Downtown St. Paul A glimpse inside Cabin of Love
Adventure Quest St. Paul
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Volume 26 | Number 8
Your Community News & Information Source
August 2020
A Mess at Mears
New exhibit at Landmark Plaza promotes unity Tara Guy Contributor
Community unites to address issues at Mears Park Tim Spitzack Editor
Primary election is Aug. 11
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Tim Spitzack Editor
The 2020 election officially gets underway with the primary election on Aug. 11. Locally, ballots will feature races in the U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives on down to municipal offices. Voters in the Downtown St. Paul Voice distribution area will cast votes for a representative in both the Minnesota Senate and U.S. Senate, as well as U.S. House of Representatives District 4. In the U.S. Senate, incumbent Tina Smith (DFL) has 11 challengers, including fellow DFLers Steve Carlson, Ahmad Hassan, Paula Overby and Christopher Lovell Seymore. Republican candidates include John L. Berman, Bob Carney Jr., Cynthia Gale, Jason Lewis and James Reibestein. Kevin O’Connor of the Legal Marijuana Now party and Oliver Steinberg of the Grassroots-Legalize Cannabis party are also on the ballot. In U.S. House District 4, incumbent Betty McCollum (DFL) will face off against DFLers Reid Rossell, David Sandbeck, Tiffini Forslund and Primary election / Page 2
On the day of this photo, trash was scattered around two of the benches, and one of the trash receptacles was overflowing.
n increase in trash, loitering and other unsavory behavior has prompted a community-wide effort to address these and other problems in Mears Park. According to Jeremy Ellison, senior commander of the Central District of the St. Paul Police Department, many of the issues stem from an increase of homeless people in the park. He said the park is now a top priority for downtown officers. “We want to be there, be friendly, be engaged and offer services,” he said. “Our mission is to protect the peace and maintain public safety through trusted service with respect.” One way they are doing that is by increasing the presence of officers in the park, which goes beyond crime enforcement. The goal is to connect people with needed social services and other resources, and to ward off bad behavior. To address the trash issue, the City of St. Paul has increased the number of receptacles in the park and empties them daily, and the St. Paul Downtown Alliance has pitched in this summer to organize twice-daily clean-ups to Mears Park / Page 5
“We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory will swell when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature.” Abraham Lincoln, March 1861
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braham Lincoln’s evocative plea in his first inaugural address was for healing in a bitterly divided nation, where brother would soon turn on brother. For many, his haunting entreaty still resonates powerfully in these times of racial discord and unrest; it did with Dr. Nicole Mary Milligan of the Milligan Studio in St. Paul. “I kept hearing this lovely phrase, our ‘better angels’, so I set out to find the etymology and discovered Lincoln’s whole speech,” said Milligan during a recent visit at the artist’s home and studio on Selby Avenue. “I felt we really needed to hear these beautiful words again.” Those famous words are the inspiration for her recent project, “Better Angels,” which was installed at Landmark Plaza in mid-June. The display is composed of ethereal-looking arched hoops strung with thousands of blue and white angel-wing pinwheels that twirl in the breeze. Better Angels / Page 4
School district faces many challenges in preparing for opening day Tim Spitzack Editor
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lasses in local public schools are scheduled to resume Sept. 8 and administrators at local school districts have been scrambling to prepare for that day. They’ve spent the summer planning for three different scenarios—in-person learning for all students, a hybrid model that includes strict social distancing and
capacity limits of 50 percent, and distance learning only—while knowing that whatever approach they use at the beginning of the year may not be the one in place by the end of the year. Administrators have also been surveying families, students and staff and will use their input in the final plans. In mid-June, the Minnesota Department of Education issued guidelines for the coming school year that all
public and charter school districts must meet. Each scenario includes having a COVID-19 program coordinator. The in-person and hybrid approaches include requirements for social distancing, cloth face coverings, protecting vulnerable populations of staff and students, hygiene practices, monitoring for illness and handling suspected or confirmed positive cases of COVID-19, transportation
and more. As of press time, a final recommendation had not been made. “We are working under the assumption that all three scenarios will be used at different times during the school year,” read a note on St. Paul Public Schools website in July. “Each of these scenarios requires unique planning, but the common approach to all is the belief that school will begin after Labor Day on Sept. 8 for
grades 1-12, and Sept. 10 for PreK and Kindergarten as planned.” The pandemic presents families with many challenges, including childcare options, alternative transportation methods for the various scenarios, and ways to support distance learning if that is required. This spring provided a test-run in that realm, and now is the time for families to reflect upon the biggest challenges
they faced and what they can do differently to address them in the coming school year. When in-person classes resume monitoring student health will become the primary concern, and this is where schools need parental support. A student should not come to school if they have symptoms of the coronavirus, which include Back to School / Page 2
from page 1
Alberder Gillespie, Republican challengers Sia Lo and Gene Rechtzigel, and Susan Sindt of the Grassroots-Legalize Cannabis party. State Senate Seat 65 Incumbent Sandy Pappas (DFL) will face Laverne McCartney Knighton (DFL) and Paul Holmgren (R). West St. Paul mayoral race - Incumbent Dave Napier will face three challengers: Jonathan Diamond, Kimetha (KaeJae) Johnson and Jeramie Torkelson.
