Walkin’ Around, Checkin’ Stuff Out
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Whether you’re picking strawberries, chilling in a dive bar, riding a bike or just pondering the meaning of life – Wacso might be checkin’ you out.
“Wacso” is the nom de plume of a Minneapolis sketch artist whose work is garnering increasing attention. It’s also an acronym for what inspires his art: Walkin’ Around, Checkin’ Stuff Out.
“I like just regular boring stuff,” Wacso says. “I try to draw it from vantage points that people might not usually stop to check out, like the back side of a building. You just have to stop and look around. There are a lot of beautiful amazing things around us. I just try to appreciate them all.”
Wacso’s art is available on his website and at Gallery 360 in Minneapolis. Here, we get a tour of the Twin Cities through the sketch artist's eyes.
"Home of the butter knife steak" ...that's what they say anyways. I've never tried one so I can't back up that claim. Murray's is the kind of place you don't need to eat at to enjoy...just walk by and admire the building with all that fantastic neon and turquoise coloring, a Minneapolis icon for sure. The "DINE DANCE" sign has me intrigued...do they really have dancing? I may have to check that one out...stay tuned.
A classic Minneapolis bar I'd never been into until last week when the band played there. I walked in, looked around and thought about leaving. Don't get me wrong, I love a good dive bar, but this place took it to a whole new level. Glad I wasn't serious about leaving because this place is awesome and we had a great show in spite of there not being much of a stage to speak of.
Wonder why more companies don't make cool signs like that anymore? Is it because it costs too much (I'm sure it wasn't cheap or easy for North Star to put up), or is it because they don't believe in their product enough to back it up with a cool sign?
French onion soup on a cold winter day? Yes, please.
This place is so bizarre...they closed down probably back in 1993 or so, but the place sits there untouched, lights on and looking like they could grill up some coneys on the spot. I guess there's been legal issues going on with the place which is why it closed and never reopened. I was fortunate enough to hit the place up a few times years ago. The coney dogs were great and the space was awesome...one side is laid out diner style, with a counter and stools and a few booths. The other side is a classic, old dark bar...the kind of place that was open and full of drinkers at 10 in the morning. Here's hoping they get the legal crap figured out and reopen a classic, downtown St. Paul icon.
He works around the courthouse. Seems like a quiet, interesting guy. I bet he would make an interesting interview.
Bingo, karaoke, meat raffles and lobster rolls. Northeast regulars, college partiers, off duty cops and suburban people looking for the lobster rolls they saw on the food network. The 1029 is a crazy mix of everybody and everything and that's what makes it fantastic.
They've done some great things with the riverfront in Minneapolis in the past 10 years. This park next to the Guthrie Theater is one of them. I was flying by on the motorcycle the other day and noticed all the flowers blooming around the sign and had to stop to take it all in.
The old theaters blow me away every time I sit in one...the detail is freakin' insane. If the show I'm going to see sucks, just turn the lights on so I can stare in amazement at the level of detail they put into these places. And why...seriously, WHY can't we make cool shit like this anymore?
Just stopping and looking around reveals some pretty interesting scenes in the city that can too easily go unnoticed.
Every time I go to the 1029 Bar for lobster rolls (which is a lot), I see these dudes at the bar. Looks to me like they're solving all the worlds problems, at the very least figuring out why the Vikings lost in the first round of the playoffs...important stuff, either way.
I love this city. The mix of people and things happening on every street corner is awesome. From the buildings to the people watching to the mix of everything all together makes me wonder how people deal with the suburbs.
