Illuminate The Lock Photos by Mill District Resident Ric Rosow

Submitted by Ric Rosow

On February 18th my wife and I experienced Illuminate the Lock at the Upper St. Anthony Falls Lock and Dam. I did not know what to expect, but even if I had my expectations would have been greatly exceeded.  The National Park Service coordinated admitting people based on the time they had signed up for so as to maintain social distancing. We entered at 6:00 p.m. and the light show started soon after we reached a position by the lock.

Images full of color and light illuminated the wall of the lock in front of us. The work, Waves Can Be Heard, was created by Moira Villard. Music was by Lyz Jaakola, Narrative by Mille Richard, Sound Production by JayGee and the Mentor Artist was Jonathan Thunder. As the music and narrative were played we viewed colorful images moving across the wall including indigenous inhabitants of this land, the river teaming with fish, silhouettes of modern downtown buildings, a forest, fire, mother moon, father sun and a beating heart. In the dark I worked quickly to photograph each image of art that scrolled quickly from one to another. The display was beautiful.

The names I have assigned to each photograph are my own. While the narrator identified what we were viewing, I had no opportunity to write down the descriptions. One photo, not part of the light show, is a silhouette of me as I took a photo of Mother Moon projected on the wall of a building next to the lock. I’ll have to think about how I could take a photo of myself that appears to be taken from behind me while I was facing and photographing an image on the wall in front of me.

Mother Moon (with a silhouette of me in my own photo)

City in the Lock

Cooking With Fire

Father Sun

Fire of Life

Healing Waters

Heartbeat

Indigenous Woman

Walking from the Forrest

Life in the Water