Celebrate the Quilted Mosaic Unveiling

Can 300 people really create a piece of public art that will make the community proud?   You can judge for yourself when we unveil the Quilted Mosaic at King Park on Saturday, April 27 at 1 pm.

The Celebration and Unveiling culminates the efforts of over 157 youth, 101 adults and 83 seniors who spent over 1,500 hours gluing, grouting and polishing thousands of pieces of glass to create ten mosaic panels that are interpretations of our community’s various cultural textile patterns.  Kingfield Neighborhood Association and Volunteers of America – Minnesota’s Southwest Senior Center coordinated the project. 

The project brought together people from four senior centers (Park Elder, Sabathani, Centro and Southwest), two schools, and numerous community members who gathered at Southwest Senior Center, King Park, and other locations to create the panels over the course of thirty-three community workshops. Volunteers ranged in age from two to ninety-seven, affording excellent intergenerational and inter-cultural opportunities. 

After dancing their way over to the Center, students from Allison Rubin’s dance class at Barton Open School, the 7^th and 8^th graders quickly partnered with seniors to find just the right pieces to glue on the mesh pattern.   According to Allison, “We love working with artists and learning about community art, but our middle schoolers especially enjoy working side by side with our community elders at the Center and sharing life stories while making art.”

The project featured many highlights including a workshop at King Park where eighty people showed up to volunteer.  It was incredible to see the level of interest and enthusiasm in the neighborhood, while a little daunting as we worked to make sure that everyone had something to do.  Another high spot was during the combined senior center workshop when staff had to translate the instructions into Spanish and Hmong.  At the last workshop, fifteen people blackened five mosaic panels with grout and then polished away until the underlying glass emerged like jewels.

Artist Sharra Frank guided the process and worked closely with a dedicated crew of lead volunteers who taught people how to create a mosaic.Kingfield Neighborhood Association Executive Director Sarah Linnes-Robinson describes the project this way, “Like a quilt, the artwork and our community have grown both more intricate and more beautiful when viewed as a whole, rather than as its parts.”   The final piece is a testament to how individuals can come together as a community and in the process learn from each other and create a work of art that will benefit the neighborhood for generations to come.

Please join us at the unveiling for music, food, a short presentation about the making of the project, and the grand unveiling.

Saturday, April 27 at 1 pm

Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Park

4055 Nicollet Avenue S.

Minneapolis, MN  55409

The project was funded by grants from the Metropolitan Regional Arts Council and the City of Minneapolis Innovative Graffiti Prevention Micro-Grant.

For more information, contact Mary Ann Schoenberger, Southwest Center Director at mschoenberger@voamn.org or 612-822-3194.