Focus on this artwork and discuss the Reception.
Writer Andy Sturdevant described Cottontail on the Trail as "probably the best-known piece of art" along Minnehaha Creek between Lake Harriet and Minnehaha Falls. Local paper City Pages listed the sculpture as the best landmark in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul metropolitan area in 2019, writing that the piece "isn't glitzy or challenging—it's just a big-ass bunny that reliably brings smiles to passersby."A 2014 survey by Minneapolis's Community Planning and Economic Development department found that 53 percent of the 58 respondents felt that the sculpture was connected to the community in which it was situated and over 80 percent said the piece contributed to the surrounding area. Of those surveyed, 40 percent identified it as a contributing factor in their decision to pass by that particular location on that day. Many respondents considered Cottontail on the Trail to be iconic and said the work served as a gathering space for the community.The sculpture has garnered the nickname of the "Minnehaha Bunny" from residents. Children often climb on the sculpture and people who live nearby have frequently costumed and decorated it based on seasonal occasions or topical events such as leaving eggs by the sculpture during Easter or cladding the mouth of the sculpture with a large cloth face mask during the COVID-19 pandemic.
City Pages Minneapolis cloth face mask Lake Harriet Easter Minneapolis–Saint Paul Minnehaha Creek COVID-19 pandemic Minnehaha Falls