(upbeat music) (upbeat music) - [Announcer] Coming up on the next "Off 90", we visit with a few moms who utilize midwives, learn about a sculpture walk in Mankato, and check out some classic cars.

It's all just ahead on the next "Off 90".

(upbeat music) (upbeat music continues) (upbeat music) (gentle music) - I chose to go midwife route.

I had fairly good experiences with modern medicine with my prior pregnancies, but I really appreciated the ability to have a baby at home in my own environment and in my own space.

And just, really, there's a lot of, just being able to relax and be in my own space is really, really the key for me.

And it was really fun.

- I am actually a chiropractor, so I've always chosen to do more of the holistic option.

I grew up in a very medical mindset-ed family, and through various schooling opportunities, I really realized what there is on a more holistic medical approach.

And so, when my husband and I moved to Minnesota, I was able to really look around the area as we prepared for our first child, and found Nikki and midwifery and learned what there all was to it, and just knew that was the route that I wanted to take.

(gentle music continues) - One thing that I knew I wanted was to have options, and it made the most sense to me to go with a midwife because they give you lots of options.

And there's a lot of autonomy and ability to opt in or out of things as you desire, from ultrasounds, to blood work, to how you have the baby.

- I'm a first-time mom and I'm so excited to have this opportunity as the first experience.

My husband and I, like I said, we both came from more medical mindset families, and my husband specifically more than I. And so, it was kind of a little bit fear-mongering going in and seeing what our options were, and knowing, do we wanna do the hospital route with the typical OB/GYN, or do we wanna consider midwifery?

And just being able to sit down every single appointment and having the time to truly feel heard and to feel known with Nikki has been fantastic.

And I think that's changed the game for us.

Even just looking forth, no matter what comes with birth, you never know.

There's a time and a place for everything.

And just knowing that we have our stories heard and that we truly know that the midwife knows us, knows our bodies, and knows, truly, how we can have a good birth experience.

- Overall, it was wonderful.

I felt like there was a lot of one-on-one connection with Nikki, particularly.

That was something I hadn't thought about when it came to the process of choosing somebody to where to have our baby, whether that was at a hospital, a birth center, or with a midwife.

And the one-on-one was something that was really not surprising to me, exactly, but I hadn't thought about that.

That was something I particularly appreciated.

She worked really hard to make sure that we could have the baby at home, and gave us options for different positions and we worked through different things.

And she was just very knowledgeable and calm and collected and just kept things moving, so it never felt like we were stuck or overwhelmed, particularly to me.

We did have a little bit of difficulty towards the end, but we navigated through that.

And it felt like there was never, it never felt like we were out of control or like we didn't have options.

And that's what I wanted, was to feel like I had options and like I had the ability to have autonomy and make choices together with my husband to navigate that.

So, if we needed to go to the hospital, I felt like we had the ability to choose that.

- I would say my first hospital experience wasn't the greatest.

And I think that's a fairly common thing for a lot of first-time moms, is that their first hospital experience with a baby is really not the greatest.

And that was definitely my case.

I had, from the very beginning, wanted to do home birth.

There were certain things about my first child that really made it a very good thing that we did a hospital situation with her.

It wasn't really as much of an option until Nikki was more in our area.

She was willing to come to us, and that was great, 'cause there's not a lot of options in that realm for where we live.

That was great.

And then also that I'm, this is my fifth.

And so, I'm getting to a point in my life where my health was, I was taking the easy way out on a lot of things and not focusing on that.

And I think that was something that Nikki was like, "Hey, I'm seeing you once a month, at least.

Let's hone in on some of these things that you've just been putting on the back burner, because you have life and you have four kids, and it's easy to be like, 'Eh, I'll take care of that later.'"

And she was like, "No, let's take care of it now."

And that was really, I really, really appreciated that.

'Cause it was at that point in time in life where I was like, "You know what?

I do need to take care of this.

It can't be put off for a while.

My kids need me and my husband needs me."

(ethereal music) - Particularly a home birth midwife.

You know who's gonna be there for your baby.

So, one thing that helped me to feel safe and to feel like that there was security in the situation was that I knew who was gonna be there.

I knew that my husband was gonna be there.

I knew that my midwife was gonna be there, and we felt like we knew each other pretty well by the end of that.

And I think that that made it feel more secure.

