64-year-old artist Stan Herd transformed a field on the Eagan, Minnesota, Thomson Reuters campus into Van Gogh’s 1889 Painting "Olive Trees." Herd's first 'earthwork' was created in 1981; this latest project took six months, covers 1.2-acres, and involved weeks of mowing, digging, and planting. It was sponsored by the Minneapolis Institute of Art, and can be seen from the air near the Minneapolis airport.
"It’s an iteration of Van Gogh’s painting writ large in native plants and materials," Herd told Star Media. "It never looks like I want it to...I bit off a lot here, to try to pull this off. A few of the plants were eaten by deer, and a few were blown over. But that's the dance of nature," he added in a separate interview with MPRNews.
After 6 months of mowing, digging, and planting, Stan Herd finally completed his 1.2-acre "earthwork"
"It’s an iteration of Van Gogh’s painting writ large in native plants and materials"
"The opportunity to engage with one of my favorite artists in the world was pretty unique for me"
Image credits: Minneapolis Institute of Art
Image credits: Thomson Reuters