Wes Modes
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Water sculpture downtown Rock Island river front
Water sculpture downtown Rock Island river front. #Shantyboat via Instagram
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Circa 21 Dinner Playhouse in Rock Island Illinois.
Circa 21 Dinner Playhouse in Rock Island Illinois. #Shantyboat via Instagram
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Highway 74 bridge near Bettendorf Iowa. #Shantyboat
Highway 74 bridge near Bettendorf Iowa. #Shantyboat via Instagram
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Waitin’ around at the lock for a barge to lock through. Ho hum
Waitin’ around at the lock for a barge to lock through. Ho hum. #Shantyboat via Instagram
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Mike Hall of Green Gables Marina, competent mechanic and genuiniy nice fellow
Mike Hall of Green Gables Marina, competent mechanic and genuiniy nice fellow. I can’t say enough about Mike. #Shantyboat via Instagram
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Charming woodshop in Le Claire Iowa. #Shantyboat
Charming woodshop in Le Claire Iowa. #Shantyboat via Instagram
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My poor little baby-soft feet can almost walk on gravel with impunity.
I’ve made an effort to spend a substantial amount of my summer barefoot. Now my poor little baby-soft feet can almost walk on gravel with impunity. #Shantyboat via Instagram
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Secret History interview with Brian Schadt, City Engineer, Davenport, Iowa
Secret History interview with Brian Schadt, City Engineer talking about Davenport, Iowa’s decision not to erect flood walls in favor of their connection with the river.
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Shantyboat head & Art Gallery
#Shantyboat head, including drawings by Sasha and Maxine, men’s and women’s urinal, bucket shitter, Pooping 101 guide, and Jesus watching over all. via Instagram
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“How do you pay for this?”
If you have a little bit to spare, and thing the project is worth supporting, I’d encourage you to contribute what you can afford.
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Full moon over the river in a sketchy night ride on the river. #Shantyboat
Full moon over the river in a sketchy night ride on the river. #Shantyboat via Instagram
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Got a mile down river with the #Shantyboat and Freddie Mercury broke down again. Limping back to Green Gables.
Got a mile down river with the #Shantyboat and Freddie Mercury broke down again. Limping back to Green Gables. via Instagram
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Mike of Green Gables Marina puts the finishing touches on Freddie, readying the #Shantyboat to get back underway after a one-week repair vacation.
Mike of Green Gables Marina puts the finishing touches on Freddie, readying the #Shantyboat to get back underway after a one-week repair vacation. via Instagram
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Somehow in this crazy mixed up world I interview people for my art project and they give ME gifts
Somehow in this crazy mixed up world I interview people for my art project and they give ME gifts. #Shantyboat #applebread #localhoney #bananabread #unexpectedgifts via Instagram
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Though I’d heard of the ritual, my first time getting coined
Though I’d heard of the ritual, my first time getting coined. It is hard to be an anti-authoritarian when they are such badass dudes and have such cool tchotchkes. #Shantyboat #secrethandshake #freedrinks #gettingcoined #rescuedivers #retiredcops via Instagram
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Steve Ebel, Mississippi River diver shows off his scull boat. #Shantyboat
Steve Ebel, Mississippi River diver shows off his scull boat. #Shantyboat via Instagram
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Interviewee Rhonda Anderson talks about keeping bees
Secret History interviewee Rhonda Anderson talks about keeping bees.
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The deer are so tame here in Illinois they stick their heads right through the wall
The deer are so tame here in Illinois they stick their heads right through the wall to be petted. #Shantyboat #friendlydeer via Instagram
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Off across the river in the Donboat to an interview in Hanpton IL
Off across the river in the Donboat to an interview in Hanpton IL. #Shantyboat via Instagram
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Audio orgasm: listening to both a recording of our July thunderstorm and the music of Gillian Welsh on our old radio
Audio orgasm: listening to both a recording of our July thunderstorm and the music of Gillian Welsh on our old radio when a train passes by outside and the Moka pot begins to bubble. #auralpleasure #allthethings #Shantyboat #breakfastmagic #soundoftrains #coffeesweetcoffee via Instagram
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Secret History interview with former correctional officer Dave Rogers of Cordova IL. #Shantyboat
Secret History interview with former correctional officer Dave Rogers of Cordova IL. #Shantyboat
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Gifts from Secret History interviewee Dave Rogers, buttons made from mussel shells, the drilled shells, river reading material.
