Mayor Jacob Frey and the City Council celebrated artist Aldo Moroni with an honorary resolution on December 13th at the City Council meeting. Moroni, who faces terminal cancer, has been a fixture in the Minneapolis arts community since the early 1970s.
Moroni, whose career spans more than four decades, is known for sculpting small-scale civilizations. He worked with the City of Minneapolis and Marcy-Holmes neighborhood to create Sixth Avenue Stroll, a two-block, open-air gallery of 23 bronze sculptures between University Avenue and Main Street Southeast. Dedicated in 2004, this work celebrates the historic buildings in the neighborhood in Moroni’s unique style.
“Aldo Moroni is more than a Minneapolis art legend,” said Mayor Jacob Frey. “He is a force of life. His pieces are more than buildings – they emanate community. And his is a legacy that continues living on in fellow artists, in art lovers, in everyone seeking a richness of community in our city.”
“My longtime good friend Aldo Moroni is more than just an accomplished artist. Over his decades-long career he has worked at the intersection of artmaking and community building, bringing a generous and people-centered aesthetic to every project, from the smallest bronze replica of a landmark building to ambitiously sprawling civilizations, and every partner, from a small neighborhood block group to a large formal organization,” said City Council Member Kevin Reich. “He’s truly the personification of a public artist in the most grounded and authentic sense.”