Art Shanty Projects celebrates 20 years on ice

As the subzero temperatures settle in, so does thick frozen ice. And where there is ice, there are art shanties.

The winter public art project on ice was delayed a week because of not-solid ice conditions and construction issues at Lake Harriet Band Shell and Bread & Pickle restaurant, but now the art shanties are back. After a week of deliberation, it’s been decided that the event will open on ice on Jan. 27. It runs for three weekends, a weekend less than usual because of the delay. It won’t be as far out onto the ice as usual, but won’t be at the shore, either.

Jan Elftmann, known for organizing the ArtCar Parade, will be dancing with the pollinator frenzy performance and participating in the world’s only wearable art contraptions parade on ice.

Elftmann remembers the first art shanty on Medicine Lake, organized by Peter Haakon Thompson and David Pitman.

“It wasn’t officially what it is now, it was just one shanty,” Elftmann said. “Before the art shanties we had been saying, ‘Let’s do an art car parade on ice — the only art car parade on ice in the world out on Lake Minnetonka!’ David Pitman knew that, and he said, ‘Hey, on your way to Lake Minnetonka can you stop by Medicine Lake and the art shanties?’”

Elftmann did stop by and was immediately hooked. The ArtCar Parade ditched Lake Minnetonka and headed to Medicine Lake instead, doing a parade around the art shanty village that had sprung up. Elftmann grew up ice fishing with her dad, so driving automobiles on thick ice wasn’t an unusual phenomenon.

Artists Robin Garwood and Sam Price are hopping into their fourth year on ice with the project NatureGrafter, which will help people turn partially into something from Minnesota’s natural world.

Garwood likens it to the transmogrifier gun in “Calvin & Hobbes,” which works with telepathy. The user points the gun at something and then thinks about what they want it to turn into, and then it will — temporarily.

“There’s nothing actually happening to your body, except when you’re talking to people we will be saying, ‘Oh, yes, it’s science, it’s really happening, this is a real thing,’” Garwood said.

This year, classic shanties have returned, meaning that artists can make shanties that are covered and enclosed. This hasn’t been possible since before the pandemic.

For the past few years, artists had to make only open-air shanties to help people stay COVID-safe. But the open-air design did seem to influence artists Sundus Al-Bayati, Amelia Rosenbush and Kate Zimmerman of Close-Knit Pavilion. From a distance, it looks like a pyramid, but it offers people a chance to weave designs into the open slots, eventually building shelter together.

“We were really excited about the potential for building temporary art and we were all architects by training, or education,” Zimmerman said. “And so being able to build a structure-shaped space without having to worry about pesky details like waterproofing things is really fun.”

Part of the structure will already have woven pieces by local artist Amber Jensen. People can then go into the structure and weave the exterior façade using simplified, oversized looms.

This year marks 20 years of art shanties. In some ways a lot has changed — there are far more shanties, participants and performances — but the ethos of the project has stayed the same.

In 2021, Art Shanty rewrote its mission to include climate change. The project has grown a great deal in size since the early days. Now there are hundreds of artists, various necessary park permits and up to 30,000 visitors.

Artistic director Erin Lavelle, formerly a longtime producer of the now-defunct Northern Spark, understands this well. She went to her first shanty during the early years and quickly fell in love with the cold environment. In 2016 and 2017, she ran the Slumber Party Shanty, back when it was on White Bear Lake. She joined as artistic director in 2019, but only saw the January-February 2020 program before COVID-19 shut things down. There was no Art Shanty in 2021, but it returned in 2022 with COVID-friendly shanties. Last year, COVID-safe shanties continued.

“Winter is my favorite,” Lavelle said. “Being on a frozen lake is one of my favorite things. The cold winter air just makes me feel alive and I feel invigorated and energized to be out in it.”

Perhaps even more so than the artists on the lake, Lavelle believes that winter is to thank for such boundless creativity.

“I also like to say that winter is my favorite artist because just like the ice formations that happen — ice crystals, the beauty of snowflakes, frost,” she said. “I think winter is the most beautiful season.”

Art Shanty Projects

When: Saturdays & Sundays through Feb. 11.

Hours: 10 a.m.-4 p.m.

Where: Bde Uman/Lake Harriet.

Cost: Free, but donations highly encouraged.

Info: artshantyprojects.org

Art Shanty #1: Take in art shanty history with a re-creation of the first shanty, rebuilt this year for the 20th anniversary. It’s been resurrected from the frozen depths and re-situated on the lake.

Hot Box: Disco Inferno: From the depths of the cold comes a hot treat. This art shanty seeks “temporary dancers” to come in and dance their socks off for 5-10 minutes.

It’s a Good Day to Be Indigenous: Somewhere on the ice-covered lake, Sequoia Hauck (White Earth Anishinaabe & Hupa) and guests will be wandering, laughing and collecting stories talking about what it’s like being Indigenous two-spirit artists.

Lady Bear Returns: A giant polar bear will be roaming the lake. But don’t worry, it hasn’t escaped from the local zoo. This puppet bear dances with guests, roars and talks about how global warming is affecting her home, the Arctic ice cap.

La Casa de Los Sueños de Colores 2.0: Visit a colorful, life-giving shanty filled with textures, flowers and other surprises. Forget the white of winter and jump into this vibrant respite — if only until spring surfaces.