Gifts from Secret History interviewee Dave Rogers, buttons made from mussel shells, the drilled shells, river reading material. #Shantyboat
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Are you good at finding things?
Are you good at finding things? The #Shantyboat is dead in the water until we find a stainless steel drive shaft from a 1978 Mercury 200 20hp short shaft serial num 4821859. Total length 25-1/4 inches. If you find one that fits, I’ll owe you a bottle of Dr Thunders Peachy Fire Whiskey.
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Shantyboat ship’s log: “Ships mate Stacey Marie Garcia left forward bunk window open. Consequences unknown at this time.”
#Shantyboat ship’s log: “Ships mate Stacey Marie Garcia left forward bunk window open. Consequences unknown at this time.” @staceymariegarcia
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Secret History in Dispatch Argus. #Shantyboat @gooddoghazel
Secret History in Dispatch Argus. #Shantyboat @gooddoghazel
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A Day of Danger, A Time of Troubles
An Aggressively Friendly Man. Big Big Waves. Serious Engine Trouble. Adrift! Out of danger.
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Secret History press work with Tony Watt of the Moline Dispatch-Argus on the Shantyboat.
Secret History press work with Tony Watt of the Moline Dispatch-Argus on the #Shantyboat. #presshere #reportingreporters #meta #pomo
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Finally a way to indicate to Shantyboat visitors that we are open (or not) for business
Finally a way to indicate to #Shantyboat visitors that we are open (or not) for business. #sometimeswesleep #sometimesweeat #sometimesweretiredofquestions #naptime #hiding #samefivequestions
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Cleat hitch with a Flemish Flake mooring the #Shantyboat. Plus @gooddoghazel
Cleat hitch with a Flemish Flake mooring the #Shantyboat. Plus @gooddoghazel
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Night alone on the Shantyboat baking oatmeal cookies
Night alone on the #Shantyboat baking oatmeal cookies and watching The Apartment with Jack Lemmon and Shirley MacLaine. #Billywilder #oscarwinner #academyaward #1960 #oldfilms #movietears #beamensch #blackandwhitemovies #cookies4one
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Great scene for some banjo and and a cigar
Green Gables Marina in Le Claire #iowa on the back porch of the #Shantyboat. Great scene for some banjo and and a cigar. Lock and dam number 14 in the distance.
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Great scene for some banjo and and a cigar.
Green Gables Marina in Le Claire #iowa on the back porch of the #Shantyboat. Great scene for some banjo and and a cigar.
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Heeeello? This is Iowa
We meet an angel. We are famous. A slew of interviews. Fresh apple pie. A storm sends us spinning.
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Quad-City Times: California artist travels Mississippi for ‘river people’ project
If you happen to see Wes Modes, 48, of Santa Cruz, Calif., and his dog, Hazel, floating around the Quad-Cities, stop and have a chat. He’d love that. And you might become part of Mississippi River history through his “Secret History of American River People” art project. Modes, 48, is traveling through the Quad-City area…
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Poor Freddie has a broken shaft but Green Gables Marina has their best man on it. #Shantyboat
Poor Freddie has a broken shaft but Green Gables Marina has their best man on it. #Shantyboat
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River Angels tow the stranded Shantyboat several miles to the mechanic
River Angels Kris Klavon and Craig Wainwright towed the stranded #Shantyboat several miles to the mechanic as the opening salvo in their adventurous day.
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“Oo, it doesn’t look good.”
Poor Freddie. The #Shantyboat got a tow across the river to Mike at Green Gables Marina who said “Oo, it doesn’t look good.” May be in the market for another small Mercury engine soon.
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Bike statue in Fort Byron Illinois. A moment of rest after the #Shantyboat took a beating in big ass waves.
Bike statue in Fort Byron Illinois. A moment of rest after the #Shantyboat took a beating in big ass waves.
