We started out the day headed for the free Weisman Art Museum on the University of Minnesota campus. We didn’t know much about the place but it was listed on a Things to Do in Minneapolis list and the photo of the building caught our eye with its curvy metal construction. It was designed by Frank Gehry (also of Guggenheim Bilbao and Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles fame).
We parked in a section of Minneapolis near the university called Dinkytown, which is the commercial center of student life. So you can imagine our surprise when one of the first things we saw when we crossed the street onto campus was a wild turkey. In fact, there were quite a few of them wandering around.
Not having a ton of expectations about the art museum, the five or six room museum was really well done, so many interesting pieces, including some by Doug Argue, a Saint Paul native.
from The Walker Art Center in Minneapolis
Once you enter the outer door, you walk down a hallway
with apartment doors that play sounds when you lean into listen (a dog barking, tv, and other noises you would hear coming from an apartment).
This was commissioned for the new World Trade Center building.
Letters and words appear in the work,
which I found fitting for someone named Argue.
and really who could Argue with that?
We were just amazed at the detail and amount of work.
and pedestrians to cross the Mississippi.
University buildings lie on both sides of the river, so this is very helpful.
After exploring the WAM, we headed over the Mississippi to see some of downtown Minneapolis as well as the Stone Arch Bridge.
as a National Civil Engineering Landmark and was built
by James J. Hill’s (from Thursday’s tour) Great Northen Railroad.
since the Stone Arch Bridge crossing was closed for an event.
which we saw as we crossed the Hennepin Bridge.
Peckish Travels 