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  • Home
  • About Us
    • Mission
    • Board of Directors
    • Annual Report
  • What We Do
    • The Nature Store
    • Blue Goose Bus Fund
    • Create Partnerships
  • Get Involved
    • NEWSLETTER
    • Volunteer
    • Give
    • Membership
    • Corporate Partnerships
  • THE REFUGE
    • Minnesota's Best Kept Secret
    • Visitor Centers
    • In The News
    • Employment
    • In the Community >
      • Events
      • Projects
  • Maps
  • Donate
  • Connect

The Monarch Butterfly Shanty lives on!
#artshantyprojects #artshanties

​How you can help save the monarchs: ​

https://www.fws.gov/savethemonarch/

A BIG thank you to the artists, MN Valley National Wildlife Refuge staff & volunteers, and all who helped create the Monarch Butterfly Migration Shanty.

The Shanty is owned by the artists, and is now acting as a temporary exhibit at the
​MN Valley National Wildlife Refuge Visitor Center in Bloomington!

Check the Refuge's website for open hours and come visit the Shanty :)

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The Monarch Butterfly Shanty seeks to celebrate the life cycles of pollinators and bring us closer to the web of life that supports us all,
​through education,
fun, and action.

In collaboration with the MN Valley National Wildlife Refuge (US Fish and Wildlife Service), Minnesota Valley Refuge Friends and many very talented artists and educators.
​Thanks to all who made this so much fun!
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The monarch caterpillar car gave people an up close look at how distinctive the coloring on this caterpillar is, and now they can identify them in the wild!
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Thousands of monarch butterflies were colored, cut out, tagged and hung on fir trees inside the shanty. 
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The monarch butterfly bikes took off on their migration route around
​Lake Harriet :)
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Thanks to  Monarch Watch for providing us with education tags! This helped spread the word that all are welcome to
MN Valley National Wildlife Refuge to tag monarch butterflies in the Summer!
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Kids took to the ice with as much energy as a monarch takes to migrate all the way from Minnesota to Mexico!
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The wonderfully talented artist & educator for the Monarch Butterfly Shanty,  Mina Leirwood, spreading her wings on the monarch bikes! Photo courtesy of ​Kevin Callahan
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Monarch Butterfly Shanty artist Terry McDaniels looking rather
bee-autiful managing the monarch bike station! Photo courtesy of ​Kevin Callahan
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An architectural wonder!
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Pollinator plants are outlined on these panels---blazing star, black-eyed susan and milkweed here!
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Sneak peak at the shanty in the background, with all panels upright!
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Winter gear is extremely important on the ice
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Ceiling is coming together
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Holding up the beautiful ceiling 
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Here you see the bare bones of the Monarch Butterfly Shanty, laid out on the ice
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Welcome sign!
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Adding the distinctive golden dots, which make the monarch chrysalis so unique
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So much detail is put into each element
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Putting the final touches on the Butterfly wings
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Beautiful detailing 
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Happy Artists!
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Monarchs love wild bergamot 

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Monarch habitat 
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Monarch Butterfly Shanty panel artists :)
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Purple coneflower, butterfly weed, blazing star, Bergamot, green coneflower and plenty of hungry monarch butterflies!
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Interior placement 
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Drafts for panel art- wildflowers and nectar plants
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Monarch Butterfly activity assembly
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Panel studio
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Monarch habitat panels
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Monarch bike
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Painting the monarch wings
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A monarch chrysalis chair
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The toad stool


MINNESOTA VALLEY REFUGE FRIENDS - 3815 American Blvd. E., Bloomington, MN 55425 - 952-858-0737 
​
Minnesota Valley Refuge Friends is a 501c3 non-profit organization committed to the Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge. Contributions are tax-deductible.

View our donor privacy policy. 
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