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A Visit to the Wedge

8/24/2013

I made it back to the State Capitol to cover the first floor and with only minutes to spare before closing, I ran down to the tunnels to see if they are worth photographing. They will be off-limits in a week and my decision is that I need to go back and spend one day shooting them. Next week is basically the last week of summer and with the State Fair in town I don't know what to say about spending 3 hours or so down in a tunnel system but I'll see if I can manage it. If I don't, I may miss an opportunity to capture them before they are renovated.

At any rate, I also made it into one of my old neighborhoods this past week for an errand, and whenever I get over there I usually end up stopping in my old favorite grocery store, The Wedge.

It is a cooperative that features organic food with a focus on sustaining local organic growers. It's a real feel-good experience shopping there. The food is healthy and buying there means supporting local farmers who are using clean growing methods. But I'm not going to kid around, the real reason my kids want to stop there is for the cookies in the bakery.

I have a favorite in there too, it's called the Black Angus.

It could be after the cow or maybe there's an AC/DC fan working in there. Either way, I love it. The bakery, the cheese department, and the bread section are all wonderful.

So, please take a trip with me through The Wedge and I will be reporting back on the State Capitol soon.

Here's a link for more information or directions if you'd like to go:

http://www.wedge.coop/

Minnesota State Capitol - Ground Level

8/10/2013

This week I made it back to the State Capitol to begin my in-depth exploration of the building. My plan is to cover each floor one day at a time, starting at the bottom and working my way up.

The ground level is the fastest floor to work because it is the least ornate and is pretty much limited to hallways. This is the floor the Senate holds some meetings and most of those rooms are off limits to the general public. Let's take a look around:

The main attraction on this level has to be the portraits of Minnesota's governors. The first floor also features such portraits. It appears however that paintings of the state's most recent governors are on the ground level. More visibility is given to the state's oldest governors just by the fact that they are on the first floor and that is where people enter the building. I don't have any statistics to back this up, but my guess is that a small percentage of the public makes its way down to the ground level. Will the 20th and 21st century governors ever make it up to a higher floor? Maybe I can inquire next time I am there and find an answer. These particular portraits depict officials who were in office from 1951 through 2003.

In case you were reading the captions, our current Governor is Mark Dayton. I didn't see his portrait down there but it could be by his office. It may show up on my next trip which will include the Governor's Reception Room located on the first floor.

I hope you will come back as I continue to work my way up in this building. It is going to get much more fascinating, I promise.

A Visit to the Wedge

Minnesota State Capitol - Ground Level

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