December 8, 2020 — On a chilly Saturday morning with a mist of hoarfrost in the air, Nimbus was ceremoniously lofted over Nicollet and permanently sited in the forecourt of Minneapolis Central Library. The colossal sculpture by Tristan Al-Haddad, three-years in the works, completes the collection of public art on Nicollet.

For the past month, the public watched as the sculpture, trucked from Al-Haddad’s studio in Atlanta, Georgia in seven parts, was assembled in a parking lot across the street. Then a crowd gathered with Al-Haddad’s team to watch the big moment when Rocket Crane settled it carefully into place.

On November 9, 2018, Nimbus arrived in Minneapolis after its trip from artist Tristan Al-Haddad’s fabrication studio in Atlanta, Georgia. Shipped on two 14-foot-wide by 53-foot-long flat-bed trucks covered with tarps, the sculpture was delivered in eight sections.

During the past month, the sculpture has been staged and assembled in a parking lot across from Central Library. On December 8, 2018, the sculpture will be lifted over Nicollet by a giant crane and installed in the forecourt of the library, completing an ensemble with the Theater in the Round.

Al-Haddad and his team of welders and fabricators and Rocket Crane have been working in near-zero temperatures, rain, snow, and occasionally, sun, to assemble the work. What does it take to assemble the 18,000-pound sculpture? See progress in this photo essay.