade from the Marquette & 6th St. lobby of the Wells Fargo Center. The Wells Fargo Center and the Westin face are 4.5 blocks from the Hilton.
Loren Madsen
US Bank Plaza lobby, 200 S. 6th St. lobby. Birds in Flight by Loren Madsen (1981) 276 suspended pieces of interlocking granite suggest Canadian geese flying in formation. When you view it from the skyway level be sure to see the permanent display of the artist’s working drawings. 5 blocks from the Hilton.
To see more downtown public art & architectural highlights take the daily, FREE, “Minne-Tours” (7:45 – 8:30 am)
VRA + ARLIS/NA 2nd Joint Conference Blog 
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