As part of the Creative City Challenge’s summer-long programming, there are three themed activity days: Play Day, July 19; Discovery Day, August 16; and Maker Day, September 13. View the Creative City Challenge website at http://www.minneapolis.org/ccc.

Discovery Day is a chance to explore new ideas and discover new ways of experiencing the environment around you, from a cell phone-based mystery to milkweed plants. Come to the Minneapolis Convention Center Plaza and discover with us and with each other.

Balancing Ground Stage

10 – 11am
Matthew Pendleton
Dance along with Matthew Pendleton’s playful, soulful harmonica performance.

11am – 12:30pm
Daniel and Adrian Volovets, Volovets DNA
Daniel and Adrian Volovets present a classical, flamenco, jazz, and Latin American music duet.

12:30 – 1:30pm
Leah Nelson, Discover Dance Steps
Join Leah Nelson as she improvises modern dance to a variety of musical styles – from hip hop, to funk, to soul. Discover new ways to move your body as you learn new dance steps from many dance traditions.

2 – 4pm
The Eclectic Ensemble
The music of The Eclectic Ensemble occupies a middle ground between abstract and popular, familiar enough that people can relate but unique to the point of being unpredictable. It is an instrumental music that sparks the imagination of the audience through an unusual arrangement of rhythm, timing, texture and presentation. A different kind of music with out a preconceived role.

 

Artists and Organizations

Artists and organizations participating in Creative City Challenge Discovery Day include:

Philip Blackburn, Dowsing the Plaza

Think you might be a water witch? Or perhaps a human metal detector? Amateur dowser Philip Blackburn will help you discover your mysterious talents (if any) by introducing you to swing rod dowsing techniques. Try it out, make your own, divine the Plaza and reveal its underground cartography.

Tim Donahue, Buttons of Eclectic Mystery Music

Generate your own soundscape by plugging yourself into a headphone “mix” and experimenting to sculpt your musical experience.

Justin Heideman, Big Red Party Button

The photo booth experience updated for the Facebook age. 
Have your picture taken on the Balancing Ground See Saw. Can you stay balanced? No dark, claustrophobic closets here! All photos are taken out in the open, so more than two people can get in on the fun. Just gather your friends on the Balancing Ground see saw, hit the Big Reg Party Button, and say cheese! Instead of tiny photo strips like most booths offer, you can retrieve your photos via a short web URL, right on your smartphone. All photos will be uploaded, so you can see them at your convenience.

Robyn Hendrix, The Land of Parcheesopoly

Co-create a giant sidewalk chalk board game! Roll dice. Hop, twirl, squawk, recite, wiggle. Make up rules, build it bigger. The game will evolve throughout the day as players add to the board with their own instructions and alter routes and rules of play. Examples might include the basics such as “Go back 2 spaces” or “Roll again” as well as creative action commands like “Make a funny face at someone you don’t know.” “Recite a seven word poem about honey badgers.” “Sing a song you hated as a child.” “Pretend you are wearing a funny hat.” The Land of Parcheesopoly is designed to instigate connection and interaction with friends and strangers through movement, laughter, manipulation and negotiation of rules, cheating when appropriate, and ridiculousness.

Soozin Hirschmugl, sPARKit Mobile Unit

 sPARKit is a mobile camper/pop-up park with all of the amenities needed to turn a green, common space into a celebratory community conversation space to “spark” conversations in a fun, family-friendly environment. During Discovery Day you will discover new and old games at the table game parlor, created especially for you. From 1-4pm you are invited to listen to the sounds of the city and paint a postcard based on what you discover from these listening sessions.

Juxtaposition Arts, Mobile JXTA

Mobile JXTA is a small fleet of bike-towed carts that create an oasis of light, sound and play in the public right of way. Visitors can play a game of chess or dominos, charge their phones, and do an art activities to take away. Mobile JXTA will move through the Minneapolis Convention Center Plaza all day.

Amanda Lovelee, Pollination Education Station

Growing Habitats for a Connected Community. The Pollination Education Station aims to harness the power of diversity in the Twin Cities in order to create a stronger ecosystem. By mapping our urban ecology, the journeys of our pollinators, and the stories of our community, this project hopes to educate and encourage action on habitat protection for bees and monarch butterflies. The Mobile Pollination Education Station strives to develop an engaging conversation about the symbiotic nature of our community and the power of even the smallest actions.

Monkey with a Mustache, Mystery Phone: Art of Darkness

Welcome to MysteryPhone! This game is played entirely on your phone, but to access the content, you’ll have to travel to certain places in real life. The game uses your phone’s GPS to sense where you are, and unlock a chapter of the story for you. In this “augmented reality” game, you’ll get to explore a fictionalized version of the real-world locations you visit: the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden, the Weisman Art Museum, the Bell Museum, and the Convention Center.

The self-contained story chapters are playable beginning on Friday, August 8, and continuing until midnight on Discovery Day, Saturday, August 16. The climax of the story is available beginning at 2pm on Discovery Day. Or, during the preceding week, if you complete any two museum chapters, you’ll be able to access the climax early. You can play as few or as many chapters as you like!

You’ll be able to view important information beginning on August 4. On August 17, the day after Discovery Day, you’ll unlock a news report giving you extra insight into the story.

To download the free game, please go to your device’s app store and search for “MysteryPhone” or “Art of Darkness”.

For more information, read Pat Harrigan’s essay here.

 Presented by

The Creative City Challenge, a competition for Minnesota artists and architects to create a destination artwork. which acts as a sociable and participatory platform for summer-long onsite activities, is presented by the Minneapolis Convention Center and Arts, Culture and Creative Economy Program of the City of Minneapolis and Meet Minneapolis in collaboration with Northern Lights.mn.