1-2-3 Mississippi Mosaics at MSP Airport

Installed at the MSP International Airport, Delta Gates C4-6.  Hundreds of thousands of vitreous glass tiles.  Special thanks to crew Austin Flom, Mary Lee Leikas, Michelle Roise, Kathy Thiel, Anni Kandel, Thea Schermerhorn, Bobbi Solien, and Cathi Tiedeman; and to installers Leslie Bentley and Joyce.

"One Missippi"
Lake Itasca Headwaters, MN
9.5' x 11'

"Two Mississippi"
St. Anthony Falls, MN
9.5' x 10.5'

"Three Mississippippi"
St. Paul, MN
9.5' x 10.5'

#4 MMM: Prep Work without End

 Welcome to my studio......

...where, in a space 14'x18,' I'm supposed to make 3 mosaic murals -- each 10 feet high by 11' wide or greater.  First step was to order materials.  Some come in bags, but others come on sheets like you'd buy in the DIY store and these must be soaked off the paper or mesh, and then dried overnight before being sorted into bins.  How many?  Thousands....

tiles soaking

tiles drying

Next is to trace the template onto mesh.  Thanks to Bobbi S and Cathi T for noticing that we needed to number EVERYTHING-- lest we lose track.

Tracing the template onto mesh, referencing gridded "map"