Meet the candidates (appear in alphabetical order)
State Senate Seat 65 (includes Downtown and the West Side) Paul Holmgren (R) Education: accounting degree, St. Paul College Political experience: Past candidate for state representative and St. Paul
Your community news and information source Learn more: Call 651401-2156 Laverne McCartney Knighton (DFL) - Did not respond to repeated requests for information
City Council Occupation: Accountant, tax preparer, co-owner of St. Paul Tax Services Candidate statement: “It is time to change who votes for us in the state senate. I am willing to serve the people of Senate District 65, to protect their rights as free people. The government should not tell her citizens where to live, where to work, or restrict each person’s ability to earn a living.”
Sandy Pappas (DFL) Education: bachelor of arts from Metropolitan State University; masters of public administration from the John F. Kennedy School of Government-Harvard University. Political experience: Elected to the Minnesota House of Representatives in 1984; served three terms. Elected to the Minnesota
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Senate in 1990; now in her ninth term. Occupation: Executive director of the St. Paul-based nonprofit Forward Global Women, which promotes peace efforts by women leaders in the Middle East and North Africa. Candidate statement: “As your state senator, I am committed to using my experience and knowledge of the legislative process to make a difference not just for residents of our senate district, but for all Minnesotans. With your input I will work to re-vision public safety and work to implement meaningful and effective reforms; vigorously attack the opportunity gaps that exist for diverse communities in education, employment and housing; help small businesses recover from both closures because of COVID-19 and damage that occurred during the civil unrest.” Learn more: www.sandypappas.com, sandypappas65@gmail.com, 651227-6032
Back to school from page 1
fever or chills, cough, shortness of breath or difficulty breathing, fatigue, muscle or body aches, headache, loss of taste or smell, sore throat, congestion or runny nose, nausea or vomiting and diarrhea. Reinforcement of proper hygiene is also needed, reminding children to cover their cough, wash their hands often and stay six feet apart from others. For more information on St. Paul Public Schools, visit spps.org/reopen2020. For more information on ISD 197, visit www.isd197.org. As of press time, the number of people age 19 and under in Minnesota with COVID-19 was 5,845.
SROs are out St. Paul Public Schools will not have School Resource Officers (SROs) this year. At its June 23 meeting, the St. Paul School Board directed Superintendent Joe Gothard to tell the St. Paul Police Department that they will not use SROs for the 2020-21 school year. They also charged him with creating a districtwide safety plan with the help of a new committee. Details will be presented at the Aug. 18 school board meeting. Officers from the St. Paul Police Department have served as SROs for nearly 30 years. They worked to enforce laws, improve school safety and establish positive relationships with students.
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t h e
Kashimana
August 19
Dan Newton “Daddy Squeeze” Bring a lunch & listen from Landmark Plaza! Masks encouraged. Social distancing observed. Check website for Rain Dates
August 26
Martin Devaney
N ews Briefs
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Downtown Improvement District St. Paul Downtown Alliance is proposing a Downtown Improvement District to improve cleanliness, safety, and the overall vitality of downtown St. Paul. The district, bounded by Cedar, Sixth, Jackson and 7th St., includes many cultural and entertainment venues. The first phase of the plan includes a “fusion center,” where police, the sheriff’s department, Metro Transit, private security firms and social service agencies can share information. The second phase includes increased street and gutter cleaning and graffiti removal; pop-up music and art programming; and street ambassadors who will offer help to visitors. The $600,000 projected annual cost would be paid by commercial property owners, the City of St. Paul and Ramsey County. If at least 25% of downtown building owners approve the plan, a public meeting will be held. If 35% reject it, the idea will be dropped. The district would be managed by a governing board and an advisory board.
