A portion of the photography exhibit Lake Street USA, from prominent local artist
Wing Young Huie, has recently found a new permanent home in the city's public services building downtown.
The black-and-white photos, which were taken between 1997 and 2000 along Lake Street and the diverse
surrounding neighborhoods, catalog everyday events
and everyday people--ice fishing, various forms of work, interesting hairdos, cultural and
religious ceremonies, children, families, and
more.
In the course of a decade, some places and faces
have changed quite a bit. Going forward, the photos will become even
more important as historical documents of the city, according to
Mary Altman, a public arts administrator for the city. "What's
interesting about it is that it's snapshots of Minneapolis in a
particular time," she says.
The original exhibit, which had 675
images, once graced numerous storefront windows along a seven-mile
stretch of Lake Street in Minneapolis. Photos were also displayed at one
time at the
Walker Art Center, according to Altman.
Until recently, this collection of 60 photos had been housed at the offices of the
Harrington Company,
a Minneapolis-based association management firm. A couple years ago the
company approached the city about donating the works, she says.
The
public services center seemed like a natural fit because it gets so
much foot traffic. "Since the photos are of people from Minneapolis, we
thought it would be cool to have images of the public [in the
building]," she says, adding that the idea fit in with the arts
commission's goals to "transform the government feeling of the building
and to make it more friendly."
The photos are for sale, with 20
percent of the proceeds to go to the renovation of Lake Street's
historic Pioneers and Soldiers Memorial Cemetery, she says.
Art in Public Places, the City of Minneapolis, and the Minneapolis Arts Commission are co-sponsors of the show.
Source: Mary Altman, public arts administrator, city of Minneapolis
Writer: Anna Pratt