Lake Street USA

Lake Street USA is a six-mile public art exhibition of 600 photographs taken by Wing Young Huie. Accompanying many of the images will be the words of the people in the photographs talking about their lives and their neighborhoods excerpted from the hundreds of interviews that Huie conducted.This public exhibit will challenge the perceptions and misperceptions about our urban city by providing intimate glimpses into the everyday realities of its inhabitants.

Photographs and text will be hung in store windows, bus stops, street level mural-sized screens, and sides of buildings. Nine mural prints will be exhibited on the Great Lake Center (formerly the Sears building) this spring. The entire exhibit will be visible from the sidewalk or street. It will become part of the everyday consciousness of Lake Street. At the exhibit1s conclusion, a public auction of all 600 photographs will be held, with the proceeds donated to Lake Street community organizations.

In addition, an online exhibit will be hosted by the Walker Art Center (lakestreetusa.walkerart.org). The physical exhibit will connect Lake Street communities to each other and to the surrounding communities. The online exhibit will do the same, as it connects Lake Street to the communities of the world. Whether offline or in cyberspace, Lake Street USA will incite discussion about the cultural ecosystem of Lake Street and how it relates to our own communities.

Other plans include a traveling exhibit to tour public schools next year. pARTs Photographic Arts and the Lyndale Neighborhood Association will offer summer youth progams in conjunction with the exhibit. The Richard R. Green Institute at Augsburg College is studying how to incorporate Lake Street USA into educational curriculums. Ruminator Press will publish Lake Street USA as a book next spring.

First published by Gallery 9/Walker Art Center, 2000.