PUBLIC ART IN THE PARKS
Minne, The Lake Creature, Goes South For The Winter!
Our very favorite lake creature, the one and only Minne, is leaving her beloved Minnesota to go somewhere warm for the winter. She spent a great spring and summer visiting with her old friends, and her new friends, at these Minneapolis lakes: Powderhorn Lake, Lake Harriet and then finally, Lake Nokomis. The season is just too short for her, as she would love to stay longer with her friends. But, she knows that colder weather is just around the corner, and she needs to get somewhere warm, before the ice starts forming on the lakes.
Minne had a great time in Minnesota, during her second season visiting the lakes that she so dearly loves. She has so many more new friends now, and has enjoyed surprising everyone as she moves around the lakes. There are many who have had the the delight of just discovering Minne, the lake creature, in their neighborhood lake this summer. And as Minne is so good about making friends, she now has friends in many different families: with the children, the parents, and the grandparents. She also has friends in many different age groups : from the very young to the elder group, too. And, she has many friends with both women and men in their 20’s. In a short time, Minne has become friends with EVERYONE, and she loves that.
Minne also had fun this summer by sending her representatives to do special things with Minne, the Lake Creature. There was an Aquatennial lake creature milk carton contest; a writing class for kids at the Loft about the lake creature; and a fun lake creature bike rider at the Minneapolis Bike Tour in September. Minne loves being the inspiration for all of these fun and educational summer activities.
So, look for Minne next spring in 2011! She can hardly wait to come back to her home in the lakes and parks of Minneapolis. And make sure to keep in touch with Minne on Facebook, Twitter, and on her website, lakecreature.com.
PLEASE DONATE TO: MINNE, THE LAKE CREATURE, AND THE MINNEAPOLIS PARKS FOUNDATION
In the meantime, please consider making a donation to Minneapolis Parks Foundation to support Minne, the lake creature, and all of the other projects of the Minneapolis Parks Foundation.
Thank you.
Your friend,
Minne, the Lake Creature 
To make a donation to Minne, the lake creature, and for the other projects of Minneapolis Parks Foundation, please press this donate button.
Check out this video which shows how her friends welcomes her last year, and what they thought of her visit to Lake Harriet.
Minne, The Lake Creature, As Art
Cameron Gainer, an artist from New York City, who now resides in Minneapolis, is the creator of this unique piece of public art. His artistic expertise spans sculpture, photography, performance, and film and video; and his works explores aspects of human perception and cognition as well as the universal themes of time and space, life and death.
This particular sculpture, symbolically titled _[. is based on the iconic, “Surgeonʼs Photo” of 1934 that was presented as definitive evidence of the existence of Scotlandʼs infamous Loch Ness Monster. This photo was subsequently proven to be a hoax many years later but remains the universally acknowledge representation of the mystical lake creature.
Cameron Gainer has expressed his interest in the notion of “cinema inside out” where you encounter something in an environment and under circumstances where the view is not quite sure what they are looking at. “The viewer is surprised by the discovery, as they stumble upon it, and there is a momentary rupture in what is reality.”
Public art accesses an audience that isnʼt necessarily going to go to an art museum. Instead, they just come across the art in their environment, which “creates a moment of access”. This represents a “tremendous opportunity to reach an audience that didnʼt expect to see art”. In the case of the lake creature, the artist intentionally made the lake creature so that it has to be placed in a body of water, a natural setting, and not in an art museum.
For more information about Cameron Gainer, in his own words, watch his video below.