I can safely say that Steven and I had never had the type of experience before that we encountered when trying to check into our hotel in Minneapolis, Minnesota, about 7:30 the night before for the next three nights. On entering the parking lot, we immediately noticed a police car and a staff employee approached our car asking what we were doing there. We said we had a reservation and wanted to check in. She said we'd have to find another property as a guest's body had just been discovered in his room and no one had noticed his absence for a week! The hotel had to close down as the stench was overpowering according to the employee. Fortunately, we were finally able to find a room at another hotel after a lot of calls. Steven and I said it was only the third time in all our years of traveling that we had to scramble looking for a room because of a lost reservation, etc.
The next morning we drove to Lyndale Park Gardens, a 57-acre park that was designed and planted in 1907 and featured a Rose Garden, Peace Garden, Formal Perennial Garden, and an Arboretum. The rose garden was the second oldest in the country and an All American Rose Selections test garden.
A bee pollinator garden:
After seeing the Rose Garden, President and Jacqueline Kennedy hired Conrad Wirth, the park's superintendent, to design the White House Rose Garden.
Across from the park was a pretty trail along Lake Harriet. The park was so popular that the bike trail was only one way!
For us, it was impossible coming to Minneapolis without wanting to visit the area of Minneapolis where George Floyd had been killed by several police officers. Both Steven and I had seen countless TV clips and videos of that part of Minneapolis but walking toward the intersection where Floyd called for his mama and breathed his last breaths gave us chills.
We approached four massive barriers, each resembling a clenched fist, in the middle of nearby streets and had a sense of what it might be like further ahead.
We stopped for several minutes to look at the mural on the side of Cup Foods, the store where Floyd had attempted to buy something a year ago May 25th. The mural contained a far too long list of names of Black men, women, and children that had lost their lives at the hands of police in Minneapolis and elsewhere in the US. How sad it was to read each of those names that have become ingrained in our memory for all the wrong reasons.
Just up ahead a garden had been planted in the intersection of Chicago Avenue and 38th St., now called George Floyd Square in his memory. It was on that patch of concrete on Memorial Day 2020 that Floyd had his last breaths while Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin knelt on his neck for over nine excruciating minutes.
Murals and images of Floyd and other victims of police violence were everywhere.
I read that there have been thousands of offerings left in memory of Floyd and that each has been treated and preserved.
I agreed completely with these words on a nearby shop: "In times of crises, the wise build bridges while the foolish build barriers."
Just down the street were written the names again of those who had lost their lives at the hands of those whose mission was "to serve and protect." Walking through the area was like a gut punch but I don't regret it for a moment.
Our next stop was the Minneapolis Museum of Art, home to one of the finest collections of art in the country. Knowing that it contained 90,000 works of art representing thousands of years of world history sounded overwhelming unless we chose just a few areas of the museum to look at.
As the museum was known for its extensive Asian Collection, we made a beeline for it. The entryway was the Humility Brings Prosperity Gate which dated from 1858.
Horses for the tomb:
I always wonder how such incredibly detailed pieces have survived through the millennia with such vibrant coloring and nothing chipped or broken.
Having spent quite a bit of time in the Middle East, we were accustomed to associating sarcophaguses with Egypt instead of China where this black limestone one came from.
I was amazed and delighted on entering the Wu Family Reception Hall that dated to about 1600. It was the only part that remained of an aristocratic residence that had been built in the city of Dongshan. Nearly all the structural elements - the windows, tile floors, doors, decorative carvings - were original! Only the plaster walls and some roof tiles replicated the original.
This formal, ceremonial space symbolized the unity and continuity of a Confucian family and was where elder males carried out religious rituals, honored their ancestors, and greeted their friends. As this main hall expressed the family's economic power and social status, it was the most important room in the house.
The sweet Chinese earthenware pieces were part of a Wedding Procession from the Ming dynasty.
As Steven and I were in the southern state of Kerala, India last March when we had to rush home because of the pandemic seeing that the Processional Image of a Large Swan had come from Kerala really caught my attention!
I loved the exquisite embroidered satin curtain from the mid-17th century.
Janina: This one's for you!
Also very impressive was the limestone Winged Genius from 859 B.C. Iraq.
Some day Steven and I hope to tour West Africa and especially the Ivory Coast. That was why I was curious to learn that Colon Figure was a 'colon art' and stemmed from the French word for 'colonist.' Colon art described a specific African art genre, which came out of encounters with Europeans. Colon-type sculpture has since become mass-produced and is the prime example of African 'airport art' sold to tourists.
I think this had to be the most unusual coffin I had ever seen! It was called Fantasy Coffin and came from Ghana's Ga people.
L'Merhie Frazier's amazing quilt Freedom Rising depicted Robert Smalls who was born into slavery in South Carolina. Trained as a boat pilot, Smith commandeered a Confederate military ship in 1862 and sailed to Union-controlled waters where he obtained freedom for himself and his family. He eventually returned to South Carolina and was elected to the House of Representatives after the Civil War.
Sculptures from the Classical Greece and Rome section:
I loved the museum's beautiful staircase and its iron balusters.
Another exquisite embroidered piece:
I don't think I will ever forget seeing the monumental Covid-19: Labor Camp Report created by Piotr Szyhalski as it went from floor to ceiling on three walls. In March of 2020, the artist began drawing daily in response to the pandemic as it occurred in real time. It was intriguing to view how he daily chronicled his thoughts and feelings and reconciled them with changes everywhere else in the world.
We read that his 225 drawings were posted daily on Instagram and addressed themes about resilience, misinformation, greed, authoritarianism, and police brutality.
This is the most powerful image to me of the artist's.
It literally would have taken hours to pore over each picture on each wall. Here were some that caught my attention. How I wish there was greater acceptance in this country about the risks unvaccinated people pose to others when they refuse to wear masks or accept the seriousness of the pandemic.
We walked around the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden next. It was a 19-acre urban garden that displayed more than 40 sculptures.
Also in the park was Spoonbridge and Cherry, an amusing fountain sculpture Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen devised after being inspired by a novelty item the former artist collected. If I hadn't read that the spoon was supposed to be seen resting on an 'island' of plastic chocolate and the spoon's bowl was a prow of a Viking ship I would never have thunk that!
America's First Basilica was the Basilica of Saint Mary.
Umpteen years ago I remember watching with great fun The Mary Tyler Moore Show that was based in Minneapolis! If you were also a fan, you may recall the show's song that said she could "turn the world on with a smile." That was why it was neat to stop at the actress' statue downtown.
As we drove through the heart of the city, we were nonplussed with the number of pedestrian bridges attached to buildings so Minnesotans don't get too cold walking outside in the wintertime. You couldn't drive down a single block without seeing at least one bridge.
Mill City Museum was housed within the ruined walls of the Washburn Mill that was once the world's largest flour mill.
Our last stop of the day was at Minnehaha Park so we could walk to its Minnehaha Falls that was made famous by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's epic poem The Song of Hiawatha.
Next post: Heading over to the Twin City of St. Paul, the capital of Minnesota.
Posted on July 10th, 2021, from Brooklyn, NY where we're lucky to be staying with our daughter and her husband for a few precious days as we make our way very slowly to the Gulf Coast.
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