Five years of trash transformed into art

Artist Sean Connaughty (at left) worked with Healing Place Collaborative and several dedicated community members and organizations to create a comprehensive exhibit of Lake Hiawatha, a critical habitat for diverse wildlife and deeply impaired by stormwater pollution originating from South Minneapolis, during an exhibit at the White Page Gallery, on Friday, Nov. 15, 2019. The exhibit included the artist's massive trash collection found in Lake Hiawatha – a part of the 6,820 pounds of trash removed from the lake since 2015. The exhibit includes drawings, documents and data collected over the five years of Sean Connaughty's volunteer stewardship of Lake Hiawatha. The exhibit also explored the history of Indigenous peoples on this land, which is the sacred homeland of the Dakota people.

A Forage Walk + Talk with Timothy Clemens and Ironwood Foraging on Nov. 17 began at Lake Hiawatha Recreation Center and ended at the White Page Gallery to take in the exhibit and talk about the possibility of a community-based food forest at Lake Hiawatha.(Photos submitted by Ryan Seibold)