September 20, 2019, Friday - An Anthropocene River: Field Station 1

Time: 6pm – 10 pm

Location: St. Anthony Falls Visitor Center, 1 Portland Ave

An Anthropocene River: Field Station 1

Mississippi: An Anthropocene River is a series of events and activities about the ways in which humans have shaped the region’s environment, with a focus on issues related to the headwaters of the Mississippi River to the Twin Cities.

Field Station 1 considers the stretch of land that extends from the Mississippi River’s headwaters at Lake Itasca, down to the unglaciated region that crosses southeastern Minnesota, southwestern Wisconsin, and northeastern Iowa known as the Driftless. This stretch of the Mississippi River marks both its “natural” and “anthropogenic” origin, where a small creek becomes a continental torrent, where the Dakota, Ojibwe, and many other native peoples centered their material and spiritual lives, and where the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has pursued its mandate to organize, manage, and direct the river’s flow for almost two centuries.

Activities will include: 

• Walking tours and site visits of the Upper Harbor Terminal site (September 20, 1-4pm) and the Ford Dam (September 21, 1-4pm) with the park’s Superintendent John Anfinson (NPS), Roopali Phadke, Morgan Adamson and Bruce Braun

• Sound installations by Monica Haller, Max Ritts, Michi Wiancko, Judd Greenstein, Sebastian Müllauer, and others

• Original films about the Mississippi River and the headwaters region by Andrea Carlson, Tia-Simone Gardner, John Kim, Jenny Schmid

• An Anthropocene workshop with Jen Caruso

• Discussions with Mike Hoyt and Molly Van Avery about their Illuminate the Lock 2018 art piece 

• Live music with IE (others TBA)

• And more...

Except where indicated, all events will happen at the St. Anthony Falls Visitor Center (1 Portland Ave, Minneapolis, MN 55401) from 6 PM - 10 PM.

All events are free and open to the public, but there are limited spots available. Please RSVP with Sydney Petersen speterse@macalester.edu if you wish to join.