‘Cover Stories’ Archives
Touchstone Plaza at Peavey Park “Bridges” Generations
By Robert Albee Imagine a public art project that cost hundreds of thousands of dollars and is promptly neglected””no, make that abandoned””by the very community that commissioned the work in the first place!. That”'s the legacy of Touchstone Plaza, located on the southwest corner of Chicago Avenue and East Franklin Avenue in Peavey Park. I never knew there was a plaque with a fabulous poem and community challenge called “Thrones” by Louis Alemayahu. Over the years, I”'ve heard friends declare the mosaics to be hideous and a blight to the neighborhood. Some even wanting it moved or bulldozed into oblivion””all 88,000 pounds of concrete that makes up the mosaic-tiled “Thrones.” A group of Ventura Village volunteers led by residents Jim Cook, Dee Henry Williams and me showed up recently with a public address system and a hand-held microphone and offered it to anybody who”'d speak or sing. No advertising or public notice, [...]
Bridging Festival will “Bridge” Phillips from Little Earth to 35W
10:00 AM to 7:00 PM ”¢ August 13 By Dallas Johnson First Annual Bridging Festival & Mural Installation Celebration is Moving Through Phillips August 13th The Bridging Minneapolis Project is partnering with In the Heart of the Beast Puppet and Mask Theatre to present The Bridging Festival, a hands-on, interactive event progressing throughout Phillips, East to West along 24th St, from Hiawatha to 35W. Our festival will move from site to site (like a progressive dinner) and we”'ll co-create while we learn about projects taking place throughout our neighborhood. (more…)
Wendell Phillips Bicentennial in Phillips
By Harvey Winje Dave Moore and I, went to Cambridge and Boston Massachusetts in early June to be a part of the Wendell Phillips Bicentennial Symposium, Social Justice: Then and Now. We were inspired and ready to help plan Alley Communication”'s celebration this Fall near his birthdate, Nov. 29th. Watch for future announcements.See Dave”'s newest “Spirit of Phillips” cartoon for his report on the symposium. Symposium Keynote Speaker and Macalester Professor of History James Brewer Stewart will be featured with articles in each of the next four issues of The Alley leading up to that event. Stewart founded Historians Against Slavery (see historiansagainstslavery.org) as an organization to use lessons from the past to work on the issues of social justice that still need change. His articles will be addressed specifically to issues and cultures affected here in Phillips and published in English, Spanish, and Somali as recognition of [...]
