Meandering Mississippi. Map by Harold N. Fisk, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, 1944 | Geological Investigation of the Alluvial Valley of the Lower Mississippi River

Mississippi: An Anthropocene River is a series of events and activities about the ways in which humans have shaped the region’s environment, with a focus on issues related to the headwaters of the Mississippi River to the Twin Cities.

Field Station 1 considers the stretch of land that extends from the Mississippi River’s headwaters at Lake Itasca, down to the unglaciated region that crosses southeastern Minnesota, southwestern Wisconsin, and northeastern Iowa known as the Driftless. This stretch of the Mississippi River marks both its “natural” and “anthropogenic” origin, where a small creek becomes a continental torrent, where the Dakota, Ojibwe, and many other native peoples centered their material and spiritual lives, and where the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has pursued its mandate to organize, manage, and direct the river’s flow for almost two centuries.

Activities will include: 

Mississippi River Sound Walk with Monica Haller and Matt Rahaim

Alien Species: Installation by Kinga Kielczynska

Katharine Ordway, Fall 2018: Sound installation by Max Ritts

Mississippi Mud Stencil Workshop with Ruthann Godollei

Driftless Observatory: Bridging the Twin Cities field station with the Driftless

6:00 pm - 7:00 pm

National Park Service tours of the Lock and Dam

6:00 pm - 7:00 pm

Film presentation and discussion with Mike Hoyt and Molly Van Avery about their 2018 Illuminate the Lock installation, moderated by Sarah Peters.

7:30 pm - 9:30 pm

Anthropocene Film Residency screenings with opening music by Dreamland Faces. Films by Andrea Carlson, John Kim, Jenny Schmid, and Tia Simone-Gardner

Except where indicated, all events will happen at the St. Anthony Falls Visitor Center (1 Portland Ave, Minneapolis, MN 55401) from 6 PM - 9:30 PM.

All events are free and open to the public.