This browser does not support the Video element.
Celebrating Minneapolis park benches
Photographer Riley Bruce is on a mission to highlight the beauty and stories of Minneapolis park benches, turning them into celebrated community landmarks while encouraging people to get outdoors.
MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - As a photographer, Riley Bruce is used to capturing the most interesting images Minneapolis has to offer, but lately his personal passion has been elevating the most mundane of outdoor amenities.
Unsung heroes of the public park system
Local perspective:
Once or twice a week, Riley Bruce visits a public park to celebrate a bench that grabs his attention. On this day, it's Powderhorn Park in South Minneapolis, where one of his favorites offers quite the view.
"I don't feel like they get as much focus as they deserve. People will just walk past them, or they don't think about the value that they add to the community," said Bruce.
This particular seat is made of wood and concrete and has been painted all the colors of the rainbow.
"There is a dedication from the community to Sam Nordquist, who was a trans man who was murdered in New York, and has ties to Minneapolis. So it's a tribute to Sam," said Bruce.
It holds a special place in Bruce's heart for reasons other than just being somewhere to take in a stunning vista.
"This bench was the first bench that I really noticed as a standout in the Minneapolis Park System and to this day, it's still my favorite," said Bruce.
‘It’s everything that's cool about being human'
The backstory:
Bruce says his appreciation of park benches dawned on him by accident earlier this year, while taking pictures of a sunset for an art project he calls 365 Days Of Sun.
"As I was just kind of waiting for the sun to do something interesting, I started entertaining myself by making this video. Then I uploaded it to my Instagram on a whim, just kind of as a joke, and it started resonating with people. And then I started thinking about all of the reasons that benches really were interesting and important and it kind of grew organically from there," said Bruce.
Since then, Bruce has made more than 60 videos, under the name "The Real Benches Of The Minneapolis Park System" after the Real Housewives franchise on Bravo. But instead of focusing on cat fights and flipping tables, Bruce is more concerned with the utility and natural beauty of the city's shared spaces.
"My primary goal with the series is to get people outside. We are blessed in Minneapolis and Minnesota in general with fantastic parks. There's so much that's going on in the world around us that feels scary, that feels not great right now. And one of the things that I have seen that I have personally experienced as being a way to address that within myself, that fear, is just getting outside," said Bruce.
‘It highlights all of my favorite things about home’
The backstory:
So far, Bruce has stuck mostly to Minneapolis, but he is considering expanding his scope to outstate Minnesota. He says the reactions to his videos have been extremely endearing.
"Folks started putting stuff in the comments of the videos that I would post of benches, like, oh, I got proposed to right next to that bench or my grandfather would sit on this bench or, hey, can you go to this bench that's dedicated to my lost child? Things like that," said Bruce.
Bruce says his goal is to showcase a bench in every public park in the city. And far from being boring, Bruce believes these communal staples are the perfect way to lift people up.
"It's me being able to enjoy and appreciate our tax dollars at work in a way that feels positive. This is all of our doing, together, that we can appreciate by sitting on this piece of timber and concrete," said Bruce.