the alley Newspaper | News & Views of Phillips Since 1976

LOST AND FOUNDRY

Written by the alley on 30 April 2025

By DAVE MOORE

I picked up a brick from the edge of the demolition,
carried it home and set it on my porch,
one small piece of that hated Smith Foundry.

Forty years of smelling its burnt iron reek,
closing windows in summer, eyes smarting,
hearing my sensitive partner coughing::::
Talked to pollution agency ginks,
went to meetings, marched in protest,
the whole neighborhood wheezing with asthma.
Finally resigned to accepting the horrible stench,
either live with the bitter fumes or move.
And then:::: and then::::
after decades of violations,
initialed regulators finally heard us.
Smith Foundry shut down.

With barely any notice::::
heavy scoops began to batter the walls,
pouring water on noise and concrete as it crumpled.
Now its tall stack lies smokelessly sideways::::
Spring air carries the last remnants of dust.

So I picked up the brick and brought it home,
As if I had torn it out with my own hands.
The air, of course the air is still dirty
from combustion engines whizzing past the site,
but the black dust in my house is lessened::::
We can garden without fleeing from the stink::::
Despite the fascists cancelling clean air regulations,
I have some relief, some hope after all this time.… Read the rest “LOST AND FOUNDRY”

MayDay is Evolving!

Written by the alley on 30 April 2025

This year’s festivities set for Sunday, May 4th

A South Minneapolis Mayday celebration began in 1974, initiated and shepherded by the group that became In the Heart of the Beast Theatre (HOBT); it evolved into an annual event with broad community participation.

For nearly 50 years, HOBT invited and led planning and workshops; raised monies (always subsidized highly from Theatre coffers) produced and choreographed the Mayday Parade, the Tree of Life Ceremony, and the Festival in Powderhorn Park.

In April 2023, HOBT announced that it would no longer produce Mayday, and “released it” to the Community.

Now, in 2025, there is no single organization producing Mayday; the Parade is built by decentralized community groups hosting puppet-making workshops and the Semilla Center for Healing and the Arts is sponsoring an artistic cohort and workshops to create the Tree of Life Ceremony.

Festivities in Powderhorn Park following the Parade will be quite different than in HOBT years, with no organized food trucks or large music stages. You are encouraged to bring picnics and enjoy the beautiful park.

Parade
In the past, artists at In the Heart of the Beast Theater (HOBT) envisioned a theme for the parade and ceremony through community conversations, and then opened the doors for hundreds of community members to gather during the month of April at HOBT to bring the theme to life with spectacular puppets and music.… Read the rest “MayDay is Evolving!”

MASSACRE AT FLOUR CITY!

Written by the alley on 30 April 2025

The Deadly Battle over Labor Rights in the Streets of Seward, Summer of 1935.

By MARILYN MATHENY

The two bronze doors in photo on Page 1 lower left corner, were made at Flour City Ornamental Iron Company in Seward Neighborhood for the Plummer Building at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN. Charles Brioschi, an Italian immigrant who worked for an architectural firm in St. Paul, was inspired to create the sculptural reliefs while hospitalized at Mayo. The 42 panels represent maternity and motherhood, agriculture, fine arts, education, and mechanical arts. The doors are 16 feet high, 5.25 inches thick, and each weighs two tons.

Vine Arts Center Art Gallery
Ivy Arts Building, 2nd Floor
2637 27th Avenue South
Minneapolis, MN 55406
Saturdays, July 12, 19, and 26, 2025, from 11:00 to 5:00.

Free and open to all.

This graphic historical exhibit uses a timeline of photos, newspaper clippings, maps, and first-hand accounts to retell the story of the violent labor struggles that convulsed the City of Minneapolis and the Seward neighborhood in the Summer of 1935 —a story of a time when All Hell did indeed break loose in the Hub of Hell at 26th Avenue and 26th Street!

It will be shown at the Vine Arts Gallery on the second floor of the Ivy Arts Building at 2637 27th Avenue South—the former home of Flour City Ornamental Iron—the very building where these dramatic events took place.… Read the rest “MASSACRE AT FLOUR CITY!”

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LOST AND FOUNDRY

MayDay is Evolving!

This year’s festivities set for Sunday, May 4th

MASSACRE AT FLOUR CITY!

The Deadly Battle over Labor Rights in the Streets of Seward, Summer of 1935.

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