Mosaic art is fascinating to me. I recently posted about four mosaic panels as public art in Lanesboro, MN. There is another huge, mosaic public art display in Duluth. It is a wall of images made with ¾” x ¾” ceramic tiles, using only seven different colors. The mosaic wall is 12 x 590 foot long.
The Lake Place Image Wall is along Duluth’s new Lakewalk…with a boardwalk, and bicycle and scooter lanes.
Another view of the Lake Place Image Wall.
According to the information plaque…the Lake Place Image Wall consists of 1.29 million tiles that were placed on 12”x12” grids. Eight people worked for eight weeks to complete this wall. It was finished in 1990.
A ship image from a photograph.
Sandra and Mark Marino provided the artistic composition and production for this piece. The mosaic images, made from the tiles, are based on photographs from Duluth’s waterfront history.
A little easier to detect the small, ceramic tiles in this photo.
Duluth’s original lake walk was damaged during four major storms: one in 2017, two in 2018 and one in 2019. Finally the lake walk had to be reconstructed (and improved) and it has now reopened.
Looking towards the lighthouses in Duluth Harbor.
The 590’ mosaic wall is along Duluth’s Lakewalk, as are wonderful vistas of the great Lake Superior, and Duluth’s waterfront.
A view of the Ariel Bridge from a different point on the Duluth Lakewalk.
There is a lot of public art in Lanesboro, Minnesota, starting as soon as you enter town, in the parking lot close to the downtown area.
One of several haikus posted in the general parking lot in Lanesboro.
On each lamp post in the parking lot is a plaque with haikus posted for people to enjoy. The haikus are responses to the Lanesboro Arts Poetry Series. What a fun way to welcome people to town.
The plaque reads: 1893 Chicago Bridge Co.
We walked away from the parking lot toward town on a path that led us over the Root River on an historic bridge, now a pedestrian bridge, built in 1893. The bridge leads you to a side street in town. And there, on the side of a brick building, is a wonderful public art display of four mosaic panels.
1 of 4 mosaic panels.
The bike trail and rolling hills and farm fields near Lanesboro.
Mosaics have always intrigued me. I’m fascinated to see images and pictures created from small, colorful tiles, or stones and other such elements (in this case some pieces of mirrors).
2 of 4 mosaic panels. An eagle over land and river, a big-wheel trike in the foreground, and flowers.
These panels were the results of an Artist in Residence project in 2017. The artist, Bailey Aaland, involved the community in making these panels which, I think, adds a special touch.
The plaque explaining the mosaic public art pieces.
According to the artists plaque, she offered mosaic making sessions to community members, mirrors were donated by local residents to be used in the mural, and participants, working off Bailey’s outline, “helped shape the design throughout the creation process.”
3 of 4 mosaic panels. Tractors and bicycles on land, near river.
The results were four very creative, beautiful depictions of the surrounding areas of Lanesboro…the bike trail, the farm fields, the bluffs, the river.
4 of 4 mosaic panels. A bridge, fish, land and river.
It’s a wonderful display, showing off the area, and the collaborative work of the community, for the enjoyment of all people.
A mural in an empty space on Lanesboro’s main street.
Another public art piece in Lanesboro is on the main street, in an empty green space between buildings. It is a colorful, painted mural of the town’s name, providing a photo op for many people. There are picnic tables in this area too, offering space for people to gather together to gather to visit, eat or rest. During our overnight stay there was a community event held in this outdoor space.
Little Lending Art Cupboard:
on wheels…rolled out onto main street for folks to borrow art supplies.
To encourage art, instead of a “Little Free Library” there was a “Little Lending Art Cupboard” in this same community space. The cupboard is full of art supplies, and was on wheels so it could be set out during the day and taken in at night, or kept out of the rain, and moved around town to different locations I suppose. It encouraged people to “Take what you need, leave what you can. Because everyone needs a little art in their life!” The Art Cupboard was created by Girl Scout Troop 47985. What a great idea. I haven’t seen that before.
It was delightful to take in the variety of public art displays created with the intention of sharing them with the Lanesboro community and its many visitors.
There was a major street renovation in our town recently. The intersection by the high school and middle school was transformed into a round-about, and four tunnels were added for pedestrians and bicyclists to use to avoid crossing the busy intersection. In the beginning, I wondered how much sense it made since it was costly. But now that it is completed, and working smoothly, I do like the results.
A future section of the Mill Towns State Trail will run through one of the tunnels.
To top it off, the city included monies for a public art display in the tunnels. There were bids for the job… muralists (artist’s self-identifier) had to submit their work and be chosen. For this public art display, Adam Tuman was the chosen artist.
The muralist: Adam Turman.
We have seen his work before. Several years ago, our son hired Adam to paint a beautiful mural on the outside wall of his office building in Uptown, Minneapolis. The mural included scenes of the uptown area (where the office is located) and signs of technology (the business).
Mural of the Uptown area on our son’s office building, in Uptown.
Another section of the cityscape view on the office building.
I also saw an exhibit of Adam Turman’s artwork at the Minnesota Marine Art Museum in Winona, MN.
Now, here he is in Northfield, painting beautiful, illustrated works to highlight our town and its surrounding area.
Bridge over the Cannon River in downtown Northfield.
