Minneapolis Parks Add More “Good Chairs”
Wednesday, May 23, 2018 at 1:54PM
This summer, more than 150 “Good Chairs” will be in 12 Minneapolis parks, including the shores of Lake Bde Maka Ska.Via a May 23 News Release:
This Memorial Day week, volunteer-led nonprofit, The Minneapolis Good Chair Project, will be expanding in its third year to provide up to 150 custom wooden chairs to 12 Minneapolis parks. Given the popularity of the free-standing chairs, the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board invited the nonprofit to place more chairs throughout its acclaimed parks system through September.
In addition to its first locations in Currie Park and Lake of the Isles, park patrons can find a comfortable place to sit and recharge at:
- Bottineau Field
- Powderhorn Park
- Keewaydin Park
- North Commons
- Fairview Park
- Cleveland Park
- Lake Nokomis
- Lake Bde Maka Ska
- Seward Parklet
- Cedar Lake/Hidden Beach
After multiple requests, Good Chairs are now available for purchase for memorials and personal use, including personalized engraved messaging. The chairs cost $1,500 and can purchased by contacting the designer and builder, Minneapolis-based, Willie Willette Works. Proceeds will support the construction of more chairs for public use.
This summer, the chairs will also serve as a platform for leaders of local nonprofits to be filmed in a video series called, “Who’s in the Good Chair?” The videos will be shared on social media and through paid media placements to generate more awareness of the good works being done in our community. Executive directors from a diverse set of organizations such as the Soo Visual Arts Center, The Brand Lab, Ann Kim with Young Joni and Lola restaurants and Amol Dixit with Hot Indian Foods, will share their mission while being filmed sitting in a Good Chair.
The program, started by retired General Mills’ chief marketing officer, Mark Addicks, is designed to equip the Minneapolis parks system with high-end chairs that help foster community connections and personal reflection through engraved phrases such as “Sit. Share. Debate. Engage,” and “Sit. Breathe. Contemplate. Meditate.”
“We’re honored to work the city to expand the program to all corners of the city,” said Mark Addicks, founder of the nonprofit. “From popular parks like Bde Maka Ska and Lake Nokomis, to Currie Park in the Cedar-Riverside neighborhood and Fairview Park on the north side, the chairs are now adding more resources for residents throughout the entire Minneapolis community.”
To learn more, or to make a donation, visit the nonprofit’s Facebook and Instagram pages.
