1164 - Blue Whale Mosaic by Mary Beth Magyar

My name is Mary Beth Magyar. Welcome to the Rochester, Minnesota Arts Talking Trail. Before you is my piece titled Blue Whales. I chose blue whales because they are international. They are so large that they don’t belong to any country. And I like that they sort of symbolize the diverse population of Rochester. I also like the fact that they look happy. And I chose that parent and baby whale swimming to sort of reflect the family atmosphere of a pool. I also like the idea of being able to recognize it as a place to meet at the pool.

And I worked with lots of different people in the community. Foremost I worked with Sava Andrus. She was my assistant. She was at the time a high school student at JM. I worked with Apex Recovery School, which is a program for teens in recovery in Rochester. I also worked with IMAA, which is the Intercultural Mutual Assistance Association. And finally, I worked with Riverside Elementary fourth grades and Right Fit students. The fourth graders were responsible for the colorful border. I brought fiberglass mesh to them at the school and they glued in their pieces of tile, so each student got to do a little section. Overall, I worked with a little over a hundred people to make this happen. We started in the fall of 2023 and worked through fall and early winter. Then it was installed in the spring of 2024.

Thanks for listening. I hope you continue to explore all the incredible artwork found throughout the Rochester Arts Talking Trail. Thanks again.