‘Arts’ Archives
Thrones’ Eye View: The West Bench
The city has announced it is dismantling Touchstone Plaza at Peavey Park due to deterioration and safety concerns. Also known as “The Thrones,” the Phillips landmark sits at the northeast corner of the park, at the intersection of Franklin and Chicago. The sculptures were the product of a multi-year collaboration between the late artist Rafala Green, community members, and more than 80 local youth employed by the project in the 1990s. “Thrones” is a reference to a poem by Louis Alemayehu mounted on a plaque near the entrance. As a goodbye, the alley is featuring photos of each of the Plaza’s sculptural elements every month through June. The West Bench at Thrones Plaza. All Photos: Laura Hulscher
Slow-Rolling Boulder
By SAM HENDRIAN The Right cheer, the righteous jeerAt the documentation of undocumented hateYet both fail to see it’s not hate but fearThat permits prejudice to perpetrate. One person dies at the hand of a foreigner,Therefore the danger must dwell overseas;Never mind that many a coronerHas recorded their fair share of local atrocities. Our leaders operate in a post-logic landscape,A finger-pointing fairylandWhere there is no escapeFrom those who stand on anyone they don’t understand. The empathetic laugh it off,The apathetic whistle onLike a man with a cancerous coughWho insists he’ll always wake at dawn. And so we seal our country’s doomShrugged shoulder to shrugged shoulder,Forgetting that few have ever heard the boomMade by a slow-rolling boulder.
Winter Gains a New Perspective Through the Eyes of South Junior Frances Pickar
South junior Frances Pickar showcases the array of works made in regard to her sustained investigation: the cold emotions that arise during the winter months. All Photos: Oliver Stricherz Reprinted with permission from The Southerner. Plainly put, the Minnesotan winter is hard. Over eras and generations, the people who occupy the land we now call Minnesota have faced wintry temperatures and the dreaded and universal experience of cold toes and stinging ears. Living through winter in our state takes quite the toll on you and I, but it bakes something into us. The cold can influence our moods and actions, sometimes even more than the people around us can. It can anger us, it can chill us to our core, and interestingly, it can inspire us. One of the many inspired by this annual ice we encounter is Frances Pickar, a junior at South High. Enrolled in AP Art, Pickar’s sustained investigation explored her “general feeling of cold and ennui in the winter months.” She added that [...]
