Best reason to find my furry boots every winter is trekking across a frozen lakes to check out the Art Shanties, which are ice fishing houses created by artists. I have loved going to the event as ice patron since they started in 2004 and last fall, for a brief moment, I daydreamed about creating an art shanty but that didn’t work out for a bunch of reasons.
There are intrepid artists who create shanties and some that perform. Because of COVID, the shanties have to be designed to be enjoy from the outside but they remain interactive in very creative ways.
The Rock Box looks (and sounds) like a giant speaker. We were there at just the right time for me to hear a little noise. Super treat!
The Poetry Walk was on possibly my favorite shanty. Large scale magnetic poetry! I create a haiku, because I could. I enjoyed readying poetry left behind by others too.
Winter Birds of Minnesota are beautiful and fun. It’s a good way for folks to interact and keep distance. Saw kids of all ages enjoy it. And kid favorite was the Pollinator Flash Mob – always fun to dress up like a butterfly!
The Portals was another favorite; affixed to the walls are shadowbox portals that act as little windows into entirely different worlds. They are very creative.
The Tick-Tock Shanty is a call out to all of the ways we’ve been wasting our time in the last couple of years. It’s whimsical, yet sad because of the era we’re in.
The HearSee Hall Shanty looks like a super cool space. From what I could see from a distance, it was like a mini-fun house inside. I’m going to try to go back next week to experience (before the line gets too long).
Mostly Minnesota 