In Focus: 19th Bemidji Sculpture Walk Goes To The Dogs

If you take a stroll around downtown Bemidji, you’ll see the streets coming to life thanks to a few new stone additions. There are officially 20 new sculptures on display right now, thanks to the 19^th annual Sculpture Walk.

“Two of the founders are still very active with it are Kate Belleveau and Al Belleveau. They had visited Grand Junction and saw the sculpture walk going on there, and it just really inspired them to try to do something to really bring more of a focus to downtown Bemidji,” says Marcia BMarthaler, the president and chair of the Bemidji Sculpture Walk.

Each sculpture has a story, so it’s worth a stop if you see something that catches your eye. This year’s artists come from places like South Korea, Colorado, Ireland, and of, course Minnesota.

It wouldn’t be a sculpture walk without a theme, and this one will be sure to have all the pup lovers wagging their tails.

“With the prototype series that we did this year, which was dogs, we did something a little different in that we have 12 different breeds of dogs and 12 different sizes,” says BMarthaler.

All you need is a map, some sunshine and a good sense of direction to enjoy the Bemidji Sculpture Walk. You can find the dogs hanging out on street corners or even in shop windows.

If you want to see all the dogs along with other sculptures on the walk, the best thing to do is to schedule a free tour. They’ll be held every Sunday through August.

“The tours not only talk about some of all the different sculptures downtown, it includes information on maybe 20 of the sculptures but it also incorporates some of the historic aspects of downtown Bemidji,” says BMarthaler.

Tour dates are the first and third Sundays from Memorial Day to Labor Day at 11 am and 1 pm. They start at the Bemidji Visitor Center, next to Paul and Babe. They last about an hour.