The daily digest of Twin Cities culture | Secrets of the City

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.

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

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

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.

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

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.

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?

actually yeah, they do look like olde tymey brew bottles

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

Is that a pick-up line?

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 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.

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?

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.

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

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 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.

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...

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.

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.

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.

or some Yalie's abortion art...

Yowch!
Issues?

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

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 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.