Someone who didn’t like the Red Bull Illume exhibit felt compelled to make a statement.

Photo courtesy of Corporate Babysitter.

Dialing that phone number — (612) 230-6400 — gets you to the Minneapolis Park & Recreation Board.

Lots of different takes on the Red Bull Illume exhibit in which some big black cubes are perched on the Stone Arch bridge. They light up at night revealing some pretty amazing photography.

Taylor talked about it as an art exhibition. My take away is I’ll wander over if I happen to be in the area, but I’m not going out of my way.

Corporate Babysitter talked about the crass advertising aspect.

Peter Fleck is concerned about some logistical issues.

Looks like they considered pedestrian traffic but forgot that this is a major bike route. It’s hard to understand this lack of awareness given that City Hall is shouting from the rooftops what a bike-friendly town we have here.

and

Besides the whole bike thing, there’s also the issue of promoting Red Bull on park property. The Minneapolis Park Board has also been accepting some other advertising money some residents don’t think it’s proper.

(That other advertising money would be from Lowe’s.)

A Downtown Journal article on the exhibit asks two good questions.

Is this proper use of the Stone Arch Bridge? If not, where should the exhibition be put up instead?

To me, the question of whether the exhibit-as-advertising is appropriate for the historic nature of the Stone Arch Bridge is less important than the funding questions and the traffic questions. If the goal is to put this type of exhibit up on a bridge over the river, what other alternative do they have? The other options are a train bridge, car-carrying bridges, or the Washington Ave Bridge which has limited visibility because of the covered walkway in the middle.

As for where to put it instead, how about Gold Medal Park? It gets close to similar visibility since there are lots of viewing points along the river. It’s as easily accessible. It’s not completely public land so there are different rules as to how the money comes and goes. It does not block traffic.