Loti Pencil
44°57′36.5″N 93°18′04.7″W / 44.960139°N 93.301306°W
| Loti Pencil | |
|---|---|
| Artist | Curtis Ingvoldstad |
| Completion date | June 4, 2022 |
| Medium | Wooden sculpture |
| Subject | Pencil |
| Location | Minneapolis |
| Website | lotipencil |
The Loti Pencil or Lake of the Isles Pencil is a sculpture of a yellow Trusty Empire Pencil Corporation brand number 2 pencil sculpted by Curtis Ingvoldstad. Located on the front lawn of 2217 E Lake of the Isles Parkway near the Lake of the Isles in Minneapolis, it was sculpted in 2022 from the trunk of a 180-year-old bur oak tree whose crown was blown off in a 2017 storm.
Each year on June 7, a "sharpening" of the pencil is celebrated, during which the hosts use a giant, custom-made pencil sharpener to sharpen the pencil. 3 to 10 inches (8 to 25 cm) are taken off the sculpture each year, with an eventual expected outcome of its reduction to a stub over the years. The sculpture is one of several such landmarks in the city, such as the Spoonbridge and Cherry fountain, which is about a mile away.