Art Shanty Projects 2010!

Project 365: Day 309
February 6, 2010

Every year an art exhibit called the Art Shanty Projects takes place on Medicine Lake. Here is how the site describes the event:

A four-weekend exhibition of performance, architecture, science, art, video, literature, survivalism and karaoke, ASP is part sculpture park, part artist residency and part social experiment, inspired by traditional ice fishing houses that dot the state’s lakes in winter.

It seems that some shanties are mainstays and others come and go each year. Although there are many, many awesome shanties, this year our favorite was the Dance Shanty. It is founded on a simple concept of an ice shanty that you dance in and was wonderfully executed with fun music and lots of enthusiasm on the part of the hosts. Paul and I had an excellent time dancing in the shanty and came away grinning, with blue ribbons and stamped hands:

I DANCED AT THE DANCE SHANTY . ORG

One shanty had an admission charge which required someone from the group to arm wrestle this guy:

Another shanty was made of chalkboard:

There was a cleverly named shanty shaped like a big tea pot called the Shan-Tea. If you go inside, you are offered a hot cup of tea in a Shan-Tea mug.

After you visit the other shanties, you are encouraged to visit the Spy Shanty to share your intel. Inside the spy shanty, you will find this control board complete with Beep, Boop and Self Destruct buttons.

We love the Art Shanties!

The day was really cloudy, so the panorama is a little lackluster. I hope it gives you a little bit of a feel of what this little art village on ice looks like. (click the photo to enlarge)

The bonus was that Medicine Lake is near 2 of our favorite thrift stores, so after visiting the shanties, we went thrifting and scored a few awesome finds. All in all, a great day.