WINTER IS DRAGON ON IN STYLE

The Minneapolis Institute of Arts (MIA) is celebrating its 100^th birthday, and they are celebrating in “surprising” style!  Fifty-two surprises in all.  During the year there will be special programs offered at the MIA in addition to many pop-up events throughout city.

The sculpture consists of three separate sections.

One of those surprise off-site exhibits as been installed here in Uptown, along Lake Calhoun.  On Saturday morning, February 21, the MIA debuted an amazing dragon ice sculpture.  The installation was originally planned to be located on the lake, but our warmer temperatures in January caused it to be moved to land for safety reasons, although I suspect our weather now would have made the original plan ideal.  The sculptures is made from 280 blocks of ice, and weighs 60 tons.

The dragon celebrates, and is inspired by, the large jade dragon collection at the museum.  In fact theirs is one of the largest collections in the world.  Just like the intricate works of art in the museum, the detail carvings found on the on the ice sculpture are incredible, and my photos certainly don’t do them justice. 

Sunset on the Dragon.

The Dragon is located near the pavilion at Lake Calhoun, and fortunately won’t be around for long – it will eventually melt away, once our frigid temperatures leave us.  In the meantime, I encourage you take advantage of this opportunity to view the sculpture.  It truly is spectacular!

***Do you have any favorite memorable ice sculptures?