Minnesota Strong

Returning Home to Minnesota

STORY AND PHOTOGRAPHS BY DEAN KOTULA

The Minneapolis Sculpture Garden at the Walker Art Center might have foretold the coming invasion of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents wreaking havoc and upending lives throughout the state. Shocked and in disbelief, there were no adequate words to express the cruelty and inhumane actions being perpetrated against U.S. citizens and those seeking safe haven and an opportunity to become legal citizens. Judith Shea’s disembodied bronze sculpture, Without Words, created in 1988, had far more significance on the day I returned to Minneapolis to witness for myself, the killings, kidnappings, and terrorizing of people, primarily due to the color of their skin. But breathless or not, the people rallied. Minnesotans are steadfast and fiercely protective of one another. They grew angry, started protesting— due to love. It’s no mistake that one of Robert Indiana’s 50 versions of his LOVE sculpture found it’s way to  the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden. The people earned it, with the states reputation as being Minnesota Nice.