Argentinian born and raised Daniela Bianchini, a Minneapolis transplant for the last 18 years and who now calls Minnesota home, has been making it her mission to beautify the city with public art.
Daniela’s artistic passion shines through in the pieces she’s created for the Minneapolis community, including once nondescript garbage cans that are now covered in mosaic tiles to represent the uniqueness of south Minneapolis’ culture. Daniela said the goal of the project was to help make the neighborhood more attractive. “I feel like we slowly beautified the city and I loved being a part of it,” she said.
Daniela has also helped facilitate a variety of collaborative art projects to bring the community together. “It’s really nice to see the community connect in that way,” said Daniela. “People come and help paint and it’s a great way to meet people and to get involved.”
Daniela has dabbled in several different forms of art over the years, but for the last eight years she has focused on mosaics. She mainly works with glass, ceramic or tiles, but her latest creation involves a unique material—Minnesota Lottery scratch tickets.
The Minnesota Lottery partnered with City Pages to commission a local artist to create a “Summer Jackpot” themed mosaic to be displayed at the 2019 Stone Arch Bridge Festival Minneapolis.
Daniela was the chosen artist to take on the challenge. “I wasn’t even sure what it was about, but anything that says mosaic catches my attention,” she said.
Daniela had never worked with paper before, so she was excited to try it out. “It’s been amazing,” said Daniela. “It’s easier to cut than glass,” she added with a laugh. Daniela’s enjoyed playing with the texture of the tickets and using different shapes and designs to bring the iconic Stone Arch Bridge to life—her inspiration behind the piece.
“When I think about summer in Minnesota, I think of water and bikes. To me, the Stone Arch Bridge represents the best of Minneapolis.”
Daniela compares the art of mosaic to puzzles. “It’s about bringing a lot of small pieces together to make something beautiful,” she explained. “What I like about mosaic is that you can look at the piece from far away and be like oh, that’s cool, but when you get close to it, you can see all of the detail. My hope is people will come closer to really understand and appreciate the intricacy of the design.”
Held in Minneapolis along the historic Riverfront District, The Lottery is a proud sponsor of the the Stone Arch Bridge Festival, a free event over Father's Day weekend featuring art from more than 200 artists and includes a variety of music, food and family fun.