Art All About/All About Art

by Kate Iverson on Jun.09, 2009, under Arts & Culture

If you really take the time to look, you can discover art and beauty everywhere you go. From a budding flower to a rusty sign; a fleeting glance between strangers or the smell of wet grass after a rain storm — the beauty is in the details. We often move through life in a rush, so it’s not surprising that we often forget to appreciate the subtleties. Luckily, in St. Paul you can find the pretty stuff with minimal effort, as public art is just about everywhere you look. This summer, plan a day with friends or family to take a driving or walking art tour of the city — and stop to smell the roses!

Aside from my suggestions below, there are hundreds of other displays of public art in St. Paul! Do you have a favorite? Post in the comments section, or send your suggestions and pictures to kate@stpaulstaycation.com and I will post them!

EVERYDAY POEMS FOR CITY SIDEWALK

This is such a charming project! Artist Marcus Young, along with St. Paul Public Works and Public Art St. Paul worked together to bring this public art phantasm to life in 2008. The project works with the city’s maintenance program to install poetry where city sidewalks are replaced, embedding verse by local poets into the cement for all to see. The project placed over 100 poems by 20 St. Paul poets in 2008 and is just starting its 2009 maintenance season, with a new crop of winning poems to be placed this summer.

Click HERE for a current, clickable map of sidewalk poetry in St. Paul!

START SEEING ART

Downtown Saint Paul is rampant with public art! Discover sculpture, installations, murals and more throughout the area with this handy-dandy printable map courtesy of the arty-pantses over at Start Seeing Art. A detailed guide to some of the most iconic works in the downtown area, as well as some hidden gems you may have missed, this map is all you need to plan a fabulous art tour! Peruse the website for tons of public art locations all over the Twin Cities.

Click HERE for a printable map of public art in Downtown St. Paul

DISTRICT DEL SOL

The West Side is known for its spicy Latin flav, cultural pizzazz, and of course, its amazing public art! Explore District Del Sol and discover dozens of colorful murals, sculptures and blooming community gardens scattered throughout the area. Stop into any number of delicious Mexican eateries that pepper the neighborhood such as Boca Chica or El Burrito Mercado, and enjoy a meal as colorful as the local art!