A twofold event dubbed “
exp-Air-iment” offers participants the opportunity to see the neighborhood from a new perspective--literally.
The
St. Anthony Park Community Council Pop-Up Shop is hosting an aerial photography “open lab” and separately, a workshop, from Aug. 1 to 5.
The pop-up shop, which temporarily fills an empty storefront space on University Avenue, is among the numerous creative initiatives to come out of
Irrigate Arts. The initiative is funding all kinds of place-making projects along the
Central Corridor light rail transit line.
Kristen Murray, a co-founder of the
Starling Project, which is helping to program the pop-up shop, is leading “exp-Air-iment.”
In the “open lab,” visitors will get a chance to try the special aerial photography rig in the shop and see the images that come from a custom-built 3D printer, which was designed by Will Janicke, a local maker.
The workshop takes it a step further; people will learn the basics to get started with aerial photography, which involves sending digital cameras into the air with balloons, she says.
Also over the coming week, Murray is doing aerial photography with the Teen Tech Crew at the
Science Museum of Minnesota, where she previously led hands-on technology-based programs.
Recently, she worked with teens from the nearby
Skyline Tower housing complex. “We took a couple of cameras, rigs, and a bunch of balloons over to
Dunning Field and captured some great shots,” she says, adding that they also suspended cameras from kites.
The playing field’s wide-open spaces worked well for the balloons, which hovered overhead about 50 feet high. The group also got views of Marshall Avenue,
Central High School, the St. Anthony Park community garden along with other local landmarks--and the photographers themselves.
“I enjoy seeing broad views where you can recognize the place easily, as well as more accidental angles and perspectives that catch interesting patterns,” she says.
The images show that “The railyard is just an impressive site--amazing that so much activity happens in a place that is smack-dab in the middle of the city but yet mostly out-of-mind and out-of-sight,” the website reads.
The images can be seen on the website and hanging in the pop-up shop this week.
Source: Kristen Murray, Co-founder, Starling Project
Writer: Anna Pratt