How Artists Help Build Equitable, Empathetic Infrastructure

After the long pandemic year, residents of the small harbor village of Grand Marais, Minnesota faced the loss of their only major highway due to necessary but disruptive construction. Seeking ways to support the residents during this disruptive process, the local government brought in artist Amanda Lovelee (also one of the authors of this piece) to turn the project into something productive for the community.

She began by interviewing village residents about detours in their lives and turned their stories into a playful scavenger hunt of signage that reframed the construction as an exploration of unexpected life shifts. Detour signs sharing personal life stories are now installed throughout the village. With artist collaboration, this infrastructure project became an opportunity to turn road detour signs into messages of community joy.