Su Legatt predicts the beginning of a creative boom in the city of Moorhead.
“Little signs of an art and culture renaissance are popping up all over,” she observes. She’s talking about all kinds of things: from the sidewalk art and poetry project along Main Avenue and Eight Street to the Heritage Garden taking shape on the south edge of Woodlawn Park … from original art wrapped around CenturyLink utility boxes near MSUM to the Sticks Garden beside the downtown tracks and the supersized “56560” logo facing Main at Ace Hardware.
Coming up next: turning a city water tower into an artistic landmark.
This week the seven-member Art and Culture Commission, formed in 2015 by Mayor Del Rae Williams, has held an open house to sketch out the possibilities for what they’re calling “Our Tower.” Their goal, says city liaison Kim Citrowske, was to collect reactions, ideas and input from Moorheaders at large – especially the people of Oakport, where the water tower is located.
Those who didn’t attend the Tuesday session can still weigh in. “We want to hear their opinions,” Kim says, “so we’ve set up an online survey to gather input.” The survey is available at cityofmoorhead.com/art.
The fledgling commission has been focusing the conversation on what Moorhead residents consider important to their “sense of place” – what they value and what they’d like to see develop in years to come. It’s what professional city planners like Kim call “placemaking” – a process that focuses on the community’s assets, inspiration and potential, with the intention of creating public spaces that promote people's health, happiness, and well-being.
Members include Carrie Wintersteen, Mara Morken Fogarty, Kenyon Williams, Tim Beaton and Jacinta Zens, in addition to Su and the mayor.
But while they’re drafting the big picture, the group also has completed its initial undertakings. The first was sidewalk art and poetry, original submissions from Moorheaders of all ages. Last summer, 100 works were imprinted into new sidewalks installed along Main and Eighth Street. They represent the work of 75 residents. A full list of contributors is posted on the commission’s website.
A second project was capped off in October. In this case, CenturyLink brought its own idea to the commission. The company proposed to commission original art to be installed on its utility boxes, whichdeliver voice, data and the Internet to homes and businesses.
The commission coordinated a design competition, with seven area artists ultimately assigned to create bright, colorful wraps in their original designs for utility boxes on 14th Street South between Second and 12th Avenues, as well as on the avenue itself. Featured are works by Kim Jore, Raul Gomez and Emily Williams-Wheeler, as well as MSUM art students Megan Vetter, Hanna Loegering, Mandel Cameron and Timothy Schmiesing. A map and details can be downloaded from the website.
Su and Kim anticipate a similar submission process for the Oakport water tower if the project – already approved by Moorhead Public Service – ultimately moves forward.
Repainting the robin’s-egg-blue tower near Second Street and 63rd Avenue North is already scheduled for this summer, Kim reports, and its base cost is included in the MPS budget. The additional expenses related to adding a design will be covered by private donations, as was the sidewalk art project, or by charitable grants. If the project is successful, other water towers are already scheduled for their every-20-years repainting by MPS, including Woodlawn Park in 2018 and the one flanking Interstate 94 in 2019. A fourth tower is planned near 40th Avenue and 40th Street South in 2020. Whether they’ll also become looming landmarks that reflect Moorhead’s history and values, however, remains to be seen.
Kim notes that, while the city’s appointed art panel is quite new compared to many similar spots in Minnesota, the tradition of taking pride in its cultural heritage runs deep. “There’s already a history of cooperation between the Rourke Gallery, the Hjemkomst Center, the Parks Department, the schools and other art and culture organizations,” she notes.
Commissioner Carrie Wintersteen comments, “We’re in a somewhat exploratory phase, and projects like the water tower, utility boxes and sidewalk poetry are ways for us to learn what is possible and desirable.” She hopes, she says, that citizens feel “inspired to consider how the arts can become a hallmark of our community … driving development, community engagement and a sense of pride of place.”
Su suggests Moorhead is emerging as the art and culture hub of western Minnesota. “In 25 years,” she says, with a smile in her voice, “I think we might look back at what’s become Moorhead’scultural renaissance and say, ‘I was there went it all began back in 2015.’”