Have you heard Damage to the statue of Christopher Columbus at the State Capitol that was torn down by protesters on June 10 is estimated to be $157,000. The statue was installed in 1931 by the Minnesota Italian American Society to commemorate how Italian Americans helped build the United States. The drinking fountains at Mears Park will remain off the entire summer to help stop the spread of COVID-19. St. Paul Parks and
by Roger Fuller
Rec. have said they don’t have enough staff to insure proper sanitation. The stream at Mears Park and the fountain at Rice Park will also remain dry. Amtrak is reducing service on the Empire Builder route between St. Paul and Chicago to three trips a week beginning Oct. 1. Trains on the route now operate daily. The proposed 15-mile Rush Line bus rapid transit line project has received a $1.25 million grant from the Federal Transit Administration to study the impact the line would have on businesses and neighborhoods. The line would have 21 stations between downtown St. Paul and White Bear Lake. Construction could begin as early as 2024. Absentee voting for the Aug. 11 primary will be easier now because ballots must no longer be witnessed by a registered voter or notary public. Ballots postmarked on election day will be accepted if they arrive within two days of the election. Previously, ballots had to arrive by election day. Sean Kershaw has been named director of St. Paul Public Works. He succeeds Kathy Lantry, who retired. Kershaw was vice president of the Wilder Foundation Center for Communities and former executive director of the Citizens League. Tim Marx has retired as CEO of Catholic Charities after serving nine years. During his tenure, he oversaw construction of the $100
million Dorothy Day Place, which offers emergency and transitional shelter and other housing services. His successor will be named by the end of the year. The Ordway Center for Performing Arts is looking for a new president and CEO. After just four years in that role, Jamie Grant has resigned for a similar gig with the McCallum Theatre in Palm Desert, Calif. The Ordway Board of Directors credits Grant with increasing original theatrical and concert programming and strengthening relationships with the Arts Partnership, a collaboration between the Ordway, Minnesota Opera, St. Paul Chamber Orchestra and Schubert Club. A national search is underway to find his successor. Christine Sagstetter, Ordway’s CFO for 27 years, will serve as interim president. Grant will assist with the transition through Aug. 31. The Landmark Center is hosting free outdoor lunchtime concerts every Wednesday at noon at Landmark Plaza, 75 Fifth St. W. The line-up includes Joey Ryan on Aug. 5, Kashimana on Aug. 12, Dan Newton “Daddy Squeeze” on Aug. 19 and Martin Devaney on Aug. 26. For more information, visit www.landmarkcenter.org.
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Downtown resident Wendy McCarty is one of 20 artists who decorated a 7-foot-tall rose statue for Visit Roseville’s public art project Roseville in Bloom–a celebration of 20 Roses in 2020. The statues were built by TivoliToo, the same company that created the statues for the “Peanuts on Parade” project in St. Paul, which celebrated characters of the famed comic strip by Charles Schulz. The roses are featured in outdoor public spaces throughout Roseville through Oct. 31. The theme of McCarty’s rose is “Flower Power.” This is a different medium than she normally uses. Most of her work is portrait, figure and still life, as well as plein-air painting. Her rose is on display at 2027 Rice St. To view all locations, visit www.rosevilleinbloom.com.
