Minneapolis 2015...III

My last day in Minneapolis started out at Mill Ruins Park, which is a park downtown. It stands on the west side of St. Anthony Falls on the Mississippi River. The park interprets the history of flour milling in Minneapolis and shows the ruins of several flour mills that were abandoned, including the old Gold Medal Flour Mill. Some of the mill ruins were converted into office buildings and condominiums. The process also involved stabilizing the remains of the Washburn "A" Mill, which had burned in 1991. The Washburn "A" Mill became part of the Mill City Museum. After leaving the park area and walking along the Riverfront, I went over to Jean Nouvel's fabulous Guthrie Theater. Nouvel stated that most theaters and museums are flat. He wanted to elevate this one to the point to where people had great 360 degree views of Minneapolis. The Theater is a 285,000 square foot facility that houses three theaters: the theater's signature thrust stage seating 1,100, a 700-seat proscenium stage and a black-box studio with flexible seating. It also has a 178-foot cantilevered bridge called the "Endless Bridge" where visitors have open access to great views of the Mississippi River and Stone Arch Bridge. The outside of the building's walls are covered in large panels which display a large mural of photographs from past plays.

My next stop was Gold Medal Park, where I walked halfway up the hill and got a great photo of the Guthrie Theater. This view shows part of the famous "Yellow Room" extending from the building and the "Endless Bridge". From there, I went to the Stone Arch Bridge to get closer photos of St. Anthony Falls and the mighty Mississippi River and locks. I also got photos of the skyline from the bridge as pedestrians walked, jogged and rode along the lengthy path. Again, the River was loud with water swirling in all directions. This time, being closer to it made it more exciting than scary. After being fascinated by the Guthrie Theater, I went back to get more photos. I went up to the fourth floor lobby where I walked around and took photos from the panoramic windows, then walked the "Endless Bridge". When I stepped outside, the views were breathtaking! People were already out there taking in the views. There were great views of the old Gold Medal Flour Mill, as well as the Riverfront and Stone Arch Bridge. I then went up to the 9th floor to the "Yellow Room" to see what it actually looked like. As I got off the elevator, it seemed as though I had on glasses with yellow lenses. And when I took photos, the end result were bright yellow as if I had a filter over my lens. It was a great view.

From there, I drove over to the Walker Art Center and Sculpture Garden. But before going down to the Garden, I went up on the Irene Hixon Whitney Bridge to get more skyline photos. Once at the Garden, the "centerpiece" is Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen's "Spoonbridge and Cherry" sculpture. Other sculptures I photographed included: Barry Flanagan's "Hare on Bell on Portland Stone Piers" sculpture; Brower Hatcher's "Prophecy Of The Ancients"; Mark di Suvero's "Molecule"; Fritz Haeg's "Foraging Circle"; Thomas Shutte's "Bronze Woman IV"; Kris Martin's "For Whom..."; Judith Shea's "Without Words"; Scott Burton's "Two-Part Chairs, Obtuse Angle(A Pair)"; Sol LeWitt's "X with Columns"; Charles Ginnever's "Nautilus"; Richard Serra's "Five Plates, Two Poles"; Tony Smith's "Amaryllis"; Ellsworth Kelly's "Double Curve"; Deborah Butterfield's "Woodrow"; George Segal's "Walking Man"; Henry Moore's "Reclining Mother and Child"; Saul Baizerman's "Nike" and Frank Gehry's "Standing Glass Fish".

Winding down my day took me to America's First Basilica...The Basilica of Saint Mary. When I got there, a wedding was actually taking place. Therefore, I couldn't get as close to the Basilica as I wanted to. My next stop was the Minneapolis Institute Of Arts. Out front on display is Igor Mitoraj's "Eros" sculpture. I photographed this same sculpture, however a little different at St. Louis' sculpture park. Another statue on the other side was Ernst Barlach's "The Fighter Of The Spirit". There were also banners celebrating 100 Years. For my night shooting, I went back to the University of Minnesota campus to photograph the Weisman Art Museum. It wasn't as lit as I had hoped, but a longer exposure made for great photos! From there I went under the Stone Arch Bridge for another angle. Lastly, I went on top of the bridge to photograph the colorful Interstate 35 West bridge.