Lanesboro Arts is thrilled to partner with local artists Don Bell and Anna Loney to present a free public art opening reception to celebrate the installation of the artists’ new trout sculpture called “fish/fence”. This sculpture is an artful place to park bicycles in Lanesboro’s downtown, Root River Rod Co. at 116 Parkway Avenue North.  Join the artists and Lanesboro community members for the unveiling of this new public sculpture on Saturday, May 28th at 2:00 p.m. in Parkway Place!

With a local “fish/hatchery, trout streams and a community dedicated to the art and craft of fly fishing, this sculptural trout inhabits our main street in celebration of it all.

The three-foot long fish is made of copper wire and appears to be arcing above an extant masonry column adjacent to the Root River Rod Co. The supporting armature for the fish form flows sinuously down and around the column. This “armature” will work into a horizontal structure meant to represent the water from which the fish has erupted. This “water” element will effectively form a short fence span between the column and nearby building. This will replace, in an artful way, a loose and failing section of fence in this location. The new “water form” span will be beautiful in its own right but will have the added benefit to pedestrians and cyclists as an out of the way place to park a bicycle. It is the artist’s hope that this is perceived as a bike rack site and is used for this purpose.

This series is supported by the Minnesota State Arts Board through a grant provided from the Southeastern Minnesota Arts Council by the voters of Minnesota, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund.