Art4Trails walking art tours were established last year while the Rochester Art Center was closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The series of tours proved popular, and returned this year. The first tour was Sunday, with another scheduled Sunday, Nov. 21.
Rochester Art Center volunteer Carrie Robinson-Cannon leads participants to points of interest on a short walk downtown, starting at the museum. The Art4Trails program is a collaboration between the city, the Rochester Art Center, RNeighbors, the city’s Parks and Recreation Department, Rochester Downtown Alliance, and Southeastern Minnesota Arts Council.
1 new piece
There is one new piece of art along the downtown walking tour route called “Portal Parabola” by Greg Mueller. The piece was one of four new pieces selected for the fifth year of the Art4Trails program. The other new trail-side pieces were commissioned from Kristopher Tiffany, whose piece is in Slatterly Park; a sculpture by Sunghee Min at the river landing near Third Street Southwest; and a piece by Jamie Weinfurter along the trail south of Seventh Street Northwest at Silver Lake.
ADVERTISEMENT
2 permanent pieces by Richard Brubaker
Richard Brubaker was an artist and early advocate for the Art4Trails program. He was also a Mayo physician. He has multiple permanent pieces along the trails. Two of his metal sculpture works are on the downtown walking tour route. “The Artist,” from 2018, kicks off the tour, and across the river, visitors will see “Sunrise, Sunset,” from 2016. Brubaker, known as “Bru” to friends, died in 2018 after long advocating for and creating public art. Other works of his, including “Biking Bunny,” “Tractor Cat” and “Phoenix Rising,” can be seen in and around Soldiers Field Park.
3 homes for two historic statues
One stop along the tour includes the 1950 piece by James Earle Fraser of brothers William and Charles Mayo. Fraser is a well-known sculptor from Winona who studied his craft in Europe. Many of his works are on display in Washington, D.C., including “The Authority of Law and the Contemplation of Justice,” a sculpture outside the U.S. Supreme Court. Fraser also created the art used on the Buffalo Nickel.
ADVERTISEMENT
The Mayo brothers piece in Mayo Park is larger than life, and created from bronze. The statues depict the physicians in surgical gowns, which makes the display reminiscent of ancient Greek sculptures. The statues have been moved twice since they were originally erected.
If you go
What: Rochester Art Center Public Art Walking Tours
When: 1 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 21
Where: Begins at Rochester Art Center
Tickets: Tour is free with $5 museum admission and freewill donation.