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Rough seas for the #Shantyboat. 15mph South winds with 20mph gusts on a 10 mile long north south reach.
Rough seas for the #Shantyboat. 15mph South winds with 20mph gusts on a 10 mile long north south reach.
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@justlikeharmony piloting the #Shantyboat through very rough seas. #river
@justlikeharmony piloting the #Shantyboat through very rough seas. #river
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New #Shantyboat invention! A Caucasian Floater, a White Russian made with ice cream.
New #Shantyboat invention! A Caucasian Floater, a White Russian made with ice cream.
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Logistical difficulties on the next episode of Shantyboat Guys! #Shantyboat #realitytv #dramanodrama #riverlyfe
Logistical difficulties on the next episode of Shantyboat Guys! #Shantyboat #realitytv #dramanodrama #riverlyfe
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Modern fertility symbol in Camache Iowa. #Shantyboat
Modern fertility symbol in Camache Iowa. #Shantyboat
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Shantyboat spotted in Dubuque
#Shantyboat spotted in Dubuque. River coincidence: this photo was sent to someone downriver who I ended up interviewing two weeks later.
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Downtown Clinton Iowa looks like an economic bomb dropped on it
Downtown Clinton #Iowa looks like an economic bomb dropped on it. On the other hand, #Walmart is doing a brisk biz in the edge of town. #Shantyboat #lowerwagesalways
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Secret History interview with Jenna Sanders, co-owner of @392caffe in Clinton, Iowa
Secret History interview with Jenna Sanders, co-owner of @392caffe in Clinton #Iowa. #Shantyboat
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Mini Stories from Clinton, Iowa
Clinton Marina History My Grandmother owed and operated the Marina that you are at right now until the 1970s. It was called the Anchorage then. Her name was Agnes (Schrader) Lutz. Everyone called her “Aggie”. She fished, hunted, made her own fish nets and decoys. She was named the first queen of our 4th of…
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Wallet contents drying out after dunking
Wallet contents drying out after having been dunked in the river s second time during an impressive storm. #Shantyboat
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Secret History on the front page of the Clinton Herald
Secret History on the front page of the Clinton Herald with @justlikeharmony. #Shantyboat #smalltownfamous #frontpage #art #river
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A Teeny Tiny Journey Through History
It is only by the good grace of God, that I am not holed up in a garage somewhere right now adding grimy details with a double ought paintbrush to a tiny little building of my own tiny imaginary town.
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Twin Towns of Gritty Charm and Regret
A reality TV star, a gay couple, a 12-year old hippy with an edge, and showers of vegetables and catfish
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International Sculpture Center: Wes Modes: Secret History of American River People
The Mississippi River runs deep through American culture. From early Native Americans to Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, the Blues and Hurrican Katrina, the history of the country is in constant flux, much like the river itself. The fascination with the mysteries and power of the world’s fourth longest river is subtle, but…
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Rumors of the Death of Drive-Ins Greatly Exagerated
While we were in Galena I got a wild hair. I knew there was a drive-in somewhere around and thought it would be a fun family outing. When one of the girls told us excitedly that she’d never been to a drive-in that decided it. The drive-in was almost 40 miles away, but hey, you…
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Life with the Party People of Galena
We came to Galena for the day and stayed for four nights, meeting new friends, and someone we were supposed to meet a year ago. And we learned that there ain’t no party like a Galena sandbar boat party.
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The Magic of the Lock 11 Fishing Barge
Ed told us we absolutely have to go up around by the dam and check out the fishing barge, which he described as kind of a fishing pier, a bar, a restaurant (sorta), and a bait and tackle shop. I don’t know what I was picturing, possibly a mellow park setting and a touristy bar/restaurant,…
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Hazel on the River
Since Hazel has a more devoted following than the project, we offer a view of Hazel’s adventures on the river.
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Setbacks, the Musical – A Nautical Tragicomedy
The scene opens with the newly recruited shipsmates standing in a regimented line in order of height. The SKIPPER looks at his shipsmates affectionately and takes the iDEVICE out of his pocket to take a photograph.
