Local artist Carol Hancuh holds two of her quilted characters at a bus shelter near E. 48th Street and Chicago Avenue in the future METRO D Line corridor.
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As the METRO D Line enters the engineering phase, local artist Carol Hancuh’s quilted people who are perpetually waiting for the upcoming Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) line.
These aren’t normal quilts; however, they are shaped like free-standing people. Hancuh’s artwork, entitled “Waiting for the D Line,” started with a discovery of her love of quilting people’s faces.
“My first full-body, independent quilt was a 4-foot-ten girl,” Artist Carol Hancuh said. “I decided she needed a friend, and then one after another, I ended up with eleven people of all shapes and sizes.”
From about five- to almost seven-feet tall, she decided that her quilted people needed a place to convene. After brainstorming locations like parades or marches, she arrived at a bus stop.
“It was perfect: bus stops have all kinds of people from all walks of life waiting for their ride,” Hanuch said. “The next question was: which bus were they waiting for?”
Hakan holds his quilted likeness behind the counter of his coffee shop at 48th and Chicago.
She found her answer through one of her subjects based on a real-life person: the owner of a local coffee shop at East 48th Street and Chicago Avenue. When she discovered Hakan and his shop Sovereign Grounds were along the future D Line, she had found her bus line.
“As it’s still not yet operational, there’s another question: how long will these people wait?” she said. “It could be a short wait or a long wait.”
Until full funding is secured, these quilt people – just like riders along the corridor — will continue to wait for fast, frequent, and all-day service until the anticipated launch in 2022.
MEET THE PEOPLE WAITING FOR THE D LINE
Meet the people waiting for the METRO D Line as envisioned by Hancuh. The faces dictated the personalities and stories of each of these characters.
Hakan is the Turkish barista in Minneapolis who owns Sovereign Grounds Coffee shop.
Edna is a Red Hat Lady. Her pet mouse, Morty, accompanies her everywhere inside her hat.
Friedrich lives alone. He is in his upper sixties and thinks he is still God’s gift to women.
Star is the goth daughter of a flower child mother and an aristocrat father.
Yana is Russian. She immigrated to the U.S after her husband died to seek a little peace.
Sadie is the youngest of the two daughters of Clarice and Charles. She is quiet, shy, curious, and happy-go-lightly.
Sophie is Sadie’s sister. She’s upset because she’s not allowed to carry her friend’s present. It’s fragile.
Clarice is the mother of Sophie and Sadie. Their family is from the East Coast.
Jesu is homeless. He has seen and experience everything.
Toby is a four-year-old boy who has had it waiting for that bus.
Jane is a single mother raising Toby. She wants to spend her one day off having fun with Toby.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Carol Hancuh is a retired computer mask design layout professional who became enchanted by contemporary quilts in 2011. Since then, she studied quilting in Tuscany, Italy and brought her love back to Minnesota. She grew up in Minneapolis and took the bus regularly. Today, she lives with her husband, two cats, and mounds of fabric in Eagan, Minnesota.
ABOUT THE METRO D LINE
The METRO D Line is a BRT project that connects Brooklyn Center, Minneapolis, Richfield, and Bloomington with fast, frequent service and improved stations. It will substantially replace Route 5.