Loti Pencil
| Loti Pencil | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Artist | Curtis Ingvoldstad |
| Completion date | June 4, 2022 |
| Medium | Wooden sculpture |
| Subject | Pencil |
| Dimensions | 610 cm (20 feet) |
| Location | Minneapolis |
| 44°57′36.5″N 93°18′04.7″W / 44.960139°N 93.301306°W | |
| Website | lotipencil |
The Loti Pencil or Lake of the Isles Pencil is a 20 feet (6.1 m)[1] sculpture of a yellow Trusty Empire Pencil Corporation brand number 2 pencil sculpted by Curtis Ingvoldstad. Located on the front lawn of 2217 E Lake of the Isles Parkway near the Lake of the Isles in Minneapolis,[2] it was sculpted in 2022 from the trunk of a 180-year-old bur oak tree whose crown was blown off in a 2017 storm.
Each year on June 7, a "sharpening" of the pencil is celebrated, during which the hosts use a giant 4-foot-tall, custom-made pencil sharpener to sharpen the pencil. The sharpener was designed by the same sculpter Ingvoldstad.[3] With each sharpening, 3 to 10 inches (8 to 25 cm) are taken off the sculpture each year, with an eventual expected outcome of its reduction to a stub over the years. The sculpture is one of several such landmarks in the city, such as the Spoonbridge and Cherry fountain,[4] which is about a mile away.[5]
History
[edit]2017–2022: Storm, sculpting and inaugural "sharpening"
[edit]The pencil was sculpted from a large 180-year-old[2] bur oak tree[6] which stood on the front lawn of the home of John and Amy Higgins in Minneapolis. This tree was heavily damaged in a storm in June 2017, by John Higgins' account at about 10 a.m. on a Saturday;[4] strong winds twisted off the tree's crown, killing it and leaving it as a tall stump.[1]
The couple envisioned creating a recognizable piece of pop art out of the trunk,[1] in a similar style to the work of Andy Warhol.[7] Amy Higgins has said that the decision to make it into a pencil was because "Everybody knows a pencil. You see it in school, you see it in people’s work, or drawings, everything. So, it’s just so accessible to everybody, I think, and can easily mean something, and everyone can make what they want of it."[1] Neighbors supported this change.[4] They hired Curtis Ingvoldstad of Big Woods Sculpture to sculpt the pencil; he took months to do so, using a chainsaw. He carved "Trusty Empire Pencil Corp Made in U.S.A—916 No. 2." onto it;[7] according to John Higgins, this brand was one of the first pencils to be brought to America.[4] It was painted yellow with a ferrule and pink eraser as is traditional for these pencils,[6][7] and was slightly tilted to stand out from the straight lines of the house.[6] It measures 32 inches (81 cm) in diameter.[7]
Plans were made to reveal it on June 4, 2022 with an inaugural "sharpening",[4] intended to ceremonially remedy the dulling of the sculpture's sharp tip by the weather.[7] They at first planned to sharpen it by a foot each year,[4] for ten years in total.[6] Its routine sharpening will intentionally lead to its reduction to a stub over several years.[1] The unveiling drew hundreds of visitors, and a marching band and "human pencils" performed.[2] "Professional pencil sharpener" David Rees flew in from New York to celebrate its unveiling and perform the first sharpening.[6][2][4] Following this debut, John Higgins said that 50 to 200 people had come to visit the pencil per day, amounting to tens of thousands of viewers in its first year.[2]
2023–present: Subsequent "sharpenings" and other events
[edit]The "No. 2 Sharpening" was scheduled for 3 June, 2023 and was to feature a live trivia contest, giveaways, and drum and bugle corps. Plans were made to shave the pencil by 3 to 4 inches (8 to 10 cm); Ingvoldstad carved a 4-foot-long (1.2 m) handheld pencil sharpener weighing over 100 pounds (45 kg) to conduct the sharpening ceremony.[2]
Though the 2024 sharpening event was shortened due to the weather, hundreds of people attended. East Isles Neighborhood Association president Mike Erlandson had a speech delivered on a scroll via barristers and proclaimed June 15 "Lake of the Pencil Day."[8]
Further events have taken place concerning the Loti Pencil aside from the "sharpenings", including annual Halloween costumes for the sculpture and holiday lights displays.[5] For Halloween 2024, the pencil was dressed as Superman.[9]
The fourth sharpening[3] in 2025 was attended by over 1,000 people according to the Associated Press,[1] and by over 2,000 by the estimation of the Minnesota Star Tribune.[10] Some attendees dressed as pencils or erasers. Two Swiss alphorn players provided entertainment, and the hosts handed out purple pencils in commemoration of late musician Prince's 67th birthday.[1]
Meaning
[edit]Ingvoldstad has stated of the work that "people interpret this however they want to. They should. They should come to this and find whatever they want out of it." On the yearly sharpening ritual, he has said that "Like any ritual, you’ve got to sacrifice something, so we’re sacrificing part of the monumentality of the pencil, so that we can give that to the audience that comes, and say, 'This is our offering to you, and in goodwill to all the things that you’ve done this year.'"[1]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d e f g h Vancleave, Mark; Karnowski, Steve (June 7, 2025). "Why a Minneapolis neighborhood sharpens a giant pencil every year". Associated Press. Retrieved June 14, 2025.
- ^ a b c d e f Kennedy, Audrey (May 28, 2023). "Giant pencil sculpture Loti Pencil to be sharpened at its birthday party". Axios. Retrieved June 14, 2025.
- ^ a b "20-foot-tall pencil gets its annual sharpening". Spokesman.com. June 4, 2025. Retrieved July 4, 2025.
- ^ a b c d e f g "New Sculpture Coming To Minneapolis's Lake Of The Isles: A Giant No. 2 Pencil". CBS News. May 16, 2022. Retrieved June 14, 2025.
- ^ a b Bloomquist, Madison (June 2, 2025). "By the Numbers: Lake of the Isles Pencil". Mpls.St.Paul Magazine. Retrieved June 15, 2025.
- ^ a b c d e Kennedy, Audrey (May 6, 2022). "Meet "the next 'Spoonbridge and Cherry,'" a giant No. 2 pencil". Axios. Retrieved June 14, 2025.
- ^ a b c d e Kuta, Sarah. "Thousands of Cheering Spectators Gather to Watch This 20-Foot-Tall No. 2 Pencil Get Sharpened". Smithsonian Magazine. Retrieved June 15, 2025.
- ^ Halter, Nick; Stokes, Kyle; Van Oot, Torey (June 17, 2024). "Scenes from a pencil sharpening party". Axios. Retrieved June 15, 2025.
- ^ Eler, Alicia (October 30, 2024). "It's a bird, it's a plane, it's Minneapolis' giant pencil dressed like Superman". Minnesota Star Tribune. Retrieved June 15, 2025.
- ^ Jackson, Kyeland (June 7, 2025). "What's the point? It's the annual sharpening of the giant pencil on Lake of the Isles". Minnesota Star Tribune. Retrieved June 15, 2025.