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Two Nuns, A Gambler, and an Heiress walk onto a boat…
We’ve been the talk of the town to some degree. Dozens of people have made their way to the docks at the National Mississippi River Museum to check out our shantyboat. Many of them were clutching the article that came out in the Telegraph Herald last Friday. A lot of places we go, people ask…
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National Mississippi River Museum in Dubuque
The shantyboat is in Dubuque at the National Mississippi River Museum. The project is exhibiting and people are checking it out. I ask kids a simple question, and the reaction I get is split.
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The Real Reason We’re Here
Naturally, the adventure down the river, the playful interactions of the crew, the observations about the river and river culture are the sexiest most interesting part of the Secret History journey. The project is at heart about listening, to the river, to the rhythms of our journey, and to the people in the places we…
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A Brief Visit to Harper’s Ferry and a Mysterious Man
We meet a mysterious man in a historic town, but not the one you are thinking of.
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An Unexpected Accident, Clamming Goldrush, and Bald Eagles in Lansing
A breakfast disaster, repairs, an interview with a clammer, and a trip to see bald eagles coming to a McDonalds dumpster near you.
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The Night of the Biblical Plagues
We try to be just and virtuous people, but God knows the mind of the divine is mysterious and unknowable. And thus one evening in Lansing, Iowa He brought down his wrath upon us, perhaps because we had drunk two too many White Russians and did not even offer Him a cocktail.
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Inside the Shantyboat through the Driftless Area
A tour of the shantyboat and the Misssissippi’s unique Driftless Area
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Karen Galema, Mississippi River fisherman
Karen Galema in her life has been a fisherman, an EMT, a bookkeeper for the large fish market in Lansing, and finally the manager of the Lansing River History and Commercial Fishing museum. This is an excerpt from our interview in Lansing, Iowa along the banks of the Mississippi River.
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Shantyboat Guys New Episodes!
On the shantyboat we are 24 hours in each other’s hair in a 10′ by 8′ space, so we get a little punchy. What started as a story about a production company trying to make the non-drama of the Secret History expeditions into something cinematic and dramaful, turned into a silly idea.
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Introducing The Shantyboat Guys!
A few years ago when I was working on the shantyboat and keeping a build blog detailing the build, I got a call from a New York production company interested in a reality TV show about people living in homemade boats. They were calling it…
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Fellow Workers
I was sitting with Jeremiah in the Donboat under a tree in a backwater of the Mississippi and we were quietly listening to a recording of Utah Phillips while sitting and watching the changing sky and its echo in the still water. Here are some influences to the project.
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The Story of the Donboat
We brought the Painted Pig, a small johnboat we bought in the Bay Area. When we put it in the water we found it was about as rigid as a pie tin and as stable as a top. With one person in it, the water line was a few scant inches from the gunnel and…
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Louise and the Winona Backwaters
A promised date with Louise results in a shantyboat tour of the backwaters of Winona.
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Waukon Standard: California artist seeking stories of river history, lifestyles
A rustic recreated 1940s shantyboat, a daring river voyage, and a meticulous archive of river stories are all part of a multi-year art and history project being undertaken by artist Wes Modes of Santa Cruz, CA and entitled “A Secret History of American River People.” Modes set sail last summer on the Mississippi River to…
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Two Prairie Island Indian Community Interviews
I had the tremendous honor of interviewing two members of the Prairie Island Indian Community, part of the Mdewakanton Sioux band (“people born of the water”), located just north of Red Wing.
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Heartland Boating: A Secret History of American River People
Ten years ago, Wes Modes of Santa Cruz, California, was reading about a group of kids who were making whacky, homemade boats and then cruising them down the Mississippi River. That type of adventure resonated with Modes, a computer programmer and artist with a love of the water and an appreciation for the lyrical qualities…
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A Word About Hazel Dog
Of course you know our ships hound Hazel. Did you know she has her own Twitter and Instagram feed? Hazel’s Tweets Hazel’s Instagram
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We lost Amy, Minnesota recycling, and missing contacts
e lost Amy. Somewhere between last summer’s fieldwork and this spring, Amy went missing. She was with us at the end of last summer’s voyage when we were using her to communicate to barges and locks. Jeremiah has reason to think she was stolen at some point.
