For my sister’s birthday last Sunday she wanted to go out for brunch and then head up to the Franconia Sculpture Park.  It was a beautiful sunny day, so Debbie, my niece Kris, Mr. Q and I hopped in the car and drove up along the St. Croix River to just this side of Taylor’s Falls.

What I think is really awesome about this place is the size.  It’s kind of in the middle of nowhere and they have 43 acres, so plenty of room for really BIG art.

I thought this photo might give you an idea of the scale of the place once I pointed out the human.

The artists here have the opportunity to work on pieces with some majestic presence.

This egg with antlers in a Viking ship cracks me up (pardon the pun).

Unlike a stuffy, fussy museum, here you are allowed to get up close to the art.  You can touch it or interact with it.  Although they do ask you not to climb on the pieces, for safety reasons.  I enjoyed this flip chart of graffiti.

I have to say that there were several pieces that really spoke to me, such as this next one.  Who doesn’t love a mishmash of metal letters?

All of these colorful boxes with mirrors in them drew me in.

And I decided all of those mirrors presented the perfect opportunity for a group ‘selfie’ of sorts.

All four of us are in there, it’s just hard to find us.  I’m the one holding a camera.

Kris had fun picking out all of the various boomboxes that she had owned.

Doesn’t this look like a comfy spot for TV viewing?

Don’t be fooled, although even up close these looked like the real thing, they were really made out of concrete (or something like that).

To learn more about Franconia Sculpture Park, check out their website {here}.

Meanwhile I took yesterday off work at the day job to organize my workshop out in the Carriage House.  I’m also planning to hit the neighborhood sales this weekend.  Plus my mom is in town for a visit.  So there’s lots on the calendar, but hopefully I can get some furniture painted too.  Stay tuned!