Bob Dylan Manhole Design Contest

Common Language is sponsoring a competition for an artist interested in designing Bob Dylan-themed cast-iron manhole cover for Bob Dylan Way in Duluth, Minnesota. The manhole cover will be cast at the 10th North Shore Iron Pour, which will be held this summer in Duluth.

The artist selected will be given free instruction at the North Shore Iron Pour seminar and an honorarium of $300. They will see their cast iron manhole cover installed on Bob Dylan Way.

Artists may submit designs in either digital or printed format. Printed designs may be no larger than 8 1/2 by 11 inches. Do not send original artwork. Make sure all imagery is your own. Do not use copyrighted photographs. Printed designs for Bob Dylan-themed manhole covers should be sent to Common Language c/o Jeffrey Kalstrom, 114 Laurie Street, Duluth, MN 55803. Digital designs should be sent to [email protected]. The postmarked deadline for submission is June 30th, 2010. The selection will be made by the Duluth Public Arts Commission.

This activity is funded by the Minnesota arts and cultural heritage fund as appropriated by the Minnesota state legislature with money from the vote of the people of Minnesota on November 4, 2008, and an appropriation from the Minnesota State Legislature.

Contact Information:

Common Language c/o
Jeffrey Kalstrom
114 Laurie Street
Duluth, MN 55803
218-310-8411
[email protected]

14 Comments

Timk

about 13 years ago

Any chance you could post a pic of last year's cover?

Beetle

about 13 years ago

Here are the covers that were installed last week.

MJH

about 13 years ago

Where else but Duluth?

zra

about 13 years ago

Oh, I dunno ... Dallas. Atlanta. Ft. Worth. Seattle. Hell, practically any major city that has a vibrant arts and music culture, MJH.

Next question, please.

Paul Lundgren

about 13 years ago

Any major city with a vibrant arts and music culture has Bob Dylan manhole covers? Zra, you should probably give Duluth credit for being unique on this one. 

(Perhaps you meant that cities with vibrant art scenes do things similar to this. And maybe you inferred MJH's comment was somehow negative. It sounds positive to me. Where else but Duluth?!)

Thedoog

about 13 years ago

Ha, you said manhole...

zra

about 13 years ago

Agreed ... Dylan specific, yeah. We're unique. Decorative manhole covers in general was more my point.

Paul Lundgren

about 13 years ago

We had Thedoog at manhole. You didn't have to add "decorative." The poor guy is licking his chops now.

zra

about 13 years ago

ehh...sounds like a slippery slope we're about to encounter...

watch out for santorum at the bottom.

MJH

about 13 years ago

I love the idea of the artistic manhole covers. I am not so sure about the dedication to Dylan, who has no interest in this place what so ever and lived here as a toddler. Lets open up the manhole cover project to a wider variety of artistic expression.  There are a ton of musicians and artists here who actually care about Duluth and contribute to the community.

zra

about 13 years ago

Thank you MJH, for proving my point. to a point. 

How did you arrive at your conclusion, anyhow? Did you ask him?

zra

about 13 years ago

If you've been paying attention at all, the homage to Dylan isn't so much about the man, but *his* influence on *us.*

Aww...why the hell should we even bother. Haters don't get it. Never will.

Blazer

about 13 years ago

I thoroughly enjoy the epic debate on Bob Dylan's personal opinion of Duluth, as if it matters that much.  

In example: I'm not a big fan of Mankato, but the environment of Mankato (my hometown) had a profound effect on my personality, worldview, etc. Likewise, if I suddenly become a famous musician/songwriter and crank out fifty something albums over the years, I probably will have a fairly profound effect on the culture of Mankato.  

I almost think its like a path of least resistance or a scapegoat kind of statement -- "Bob Dylan doesn't even like Duluth". It rolls off the tongue so easily and leaves intrigue and many questions in the air.  It leaves me thinking WTF does Bob Dylan think of all this?  I assume he's laughing his ass off at the irony of it all.  Or, maybe grudgingly disapproving of Duluth just a bit for the cynical attitude.  An enigma wrapped in a conundrum, huh?

Sooo ... the next time you hear this casual conversation piece pervade the streets of Duluth, mandate that the sayer actually read Bob's autobiography, Chronicles. He described Suptown as a "red light gambling district" ... I got a kick out of that.

And to put my two cents in, I think there should be a Charlie Parr manhole hidden away, somewhere.  That's my idea of Duluth music.

dbb

about 13 years ago

The cool thing about manhole covers is that they are a legacy item. It isn't unusual to run across manhole covers with dates well back into the 19th century in older neighborhoods in cities across the country. How cool will they be in 50 years, when young people wonder 'who the hell was this Dylan guy'?

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