The Midtown Greenway embodies an unusual opportunity for artistic expression. Users of the corridor might see art along the trail, incorporated into the bridges, and in the communities surrounding the five and a half miles of linear park. Much of the corridor is an ideal forum to display art where travelers go more slowly than by car ,and travel undistracted by having to dodge car traffic.

The physical characteristics of the corridor itself, with banks sweeping up on each side and bridges spanning it above at rhythmic distance, present a dramatic perspective from which travelers can absorb and reflect on art, removed as they are from the noise and ordinariness of the street. Art in the Greenway is a way of bringing various cultures together, bringing out the positive aspect of inner city life.

An example of this phenomenon is the Day of the Dead (Dia de Los Muertos) procession that took place there early in November of 2003. This holiday, important to Hispanic people in several of the neighborhoods along the Greenway, was dedicated to young women murdered recently in Mexico, but was dramatized by carried art objects and tableaux under bridges commemorating deceased loved ones of several cultures. Several hundred people took part, some having planned to do so, and some spontaneously joining in. Others watched the procession from the bridges. A multicultural celebration with music and food, open to all, followed.

Straw Ballerina

During the summer of 2007, the Soo Line Gardeners created a straw ballerina. To view a short video of the ballerina, click here.

That website has a number of videos relating to the Midtown Greenway. To access that website, click here.