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Moorhead commission recommends city council approve Indigenous sculpture by Duane Goodwin
Summary
The Arts and Culture Commission voted Jan. 27, 2025, to recommend the Moorhead City Council approve an agreement to install an Anishinaabe "Hunter Trapper" bronze sculpture by Duane Goodwin at the city right-of-way west of 403 Center Avenue; the motion set a funding ceiling but the transcript records two different ceiling amounts.
The Moorhead Arts and Culture Commission voted Jan. 27, 2025, to recommend the Moorhead City Council approve an agreement to install an Indigenous sculpture, "Anishinaabe Hunter Trapper," proposed by artist Duane Goodwin and sited in city right-of-way west of 403 Center Avenue.
Ethan, a commission staff member who presented the proposal, described the submission as the only response to the 2024 Call for Art and said the artist is based in the Bemidji region. "Duane is an indigenous artist located in the Bemidji region, and he has sculpted many projects throughout the state," Ethan said. He described the design as a cast-bronze Anishinaabe hunter-trapper mounted on a stone pedestal.
Ethan said the proposed pedestal is approximately 5 feet in height and the cast bronze piece about 2 feet in height, and that the commission- and staff-reviewed submission is being recommended for council approval. "The proposed pedestal is approximately 5 feet in height, and the casted bronze piece is an additional approximately 2 feet in height," Ethan said.
The motion recommended the City Council approve an agreement to implement the proposal and included a funding ceiling. The meeting transcript contains two different ceiling amounts: at one point a speaker references "$20,008.50" as a ceiling and later the recommended motion in the packet and during the vote cites "funds not to exceed $20,850." The commission voted in favor of the recommendation; the transcript records members responding "Aye" but does not record a roll-call tally or named votes.
Commissioners asked and staff answered whether the project would use the public art budgets for 2024 and 2025; Ethan said it would, and that staff expects the project to largely deplete available funds for the year. Ethan said staff will move forward with plantings and seeding around the sculpture as budget and implementation permit and that staff will present the agreement to city council for final authorization.
The commission's formal action at the meeting was a recommendation to the City Council; final approval, contract execution and any remaining budget authority will be determined by the City Council and in the agreement language the council approves.