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A rts & Culture Better Angels from page 1
Visitors can walk under and through the arches, which the artist calls a cloud tunnel. Seen from a distance, the coloration on the banks of pinwheels gives a soft impression of angel wings blending into blue sky. “We worked with the Milligan Studio last summer on the ‘UpLift’ exhibition in that same space,” said Joe Spencer, president of the St. Paul Downtown Alliance. “That was a really nice addition to downtown. We were delighted to partner with the Rice Park Association and Landmark Center in sponsoring the ‘Better Angels’ piece this year, especially now.” His comment refers to the nationwide calls for racial justice following the death of George Floyd. Milligan a lifelong, onagain-off-again Selby Avenue resident, is one half of the art practice of The Milligan Studio; the other half is her husband Alan Milligan, a native of County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. The auxiliary studio support team includes their ever-present canine collaborators Heaney
and Berkeley. Though they have called their St. Paul studio home for five years, they also maintain a studio in Belfast and have strong European ties, having spent much time abroad. Alan is a sculptor of considerable renown, perhaps best known for his work, the “Samuel Beckett Chess Set,” an exhibit of 32 individual bronze sculptures based on characters found in Beckett’s literature. The traveling collection has been exhibited in Belfast and Dublin, and in the Jardin du Luxembourg in Paris. Nicole, also a trained studio artist, may be better known professionally as critically acclaimed novelist N.M. Kelby (her pen name), most notably as the author of the New York Times bestseller “In the Company of Angels.” “Before we met, Alan worked primarily in bronze, creating traditional sculpture, while I did more avantgarde theatrical installations at places like the Heart of the Beast, Open Eye and Mabou Mines theaters,” said Nicole.
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Your community news and information source “I like big, colorful, kinetic art, whereas Alan’s work was serious sculpture, in the classical style. When we started working together, it made for an interesting synergy.” Alan humorously explained their process. “She’ll get an idea, fall in love with it, then it’s up to me to design it,” he said, pointing to last summer’s “UpLift” project that consisted of dozens of small, colorful hot air balloon replicas floating above the pavement. “She wanted the balloons suspended. I said, “Suspended from what? You remember about gravity, right? What’ll I use, a skyhook?’” Eventually the balloons were suspended from a pergola, achieving the floating impression Nicole had envisioned. The couple met in 2015 when each was an artist in residence at Annaghmakerrig, a communal artists’ residence in County Monaghan, Ireland. Annaghmakerrig is the ancestral home of Tyrone Guthrie, the famed theatrical director who founded Minneapolis’s Guthrie Theater. “I had just written a book called ‘The Pink Suit,’” said Nicole. “I’d been offered a bursary (fully funded stay) and had been there about six weeks when Alan showed up. We ended up chatting and really hit it off.” From that chance meeting flowered not only a love affair but a vibrant working relationship. Over the next five years the couple developed and refined an art practice
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Milligan adding the colorful pinwheels to the exhibit. that has produced an impressive resumé of commissioned works of private and public art in the United States and Europe. Locally, the studio’s art can be seen across the Twin Cities and throughout greater Minnesota. Unfortunately, some projects have been sidelined because of the pandemic, including commissions for the Venice Biennale, as well as workshops they were scheduled to teach this summer. They also had to temporarily close their studio’s retail space, which offers smaller hand-fired clay sculptures and replicas, along with merchandise such as Irish cashmere. “We had a really huge year lined up but Alan got quite ill first, and then I did, and things ground to a halt,” said Nicole. The couple suspects each had COVID-19, but testing wasn’t readily available at the time so the diagnosis remains unconfirmed.
Above all, the artists’ ethos centers on the furtherance of peace, unity, empathy, kindness and justice. A recent installation on Lake Street reflected this philosophy, as well as their love of community. It featured a series of illuminated curraghs (ancient Irish fishing boats) skinned with hundreds of photographs of area business owners and residents who joined in the project. The exhibit was a tribute to Martin Luther King, Jr. and his famous statement, “We all came in on different ships but we’re all in the same boat now.” Their art blends the spiritual and transcendent with the tangible and tactile: earth, sky, wind and water. This mingling of the earthly and ethereal is fused— through grueling construction—into art that is at once powerful and profound, fanciful and magical. “We always begin with the simple beauty of light
and air,” said Alan. Nicole added: “What we create together is sanctuary, breathing room, spiritual spaces where people feel like they can breathe. We’re trying to make lyrical statements that hopefully give people a sense of belonging and make the world a better place, for a little while.” Amy Mino, executive director of the Landmark Center, believes they accomplished that with the “Better Angels” exhibit. “The Landmark Center is proud to sponsor their creative, inspirational work of art that is beautiful, whimsical and yet thought-provoking,” she said. “We hope it inspires people to find the angel within and dream big.” “Better Angels” will be on exhibit at Landmark Plaza through September. For more information on the artists, visit www.themilliganstudio.com.
