Art Shanty Projects delays opening one week because of lack of ice and construction woes

This winter, the ice will have to wait. The opening of the annual public-art-on-ice event, Art Shanty Projects, is being postponed one week until Jan. 27 due to lack of ice and construction complications at Lake Harriet.

The project will still end on Feb. 11 as planned, meaning one week less of on-ice fun.

"We need 10 inches of good, clear ice throughout our village to operate," Art Shanty Artistic Director Erin Lavelle said. "There's still a lot of open water on the lake right now, but the temperatures are plummeting, so we'll see what happens."

If there's not enough ice despite the delay, the project will install 300 feet from the shore, or abandon the ice all together for Plan Beach. (In 2023, Art Shanty had to move the operation onto land because of rapidly deteriorating ice on Lake Harriet.) This year's installation is set to begin Jan. 19, marking the final deadline for a decision on whether the shanties will be safe on the ice.

The delay wasn't all the weather's fault.

Ongoing construction at Lake Harriet Band Shell Park and the Bread & Pickle restaurant were another hurdle. Art Shanty uses Bread & Pickle's back space and the surrounding patio. With these areas off-limits, Art Shanty has no back-of-house operations space, where volunteers can warm up, store equipment and manage the project.

"Because they have delayed their construction so many times, that just reinforced that we had to postpone," Lavelle said. "It's very unfortunate that that was sort of what tipped the balance for our decision making."

Art Shanty Projects 2024 includes 19 artist shanties and more than 20 performances and art actions throughout the village. This year, classic shanties that people can enter are back. These weren't possible during the pandemic, when shanties had to have outdoor, non-enclosed spaces to protect against the spread of COVID-19. Participating artists range from those who were there in the early days to ice-loving newcomers.

This year marks Art Shanty Projects' 20-year anniversary. It all began in 2004 on Medicine Lake, when artists David Pitman and Peter Haakon Thompson created a single art shanty after being inspired by ice fishing shanties. The project grew to 11 shanties the next year, then 25, and has been blossoming ever since.