“Tree of Life” was once a 35-foot tall sculpture carved from a red oak tree stump in 1955 by Anthony Caponi. The hollow base of the stump was filled in with concrete to stabilize the tree and now that’s all that’s left. Carpenter ants carved out the interior of the tree until it collapsed.

The original sculpture featured nude figures standing on top of one another. It’s located in Caponi Art Park.

This mural is on the east side of the ArtScraps store in St. Paul, run by ArtStart. The artist is unknown, though when I was taking pictures someone told me a young woman painted the mural more than a dozen years ago. It also sounds like they may be painting a new mural soon.

Update: This mural was painted over in the summer of 2009.

Update: “Las Puertas de Orion” was removed in late November 2008 and reinstalled at Franconia Sculpture Park. The sculpture was partially crossing into the State of Minnesota’s Capitol Area and they had long wanted to relocate the sculpture. It was also suffering from structural and rust issues, so they relocated it completely.

These towering blue columns are an entrance of sorts to the Western Sculpture Park in St. Paul. They stand in the median of Marion Street across from the park, like a beacon pointing the way to more art. The geometric shapes and patterns are common in Sebastian’s work (he’s also known as Enrique Carbajal Gonzalez).

A bizarre and playful 1971 sculpture by George Sugarman at the entrance to Anchor Bank in downtown St. Paul at 5th and Minnesota Streets. It looks almost as if children cut out a bunch of colorful shapes and then suspended them above the entryway.

Update (June 9, 2008): St. Paul Sculptural Complex is gone. According to a Star Tribune article:

St. Paul’s most colorful downtown sculpture, a 17-ton melange of painted aluminum squiggles and blobs by George Sugarman, is heading to Texas. A cheerful landmark at the corner of 5th and Minnesota streets since 1971, the 44-piece sculpture is considered a modernist masterpiece potentially worth millions. First National Bank (now U.S. Bank) commissioned it, then disavowed ownership after selling the building, leaving the current owner — a real-estate investment firm — free to dispose of it. “It just didn’t have a place in the new image,” said Tanya Hemphill, manager of Cushman and Wakefield, which is upgrading the building. Hemphill said the building’s new owner, whose name she doesn’t know, plans to install new art by an unnamed artist sometime within the next year but “I can’t commit to a date.” Meanwhile, chunks of the Sugarman were hauled off this week for restoration and reinstallation in Austin, Texas. “This is just wrong, so wrong,” said Christine Podas Larson, founder of Public Art St. Paul, which raised $20,000 in an unsuccessful effort to keep the work in Minnesota.

(link via Across the Great Divide)

Update (July 2, 2009): This blog has more details on the scultpture and pictures of the deconstruction process.

Pablo Basques started this mural on a garage just off Robert and Annapolis Streets on Sept. 11, 2004 in remembrance of those who died in 9/11. The mural is still in process, but it honors those who fight in the armed services and reflects soldiers in every conflict since World War II.

Update: This mural was recently painted over and is now lost.

Juxtaposition Arts is a local nonprofit focused on empowering youth through urban art. This is one of their collaborative mural projects on the edge of downtown Minneapolis. I believe this mural was redone in the summer of 2007.

Update (July 2, 2009): This iteration of the Merit Printing mural was painted over in 2009 and replaced with this version.

The first Paint the Pavement project was the intersection of Englewood and Syndicate in St. Paul, painted in 2006. This was a test painting of sorts as the intersection was scheduled to be repaved in 2007. The intersection has since been repaved and the painting is now gone.

This 1980 mural by John Acosta, Carlos Menchaca and Frank Sanchez is painted on the side of the Morgan’s Mexican and Lebanese Foods buildings in the West Side neighborhood of St. Paul (the building is for sale and Morgan’s appears closed, so the mural’s future may be up in the air).

As a 27-year-old mural it has weathered quite a bit and might have even been repainted or touched up at one point. A color picture in the 1987 book Museum of the Streets: Minnesota’s Contemporary Outdoor Murals by Moira Harris shows much more vibrant colors, including a bright yellow on the horizon which is now white and mustard yellow on the buildings which is now orange (either from fading or repainting). The picture also shows a clear signature on the right side which is now obscured.

Update: During the summer of 2011 the entire building was repainted in preparation for sale and the mural lost.