News Flash

Each cairn features plants and animals that represent the marsh, prairie, and forest that make up Central Park's 52-acre nature preserve, Harriet Alexander Nature Center (HANC).

Cairns are eye-catching landmarks built to mark trails and significant locations.

The City of Roseville commissioned the public artwork with the help of nature center volunteer and donor John and Kris Robertson-Smith, in coordination with the nonprofit Friends of Roseville Parks.  

 Greene said she was drawn to the project because of its natural family-friendly setting. Greene said she explored HANC with her children when they were young. 

“I wanted to do something that was beautiful and about nature,” Mosaic Artist Lori Green says. “It’s healing for me. I hope it will be for others. I hope it’s also fun for kids and adults too.”

Greene’s work is displayed all over the country and across the Twin Cities. Two of her mosaics are displayed at the Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport. Green created the Survivors Memorial at Boom Island Park in Minneapolis, which is the nation’s first, permanent, public memorial to honor survivors of sexual violence. 

Lori owns Mosaic on a Stick in St. Paul, which offers classes and studio space to fellow mosaic artists. 

Greene grew up in Minnesota with a plethora of cultural values that guide her work. Greene is multiracial including African American, Native American- Mississippi band of Choctaw, and Caucasian. Her father Dewey Greene was a founding member of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) in the 1960s, which fought for Civil Rights. 

Greene said she appreciates that her public art projects reach a broad audience.

“A lot of people feel intimidated by art, I want people to walk by a piece of art and think: ‘oh that’s cool!’ I want people to be interested and to be curious and ask, ‘What is that? How is that made? Could I do that?’” she said.

Harriet Alexander Nature Center is located at 2520 Dale St N.