Public Art Portfolio
At CAFAC, we prioritize projects that address social justice and environmental concerns, support emerging public artists, and drive diversity of representation in public art collections.
Take a look at our portfolio of projects, their artists, and where you can see them in person.
Take a virtual tour of the collection.
A project spanning over a decade, the John Biggers Seed Project was first conceived after the destruction of Biggers’s 1996 “Celebration of Life” mural. Artists Ta-coumba Aiken and Seitu Jones led the push to create an homage to Biggers’s work and support emerging African-American artists through this ambitious piece. After years of delays—including the 2007 I-35W bridge collapse and shutdowns associated with COVID-19—over 300 double-sided enameled panels were installed on the Olson Memorial Highway bridge over I-94.
Artists: Ta-coumba Aiken, Seitu Jones, Mica Lee Anders, Sayge Carroll, Roger Cummings, Patrick Cunningham, Angela Davis, Loretta Day, Christopher-aaron Deanes, Adrienne Doyle, Jeremiah Ellison, Jordan Hamilton, Chris Harrison, Esther Osayande, Chris Scott, Willis Bing Davis, and Jon Onye Lockard.
With enamel technical support and fabrication assistance from CAFAC and volunteers. Completed 2023.
With Wakpada (Dakota for “creek”), real estate development firm Hall-Sweeney aimed to do their small part in acknowledging Dakota history. Public artist Angela Two Stars designed meaningful and beautiful art for the building’s entryway, based on her culture, scientific and traditional understandings of nature, and the Dakota language. Read the full story at our Hot News blog.
Artist: Angela Two Stars
With fabrication assistance from CAFAC. Completed 2022.
This enameled steel sculpture came about as part of the Lake Street Council’s rejuvenation efforts, and was instrumental as the first public art-scale 3D enamel piece fabricated at CAFAC. After dozens of small businesses and nonprofits were damaged or destroyed, Lake Street Council worked to get business owners back on their feet with grants and fund multiple public art projects, including “Spirit of Hope.” The design features fourteen lobes—one for each of the fourteen neighborhoods touched by Lake Street—and carries the message of resilience through adversity. Read the full story at our Hot News blog.
Artist: Heather Doyle
With fabrication assistance from Jessa Boyer and Brighton McCormick. Completed 2023.
This sculpture was commissioned by Chase Bank in Richfield, Minnesota to occupy the pocket park space outside of the building. Weathered steel hands form a tower, grasping at silver five-pointed stars. The piece is meant to represent the unity of community, diversity and pride, values that the Richfield as a city embraces. Multiple hands of different sizes serve as a metaphor to the varied cultures, ages, and types of people that live there.
Artist: Christopher Harrison
With fabrication assistance from CAFAC. Completed 2023.
Pete Segar partnered with us at CAFAC to create this year-long exhibition in Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport’s Terminal 1 for the Arts@MSP program. Each artist involved challenged themselves to capture a Minnesota waterfall in their own unique way. Techniques employed include metal casting, metal fabrication, enamel, encaustic, blacksmithing and neon.
Co-curators: Jhyle Rinker & Pete Segar.
Art by Jon Ault, Brad Buxton, Loretta Day, John Geier, Gail Katz-James, Kathleen Kvern, Debra Maertens, Brighton McCormick, Greg L. Mueller, Esther Osayande, Wayne E. Potratz, Kim Segar, Pete Segar, Craig Snyder, and Jess Bergman Tank. Completed 2022; on display until October 2023.
In collaboration with Metro Blooms, artists at CAFAC have designed, fabricated, and installed to bring a little more beauty to the 38th Street Corridor. Local businesses, including Onyx Coffee, Mama Sheila’s House of Soul, and Lucy’s, have had native plants, meaningful sculptures, and pollinator-themed art installed at their locations. The sculpture pictured was created by Becca Cerra and installed at the Goodridge Building at George Floyd Square.
Artist/Fabricator: Projects created in community, with signifcant contributions from Becca Cerra, Brighton McCormick, and Denallie Moore.
Completed 2021-2022.