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C ommunity Mears Park from page 1
support the ongoing efforts of volunteers of the nonprofit Friends of Mears Park, who also pick up trash daily. John Mannillo, chair of Friends of Mears Park, appreciates the help but said more is needed. He first noticed a heavy increase in trash in the park when the downtown branch of the YMCA began giving out free food there. The Y has since switched to handing out meals at its branch location in Cray Plaza, located just across the street from the park, but the trash still ends up scattered throughout the park, said Mannillo. “Maintenance in the park is lagging,” he said, adding that the City needs to pick up trash more than once a day. Mannillo likely understands the park better than anyone. In 1989, he chaired a City-led task force to create a plan to significantly renovate the park, once the site of a former brickyard. After the park reopened in 1992, he established Friends of Mears Park to assist with upkeep and beautification. Today, about 50 volunteers serve as “the eyes and ears of the park” and help maintain the flower gardens there. Mannillo said the biggest problems facing the park are loitering, alcohol and drug use, and noise. To curb crime and create a more calming environment, the group now pipes in classical music over loudspeakers daily from 9 a.m.-9 p.m. They also plan to install more lighting, which will be on all night. Posts on the Facebook group Lowertown SaintPaul Neighborhood address other problems occurring in the park. One person said she sees daily drug deals and frequent fights. Another witnessed a woman defecating, and others say they feel unsafe in the park and throughout Lowertown. This June, Ward 2 City Councilperson Rebecca Noecker hosted a community meeting on crime and safety issues in Lowertown that attracted more than 40 people, and Mears Park was part of the discussion. She said connecting people with resources is crucial to addressing issues there, and she continues to advocate for affordable housing. “The need is just so great,” she said. “We need more shelters that fit people’s needs better. And we need
more affordable housing.” In 2017, she led an effort to create an emergency winter homeless shelter that resulted in 50 additional beds. Ellison of the police department acknowledged that the number of homeless people in Mears Park increased when the Green Line light rail transit line first opened, and spiked when Met Transit suspended overnight light rail service in March. The COVID-19 pandemic also played a role, forcing shelters to reduce hours or services.
Your community news and information source having experienced it in the past, on the Lowertown Facebook site. Excerpts are reprinted with her permission. “When you are homeless, you’re tired all the time. You never get any good sleep and you literally feel like the walking dead. At times you feel like you can literally feel your organs shutting down. There is no safety, peace or enjoyment. You can’t notice whether the space you’re in is pretty or ugly, clean or dirty because noticing things takes energy that you just don’t have. You need the energy
to pay attention enough to survive. Walking to a garbage can if you have something to throw away feels like running a marathon and you have to sit there and watch others who have lives you feel like you’ll never live to see. They just live those lives around you like a person sweeping around an obstacle, either treating you like you’re invisible or treating you like you’re unworthy of being in their presence. You are always keenly aware that you are in someone’s way at every moment.”
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Finding solutions The park is a natural oasis in the heart of the Lowertown historic urban village, known for hosting summer musical events and festivals (remember those?), including the St. Paul Jazz Fest. Ellison said these events make the park safer, noting that when there is less activity there are more problems. Until gathering restrictions are fully lifted, the city is exploring bringing smaller programs to Mears Park, such as yoga, dancing and other activities that meet social-distancing protocol. Mannillo said the events are a welcome addition to the public space. The City is also considering hosting a resource fair at Mears Park for people who are homeless. Additionally, while in the park, police officers, their team of social workers and outreach volunteers routinely hand out information about social service programs. According to the report, “Heading Home Together: Minnesota’s 2018-2020 Action Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness,” at least 7,600 Minnesotans experience homelessness on any given night, and many more are just one crisis away from being homeless. The plan, created by the Minnesota Interagecy Council on Homelessness, provides a framework for communities to address housing instability, crisis response, access to housing and services, support for affordable housing developments and employment services.
