Joe Curry – Minneapolis

Tiffany

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Tiffany Globe, designed and assembled by Tiffany Studios New York, 1907

Each globe contains 487 milky yellow opalescent glass pieces configured in a style Louis Comfort Tiffany called “iridescent luster.” Once part of a grand Tiffany ceiling at Marshall Field’s State Street Chicago store. My Grandma Curry once worked in that Chicago store selling swimsuits. In the summer of 2006, I lived on State Street in Chicago, half a block from that store. I then lived in Chicago (suburbs) for four years. Today, I work for the company that, for a time, owned Marshall Field’s. Full circle.

March 8th, 2012|Minneapolis, Photography|Comments Off

Stripes

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I was so elated to see 60 degrees today (in March!) that I almost did the Balki Bartokomous Dance of Joy (see below). This afternoon, I walked a couple blocks to LaSalle Plaza. I enjoy studying my photography subjects to look for interesting angles or lines, and not just taking the obvious photo on the first approach. Many times, I end up with an unexpected and cool photo. And instead of doing the Dance of Joy tonight, I ran 3 miles outside…in shorts. Huzzah!

300 more photos to go! If you’re questioning my math, it’s a leap year after all.

The Dance of Joy

March 6th, 2012|Minneapolis|2 Comments

Skyway Reflections

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During the winter, if you don’t find anyone in Minneapolis walking the downtown sidewalks, you’ll surely find them in the skyway. Enclosed passageways connect the 2nd and 3rd floors of various office towers to hotels, banks, restaurants, and retail stores. The Minneapolis Skyway System links 69 full city blocks over eight miles, and the 84th skyway opened last December. Check out the interactive guide or find the free app for your iPhone or Android. In today’s photos, you can find skyway reflections of Laurel Village and the Basilica of St. Mary.

March 5th, 2012|Minneapolis|Comments Off

Suspension

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Tucked away on the East Bank of the University of Minnesota is a suspension bridge next to Sanford residence hall. My day started in Dinkytown and ended with the U of M Law School Musical, Alawddin, presented at the Pantages Theater and cleverly written by a fellow marching band member and Gopher football tailgater, Emily.

Named after the first University president, Folwell Hall is the foreign languages building, though only two of 8 classes for my Spanish minor were held in this building. When I attended the U, the rooms had skeleton keys. Today, they’re fancy electronic badge scanners. Some tour guide trivia: Folwell was built with 26 chimneys, but there are zero fireplaces.

March 4th, 2012|Minneapolis|Comments Off

Anchor Fish & Chips

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Friday night was an exploration of Nordeast Minneapolis, a neighborhood that feels hipster, eclectic and fun. In some ways, it reminds me of Wicker Park in Chicago. (Oh Piece, I miss you.) With a good balance of restaurants and bars that have anchored the community for years, there are also new arrivals like The Anchor Fish & Chips. Or recently new (2009), if you’re fact checking my blog.

The wait time for a spot in the 36-seat restaurant? 60-90 minutes. So my friend Ben and I headed to the nearby 331 Club for drinks, where I tried a Surly Bender and Bell’s Amber Ale. It was trivia night with a fair amount of Dr. Seuss trivia in celebration of his birthdate. I’d been Dr. Seuss rhyming for work last week for Read Across America, but that didn’t help me here.

We ambled back to The Anchor, grabbed two seats at the bar counter and ordered the main feature, fish and chips, with a side of mushy peas. Mushy peas, you may ask with a wrinkled nose? I like peas (frozen, not canned) but was skeptical, too. It was more like buttered mashed potatoes, but with peas, and actually tasty. The cod fish was great, though the handcut fries did not seem exactly award-winning to me. (Then again, I have a strong bias for McDonald’s fries.) Paired with a pint of Smithwick’s, it was a satisfying meal.

March 3rd, 2012|Food & Drink, Minneapolis|Comments Off

Continental Hotel

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I pass the Continental Hotel every day on my walk to work, and I’ve been trying to capture the green neon in the sign but the twilight must be at just the right moment. Finally at 5:30pm Wednesday, it worked. That was going to be today’s story, but intriguingly there’s more.

Originally built as the Ogden Apartment Hotel in the early 20th century, it was designed for middle class worker housing and billed as an “apartment hotel.” The units didn’t have their own kitchens, and residents instead ate from a common restaurant in the building. It included modern conveniences such as private bathrooms, Murphy beds, and electric appliances.

