''Shadows at the Crossroads'' is a collection of seven sculptures created by Twin-Cities based artists, Ta-Coumba T.Aiken, and Seitu Jones, as commissioned for the

Minneapolis Sculpture Garden The Minneapolis Sculpture Garden is an park in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in the United States. It is located near the Walker Art Center, which operates it in coordination with the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board. It reopened June 10, 2017, ...

. On display since 2019, the works depict historically prominent and influential Minnesotan figures. The collection is a revival and continuation of a previous collaboration by the respective artists, titled "''Shadows of Spirit''," which was commissioned for the Nicollet Mall situated in downtown Minneapolis in 1992. It was funded by the T.B. Walker Fund, 2019. Thomas Barlow Walker founded the

Walker Arts Center The Walker Art Center is a multidisciplinary contemporary art center in the Lowry Hill neighborhood of Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. The Walker is one of the most-visited modern and contemporary art museums in the U.S.: together with ...

in 1927, which, in partnership with the

Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board The Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board (MPRB) is an independent park district that owns, maintains, and programs activities in public parks in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. It has 500 full-time and 1,300 part-time employees and an ...

, manages the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden where the collection is housed.

Subjects and medium

Medium and processes

The silhouettes are modelled and cast from tracings of Minneapolis residents taken at different times of the day to diversify the depth and cast of the shadows. The majority of the sculptures feature poems by Rosemary Soyini Vinelle Guyton that relate to the figures represented. There are two exceptions: these being the shadows honouring the late Kirk Washington Jr, which instead features an extract from his contribution to "One Minneapolis: a City in Verse," and

Siah Armajani Siavash "Siah" Armajani (; 10 July 1939 – 27 August 2020) was an Iranian-born American sculptor and architect known for his public art. Family and education Siavash Armajani was born into a wealthy, educated family of textile merchants in 19 ...

, which has been left blank at his request. Four of the shadows were cast in molten bronze using foam board moulds. This was executed in collaboration with the Anurag Art Foundry in Stillwater, Minnesota. The moulds were surfaced with millet to create a textured overlay, increasing the surface grit of the collection for the comfort of visitors. The sculptures dedicated to The Walker Art Center Teen Arts Council and Siah Aramajani are instead carved into the concrete ground directly. Finally, Kirk Washington Jr's dedicated sculpture is crafted from a water-resistant material, meaning it is visible only when the surrounding concrete is saturated. This distinct material choice has been said to pay direct tribute to his artistic exploration and representation of race and marginalisation.

Subjects featured{{Cite web, title=Walker Art Center Commissions New Work by Seitu Jones and Ta-coumba T. Aiken for the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden, url=http://walkerart.org/press-releases/2019/walker-art-center-commissions-new-work-by-seitu-jones-and-ta-coumba-t-aiken-for-the-minneapolis-sculpture-garden, access-date=2021-04-08, website=walkerart.org, language=en-US

* Eliza Winston * Harriet Robinson Scott * Kirk Washington Jr. *

Maḣpiya Wic̣aṡṭa Cloud Man (Dakota language, Dakota: ; ) was a Dakota people, Dakota chief. The child of French and Mdewakanton parents, he founded the agricultural community Ḣeyate Otuŋwe on the shores of Bde Maka Ska in 1829 after being trapped in a snowstor ...

* "Time" for the members of the Walker Art Center Teen Arts Council (WACTAC) * "Untitled" (child)

Citations

Outdoor sculptures in Minnesota Sculpture collections