Few things express the culture of a town more than the sculptures and monuments that they decide to build and highlight in their communities. There are literally hundreds and maybe thousands of sculptures and monuments located on public and private property all around Minnesota. This is a listing of the more notable sculptures and monuments located in Minnesota.
- Mary Tyler Moore Statue (Minneapolis, MN)
On the Nicolette Mall in Downtown Minneapolis, this bronze sculpture commemorates the infamous hat toss made by Mary Tyler Moore in the opening credits of “The Mary Tyler Moore Show”. It is jubilant expression of independent career-woman optimism and is inscribed with the words “Who can turn the world on with her smile?” - Spoonbridge and Cherry (Minneapolis, MN)
Erected in 1985 by artist Claes Oldenburg and his wife, Coosje van Bruggen. This piece is the centerpiece of the Walker Art Center’s Minneapolis Sculpture Garden, the largest urban sculpture park in the world. - Standing Glass Fish (Minneapolis, MN)
Designed by architect Frank Gehry, “Standing Glass Fish” is a 22 foot tall glass sculpture of a jumping fish put together piece by piece (fish scale by fish scale) on location. It is located at the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden.
World’s Largest Statues in Minnesota
Every community wants to be recognized for something, right? Well, in Minnesota one way to get recognition is to have the World’s Largest statue. Being the “World’s Largest” can be a competitive endeavor between towns. The following is a list of the World’s Largest Statues located in Minnesota:
- World’s Largest Stucco Snowman (North St. Paul, MN)
Although dubbed the “World’s Largest Snowman”, this snowman is actually made of stucco (cement) and is technically the World’s Largest Stucco Snowman. We guess that this is how it retains it’s title year ’round. It was built in the early 1950’s by a local resident, Lloyd Koesling once he realized that the city could save time and money by not creating a real snowman every year for their local winter festival, SnoDaze. - World’s Largest Authentic Hockey Stick (Eveleth, MN)
Located on main street in downtown Eveleth, MN., home of the U. S. Hockey Hall of Fame. It weighs 10,000 pounds (5 tons) and is 110 foot long. It was placed on June 18th, 2002. It is actually the World’s Largest Authentic Hockey Stick, the “World’s Largest Hockey Stick” title goes to one in Duncan, BC Canada. - World’s Largest Fish (Rockville, MN)
- World’s Largest Prairie Chicken (Rothsay, MN)
- World’s Largest Pelican (Pelican Rapids, MN)
- World’s Largest Turkey (Frazee, MN)
- World’s Largest Loon (Vergas, MN)
- World’s Largest Tiger Muskie (Nevis, MN)
- World’s Largest Walleye (Baudette, MN)
- World’s Largest Jolly Green Giant (Blue Earth, MN)
- World’s Largest Boot (Red Wing, MN)
- World’s Largest Ball of Twine (created by one man) (Darwin, MN)
- World’s Largest Crow (Belgrade, MN)
The crow is 18 feet high, but the overall statue stands 43′ tall from the base. Built with a metal skeleton and fiberglass skin. Erected in the wake of the 1988 state centennial, funded partially by a grant from the Celebrate Minnesota Committee. Why a statue of a crow? Because Belgrade is near the north fork of the Crow River, and not far from Crow Lake. (source: roadsideamerica.com, wcco.com)