The Story of MMAM's Weathervane

Murray Stevens, "Bluenose Weathervane," 2006. Stainless steel and fiberglass. Minnesota Marine Art Museum.

When you approach the Minnesota Marine Art Museum, you may notice a unique weathervane on the roof of the museum. This functional piece of art by Nova Scotian Murray Stevens, stands at 7.5 feet tall. The weathervane has become an important symbol for MMAM. It served as the museum’s logo until 2013, and is often the first piece of artwork to greet visitors as they arrive at the museum.

Constructed in 2006, and made from stainless steel and fiberglass, the ship on the weathervane rotates and indicates the direction of the blowing wind. The four fixed stainless steel letters indicate the four main cardinal points of the compass, north, south, east, and west. MMAM’s weathervane is actually a smaller version of another weathervane Stevens built for the Atlantic Canada World Trade Center Tower in Halifax, Nova Scotia in 1983.

Installation of the weathervane prior to the museum’s opening in 2006.

Stevens came from a family of boatbuilders going back several generations in Nova Scotia, and he made a name for himself building high-end racing schooners.

The form of the weathervane is that of a two-masted schooner sailing across waves atop a globe, indicating a world travel by sea. It was modeled after a famous Canadian sailing vessel called Bluenose (the term “bluenose” being slang for someone from Nova Scotia). Built in 1921, Bluenose was a celebrated fishing and racing schooner. The ship served as an important symbol for the province, and Canada as a whole, beginning in the 1930s. The ship was wrecked in 1946. A reproduction, called Bluenose II, was built in 1963 and serves as an important icon for Nova Scotia, their sailing heritage, and their tourism industry. In 2002 the government went so far as to place Bluenose on their currency, a depiction of which now appears on the Canadian dime.

In January 2014, a winter storm severely damaged the weathervane on the roof of MMAM. The ship section of the weathervane was snapped off and slid down the gabled roof of the museum. Curator Jon Swanson partnered with Winona Boiler and Steel Company to repair and reinforce the sculpture and it was re-installed in the spring of 2014, where it remains today.

MMAM Curator Jon Swanson poses with the weathervane atop the museum.

On your next visit, be sure to look up as you approach the museum and admire this functional and symbolic piece of artwork. The weathervane serves as a beautiful reminder of the Minnesota Marine Art Museum’s vision of “great art inspired by water.”