Temple Israel Memorial Park Cemetery Chapel in Minneapolis, built in 1890, has a Romanesque-style chapel and iron gate at the entrance. After the gate was severely damaged by a driver, Brad Buxton set to work repairing and restoring it. Brad worked with Brighton McCormick in a makeshift workshop set up in the chapel basement. Together, the two trued the iron gate back into square, repaired joints using period-accurate forging methods and tools, and recreated missing elements that had been lost over time.
Artist/Fabricator: Brad Buxton
Additional fabrication assistance from Brighton McCormick. Completed 2022.
In honor of her grandfather, Orsen Bernard, and his work in Dakota language revitalization, Angela Two Stars sculptural work consists of cast concrete seating in concentric circles. Representing the ripple effect of one person’s effort, the seating area surrounds a water vessel, that serves as a reminder of the Dakota phrase Minnesota is derived from: Mni Sota Makoce, the land where the water reflects the clouds. Set into the seating are enameled steel panels featuring Dakota words and phrases, hand-painted by the artist at CAFAC and fired at 1350 degrees to create a durable, UV impervious finish.
Visitors can listen to audio stories told by fluent Dakota speakers by accessing recordings via their handheld devices. Two Stars developed the work’s language components in close collaboration with Dakota language speakers and teachers. As she has remarked, “Language revitalization is a healing medicine for Dakota people. Our identity is grounded in our language. Our ceremonies, songs, and stories are rooted in language. Without our language, we would lose an integral part of who we are as Dakota people.”
Artist: Angela Two Stars
Enamel technical support and installation by CAFAC. Completed 2021.
Artist Seitu Jones designed the tree grate at the Philando Castile Peace Garden as part of a cosmogram that lines up with the rising sun on the day of his birth, and with the setting sun on the day of his death. It is fabricated in laser-cut weathering steel which will patina to a deep brown over time. The Philando Castile Peace Garden was designed by 4RM+ULA and has served as a place of remembrance, hope, and reflection since Philando's death in 2016 and continues to be a place of peace for the community.
Artist: Seitu Jones
Fabrication by CAFAC. Installation by Flannery Construction. Completed 2021.
Angela Two Stars' designed this gathering space to provide seating and shade for employees of the Midway building. Made from weathering steel and wood with porcelain enameled panels that were created by the artist using painting techniques, the piece has multiple intentions. It draws the viewer's awareness to the stormwater filtration system buried beneath and also contemplates that human beings have the same structure under the surface of our skin. Skin color has caused wars, racism, and death, yet underneath the surface of our varying skin tones, we are made of the same basic elements: 206 bones, 23 chromosomes, blood, and water. These elements are reflected in the enameled panels, which were produced by the artist at CAFAC, her first foray into enamel on steel.
Artist: Angela Two Stars
Enamel technical support, fabrication and installation by CAFAC. Completed 2021.
Created as part of the “Luminous Ceilings” public art installation for the new City of Minneapolis Public Service Building, Christopher Harrison’s “Elements” features 62 individual parts suspended from the ceiling, fabricated in hand-tooled aluminum and bronze, sandblasted glass by artist Kerry Dikken, recycled motherboards, and painted aluminum. Backlit with a color palette that changes with the time of day, the piece is inspired by 311 workers who were working the day of the 35W bridge collapse.
Artist: Christopher Harrison
Fabrication and installation by CAFAC and Christopher Harrison. Completed 2021.
Designed by artist Seitu Jones, the work features enormous cast bronze hands welcoming people onto this walking bridge over 35W in South Minneapolis. Like many interstates in urban areas, 35W carved through and significantly erased a once-thriving African American community in South Minneapolis, where the artist grew up. The hands form an embrace and welcome to both sides of the bridge. CAFAC’s lead foundry instructor, Jess Bergman Tank, created the four cast bronze pieces from wax and clay patterns made by Jones. CAFAC also fabricated the black Adinkra symbols, from the Akan culture of Ghana, on the center pillars of the bridge which are visible from the highway. The Adinkra icon is two crocodiles sharing the same stomach and is the symbol for unity in diversity. The symbols complete Jones's reflection of and homage to this piece of South Minneapolis history.
