There is no better time to be an artist and innovator in the Twin Cities.
When I was a child my family visited the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden. Instead of the unimpressive flat colors and minuscule size of LEGO blocks at home, the Garden showed works with an organic patina and a scale not usually reserved for artists. I have never outgrown enjoying this park. Art outside seems more organic and relatable. As you walk through this park you experience large metal pieces glimmering against the sun pulling your attention from the smooth and subtle to the angular. This place was instrumental for my appreciation for innovation and solar technology.
(Source: photos.tripomatic.com)
Later this year the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden will have a grand reopening. From what I have seen, the renovations look great and my children are in for a treat.
Investments in displaying public art changes hearts and minds. It lets us appreciate things on a deeper level. We look at things in a novel way and ask ourselves how we can one day make something that has an enduring legacy.
Speaking of legacy, this year marks the 20th anniversary of an even larger sculpture garden. A scenic 1 hour drive from Minneapolis lies Franconia Sculpture Garden. Franconia is four times larger in acreage and displays three times as much art then the sculpture park in the city. Though it has less visitors (100,000s vs millions), Franconia has a unique feature -resident artists working on their projects. Visit them on any given day and you’ll see welding and metal pouring. They offer events for conversing with the artists and provide community metal pouring workshops.
(Source: www.flickr.com/photos/kristin-and-adam/)
A more recent community art exhibit is Northern Spark. Starting in 2013 this exhibit is a unique one-night only event. Instead of showing art during the daylight and every day, Northern Spark is ephemeral and has choreographed artificial light. What has me most excited about is the theme this year: Climate Chaos.
(Source: www.flickr.com/photos/kristin-and-adam/)
Over the last few years I have created unique solar products and have been rewarded as finalist in entrepreneurship contests. It is great to see the art community unite for a cause that effects everyone and offers unparalleled economic opportunity. Minnesota spends $13B a year on out of state fossil fuels, this is a deficit is a drain on Minnesota’s resources.
If we are going to keep more of wealth in Minnesota and keep our landscape pristine Climate Change/Renewable Energy should be a resonating topic amongst artists and innovators.
The barriers to entry of being an artist and innovator couldn’t be lower. Technologies that were once reserved for commercial operations are now affordable and accessible to people at home. 3D printers that used to cost tens of thousands of dollars cost hundreds of dollars now. It is the same story for CNC mills and laser cutters. Making small scale prototypes is becoming mainstream.
But where does one begin? Do artists and innovators have secret tribal knowledge and inherent intelligence to create functioning pieces? The good news is that you can try out the machines and join enthusiasts sharing their projects and knowledge at Makerspaces.
Instead of watching a show like Junkyard Wars and pretending to be a fabricator you can go out and do it.
(Source: www.tms.org)
Instead of watching BattleBots and pretend to be a roboticist you can join one of the many Arduino groups in the Twin Cities, ArduinoMN is the largest .
(Source: Discovery.com)
Being an artist and innovator in the Twin Cities is as easy as three steps.
First you can go to Maker Mondays at the George Latimer Central Library in Downtown St. Paul. At Maker Mondays you can use entry level 3D Printers and Laser Cutters for only the cost of material. This is meant to encourage beginners to be familiar with rudimentary software and machine operation (not as a full fledged manufacturing operation). Then as you feel stronger about your abilities you should visit an open house at TC Maker. TC Maker houses a community of experts willing to share their knowledge on how to build complex projects from small-scale to large scale. They have industrial welders, an iron forge, large-scale CNC machine, and more. By the time you feel strong about your applied knowledge you should visit Century College’s FabLab. Century College offers a class called, “How to Make Anything.” Using faculty and college students you can complement the applied knowledge with theory. In addition you will have discounts on professional-grade software, hardware, and additional training as a student.
(Source: Century College FabLab, Senate DFL Minnesota bit.ly/25gkOYe)
There is no better time to be an artist and innovator in the Twin Cities. Who knows, you might be good at it and your project might be good enough to win MN Cup -largest statewide startup competition ($402,000 in available seed money) in the country.
(Source: minnesotabusiness.com)