The Lorelei Club

Instruments become art in this fireplace installation. There’s a sense of movement and play in the circular composition of 12 real violins, which are held together with stainless steel, wood screws and lag bolts. Donald Lipski created the piece with a little help from students at nearby MacPhail Center for Music, who etched their names onto the violins using sgraffito, an ancient decoration technique used in Egypt, Italy and elsewhere. The artwork’s title is a subtle (albeit obscure) nod to local music history: The Lorelei Club was a women’s choir at Plymouth Congregational Church that started in 1892.

Funded by the Minneapolis Public Library Percent for Art Program