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Showing Off the Shantyboat in the Twin Cities
We were fortunate to have the opportunity to exhibit twice in the Twin Cities over as many days. One was at the Minnesota History Center as part of Nine Nights of Music. The other was at the St. Paul Yacht Club as part of a River City Revue. The History Center is like an enormous…
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Two Great Interviews in the Twin Cities
All and all, it was an amazing and emotionally exhausting day that came closer to my desire to highlight contested history, resistance, histories that didn’t make the establishment narrative, and stories about women, people of color, and non-dominant cultures.
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Minneapolis City Pages: River City Revue explores Mississippi culture
The event gives you a chance to see the art shanty boat created by Wes Modes. Last year Modes, who is an MFA student at the University of California, took his boat on a trip down the Mississippi, collecting stories of how people live on the river.
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StarTribune: Pictures of the day.
Top Photos for June 30. Kara Yorkhall and daughter Juliette,3, stepped unto the back deck after chatting with captain/artist Wes Modes who will traveling on the Missississippi for the next three months or so. At the Minnesota Center, gathered on a 1940’s shantyboat on display as part of “A Secret History of American River People”…
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An Afternoon Thunderstorm
A summer rainstorm blows in while we are in the tin-roofed shantyboat in the St Paul Yacht Club in St Paul MN.
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Down to St. Paul and Out in a Storm
A lock and dam, a sacred place, and then out on the river in a small boat in a pounding rain storm.
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Mississippi Launch and an Evening Expedition
Another blowout, a launch, a full house, an expedition, a bonfire, and a wedding.
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Dubuque Telegraph Herald: River exhibition will dock in Dubuque
A rustic shanty boat, a daring river voyage and a meticulous archive of river stories encompassing a multi-year art and history project. It might sound like something out of the fictitious works of Mark Twain. But for California artist Wes Modes, it has been his reality for the past year-and-a-half.
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A Midnight Journey to the Bone Yard
The potholes were deep, nearly as deep as our growing fear. Trees loomed on either side. Thunderclouds threatened on the horizon. Hazel dog was unaccountably agitated. We flew down the Iowan country road through thick fields of fireflies, a kind of hillbilly hyperspace.
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Roadtrips are always more interesting when your wheels fall off
As we were about to hit the road, a lady in the car in front of us was irritatingly gesticulating at us. What could this lady possibly want? What was she trying to tell us? Another person who wants to stop us o give us an enthusiastic thumbs up about the shantyboat? Jeremiah went to…
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River City Revue — People of the River
Are you in or near Minneapolis? See the Secret History project. Wednesday, July 1st, 7-9PM Saint Paul Yacht Club on Harriet Island Get Tickets & Details Here! Featuring ‘A Secret History of American River People,’ an art and history project created by digital and new media artist Wes Modes: https://peoplesriverhistory.org/ Walk the docks of Saint Paul Yacht…
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24 Hours
Tomorrow morning early we pull out of Santa Cruz towing the shantyboat. The journey has not yet begun, yet I’m so tired I could lay down my paintbrush and take a nap right now. This kind of tiredness is big the kind of tired fixed with a night’s rest, but the kind of tired from…
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Artist On Art: Wes Modes, Artist Interview
Artist Activist, Wes Modes came onto Artists on Art, June 18, 2014, to talk about his newest project, The Secret History of American River People, a slow meandering trip down the Mississippi in a shanty boat collecting stories. Using audio, video, and digital media, Secret History archives and presents oral histories of major American rivers,…
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1 Mississippi: Reeling in River Stories
What would you do with a houseboat the size of an office cubicle? Well, if you’re itinerant artist and general river enthusiast, Wes Modes, you embark on a multi-month journey down the Mississippi River. I had the pleasure of meeting Wes at the first River City Revue of the summer. Wes and his trusty companion,…
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Dry Docking the Shantyboat
In preparation for our journey to the Mississippi River in a few days, we had some work to do on the shantyboat. The hull needed painting and the motor well needed to be resealed so we needed to put the boat up in dry dock.
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24 Hours and Gory Details
Just 24 hours and just over $1000 to go on the kickstarter! We’re almost there. So close, we can taste it.