'Art Shanty Projects' Return To White Bear Lake
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- The Art Shanty Projects is back on White Bear Lake after a year hiatus.
The ice shanty village features several elaborate art installations created by 125 artists.
Each installation incorporates a traditional ice house.
The art display, which opened Saturday, looks like the traditional ice house village from the shoreline of White Bear Lake.
Once you take a closer look, you realize it is much different than the typical ice house.
Jeff Berg's installation, called the "Ouija Totter," is part of the Art Shanty Projects.
A twist on that old board game, visitors ask a question and then teeter totter to an answer.
"We wanted something that both kids and old folks and everybody could enjoy," Berg said.
His installation is among the gallery of 19 converted ice houses that showcase winter's impact on an artist's imagination.
Rebecca Loych wanted to open visitors ears to the music created from a frozen canvas. Her shanty, called "Under the Lake Sound Chamber," includes piano strings connected between the roof of the shanty and the ice. Visitors can strum the strings to make music.
She also included an underwater microphone to listen to the sounds underneath the ice.
"So we have a hydrophone to pick up what's going on, the sounds and how we influence on the surface," Loych said.
Each shanty has its own unique features, and range from food sculptures to sleeping quarters.
In the "Boiler Room" shanty, the everyday items in our home -- like a furnace or piping -- suddenly have a new look.
"It not only celebrates people, but it also celebrates kind of a line of work, and there's something for everybody, the history and the active project," artist Clara said.
The Art Shanty Projects is juried, and organizers expect more than 11,000 visitors over the next four weeks.
"Minnesotans get cooped up in the winter and this really gives people an excuse to come outside and enjoy the weather," Dawn Bentley, executive director of the Art Shanty Projects, said. "It's beautiful and celebrates art in our community."
The gallery is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on the north shore of White Bear Lake. Click here for more details.