An Artist Placed Something In A Minnesota Park That Has People Flocking To See It
Zach Schumak is a Twin Cities artist who was commissioned to make a pretty unusual piece for a clients event last year and it was quite a hit. It was a caveman sculpture that looks like it is frozen in ice. But since then it has just sat in his garage in Burnsville. Schumak decided to do something with the sculpture that he had thought about doing for a long time. Place it in the woods somewhere for some unknowing person to run into.
During the pandemic many people have been stuck in their homes and glued to their televisions and phones. So, Schumak is hoping that word of mouth about the caveman would get people out of the house to hit the trails to go check it out. He placed the statue near Bassett Creek at Theodore Wirth Park in Minneapolis on January 7.
His inspiration came from a Denmark artist by the name of Thomas Dambo who builds trolls out of pallets and sets them on different trails in the woods. Schumak said:
I kind of knew this might have the same effect and it looks like it fits within the park in the snow. It gets people to come there and wonder about it. It took a few days, but people started to notice the caveman frozen in ice in the park, sharing images on social media as they wondered how the sculpture got there.
Initially many people talked about the caveman statue through word of mouth, as it drew more media attention many people have since told Schumak that they went to the park to specifically see the caveman statue and otherwise would not have gone at all. So it seems his little experiment is working getting people out of the house and away from their screens. I am guessing this sculpture must be pretty heavy since it is still standing where he placed it. Here is to some light hearted news in the wake of all that has been happening in the world around us. If you happen to be in the Twin Cities you might want to take a little side trip to check it out before it's gone or heads off to another park somewhere.
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