With today's blog post, I'm going to be wrapping up my series on Urban Terrapsychology and Creative Placemaking for the foreseeable future.
In my last post I discussed how the people of the Upper Mississippi Valley became aware that the 1854 Grand Excursion went awry in some ways that were evident at that time, but in other ways that weren't evident until our own time. The problem recognized in 1854 was Saint Paul's failure to exhibit appropriate hospitality to visitors. The problems evident by 2004 were that 1854 featured systemic injustice to indigenous peoples and the natural world. In all three ways the 2004 Grand Excursionists pledged to "get it right this time" - often through the community-based arts and cultural activities that comprise creative placemaking.
An exhaustive account of the panoply of Grand Excursion 2004 activities is available at the following website: grandexcursion.com
From a depth psychology/creative placemaking standpoint, here are some additional dimensions to consider:
1. Hospitality: In the ten-year runup to Grand Excursion 2004, Saint Paul resolved to set aside its "smaller twin" inferiority complex by becoming a more welcoming center of local, national and international hospitality. The city's themes for the Grand Excursion flotilla was "We've Been Waiting 150 Years for This" and "We Did It Right This Time." The city especially sought to ensure that excursionist visitors to the Falls of St. Anthony and a re-created "mingling of the waters" ceremony would be meaningful and indicative of a welcoming attitude towards the entire world. Waters from around the globe were united with Mississippi Water in a ceremony featuring representatives from Saint Paul's sister cities of Nagasaki, Japan and Neuss, Germany. Other dimensions of the city's new commitment to hospitality extended far beyond Grand Excursion 2004: a renovated city arena in 2000 became the home to the Minnesota Wild NHL hockey team, and the city's renovated convention center in 2008 hosted both the Republican National Convention, and a special visit from Barack Obama at a major rally on the night when he clinched the Democratic nomination.
2. Reconciliation with Nature: When I pitched the idea of Grand Excursion 2004 to civic leaders in 1994, there was a decision to grow support for the idea via an annual community dinner focusing on riverfront regeneration. The first such dinner, held in 1995, drew 125 participants. In subsequent years the dinner doubled in attendance each year before reaching capacity at over 1,000 attendees. The annual dinner has now become an annual Saint Paul and regional institution featuring news, plans, entertainment and displays focusing on riverfront regeneration, mostly involving the restoration of the river's natural environment. For details see: http://www.riverfrontcorporation.com/news-events-whats-new/21st-annual-great-river-gathering/
3. Reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples: Winona, MN, a city on the Mississippi River 100 miles southwest of Saint Paul, is a traditional center of the Dakota community, but is mainly populated by European Americans. When the city of Winona became interested in Grand Excursion 2004, the Dakota community expressed its concern with celebrating the 1854 event which ushered in a time of tragedy for their people. But inspired by the "We Did It Right This Time" theme of Grand Excursion 2004, the two communities resolved to use the event as an occasion to address past injustices and move to a new level of respect and cooperation. This effort yielded an annual Great Dakota Gathering event each summer. But more importantly, it also resulted in a serious "Covenant of Friendship" between the indigenous and Euro-American communities in the city. See: http://www.winonadakotaunityalliance.org/goalsmission/covenant-of-friendship/
So many remarkable coincidences occurred in conjunction with Grand Excursion 2004 that on more than one occasion other event organizers asked if I was engaged in some sort of magical ritual to make it happen. My response then was the true one: No, I just discovered an amazing story about our place in the world, and allowed it to re-tell itself. In the end I think that's what terrapsychology is all about.
