The rehabbed Union Depot in Lowertown St. Paul was to be visited Thursday by a sprawling, one-of-a-kind traveling show — a cross-country art extravaganza on a nine-car, LED rainbow-lit train whose cargo included musicians, visual and performance artists, filmmakers and their work.
One problem: Because Union Depot is only connected to light rail, not Amtrak, the train wound up not actually being within eyesight. It had to stay parked at Midway station, which seemed quite a bait and switch after all the advance hoopla about the train being part of the appeal.
The producers moved all the art installations in front of and inside the depot, mostly inside portable yurts.
Jeff Lund of Minneapolis said he was disappointed. "I was expecting more art and higher caliber art," he said. "And to be on the train."
A crowd of about 900 turned out for Station to Station, an ambitious project promoting nontraditional art, spearheaded by multimedia artist Doug Aitken.
St. Paul was the fourth of just nine stops the creative cavalcade will make between New York City (where it started on Sept. 6) and San Francisco. Each features an evolving roster of artists, but St. Paul landed what can arguably be dubbed the crown jewel — a concert by class-of-her-own rocker Patti Smith and her son, guitarist Jackson Smith.
For Aitken, the project is about the journey and not the destination, the experience rather than a final product. The loosey-goosey agenda allows for attendees and artists, some of whom travel along with the show, to spontaneously interact. Starting last spring, project organizers visited each stop, recording video and connecting with area artists via social media to make sure their choices were in sync with the local talent.
One yurt contained a giant white bed under a disco ball, surrounded in mist created by dry ice. "It's the first time I've been on a bed with people I don't know in quite some time," joked attendee Elroy Schroeder.