‘Like you’re invisible’ JobyLynn Sassily-James, a downtown resident and artist, shared her deeply personal insight into homelessness,
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Downtown St. Paul Voice - August 2020 - Page 5
A rts & Culture
The Urban Explorer Exploring our regional amenities Ginny Contreras Sawyer Contributor
Adventure Quest St. Paul I grew up in West Central Minnesota in a very small town, and when I was a kid, coming to the Twin Cities was a pretty big deal. One of my favorite field trips was in the sixth grade when we visited the State Capitol. I was awed by the sheer size of the building and its ornate interior, and the name Cass Gilbert became forever ingrained in my brain. Although I now live a mere 12 minutes from 75 Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd. I never think to go there. With COVID-19 keeping us closer to home this summer, I’ve been reminded that we St. Paulites have so many amenities nearby. Initially, my family and I found solace in places like Crosby Farm Regional Park and Hidden Falls Regional Park, but eventually my daughter
started to complain about all our nature-focused outings. It was time to spice things up a little. “How about a walk but with things to find, like a scavenger hunt?” I suggested one day, filling in details of Urban Adventure Quest-St. Paul. She seemed on board with that. Urban Adventure Quest is a family-run company that has been around since 2011. Inspired by the TV show “The Amazing Race” and a love for travel, the Walker family decided to create their own “amazing race” in cities across the U.S. They began with 12 locations and have since expanded to 72 different cities, including St. Paul. I used my smartphone to create an account, paid the $49 fee and received a code to gain immediate access to our 16-question adventure scavenger hunt.
Your community news and information source I was curious to see what kind of questions they would come up with for our city. The first one featured the two statues at the base of the stairs to the Capitol building: one of Knute Nelson and the other of John Nelson Johnson. I was embarrassed to admit that I had no idea who these two guys were, although I knew they must have been important to have earned such a prominent position. Luckily, the question didn’t require prior knowledge. Instead, it guided us to learn about the men by reading the plaques. We also needed to do some keen visual observation and counting, and learned a bit of Minnesota history in the process. We were off to a great start. The rest of the questions were just as cleverly designed. They were challenging without being impossible, and required us to interact with our surroundings. One of our favorites was at the “story stones” monument, a 2015 addition to the Capitol grounds. We wandered among 87 different sized rocks—all etched with excerpts from personal letters between Minnesota
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This artwork of Minnesota counties provides clues in the game. soldiers and their families spanning from the Civil War to modern times—looking for information needed to answer the question. In the end, the thrill wasn’t in answering the question but rather in the emotional stories we discovered. We also found that none of the questions was simple trivia. Almost all required multiple steps of intelligence-gathering. For example, one question had us examine a map of Minnesota that was engraved into the ground. With the provided hints, we located names of counties that fit into a cross-
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word puzzle template. Afterward, we took certain letters from our answers and rearranged them to spell a word. At the Gold Star Table, we matched constellations to pictures provided in the quiz, then added up the total number of stars. At the Monument to the Living, we solved riddles by looking at the larger than life soldier statue and finding letters, which we rearranged to form another word. Many of the questions required us to use a kind of cipher, almost like cracking a secret code. Unless my memory fails me, there seem to be many more monuments and memorials than when I visited the grounds as a child. I noticed a Special Forces in Laos Memorial, honoring the Hmong soldiers who had fought in the secret war in Laos from 1961 to 1975; the Roy Wilkins Memorial, representing his 46 years of leadership with the NAACP; and a stone and porcelain mural dedicated to Min-
nesota workers who lost their lives in the workplace. There was also one missing: the statue of Christopher Columbus facing the Supreme Court building. That monument was toppled by protesters this summer. Although the hunt spanned only a one-mile distance between the Capitol and the Cathedral of St. Paul, we spent a good twoand-a-half hours leisurely answering the questions. In the end, we achieved a total of 460 points and received a message saying we had placed second on the leaderboard for recent St. Paul scavenger hunters. We were quite proud of ourselves until I went to the actual leader board on the website and saw that we were second out of three teams. No matter. We still accomplished our overarching objective, and for one glorious morning we had forgotten all about the pandemic and felt like tourists in our own city.
