Photos University Avenue gets a new leaf Another leaf swings into place Artist Marcia McEachron (left) watches the leaves' installation. Resources FORECAST Public Artworks Respond to this story Talk about this story in the MPR News Forum Submit a commentary Help us cover this story

Public art sprouts on St. Paul's University Avenue
by Art Hughes, Minnesota Public Radio
December 5, 2002

Workers prepare one of two giant oak leaves for installation at the corner of University and Fairview. This is the first of what FORECAST Public Artworks executive director Jack Becker hopes will be a series of pieces along the busy thoroughfare. (MPR Photo/Jenny Assef)

Work crews in St. Paul braved the cold Thursday to erect two giant steel oak leaves that tower over a set of colorful public benches. Sponsors of the sculpture say it's the first artist-designed bus shelter in the city, and they hope it'll be inspiration for more public art on a notoriously bland commercial strip.

St. Paul, Minn. — St. Paul's University Ave. is a wide, busy street that's more practical than it is whimsical. Older corner grocery stores and tailor shops are squeezed between car dealerships, fast food restaurants and strip malls.

University meets Fairview Ave., outside the newly-built Episcopal Homes senior apartment building.

As a small huddle of residents watch, a giant crane lifts two bright green leaves into place. They're giant oak leaves, each weighing 1,000 lbs. Workmen bolt the leaves to giant steel stems, giving the impression the two-story tall structure somehow sprouted from the sidewalk.

	Another leaf swings into place

Artist Marcia McEachron has hopes the sculpture becomes a local landmark.

"You know when you come down University, there's a turn here that happens right at this corner. So as you're coming from St. Paul, suddenly you'll see these leaves ahead of you, these big colorful leaves in the air. I'm hoping it'll become like a spot where, you know, 'take a left at the leaves!'" McEachron says.

The installation, named "Out of the Woods," is just off the public sidewalk and will serve as a transit stop. The leaves act as a kind of overhead shelter. McEachron says the leaf theme is an expansion of other work she's done in the past.

"It reflects the idea we are very small creatures on a very big planet," McEachron says. "And the natural world is very humongous in ideas and size compared to our own. So it brings a more playful scale of the human being the size of an insect now under a leaf."

The leaves cost $40,000. About half comes from the city of St. Paul's Neighborhood STAR Program, which uses a portion of the city's sales tax for community development. The other half is from the non-profit FORECAST Public Artworks organization and Episcopal Homes.

	Artist Marcia McEachron (left) watches the leaves' installation.

Jean Probst, chair of the Episcopal Homes trustees, says she's glad the board decided to get behind something other than a traditional bus shelter.

"It makes me smile when I think about it, when I look at it. When we talk to the artist, I can't help but grin," says Probst. "When one board member said, 'Well, does it fit in with the rest of the campus?' I could say 'Not at all!' It's an arts statement."

An artistic statement is just what Jack Becker is hoping for. Becker is artistic director for FORECAST, the group that envisioned and facilitated the installation. He says shortly after his organization moved its offices to the area, the staff realized how devoid it is of aesthetic appeal. He hopes McEachron's leaves spark inspiration for more artwork along University Ave.

"There are a lot of great sites around the Twin Cities for public art," Becker says. "But we felt that nothing was being done about University Avenue. It had great potential. And if we didn't step in and try to do something it may not happen."

Becker says University Ave. is also ripe for more public art installations because it's a potential route for a light rail link between the Twin Cities.

FORECAST is helping plan another art installation across the street at the Goodwill headquarters. The sculpture, by Al Wadzinski, will be constructed of items dredged from the Mississippi River during an annual cleanup. Two more projects are planned a block away.

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