After years of work, planning, fundraising, collaboration with and support from the City, the Granite Falls Dog Park is finally open! To commemorate the work and dedication of the Dog Park Committee through the creation and artistic wrapping of a bench for dog-lovers and park-lovers to enjoy. The bench is completed and will be installed in the spring of 2026,
2025 MNPAIR project at Memorial Park
Artists Tamara Isfeld and John Sterner collaborated to create art installations that celebrate the 100th Anniversary of Memorial Park and its connection to the land and indigenous history,
The pair started their programming in the late fall of 2024 and ran through fall of 2025. They hosted several art sessions for people to create their own artwork as well as to participate and view the creation of pieces of art for each of the parks. The programs brought art to people who were at the locations to recreation in the outdoors.
.One project became the creation of a mosaic mural. Sketches and paintings were created and approved. Tamara held free mosaic building art classes for the public to learn how to and help create the mosaic for the park. The participants were able to build portions of the permanent mosaic at the park. This helps people feel more connected to the park as well as brings the people back to the park to enjoy the art they helped to create
2025 dog park bench project
2024 Mini Residency
Fabric artist Stephanie Lynn Rogers created “Amendments.” Fabric patches were created from local iconic photographs and made available to the public.
Ogden brought with her twelve-plus years of experience creating hand-painted art on multi-story buildings as well as large-scale architectural stained-glass pieces. Ogden’s process has also grounded her in responding to her surroundings. During the pandemic, Ogden created and implemented the “Reflect Love” project by painting window murals on storefronts to reinvigorate morale for both business owners and passersby alike.
A native to Louisiana, Ellen Ogden left her mark in Granite Falls. While visiting as a CAIR finalist, she participated in a mini-residency, part of the application process for the artist position. Ogden created a mural which can be viewed along the riverwalk downtown, Granite Falls. The colorful depiction of the meandering Minnesota River and bright flora is a nod to this year’s theme of “flora, fauna and fungi.”
As the 2023 CAIR, she completed a large mural at the Yellow Medicine County Historical Museum, running path signs for the new running club in Granite, a cooperatively-curated exhibit on local organizations, and several smaller murals.
2023 Artist Ellen Ogden
Leah Cook joined us for 14 weeks - a two-week extension of her original 12-week contract, and completed all 5 of her proposed projects, including:
•Living Tapestry: Over Meander Weekend, Leah and community members of all ages gathered natural objects and built a living “tapestry” of the river in the new storefront of Falls SPaw.
•River Memory Cafe: collaborating with the Block Nursing Program, Leah led a river-focused memory cafe experience, swapping stories and sharing memories of the Minnesota River.
•River Sing: with help from the local churches, Leah facilitated a
River-sing-along” on a Sunday afternoon for local community members to join an informal social gathering (and a beautifully played piano!) to sing river songs together at the American Legion overlooking the downtown riverbed.•Voices and Views: working with the YME videography class over two months, Leah led the students in creating (and learning how to create) a 20-min documentary collecting and sharing local perspectives and stories about our river. The final film was screened at the CAIR Farewell 2022 event, and will be available online in perpetuity.
•Wonder Boxes: After long periods of listening, research, and intensive design, Leah collaborated with YME teachers, Public Works, the YME agricultural welding class, and various locals from different parts of the Granite and Upper Sioux community to design and build five “Wonder Boxes,” a series of weather-proof, movable informational sculptures sharing different stories and data about the river.