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Cabin of Love from page 8
step for the self-described introvert, and it put her on a trajectory toward contemporary Christian music, which she since backed away from. She met Nathan while home in Owatonna on summer break from Bethel College, where she eventually earned a degree in music and vocal performance. They fell in love, partially due to their shared passion for music. Nathan is also from Owatonna and they met in a church her Dad was pastoring. After marrying in 1998, their first residence was a rented cabin on Medicine Lake, near Plymouth, Minn. There, Nathan recorded a tongue-in-cheek message on their answering machine which said, “You’ve reached the little Cabin of Love, leave a message.” Callers loved it, so the young lovers parlayed the phrase into the name of their band. Their big break musically happened that same year when Christian author Jim Sheard discovered Julia’s work and asked her to write a song to accompany his new book, “In His Grip: Foundations for Life and Golf.” He was so taken with her composition, “In His Grip,” that he and a partner offered to finance a full album, which was released that December. However, Julia and Nathan quickly grew cold at the thought of how it might change their lives. They had dabbled enough in performing at Christian venues to understand that many who booked them wanted to control the types of songs they performed, and they didn’t relish the thought of traveling the country on a music tour. Their minds were drift-
ing toward starting a family of their own. “I had seen where Christian music was going,” said Julia during an interview at their West Side home. “I wasn’t free to write about what felt true to me.” Unbound by a contract, they let the project fizzle. Bloom has since come to realize that she doesn’t need a recording contract to validate her work. “The songwriting, that’s why I do it. It’s where poetry and music come together,” she said. “It’s the best way to express myself. It’s like therapy. Writing and being on a stage performing live are the two times I feel most myself.” Cabin of Love recorded its first album, “First Fruits,” in 1998, and their sophomore work “Thirty Nine” 16 years later. “Good things take time,” quipped Julia, who also has two solo projects: “A Human Called Woman” (2005) and “Halo in the Frost,” a holiday EP released in 2013. Drawing on her wealth of material, she plans to compile 10-12 of her favorite song-a-week creations into an album this year. Find their music at www.cabinoflove.com. The couple moved to the West Side in the fall of 2017 from Loveland, Col., where Julia worked as music director at a branch of Mustard Seed House Churches, a home-church congregational model of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, one of the largest Christian denominations in the United States, with about 4 million members. There, people gathered to share a meal to satiate their
appetites and receive biblical instruction to nurture their souls. Of course, music augmented the meetings. It was a far different worship experience than Julia had as a child growing up in Owatonna, and her time at Mustard Seed affected both her life and her songwriting. In her blog (https://juliabloom.wordpress.com) she shares details of her strict fundamentalist upbringing, and how she continues to wrestle with issues in her faith journey. “For a long time I didn’t feel legitimate because I had missed out on so many of the experiences that were common to my generation’s growing-up years,” she wrote in one post. “I don’t have memories associated with the music and movies of my generation because I wasn’t allowed to listen to that music or go to theaters. I was married before I was even offered my first drink. The wildest oats I sowed was an all-[cis, straight] girls stripand-run through the woods in my college years. Once. I think we might have howled at the moon for extra tension release.” The way she was raised caused her to be “naive, shy, fearful” and a people-pleaser, but that has since changed. “Only in very recent years have I learned that in most situations there just isn’t a list of expectations for me to check off. There’s nobody standing by with a clipboard grading me. I don’t have to perform in order to be deemed a real live human being. I just am. And so is everyone else. I’m nothing special, and I’m the only me there ever was or will be. And the same goes for you.” One of her songwriting techniques involves using the words and phrases of poets long gone.
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“It’s easy to completely ignore all the good work that’s come before us,” she said. “That’s partly why I enjoy setting old poems to music. It’s a little like sneaking vegetables into casseroles for picky kids. Another reason is because it helps me engage on a deeper level with a poem, because I’m reading and speaking and singing it over and over as I work out a rhythm and a melody. The words get to work on me more than when I just read them straight through.” She finds inspiration and copyright-free material at www.publicdomainreview. org, and also in the works of her favorite authors, who include H.G. Wells, G.K. Chesterton, J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis and T.S. Eliot. She is “a sucker for books by dead Englishmen with initials for names,” she said. Songwriters she admires include John Prine, Rich Mullins, Emmylou Harris, Mason Jennings, Leonard Cohen, Bill Mallonee and Pierce Pettis. Bloom’s songs are oftentimes influenced by events happening in the world around her but she tries not to be political or preachy in her lyrics. Sometimes, though, she can’t resist making a strong statement. Recently she has written about the unexpected outcomes of social isolation of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the death of George Floyd, who was killed by a Minneapolis police officer on Memorial Day. At 1 minute and 35 seconds, her song “White” is short, yet poignant: White tears are decorative White grief keeps its distance White guilt is optional White passion lacks persistence White promises are broken White skin is thick insulation And a most effective cushion To smother a human soul.
