In 1989, a five-acre farm field in Sandstone became a botanical sculpture garden based on Ojibwe history. We talk with Minnesota Moose Garden co-founder and multi-media artist Susan Swerda Foss about the vision behind the space.
Transcript
Opening: This is Minnesota’s Legacy: A look at the organizations and people who have benefitted from Minnesota’s unique Clean Water, Land and Legacy Amendment
Amira Warren-Yearby: Ma'iingan the Younger, also known as Albert Little Wolf, lived with his grandparents on Long Lake in Northern, Minnesota. One day, as Ma’iingan and his grandparents were in their cabin, a terrible blizzard came. Soon they ran out of food and wood. So, Ma’iingan walked to get help, 20 miles in the blizzard from Long Lake to Crow Wing.
Susan Swerda Foss: Apparently he would lie down in the snow, cover himself with snow when he was tired […]By the time he got to Crow Wing, his feet and legs were frozen and had to be amputated below the knee.
Warren-Yearby: That’s Susan Swerda Foss, Minnesota based multimedia artist and founder of the Minnesota Goose Garden in Sandstone, MN. Susan says this is the story behind two of her newest sculptures in the garden.
Foss: “I have several sculpture settings that are stories from Ojibwe past, and they're all real life. This particular one caught my eye.”
Warren-Yearby: Thanks to support from the Minnesota Arts & Cultural Heritage Fund, Susan created two life size sculptures out of concrete, both based on Ma'iingan’s story.
Foss: “I have a large rock where I portray him in the blizzard. And then close by that, I have him as an adult.”
Warren-Yearby: Find more information at minnesota goose garden dot com
Closing: Minnesota’s Legacy is a production of AMPERS, with support from the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund, more at ampers dot org.