The building changed its name to the Continental Hotel in 1948. Today, it offers stable, affordable apartments for 70 formerly homeless individuals, and it’s operated by Aeon, a nonprofit developer, owner and manager of affordable apartment homes in the Twin Cities.

And that is a far neater story than green neon.

March 2nd, 2012|Minneapolis|Comments Off

Student Union

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It’s funny how the University of Minnesota Student Union feels warm and familiar, considering it was closed most of my college experience. (Coffman Union was open two months of my freshman year in 1999 before a complete interior demolition and renovation and finally reopening my final semester in 2003.)

Tonight’s alumni event was unlike any other I’ve experienced. The event? Speed dating. Surprisingly, I already knew three of the ~70 attendees. Bonus. The game? Women sat at numbered tables while the guys rotated around the room. Gametime? 2 minutes, 30 seconds for both of you to make an impression, to be witty and smart, to show drive and heart. Thirty seconds to decide whether to circle Y / N on your scorecard. From figure skaters to Spanish speakers, ag journalism reporters to actuarial scientists, child psychologists and genome biologists, there was an impressive mix of people and fun conversations.

I like asking questions; I like listening; I like telling stories. So really, this was right up my alley. You’d be surprised how much you can learn in 150 seconds. I thought it was amusing when someone told me how much she loved dining at restaurants, and I apparently stumped her by asking her favorite restaurant. To be fair, someone simply asked how old I was, and I inexplicably reported my age incorrectly before catching myself. …This was sometime after my second glass of wine on an empty stomach and 20 completed matchups. Next week, we’ll get our scorecards and find out how we fared, that is if we got any mutual Yes’s.

Even if nothing comes from tonight, my fortune cookie after a late-night dinner at Village Wok had a positive prediction:

Good enough for me.

March 2nd, 2012|Minneapolis|Comments Off

Art Faux Real

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Saturday morning included a visit to the Walker Art Center and its new exhibit, Lifelike. Contemporary art can be harder for me to absorb because my interpretation often calls me to question “What is art?” But, perhaps that’s precisely the point. While art certainly reflects the creativity and interpretation of the artist, a work of art also becomes something to be interpreted by viewers who observe it, react to it, admire it, and maybe even question it. Based on each viewer’s life experiences and creativity, art can have vastly different interpretations and meanings. And in that sense, the study or reflection on a work of art is as relevant as the art itself.

Art museums are important because they not only give visitors the best possible stage to see the art, but also experience the art. You can better appreciate the scope of a large work, or the fine detail of a painting or sculpture, by walking around it from different vantage points and seeing it three-dimensionally. Museums are also a shared experience, if you take notice to watch and listen to others as they interpret the art in their own unique ways. Museum staffer Carol was on hand to share info about the Lifelike exhibit, the museum itself, as well as offer tips on the best vantage point for photos. It’s clear she has enthusiasm for the arts.

I left the museum with an increased appreciation for contemporary art, and I’ll be back for more than Lifelike as a new, card-carrying member. If you’re in the Twin Cities, you can visit the Walker Art Center Tuesday-Sunday, on Target Free Thursday evenings, or Free First Saturdays.

En route to my car, I stopped in the Cowles Conservatory to warm up a bit and snap a few pics. More photos below.

Carol, Walker Art Center museum staff

Mushrooms (or are they?)

Thanks to the couple who visited at just the right moment to make this photo.

February 26th, 2012|Minneapolis, People|Comments Off

The Emerald City

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Heading northbound on 35W, the drive into downtown Minneapolis reminds me a lot of the Emerald City. From the outer ring suburbs at night, you see an equivalent yellow brick road with street lights dotting a winding road and leading to a skyline that appears to rise on a hill. From the promise it held as an aspiring college freshman to today as an adult returning to work downtown, I never grow tired of seeing this view.

P.S. The Target semi truck was completely coincidental.

February 21st, 2012|Minneapolis|Comments Off

Ceresota Flour

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Today, I had lunch at the Ceresota Building with my manager from my first job out of college. In January 1909, Northwestern opened Elevator A (now known as Ceresota), possibly the largest grain elevator ever built of brick. It could hold one million bushels of grain. Northwestern, at its founding in 1891, was the city’s and the world’s second largest flour milling company after Pillsbury and what is today General Mills, a close third. While no longer the home of bread flour, it’s home to a restaurant with the best breadsticks ever, Eddington’s.

February 15th, 2012|Minneapolis|Comments Off

Minneapolis

Tiffany

Stripes

Skyway Reflections

Suspension

Anchor Fish & Chips

Continental Hotel

Student Union

Art Faux Real

The Emerald City

Ceresota Flour

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