With a high of just 9 degrees in the Twin Cities,last Saturday was a cold one,even by Minneapolis standards. That,however,didn’t keep thousands of art-lovers from venturing out onto a frozen lake to attend the first weekend of the annual Art Shanty Projects,a repurposing of ice fishing shelters into the sites of interactive and sometimes silly or mysterious art.
Event organizer Erin Lavelle told the Associated Press that the event has been curtailed by warm winters a few times over its 21 year history,but has never been cancelled because it was too cold. The lake where it happens,named Lake Harriet,is currently frozen to a depth of over 13 inches,which makes it perfectly thick to support all the activity above. This is a major turnaround from the last two years:In 2023,unstable conditions led to the festival being held on the lake’s shoreline,while warm weather in 2024 caused it to be shut down after just one weekend.
Some of the projects on display include a three-ring circus,a “cat world,” a film studio and a “Disco Inferno Hot Box.” If the weather stays cold enough,and the ice remains thick enough,the event will continue over the next three weekends.
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Senior writer Chris DeWeese edits Morning Brief, Weather Now 24’s weekday newsletter.
