New art tribute to Bob Dylan on display outside Hibbing High School
Musician Bob Dylan performs with The Band at the Forum in Los Angeles on Feb. 15, 1974.[AP/ Jeff Robbins]
A public art tribute to Bob Dylan was unveiled Saturday in Hibbing with the hopes of inspiring a new generation of young artists.
The display of the Iron Range town’s most famous resident is located outside Hibbing High School, where the 80-year-old Dylan was a 1959 graduate.
On one side of the display, a brick wall features the announcement of the Nobel Prize in Literature that Dylan was awarded in 2016. The opposite side of the wall features a series of stainless steel panels that contain lyrics from more than 50 of his songs.
There’s also a bronze chair, similar to one he would have sat in, that faces the school so people who use it will “have their backs to the lyrics, a physical representation of the songwriting process,” said Katie Fredeen, president of the Hibbing Dylan Project.
The volunteer group spent five years and raised about $100,000 to design and build the tribute.
The unveiling followed another tribute by group known as the Year of Dylan, which engraved a Dylan quote on a large rock on the Mesabi Bike Trail in Hibbing. The trail covers 135 miles of the Iron Range.