When the city of Grand Marais said it needed new garbage cans, the Creative Economy Collaborative stepped forward and said it could turn an otherwise drab project into something fun for visitors and locals by painting the garbage cans. Two artists were selected to do the work, Ole Sorenson of Grand Marais, and Sam Zimmerman of Duluth. Ole and Sam are third and fourth from the left. Staff photo/Brian Larsen
Steel barrels once filled with maple syrup, have now been sweetened on the outsides and turned into artfully decorated garbage cans.
Seeing is believing.
Soon those trash receptacles will be placed around town for all to see, and use, of course.
Garbage cans aren’t usually considered attractive unless you are a seagull. Then they are as highly prized and sought after to seagulls as the works of da Vinci, Michelangelo, Rembrandt or Vincent Van Gogh are to art collectors.
While these freshly painted barrels aren’t in the class of the works of the famed renaissance painters, they are worth a second, maybe even a third look.
New Perpich Arts High School graduate Ole Sorensen painted two of the eight bins.
Because quite a few noted artists submitted applications to lend their skills to the project, Ole said, “I didn’t think I would get in.” But his name was selected, and for a good reason. Ole might be young, but he is a talented artist. He said he was happy to be part of the undertaking, he added.
Ole has one garbage can to complete. His finished product is black with pumpkin orange and yellow intriguing and interesting geometric shapes.
“I’m almost done with the next one. It has squares and diamonds on it,” he said.
Just have to say, if you are throwing your trash away, it’s a pretty cool place to deposit it.
“I worked on them in my room. They take me about 15 hours to complete,” he responded when asked about the time and effort he had to put into this project.
Ole used acrylic paint and covered the barrels with polyurethane.
Sam Zimmerman, a Duluth artist, special education director and art therapist with deep historical roots in Grand Portage, painted six barrels.
“There are 36 fish of Lake Superior, six per barrel, hand-drawn and painted on the barrels,” Zimmerman said.
Two of the fish, a sturgeon and paddlefish (Abwijaanzh), are endangered, said Zimmerman. The other fish are walleye (Ogau), Pike (Ginwoozhi), trout (Namegos), and sunfish (Agwadaashi).
Sam’s choice of paint was enamel. “It’s not every day that you get a chance to do public art, teach and protect the water,” said Sam, his eyes lighting up as he smiled.
As a child, Sam spent summers coming to Grand Portage and Grand Marais. “My grandfather is from Grand Portage. We have a couple of hundred years of history here. I lived out east for 20 years, working as a teacher and principal, but I was missing my Ojibwe roots and moved to Duluth a year ago last week.”
How did this project come about? Grand Marais Art Colony Artistic Director Ruth Pszwaro said the City of Grand Marais asked the CEC (Creative Economy Collaborative), which serves as the arts advisory council to the City, to write up the Call for Artists and oversee the process.
As for where the barrels came from, Sawtooth Mountain Maple Syrup Company donated them.
Sam said that as people throw their garbage away, he hopes they take note of the fish and the artwork and think about conservationism, protecting the land and water.
As for the seagulls, once they spot these new food bins they will see fish and think about their last supper, which brings to mind one of da Vinci’s best known works…
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