New art series to enliven St. Paul skyways

By Jake Spitzack | Staff Writer | September 2026

Skyway users may soon be tempted to venture into corridors outside their usual routes, enticed by new public art dotting the entirety of the system.

In September, a poetry walk will be unveiled. About 25 poems will be printed on plastic plaques and installed in various skyway segments. Each is written by a Minnesota poet and will include a QR code leading to other poems in the skyways, creating a scavenger hunt of sorts. This is the first part of an art series dubbed the Skyway Creative Corridor Project, which will be unveiled in three phases through November. It’s being curated by downtown resident Anthony Eaton, who has organized several temporary art exhibits in the skyways over the past two years and currently operates five rotating displays in the former Wells Fargo Bank space. This will be his largest scale project in the city, and perhaps his most long lasting.

“The Friends of the St. Paul Skyway approached me about this,” said Eaton. “We’re connecting people throughout downtown and giving them a reason to visit this business or that business or just go out for a walk in the skyway system and get engaged.”

Eaton still had to iron out details with building owners as of press time but said he expects most will allow the plaques to remain at least 90 days, and he hopes several will stay much longer. The largest will be approximately 16-inches wide by 24-inches long, and the smallest will feature just the first few lines of a poem and a QR code linking to the full piece. All poems are family friendly and the material they’re printed on is durable, easy to clean and able to be relocated.

“It’ll be very similar to what we see throughout the city with the poetry that is embossed in the concrete,” said Eaton. “We’re hopeful that every building will allow us to put at least one poem somewhere within their building on the system.”

Several downtown businesses are sponsoring the art series including the St. Paul Downtown Alliance, St. Paul Chamber of Commerce and St. Paul Art Collective. However, individuals can pitch in, too. People can choose a poem and sponsor it for $25, $75 or $125, based on its size. Their name will be listed beneath it. Sponsorships cover production costs, installation and artist stipends.

In October, video presentations will spotlight downtown artists of a variety of mediums. Eaton hopes to have at least 10 screens throughout the system with dozens of artists featured. Short reels will highlight their works and include a brief bio and how to contact them.

The art series culminates in November when at least one group of local artists will have a group exhibit in a vacant skyway storefront. The location and theme are yet to be determined, however Eaton noted he has his eye on vacant storefronts in the Town Square and Securian building skyways.

The group exhibit will feature a wide spectrum of art and will likely provide opportunities to meet the artists.

“I’ll find a group of artists whose work all complements each other… and build something around that,” said Eaton. “If we’re lucky, we’ll have more than one [exhibit]…. People don’t want to walk by vacant spaces. It is just ugly and it looks derelict. Property owners understand the value of reactivating a space by just putting in something, and that’s true on whether it’s the street level or indoors on the skyway system.”

Eaton, a St. Paul native, moved back to Minnesota about five years ago, and it was the skyway system that allured him to live downtown. Overall, he believes the system has improved in the past year.

“The Friends of the [St. Paul] Skyway have made great inroads in really bringing attention to the value of what we have, and its uniqueness compared to other cities,” he said. “This is an opportunity to really engage at different levels. We all have to be working for the same end result. We want the city to thrive. We want it to be better. And there can’t just be one singular approach to that. I think art plays a great, great role. St. Paul is an art city… I’m in it for the long haul. I bought in [downtown] St. Paul with the intention of that being the last place I ever buy, so I am committed to the success of the city and however I can contribute to that, I will.”

Eaton is also curating a window display for a newly opened coffee shop in the Lowry and this summer got several businesses on Wabasha Street to light up their storefronts with purple light in honor of Prince’s birthday (June 7). He plans to organize that event again next year on a larger scale. For more information on the Skyway Creative Corridor Project, contact Eaton at 903-946-3545 or stpdowntownart@gmail.com.