A Line That Grows
Participants at a line-drawing workshop
Photo Credit: Phil McCollam
Collaborating Partner:
Test Plot MN (a part of The Bee Line)
Artist:
Ellen Mueller
Time & Place:
“A Line That Grows” was first planted May 2025, and this particular workshop was July 19, 2025. Test Plot MN is located at the intersection of Pierce Butler Rte and Lexington Pkwy N in Saint Paul, MN.
Project Description:
“A Line that Grows” is a conceptual line drawing using 28 nodding onions (Allium cernuum) as the drawing material. It is a living installation in Test Plot MN‘s garden that I will be returning to throughout the next 2-3 years to document the line’s growth. Will parts of the line die making it more of a dashed line? Will other parts become more blob-like? When and how will this temporary line eventually disappear as the greater garden evolves? I picked nodding onions because it’s a native plant to Minnesota, plus alliums are bunny-resistant due to their flavor and smell, and they thrive in full sun (planting for climate change). I held a line-drawing workshop featuring an interactive zine to help activate the site, and that is what is pictured here.
Goals or Outcomes Achieved:
Activated the site, bringing more people to Test Plot MN (and The Bee Line) to familiarize them with the overall project.
Shared an accessible process for deep and slow looking at the natural world.
Provided a take-away element, the zine, to help facilitate storytelling about the site and experience after the fact.
Facilitated discussion about native plants and urban ecosystems.
What did you learn? Artistically? Administratively? About the community?
I learned that people love to be assigned a short focused task related to close looking, and they love using multiple colors. Participants had a great time comparing and contrasting each other’s drawings.
Administratively, I learned about the particularities of marketing for this site and the different communities that were and weren't interested. It reinforced that this is very slow and relationship-based work.
Links
https://www.instagram.com/testplot.mn/
Quote from the project:
"It's slow, relationship-based work, and that's a good thing." — Ellen Mueller
Participant Matt Olson drawing lines on a zine template at Test Plot MN (2025)
Photo Credit: Ellen Mueller
Example of a zine a participant filled out at the workshop.
Photo credit: Ellen Mueller
Workshop in progress at Test Plot MN
Photo credit: Phil McCollam
Installation shot of the line of nodding onions from summer 2025.
Photo credit: Ellen Mueller
