COMMONWEAL STASH

A series of installations for the lobby area of the Commonweal Theatre consisting of suspended and interactive sculptural elements, dioramas and vitrines — based on a combination of objects culled from local rural culture and the Theatre’s own history

in Lanesboro, Minnesota
- 2007 -

As an archaeologist sifts through artifacts to discern the nature of a group of individuals, so is this installation the result of culling elements from Lanesboro’s local culture. Objects of regional significance were amassed, categorized, processed, and then displayed as though by a museum curator.

From the foyer to the restrooms, the entire lobby is encrusted with niches of discovery. Running the length is a stone wall embedded with reclaimed objects, each housing its own secret diorama. Trim and benches of old barn wood set a rustic backdrop for whimsical ceiling-mounted installations. A donor "pantry" comprised all of mason jars allows contributors to exhibit trinkets from their own worlds.

Collectively, the components of the Commonweal Stash narrate a cultural story in the full spirit of the theater.

Begin your browse below.

Commonweal Stash by Karl Unnasch, lobby ceiling detail

The Lobby Ceiling’s Winged Tools

Reflective upon our relationship with the natural world, the floating tools suspended from the lobby's ceiling evoke a flock of birds moving through the air. Arrayed as a whole, this ‘flock’ of former utilitarian objects becomes a melting pot of histories that make up the patchwork of Midwestern culture.

The flight pattern begins at the main entry into the lobby, with chronologically older tools progressing toward more labor-specific gear as one advances toward the theatre doors. On its way around the referential windmill propeller, the flock separates into two distinct categories: the Industrials (on the left) and the Domestics (on the right).

Like a genetic mutation, tools referencing our relationship with animals (the Agrarians) migrates down the lobby to the left of the flock and mutates into the Recreationals. The swarm splits again as it encounters the "Ark" (the bed frame), then regroups and narrows its flight path down to the final winged element (a helmet) representing the mind of the artist/creator.

Commonweal Stash by Karl Unnasch, Diorama detail

Diorama Wall

Only the audacious may notice, but nestled within all twelve objects embedded in the stone wall are sly dioramas referencing productions from the Commonweal's past.

A key to the stone wall dioramas can be found in the PDF brochure.

Donor Pantry

Folks often save their personal treasures — pennies, preserves, buttons, fasteners, and so on — on a shelf over the years for ‘later’.

Rather than an array of brass plaques or the like, this design of 250 Mason jars gives the capital campaign donors an opportunity to have some personal reference preserved in the history of the building.

Commonweal Stash by Karl Unnasch, detail

Foyer/Box Office

Suspended from the ceiling in the foyer/box office area, reverse-mounted chairs represent various lifestyle/personality archetypes from the region. Each chair, as a conceptual "refuge", has four distinct objects on or near it representing Sustenance, Knowledge, Warmth/Safety, and Entertainment. These combinations create mini-narratives illustrating the personalities of each sitter.

A key to the thirteen chairs can be found in the PDF brochure.

Commonweal Stash by Karl Unnasch, Restroom detail

Restrooms

In the restrooms, reclaimed wood and hinges frame the stalls. The door pulls are made from salvaged hammer heads and the coat racks from salvaged hand tools. Salvaged slate chalkboards serve as stall dividers so that anyone feeling the creative urge to write or draw can do so in erasable chalk.

PDF Brochure: Self-Guided Tour

View/Download the Commonweal Theatre’s PDF Brochure for the Self-Guided Tour of the Commonweal Stash.
In it, you will find details about all of the above as well as about "The Ark", the coffee pots & funnels area, the coat racks, the hanging door and more.

Visitors to the Commonweal Theatre can also request print versions onsite.

Articles & Press:

· The Commonweal Stash, Currents Magazine, Winona, MN, Margaret Cox, Winter 2008-2009

· The Commonweal unveils a new theater, MPR News, Sea Stachura, July 5, 2007

· Flush with success: New Commonweal theater opens, Rochester Post-Bulletin, Tom Weber, July 5, 2007

· New Theater Opens, Rochester Post-Bulletin, July 7, 2007

· Dramatic Difference, Minnesota Monthly, Tim Gihring, July 2007

· A New Stage for Lanesboro, St. Paul Pioneer Press, Dominic Papatola, July 1, 2007

· Company Town’s Company Is Theater, Star Tribune, Graydon Royce, July 1, 2007

Special thanks go out to:

· Commonweal Theatre
...for its interest, trust, and commitment in offering such a unique challenge.

· Leland McMillen
Commonweal patron Leland McMillen was a great help on this project. He donated the reclaimed red oak barn beams, the sawn walnut for the benches and the stone for the Diorama Wall. He also spent many hours helping construct the stone walls, and his many conversations with the Artist during the mortaring phase helped to influence the flavor of the work.

· Don Brace
...also known as the Pinball King of Rochester, for assisting with the electrical layout for the Donor Pantry.

· Richard and Winnifred Unnasch

· Sqvibl and LilBoi

Email

karl@karlunnasch.com

Phone

+1 (507) 272 0452

COMMONWEAL STASH

A series of installations for the lobby area of the Commonweal Theatre consisting of suspended and interactive sculptural elements, dioramas and vitrines — based on a combination of objects culled from local rural culture and the Theatre’s own historyin Lanesboro, Minnesota - 2007 -

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A series of installations for the lobby area of the Commonweal Theatre consisting of suspended and interactive sculptural elements, dioramas and vitrines — based on a combination of objects culled from local rural culture and the Theatre’s own history

in Lanesboro, Minnesota
- 2007 -