MINNEAPOLIS (Feb. 1, 2016) – The Minneapolis Convention Center (MCC), the Arts, Culture and the Creative Economy Program of the City of Minneapolis and Meet Minneapolis, Convention & Visitors Association, in collaboration with Northern Lights.mn and the Northern Spark festival, announce the 2016 winner for the Creative City Challenge is “Wolf and Moose” (formerly known as Animalopolus Connectallus), by Christopher Lutter, Heid Erdrich, Kim Ford, Karl Stoerzinger, Coal Dorius and Missy Adzick.

Chosen from among three finalists, the winning team will receive a $75,000 commission to create the project that will debut on the MCC Plaza June 11, 2016, as part of Northern Spark, an annual dusk-to-dawn festival in Minneapolis with tens of thousands of participants. “Wolf and Moose” will remain on the MCC Plaza through early October for public viewing and participation.

“Wolf and Moose” consists of spectacle-scale animal sculptures of a wolf and moose that are interactive, animated and illuminated, and are constructed using found and recycled materials. The sculptures include stationary bicycles which, when pedaled, provide animations inside the bodies of the animals: breathing, heart beating and an illuminated globe of the Earth rotating. The pedaling also powers a small onboard speaker that plays recorded works of poetry and story reflecting on our relationship with the animals and the Earth.

This project is driven by a distinctive spiritual ecology. With the advent of the “Global Warming Age,” the artists wish to demonstrate that Minneapolis is at the forefront of initiatives to live more sustainably (and sanely) on this Earth. But even more, they wish to highlight that we have a widely shared culture of deep ecology, which is essential to bringing about genuine and enduring systemic change.

“Wolf and Moose” inspires awe, generates playfulness and sparks reflections on our place as humans in the natural and social order and celebrates the many facets of our progressive and innovative community.

"The finalists of the fourth annual Creative City Challenge have once again demonstrated what's possible when art, design and innovation come together in the vibrant city of Minneapolis," said Eric Quint, Chief Design Officer at 3M Company and CCC Jury Chair. "Congratulations to the winning project, ‘Wolf and Moose,’ a sculptural installation that will both inspire and enlighten sustainable living as an interconnected experience. We're all very excited to see this inspiring project and the onsite programming come to life at the Minneapolis Convention Center Plaza this summer, giving the city yet another reason to celebrate the wonder of creativity.”

“’Wolf and Moose’ brings together several elements that really speak to Minneapolis, City by Nature – sustainability, nature and bicycling,” said Jeff Johnson, executive director, Minneapolis Convention Center. “The project also is interactive and fun, while being a platform for discussion and engagement. I believe it’s also simple yet beautiful and impressive in its design and stature.”

“This project will embody and celebrate some of the most distinctive features of our progressive and forward-thinking community,” said Christopher Lutter, lead artist and designer for “Wolf and Moose.” “It is our hope that ‘Wolf and Moose’ may inspire awe, generate playfulness and spark reflections on our place as humans in the natural and social order. Come to the plaza and play with these marvelous animals, and experience how they may guide and sustain us in our connections to the Earth and to one another.”

Creative City Challenge background information

The Creative City Challenge is a competition for Minnesota-resident architects, landscape architects, urban designers, planners, engineers, scientists, artists, students and individuals of all backgrounds to create and install at the Minneapolis Convention Center Plaza a temporary, destination artwork, which acts as a sociable and participatory platform for summer-long onsite programming and encourages a sense of connectedness to the city as a whole and its rich cultural and natural offerings. The Plaza is a green roof that is located directly across from the MCC at 1301 Second Avenue South.

In its inaugural year, the Creative City Challenge selected the Minneapolis Interactive Macro Mood Installation (MIMMI) as the winner; and in 2014, Balancing Ground. 2015’s winning project was mini_polis. The current winning project information is here: http://www.minneapolis.org/minneapolis-convention-center/on-the-plaza/winning-project/.

The project goal is to draw visitors and residents of the city to the Minneapolis Convention Center as a central meeting space for the surrounding area, as well as to provide a compelling gathering site for the MCC’s thousands of visitors. The commission fee for the winning project is $75,000, inclusive of all artist fees, installation and de-installation costs. The winning project will remain on the MCC Plaza throughout the summer and be the site of public events to be announced at a later date. The MCC is a site of convergence for visitors to Minneapolis from around the country and the world, as well as being a part of the local neighborhood and Minneapolis’ downtown.

More information about Creative City Challenge, past projects and the new winning project is available at http://www.minneapolis.org/minneapolis-convention-center/ccc.

IMAGE – CUTLINE

Artist rendering of “Wolf and Moose,” 2016 Creative City Challenge winning project, on the MCC Plaza. Credit: Rendering provided by Christopher Lutter and Coal Dorius. Original photo by Dan Anderson, courtesy of Meet Minneapolis.

ABOUT MINNEAPOLIS CONVENTION CENTER

The Minneapolis Convention Center (MCC) is the largest indoor, contiguous, convention center in the Upper Midwest with over 1.5 million visitors annually, including 250,000 during the summer months. The MCC is more than a meeting place. It's more than a show space. It's a building all about building something else…relationships. A blend of form and function, the MCC provides aesthetically pleasing and innovative solutions for a variety of conferences, trade shows and events. With nearly 480,000 square feet of trade show space, 87 column-free conference meeting rooms, a 28,000-square-foot ballroom, and an auditorium with superb production and flexible technology options, the facility can handle any event from a small meeting to a large convention or trade show.

ABOUT THE ARTS, CULTURE AND THE CREATIVE ECONOMY PROGRAM, CITY OF MINNEAPOLIS

The City of Minneapolis’ Arts, Culture and Creative Economy program leverages the creative sector toward social and economic growth in the city of Minneapolis. The program works with the Minneapolis Arts Commission, coordinates arts and creative economy programs and activities, promotes local arts and culture, develops policy frameworks for 21st century arts economies and collaborates on arts-based community development initiatives.

ABOUT NORTHERN SPARK

Northern Spark is produced by Northern Lights.mn, a non-profit arts organization dedicated to artists working innovatively in the public sphere, exploring expanded possibilities for civic engagement and encourage pluralistic community. The next festival begins at 8:59 p.m. on June 11, 2016, in Minneapolis. http://northernspark.org.

ABOUT MEET MINNEAPOLIS

Meet Minneapolis is a private, not-for-profit, member-based association. It actively promotes and sells the Minneapolis area as a destination for conventions and meetings, works to maximize the visitor experience and markets the city as a desirable tourist destination to maximize the economic benefit of the greater Minneapolis area.

Meet Minneapolis is accredited by the Destination Marketing Accreditation Program (DMAP) of the Destination Marketing Association International.

Online: www.minneapolis.org and http://go.minneapolis.org

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MEDIA CONTACT

Kristen Montag, communication and public relations manager, 612.767.8038, kristenm@minneapolis.org, @Minneapolis_PR on Twitter.

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