Artist: Seitu Jones
Fabrication by CAFAC. A project of the Minneapolis Art in Public Places program. Completed 2021.
In this piece, the artist represents the Ghanaian Sankofa symbol, expressing the importance of reaching back to knowledge gained in the past and bringing it into the present in order to make positive progress in moving forward. Rendered in porcelain enamel, the artist used her distinctive painting style to capture the spirit of Sankofa. The work is installed on the wall of Cup Foods (next door to CAFAC), overlooking the memorial site at George Floyd Square.
This piece was created for a partnership with Pillsbury House + Theatre, as part of their Illuminating Legacies project, which worked at the intersection of multiple community efforts to use public art created by South Minneapolis African American artists to connect neighborhood residents to each other.
Artist: Esther Osayande
Enamel technical support and installation by CAFAC. Completed 2020.
Designed by Doran Companies as part of its Expo Apartments development, this 15-foot tall sculpture pays homage to the Industrial Exposition Building that stood on the site from 1887-1940. Fabricated of laser-cut Corten steel, the tower’s interior is lit with a color-changing LED display.
Fabrication by CAFAC and Seven Bailey. Installation by Flannery Construction. Completed 2020.
The 170-foot decorative railing on the SE shore of Bde Maka Ska depicts crops, animals, and Dakota symbols and is one of three components of the public artwork installed at the gathering site on the lake. The City partnered with the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board on this project to honor and celebrate Maḣpiya Wicạ ṡṭa (Cloud Man) and Ḣeyata Ọtuŋwe, the farming village he led that thrived at Bde Maka Ska in the 1830s.
Artist: Sandy Spieler
Fabrication by CAFAC. Installation by Primitive Precision Metalcraft. A project of the Minneapolis Art in Public Places program. Completed 2019.
Artist-designed welcome signage and archway, inspired by plants and animals, hand-tooled and colored with dye oxide patinas.
Artist: Christopher Harrison
Fabrication and installation by CAFAC. Completed 2020.
This piece was created at CAFAC by artist Ta-Coumba Aiken for a new mixed-use building developed by the Rondo Community Land Trust at Selby & Victoria in St. Paul. Featuring the artist’s signature style, hand-painted in durable vitreous porcelain enamel onto 16-gauge enameling steel and then fired at 1350 degrees, the piece is one of two large works installed on the building. See more at www.ta-coumba.com.
Artist: Ta-Coumba Aiken
Completed 2019.
This purple hollow raindrop sculpture stands just over 15 feet tall and doubles as a seating area at the edge of Farview Park in North Minneapois. It is fabricated in mild steel and painted the Pantone shade formally titled “Purple Reign” in honor of Prince, the late local music legend.
Artist: Esther Osayande
Fabricated by CAFAC and Seven Bailey. Installation by CAFAC and Carlyle Industries. A project of the Minneapolis Art in Public Places program. Completed 2018.
This arch is located at the start of the North Minneapolis bikeway where 26th Ave N leaves Theodore Wirth Regional Park. Symbolizing a union between natural and man-made elements, Aqurbane is adorned with biomorphic shapes, hand-painted with dye oxide patina colors.
Artist: Christopher Harrison
Fabricated by CAFAC and Christopher Harrison. Installation by CAFAC and Carlyle Industries. A project of the Minneapolis Art in Public Places program. Completed 2018.
Metal sculpture with hand-painted and kiln-fired vitreous enamel artwork designed in collaboration with fifth grade students from Nellie Stone Johnson school. The students worked with the artist to come up with the theme of bullying, which inspired the final images and story. The piece is installed outside the school along the 26th Avenue N bikeway.
Artist: Christopheraaron Deanes
Fabrication and installation by CAFAC. A project of the Minneapolis Art in Public Places program. Completed 2018.
Through a series of workshops led by CAFAC instructors, artists with disabilities from MSS created hand-forged, cast metal, and enameled works that were installed on a new centerpiece for the MSS sculpture garden: a wheelchair accessible swing. CAFAC artists also created larger pieces that were incorporated into the swing and surrounding park.
Artists: Brad Buxton, Heather Doyle, Jess Bergman Tank, MSS artists.
