We checked out Not A Cornfield yesterday. It is a giant 27 acre Art Installation in an empty lot downdown. It is real cornfield in the middle of a city, and in a truly ugly warehouse district. This may sound kind of stupid, but it is quite remarkable to see in person. The lot had been empty for eons, and no one had done anything with it. There had always been some vague ideas about building a park, but no one took action until this woman Lauren got a bee in her bonnet, a generous foundation grant, and made it happen in (supposedly) only a matter of months.

The land is technically a state park, we even saw a park ranger yesterday. This crop of corn will help to improve the soil and clean out some of the toxins, getting the land ready for the next step of a park. The corn won't be eaten, but used as fertilizer and packing material. They have local kids from downtown and Chinatown working as "junior docents," and they have various programming during the week as well. Surrounding the whole thing is a mile track for walking and biking.

The exhibit runs through mid-November, when the corn will be hand (!) harvested and the field plowed under.