Public art designed to celebrate the contribution of immigrants and honor former St. Paul Mayor Larry Cohen, who championed their inclusion in Minnesota, soon will adorn the plaza in front of the St. Paul City Hall-Ramsey County Courthouse building.
A temporary, traveling art installation called "CarryOn Homes," featuring a sculpture made of stacked suitcases, will be displayed first at the corner of Kellogg Boulevard and Wabasha Street in downtown St. Paul. It started Sunday and will run through Nov. 24. A permanent art installation honoring immigrants will be unveiled at the same location in fall 2020.
St. Paul artist Marjorie Pitz, who was selected by a panel of community members to create the public artwork, is developing three design concepts.
The CarryOn Homes installation, followed by the permanent art display, are projects of the Larry Cohen Recognition Project, a collaboration between St. Paul and Ramsey County to honor the only man ever to serve as St. Paul mayor, Ramsey County chief judge and chairman of the Ramsey County Board.
Cohen, who died in 2016 at age 83, was renowned for his support and work on behalf of communities of color and immigrants, including the arrival of Hmong refugees in the late 1970s and '80s.
"He would see injustice, see something broken and say, 'How do we fix this?' " said Cohen's widow, Kathi Donnelly-Cohen. "He was an incredible man."
As chairman of the County Board, Cohen helped pass the county's first affirmative action policy in the early 1970s, Donnelly-Cohen said. He also worked to improve conditions and circumstances of American Indian families entangled in the foster care system, she said.
As a judge, Cohen set up a certification program for court interpreters after concluding that newer immigrant groups weren't being properly served. He also established a program called Hmong Circles of Peace to help resolve disputes.