Knowing Your Neighbor: ‘Mythical Minnesota Moose’ Comes to Life

DULUTH, Minn. — On the backside of Spirit Mountain just outside of Duluth city limits, a group of artists spent the waning days of June constructing a glowing homage to Minnesota’s largest native animal.

The idea start to form in Dundee, Scottland, where Duluth All Souls Night Artistic Director Mary Plaster connected with Minnesota-born Puppeteer Andrew Kim.

“And it was so much fun,” said Plaster. “I kept looking at the unicorn thinking boy, the body of that looks really similar to a moose.”

“She really wanted an animal that sort of represents this area,” said Kim.

“And I said, maybe you want to make a little hop to Duluth during the time of the year that it’s paradise here,” said Plaster. “Of course when he (Kim) arrived, it was pouring rain.”

“I’ve been here for just over a week and working with a team of nine artists,” said Kim. “Some of them are local, about half of them are local.”

“We got a Heritage Arts Grant from the Arrowhead Regional Arts Council,” said Plaster. “That requirement is to be passing on some of these skills to the next generation.”

“And so I’m teaching them how to make this puppet by actually doing it with me,” said Kim. “So it’s everybody has hands on all elements of it all. the. time.”

“Earlier, we were doing wiring and I got to do the wiring for the head and make all the lights light up,” said Cian Trok, a junior at Duluth East High School. “And when I got it correctly, just felt really nice. Nothing about them is like judgy. It’s he’s just really just trying to inform you and it’s just really easy to learn from him.”

The mythical Minnesota Moose took its first steps in a private ceremony on the last day of the workshop. But Kim says its plan to join Plaster’s other creation in local celebrations.

“And the puppet will live here in Duluth, MN, and hopefully it will attend many events in the future.”