The other day we went to see how the tunnels were progressing and Adam was working. We introduced ourselves and struck up a conversation with him. Adam was very friendly and engaging and we were so glad to meet him. Of course, he remembered doing the mural for our son. We are thrilled Adam was chosen to do this public art display in Northfield. He has almost completed his work on the four tunnels.
Ruins of an old mill in Dundas, MN.
The colors are vibrant.
Bright colors.
The themes so apropos to our area.
Hidden Falls in Nerstrand Big Woods State Park.
The painting so artistically appealing.
Prairie cone flowers.
I love the added touch; a bee.
You get a sense of being a part of something big as you walk through the tunnels.
This woodpecker scene is still a work in progress.
There will be 16 scenes representing four sections when he is through with this project: Cannon River, Nerstrand Big Woods, Prairie, and Oak Savannah.
Kayaks on the Cannon.
An up-close snipit.
Trout Lilies.
A barred owl.
A chickadee.
Adam Turman does amazing work, and it is definitely worth a trip to see these tunnels in Northfield.
Dubuque is Iowa’s oldest city. It was founded in 1833, 13 years before Iowa became a state. The French-Canadian fur trader names Julien Dubuque was instrumental in settling the area, thus its name.
The city has designed a lovely river walk in Port Dubuque, along the Mississippi River. On my recent trip there, my friend and I walked along it several times.
The River Walk along the Mississippi River.
We also sat on benches and watched a lot of river traffic…barges, tugboats, speedboats, etc. I always enjoy watching the “boats go by.”
This recreational boat looks so small next to a long barge and tugboat, on the Mississippi River.
The Shot Tower.
The Shot Tower is located one end of the river walk. It is a national landmark, being one of only a few remaining historic shot towers in the United States.
A visual of how the shot tower made lead shots.
I recently learned what a shot tower is, and found it interesting. According to the plaque, “The Shot Tower was constructed in 1854 to manufacture lead shot ammunition. Molten lead was poured from the top of the tower and passed through a series of sieves to form the shot into its proper size. The shot then landed in a tank of cold water at the bottom of the tower.” Thus, making the ammunition.
“Solidarity” mural.
There are 30 murals around town, resulting from an event called “Taking it to the Streets”. We noticed several of the murals. I assume there would be a map at the chamber of commerce so one could locate all of them and learn about them. We did not look into this, but there was one mural directly across from our hotel. It was titled Solidarity. It was painted by 75 volunteers, painting side-by-side in one- hour shifts, on this paint-by-number style public art piece; 105’ long X 25” tall.
The Town Clock.
We walked by the Town Clock. This Town Clock was originally erected in 1873 on top of a building on Main Street, then the clock was moved to the Town Clock Plaza in 1971, where it is today. The clock supposedly maintains accurate time within half second. It stands 110’ tall.
The Grand Opera House, still offering live performances (pre and post Covid of course.)
We also walked by the Grand Opera House which was built in 1890. It is on the National Register of Historic Places.
Closer look at the Grand Opera House stone design.
A super moon was scheduled to rise on our last night in Dubuque, so we purposely went to find a bench on the river walk to sit and watch the full moon rise over the Mississippi River. It did not disappoint!
The full, super moon rising over the river.
We had a wonderful time in this historic river town…There is so much more this city has to offer. We’ll be back.
I’m beginning to notice the interesting artwork of Adam Turman. He is an illustrator, graphic designer, printmaker, and muralist from St Louis Park, MN. I was first introduced to his work when my son hired him to paint a eye-catching mural on his office building, depicting different landmarks of Minnesota and Minneapolis.
Hard to capture the extent of this wonderful mural by Adam Turman, depicting Minnesota and Minneapolis landmarks.
A closer look at part of an Adam Turman mural in Uptown.
The next place I noticed his work was at a St. Paul Classic bike ride, an annual event that we’ve participated in a few times. Turman has designed several t-shirts for the event over the years. A lot of Turman’s artwork includes a bicycle which, he writes, “is one of his favorite outdoor activities.”
And recently, at the Minnesota Marine Art Museum in Winona, MN (which Is located right on the Mississippi River) I noticed artwork by Adam Turman on display. It was fun to discover it there. In 2016 he was commissioned to paint three works.
One is a large mural for the museum. It features the Mississippi River in Winona.
Titled: Push Boat and Pelicans (2016)
The plaque reads: “He painted a push boat frequently seen moving barges right outside the Museum, with a pod of American Pelicans overhead. The dramatic waves are influenced by Japanese wood block artist Katsushika Hokusai’s style while the sky and bluffs are in Turman’s distinct, simple and bold graphic style.”
Titled: Sugar Loaf This is the one of two prints in a series, commissioned by the museum.
The museum also commissioned Adam to create a series of two pictures depicting landmarks distinctive to Winona. The originals are on display at the Minnesota Marine Art Museum, along with some other prints of Adam Turman’s.
Titled: Mississippi “This is the second print the Museum commissioned and we want to celebrate what makes Winona special. The herons and the boat-house are iconic to Winona, so I made sure to highlight those in the piece.” Adam Turman
The Museum store had several postcards of Adam’s work and I was attracted to this simple design (below) with white birch trees, a red cardinal, and the back of a red bicycle and tire leaving a trail in the snow. I brought that one home with me.
This is a postcard featuring a print of Turman’s, that I purchased at the museum store. Titled: Cardinal (2011)
As with all artists, Adam Turman has his own unique style. As he becomes more well-known it will be fun to find his art in different places.