Fabrication and installation by CAFAC. Completed 2018.
This piece was created at CAFAC by artist Ta-Coumba Aiken for the Walker|West Music Academy in St. Paul, as part of a building renovation in honor of the organization’s 30th anniversary. The massive piece spans 76 feet along the building’s front facade, hand-painted in a limited color palette that showcases the artist’s signature style, using pigmented enamels fired onto steel. See more at www.ta-coumba.com.
Artist: Ta-Coumba Aiken
Completed 2018.
Inspired by Minneapolis’s history as “Flour City”, Gail Katz-James designed replicas of flour sacks and used screenprinting techniques to create the enameled end panels of this bike rack. To create these pieces, the artist used vitreous enamels mixed to the viscosity of screenprinting ink and applied 10 layers, firing at 1350 degrees in between each one. The bike rack is part of a series of public artworks installed along the 29th Street shared use corridor, a project of the Minneapolis Art in Public Places program.
Artist: Gail Katz-James
Enamel technical support, fabrication and installation by CAFAC. Completed 2017.
This piece was created at CAFAC by artist Ta-Coumba Aiken for a new building at Augsburg University in Minneapolis, opened in 2018 and featuring extensive original artwork throughout. Inspired by DNA strands, the artwork is hand-painted in pigmented enamel fired onto steel. See more at www.ta-coumba.com.
Artist: Ta-Coumba Aiken
Completed 2017.
In collaboration with Metro Blooms, this piece addressed the issue of the restaurant’s flood-prone patio with a artistic means of conveying stormwater runoff along the building and into a water feature that infiltrates through a rain garden. The design was inspired by decorative elements found inside this long-running German restaurant.
Artist: Heather Doyle
Fabrication and installation by CAFAC. Completed 2016.
This stainless steel sculptural living wall and trellis complements a rain garden and storm management system installed by Metro Blooms. The system carries roof runoff to the stormwater treatment area while creating a dramatic artistic amenity for the business and community. The project demonstrates how the functional needs of stormwater management can be incorporated in interesting and artistic ways on small commercial properties.
Artist: Aric Larson
Fabrication and installation by CAFAC and Aric Larson. Completed 2015.
Granite and steel benches as part of a contemplative circle surrounding Daniel LaRue Johnson’s sculpture, Freedom Form II, designed in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and installed when the South Minneapolis park was dedicated to Dr. King in 1970. In partnership with the Legacy Council, the bench design was guided by a yearlong community engagement process that identified quotes from Dr. King which were laser cut on the benches’ exterior, while the inner portion of the bench revealed community members’ responses.
Artist: Heather Doyle
Fabrication and installation by CAFAC and Hennepin County Home School students participating in The SPEAK Project. Completed 2014.
In July 1931, Arthur and Edith Lee and their 5-year-old daughter Mary, an African-American family, moved into a home at 4600 Columbus Avenue South. Immediately, their white neighbors mobilized to drive them out and by July 16, a mob of several thousand white people gathered outside the house, threatening to storm and burn it to the ground. Arthur was a WWI veteran and U.S. Postal Service worker. When his request for help from Minneapolis police was ignored, he and his brother Edward were joined by fellow veterans and co-workers who kept an armed vigil to safeguard the family and home until eventually the mob dispersed.
Discriminatory housing practices remained the norm for decades and this neighborhood did not have another African-American resident for thirty years. The city still grapples with this ugly legacy.
The sculpture was designed by artists Loretta Day and Esther Osayande and dedicated to the Lee family on July 16, 2011, 80 years after the mob descended on their home. It features a limestone plinth to represent the necessity for our community to form a strong foundation together. The weathering steel plate symbolically shields the residence as Arthur's fellow veterans and co-workers did. Like the endurance required of people choosing to stand for justice, the materials will not degrade over time. The image of Arthur Lee is rendered as an optical illusion, revealing either his eyes closed in prayer, or as an engaging visage compelling viewers to find solutions.
Artists: Loretta Day and Esther Osayande, in collaboration with Obsidian Arts
Fabrication and installation by CAFAC. Completed 2011.