The award-winning Meander Art Crawl is a free, self-guided tour of artist studios featuring 30 local artists — including several Land Stewardship Project members — from the Upper Minnesota River Valley. The Meander Art Crawl is held yearly during the first weekend of October. It’s a chance to visit artists in their own environment who celebrate a lifestyle that represents the small, handmade, personal, and local culture of the area. This event has more than 30 individual studios in and near the western Minnesota communities of Ortonville, Appleton, Madison, Milan, Dawson, Montevideo, and Granite Falls. During this year’s event, which was held last weekend, LSP co-organized the “Monte Meet-Up,” a free gathering held Friday evening in downtown Montevideo that featured live music, local foods, a farmers’ market, and street art creation stations.
The event was organized by Java River, Talking Waters Brewery, and the Land Stewardship Project, and was sponsored by the Montevideo Convention and Visitors Bureau. The southern end of downtown Montevideo was blocked off to provide a free flow of food, friends, and fun between the sponsoring businesses.
Local food featuring brisket and vegetarian chili was prepared by Java River and served up by LSP volunteers. Talking Waters Brewery provided the local craft beer.
Thank you to everyone who joined in the fun and let us know how we can make it bigger and better for next year.
Heather Benson is an LSP communications specialist based out of our Montevideo office.
A music jam with Clark Machtemes of Traveled Ground, Richard Handeen, and others was staged in the Java River courtyard.
In addition to the Meander art studios open in downtown Montevideo, street art stations were set up for artists young and old to add their creations to the celebration.
