photo by Randy Walker
December 2012 saw completion of Dream Elevator by Randy Walker for the City of St. Louis Park, Minnesota. The structure is a 45-foot tall stainless-steel-and-concrete tower woven with custom-braided polyester rope. The sculpture is inspired by the nearby Peavey-Haglin Grain Elevator of 1899, the first cylindrical concrete grain elevator in the world.
photo by Randy Walker
The dedication date of Dream Elevator is as yet undetermined. This year and next, Walker will be at work on at least four public commissions. First, a permanent outdoor work, Sky Portal, for the Anderson Abruzzo International Balloon Museum in Albuquerque, New Mexico, which will be visible from the sky as well as the ground. Second, Entanglement, in Scottsdale, Arizona, where Walker will use an existing bell tower as a framework for a fibrous wrapping.
photo by Randy Walker
Third, a temporary, site-specific installation will be built at the two main cargo shipping terminals in San Diego, California that will be part of WRAP: an artistic investigation of the San Diego Tidelands. Finally, Walker will work with his South Minneapolis community to create a large-scale, collaborative installation for which Walker received a Minnesota State Arts Board Artist Initiative Grant.