A friend and I happened upon this pop up gallery when driving past on Nicollet Avenue. I saw the giant White Rabbit sculpture and was like, "What is THAT? That is awesome! We need to stop!"
It turns out that it was a Pop Up Gallery featuring the work of Jack Edwards. The gallery is part of the Whittier neighborhoods "Artists in Storefronts" project that has been going on this summer.
I had the chance to speak with Mr. Edwards while looking around the gallery. In addition to decades of costuming work for the Guthrie Theater, the artist worked on the old Dayton's department store 8th floor Christmas show for many years and designed some of the Holidazzle parade floats, as well. Since Macy's acquired Marshall Fields (which acquired Daytons), the holiday display has been exactly the same for three years running and Mr. Edwards is no longer affiliated with the display. Macy's is so lame. Apparently, they own all of the figures from past displays but won't sell them and hardly ever display them. It's so sad; these quirky characters should be shared with the public.
There are some good interviews with Jack Edwards at these links:
The Artists in Storefronts project is ongoing until September 9th. The last walking tour is scheduled for noon on Saturday September 8th. There is more information on their website:
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