
Art Shanty Projects 2017 (photo courtesy of Lindsay Cameron)
I might have mentioned this before, but one of my favorite annual events celebrating two of the great stereotypes of Minnesota, our winters and our quirky artistic side, is the Art Shanty Projects. Back in 2014, it was the first adventure that I wrote about for this blog and I continued the tradition with my fiancee this year. Each year sets up a community of immersive shanties on the ice of a metro area lake – White Bear Lake for the past several lakes – always a new and unique experience to explore, though some favorites remain beloved standards.

Dance Shanty! (photo courtesy of Lindsay Cameron

View of the Shanty’s from the top of the Welcome Shanty, with Lindsay
Last year, unseasonably warm temperatures beached the shanty’s on our visit, but this year we got to explore it on the ice. This year’s unseasonable temperatures, though, made it a bit of a slippery affair, the warmth having melted a layer that subsequently refrozen when conditions dropped under freezing. Lindsay still hasn’t mastered the art of walking on ice yet, but we shuffled our way from ice shanty to ice shanty, taking in the interesting and inspired interactive activities. Dancing in the Dance Shanty, making our voices known in the Justice Shack (very topical), and time traveling with the Sci-Fi Book Club’s spaceship shanty, among others. I particularly liked the Vehicle of Expression, which gives you a chance to warm up in a converted bus and contribute some writing to notebooks from various genres, along with a storytime. With some colder weather this week (and maybe snow?) this weekend is the last chance to check out the artwork before next winter, though the chillier temps have not come in time to keep the shanties on the ice, so this weekend they will be on the shore of the lake at White Bear Lake County Park.

Slippery ice (photo courtesy of Lindsay Cameron)