Secrets of the City

Way to go Walldogs! An active community organization is so nice to see.

Now if only the Nicollet + Lake intersection could be gentrified……

It is also in the Lyndale neighborhood, not just Kingfield. The murals are all very cool and very classy. They all sort of have historical themes. My neighborhood does some cool things.

Lyndale represent!!!

(uhh except for the nasty area around Lake/Nicollet where my gf is constantly harassed by men)

Well, I live in that nasty area around Lake/Nicollet and it really isn’t horrible.

He really didn’t say it was horrible. He said it was nasty with a lot of skeezy men.

I think uptown has a lot more skeezy men then Lake and Nicollet.

I hate to say it, but they’ll probably suck.

I mean, you know, when you rush a job …

Debbie Downer is back.

They already completed one earlier this year. It was super nice and done very quickly. But the building burnt down. I’ve seen the work on some of them already, and they look nice.

I have to agree with vlad about the skeezy men on Nicollet. I don’t know about the corner of Lake, but when I lived in Whittier, I was often hesitant to walk the 2 blocks to SpyHouse due to a regular group of them on 24th and Nic. Never threatening or anything, but it sucks that you can’t walk somewhere without getting catcalled.

They’re murals on the side of a wall. It’s not the Sistine Chapel.

They should be able to slap them up in a couple days.

I’ve seen skeezy men downtown say to complete strangers “Good morning, ‘maam, you a looking nice today.”

But greetings have, over the years, come to mean something else in many cases.

I hate murals. Their like woodchips. For a while they look okay, but eventually they end up looking like ass.

Considering how bland and boring most building in the city are (especially industrial), I welcome the murals.

I find quite a bit of beauty in dilapidated industrial buildings, actually.
Not that we need a city full of that, but they certainly have their place.

kc, I like to be proven wrong in a pleasant way!

Dipshit me commented on these murals on the wrong post (duh!).
What I meant to say was: To me, these mural designs look like giant beer labels. Anyone else see this?

I think it’s a wonderful project and it’s nice to see the whole neighborhood(s) rally around it.

actually yeah, they do look like olde tymey brew bottles

that’s my hood, yo! i think it’s a pretty awesome project and can’t wait to see the results.

kc, I like to be proven wrong in a pleasant way!

Is that a pick-up line?

The murals are very nice. Kudos to anyone who takes the time to spiff up the place. They beat the crap out of the mouth-breather tagging they probably replaced.

I wonder, though, if anyone meandering the sidewalks in that ‘hood these days gives a shit about who Joseph Nicollet was or that once there was a fine ballpark there.

I wonder, though, if anyone meandering the sidewalks in that ‘hood these days gives a shit about who Joseph Nicollet was or that once there was a fine ballpark there.

I do, and I do. Although I agree with the others that the designs look a little corporate/beer-bottleish for my liking. And I agree with you that it’s better than the “mouth-breather” contributions.

I care too. Of course, I was a history major.

There is a great plaque outside of Wells Fargo on Nicollet that talks about the ballpark.

I like the idea of the murals, but it seems they could have put a little more time into vetting the design. Maybe, that way, they’d look a bit less like corporate advertising. After all, we have plenty of billboards to look at in the cities.

well on the upside, anytime I’m in that neighbourhood I’ll feel like having a cold one.

then again, being in that neighbourhood already makes me want to drink.

I wonder, though, if anyone meandering the sidewalks in that ‘hood these days gives a shit about who Joseph Nicollet was or that once there was a fine ballpark there.

It’s public art. It’s better than graffiti tags. It’s a project that’s got a significant amount of community support. It’s a project that’s actually going to be paid for and completed.

What’s the problem?

I like the idea of the murals, but it seems they could have put a little more time into vetting the design.

Do you know how much work went into the designs? Do you understand how the designs were chosen? Just because YOU don’t like them, it doesn’t mean they didn’t take a lot of work and collaboration.

It seems a lot of people don’t really care for the designs. You’re right, though, that I made a big assumption when I suggested they didn’t spend enough time on choosing them. It could just be that the process was flawed.

Has anybody noticed the “murals” on the side of the Lyndale Bulldog (not NE) and the laundromat at Lyndale and 27th? At first glance, they appear to be artist murals, but upon closer examination, they’re vaguely viral ads for PBR.

This raises several questions in my mind, like the value of art for commercial purposes, etc. The big one, though, is whether or not this is a mural (which apparently can go anywhere?) or a billboard, which is strictly limited by the city of Minneapolis in terms of size, number, and location.

Anybody have any insight about this?

Good questions. And this is all complicated even further when communities design murals that look like adversiting billboards…

So, a little searching turns this up in Philadelphia. The mural pictured isn’t the same one that’s on Lyndale — that one actually is for PBR.

I also believe that the one on 27th and Lyndale replaced a previous mural-ad for Mt. Dew.

It seems a lot of people don’t really care for the designs.

Aside from you and Leigh, who here, or anywhere else, expressed dislike of the murals?

And the signs were all a collaboration between the artists and the building owners. Where did the process go wrong? Was it that you didn’t get a say? I live in the neighborhood and will have to look at them daily. I really like them and think they represent the neighborhood and the businesses well.

I also like the way they look. They look less like beer ads to me than 1920s tourism ads, which doesn’t seem like a bad aesthetic decision.

I like old-timey ad art, and I’m quite certain it’s something that’s highly collectible (i.e. Hamm’s beer stuff, old Lysol ads, 1920’s P&G stuff, catalouge art). Never underestimate the draw of nostalgia.

Here’s a shot of the Mt. Dew ad.

Where did the process go wrong? Was it that you didn’t get a say?

No, heck no. I don’t care that I wasn’t involved in the process. I’m just personally not a fan of random visual pollution…

I don’t know why 10 planned murals could be thought of as random. If you think they’re ugly, fine, but it seems like you’re looking for something that isn’t there.

All I’m saying is I think they’re ugly–visual pollution. They look like advertisements. Just stating an opinion for the sake of conversation. I’m glad some other people like them.

I’d rather see advertisements! At least they would serve a purpose and get changed every once in a while.

kevin, you realize these serve a purpose, right? They are specifically intented to reduce grafitti. They also make a cooridor that isn’t always so pretty look a little nicer.

Well, they’re certainly no Cherry Spoon or some Yalie’s abortion art, but considering the alternative, they’re quite fetching.

My point above is that if they’re ads, they’re illegal. You’re not allowed to have signage advertising something off premises, except for in very specific locations detailed by the city. PBR is skirting the law, but apparently hasn’t been called on it yet.

I’d take artwork, even art work I didn’t care too much for over advertisements. We’re assaulted enough with advertisements everywhere else.

or some Yalie’s abortion art…

Yowch!
Issues?

at least it’s not another Che or virgin mary….

I don’t feel that advertisements are assaulting. Perhaps though I should RTFA so I know what the deuce this is all about.

Yeah doesn’t seem like that big of a deal. Let them pop their mural boner or whatever floats their boat.

Well, when Bill Engvill walks into the middle of a scene of the show you’re watching to plug HIS show, and you can’t even take a piss without being confronted with ads, I’d say we’re being assaulted.

I did look up while I was pi**ing at Fern’s the other night to see Joe Soucheray staring at me from an ad above the urinal. Now that I think about it, that was kind of assaulting. The mayor, watching me pee.

i saw that soucheray ad @ Gabe’s by the Park last thursday as I was relieving myself. to my amusement, someone had scribbled a D over the first letter in his last name.