In her May 29 blog about the song, she wrote, “In our shared humanity, in our singular hearts and souls, we can untangle and break the horrific bonds of race. Not today, not all at once. And not if we don’t see it for what it is, and listen, and tell the truth.” The uncertainty of these times has also nudged her along in her own spiritual journey, which she continues to explore through her music. “I’m so thankful for my faith,” she confessed. “There was a time I was embarrassed by it. In my twenties I was idealistic, then got discouraged. I’m coming out of my jadedness.” “I really enjoy the wisdom that comes with age,” she added. “I feel happy that I’ve continued to place priority on what’s important to me.” When setting out from her sleepy hometown in Southern Minnesota, Julia’s road led her to the Twin Cities, to a bustling town in the shadow of the Rocky Mountains, then back to the Twin Cities, landing in St. Paul. She is proud to call Minnesota home, but it took leaving the state for her to realize that. While living in Colorado she missed our 10,000-plus lakes, our rivers, our prairies and woodlands. And, yes, she even missed our humid summers and frigid, snowy winters. Mostly, she pined for her
“people” and the chance to raise her own children near her parents and other family members. She aptly captures her longing in “Places I’ve Lived, People I’ve Known.” Driving down the street with my out-of-state plates feeling newly out of place looking at the flowers in my old front yard and remembering my life lived in that space home is not a dead-end road the road home leads you back or leads you on Now the West Side is her home, where she and her family enjoy the many amenities of the neighborhood and its people, too. And when not at a music or family-related gig, Julia and Nathan continue to chip away at remodeling their 120-year-old house. Through it all, they keep their focus on their family, relationships and making beautiful music together in more ways than one.
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Downtown St. Paul Voice - August 2020 - Page 7
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A glimpse inside Cabin of Love Tim Spitzack Editor
I
n April 2018, Julia Bloom stood before a crackling bonfire in her backyard, journal in hand. Hesitantly, she tore a page from the spine and gently placed it into the blaze, watching as it burned brightly then slowly dissolved into ash. In went another page chronicling a moment of her life. Then another, and another. In a
flash, the written records of those times were gone forever. For her, the experience was freeing, a time of letting go and extinguishing old voices. Yet her mind still holds those memories and many more—some precious, some painful—and she uses them to touch the hearts of others. Bloom is a West Sidebased singer-songwriter and one-half of the acoustic folk duo Cabin of Love
that performs locally at coffee shops and breweries, the West Side Farmers’ Market, area churches, and any other place that offers them a stage. Her partner in music—and life—is husband Nathan Bloom, 47, a multi-instrumentalist who backs her insightful lyrics and smooth mellow voice using everything from the mandolin and harmonica to drums and shakers. Julia plays guitar and piano, and daughter Luthien, 16, sometimes lends her vocal and instrumental talents. Even 13-year-old son Silas gets in on the act by contributing a few lyrics. The couple also performs Americana originals with a group called the Foragers, joined by Tim Kephart of West St. Paul and Kirk Livesay of South St. Paul. Julia, 44, has penned more than 300 songs. She writes with compassion about the human experience. Her lyrics touch on many subjects, including her family, the death of a friend, wrestling
with her faith, and other matters close to her heart. A few years ago, her already considerable body of work increased exponentially when she joined an international songwriter group that encourages lyricists to write one song a week, an exercise to help them hone their craft. Each week a new topic is posted at www.songaweek.org, and participants connect online to offer advice and encouragement. The experience has helped Julia be more focused and make time for her art. She created a “music cave” in their basement and carves out a few hours twice a week to write songs, and several hours more to record them. Nathan, an industrial engineer by trade, contributes instrumentally and uses recording software to enhance the tracks. At age 10, Julia’s first live performance was in front of a congregation in Spring Valley, Minn. It was a big Cabin of Love / Page 7
Nathan and Julia Bloom
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