I think that that's such a valuable thing when it comes to midwifery in particular.

I think also that it just gives you more knowledge and there's a lot more informed consent because there's not pressure to do anything in particular.

Nikki lays out our options and tells us, "This is what you can do, these are the choices that you have, and here's what I recommend.

This is what I like people to do.

But if you don't wanna do that, that's okay, because it's your baby, it's your pregnancy.

I'm just here to help you navigate this."

And I think that there's a lot of space for having options and being able to make your own choices.

And I think that that's really important, particularly when it comes to pregnancy and birth.

It also makes it feel like it's not a disease that needs to be cured.

It makes it feel like a natural, normal part of being a woman and becoming a mom.

- Nikki does a very awesome job at covering all of her bases and making sure that your health is conducive to having a baby at home, so that you don't have complications at home and risk baby or your life.

So, I think that's really important.

But overall, I feel like she did a better job of actually considering my health and keeping me on track.

And she checked in on baby and made sure baby was okay.

But really, it was more of a focus on, "Okay, mom, how are you doing?

What are the things that we need to be working on to make sure that you are in the best health that you can be?"

And I really appreciated that 'cause I needed the push to actually focus on, "Okay, I need to get in better health to actually come out of pregnancy in a better situation."

And it works.

By the way, it works.

I'm coming out of pregnancy with my fifth child in probably some of the best health that I've been in in many years.

I appreciate the focus that she has on both of us so that when I come out of having my fifth child, I'm doing really, really well.

- One of the things that I particularly liked about it is that I didn't have to go anywhere.

I was just home and I felt comfortable because I was in my place, and it felt like the flow didn't have to be interrupted to pack up to go to the hospital.

I didn't feel like I had to figure out when the best time to go was.

I was just able to exist in that space and just let it flow and let it be.

And I think that that was really beneficial for me, personally.

And I can imagine that going to the hospital, going through the check-in process and then being moved to a room and having to move rooms, potentially, at various points would've been a disruption.

And this felt like it could be pretty hands-off, which I think was really valuable for me, personally.

- Relaxed-wise, I was way more relaxed and able to focus on what I needed to and not be pestered about, "Okay, fill out this form, or do this sort of thing."

It was just a night and day difference, and I would totally go for that again of just getting to be in my space.

Yeah, it's really, really nice to not have a lot of people that you don't know that you're comfortable with, and that, so, yeah.

It was just, it was a very different experience of getting to have a baby at home rather than in hospital.

(gentle music) - I'm actually originally from Nebraska, and in Nebraska, you can do a home birth.

However, you are not allowed to have a midwife present, so just based on their regulations.

You have to do it unassisted, so it would just be you and your partner at the home birth.

And coming to Minnesota, that was something that I didn't really realize how blessed we were for just to have more options and more abilities within your decisions as a first-time mom and as a parent as a whole.

And so, just being able to see and discover, going this route, to see all the various options as far as what we offer, even in small-town Minnesota, is such a blessing.

And just being able to have choices, and again, just make educated decisions before you're going forth with a birth.

- We don't have hospital services that are particularly close.

Everything is at least 30 minutes away from us.

And I think that having an option that can come to you so that I don't have to drive super far to get to a good birthing center or to get to a hospital with a good reputation.

I'm not limited in distance because I have a provider that will come to me.

I think that's an extremely valuable thing for women who want choices, but don't have them because of where they live.

And that is, unfortunately, a large problem where we live right now.

Having options like this helps to mitigate that problem.

(upbeat music) (upbeat music) - [Kaaran] The CityArt Sculpture Walk is a great community opportunity for people to come and enjoy beautiful art sculptures from people all around the United States here in the downtown area of Mankato and North Mankato.

- 16 years ago, we started the Walking Sculpture Tour, and it was born out of the city center renaissance plan for our downtown district.

A large number of people talked about how they saw their downtown in the future, and one of those key things was public art.

And they wanted a walking sculpture tour.

They'd seen it in different communities.

- So, the sculpture walk does change every single year.

We bring in new sculptures from all around the country from a number of different artists.

The path pretty much stays the same.

So, it's a walkable path that you can enjoy restaurants and other businesses along the way while you're visiting all of the different sculptures.

- It stays pretty diverse in the types of sculptures we have.

We try to have some bronzes, we try to have a lot of mixed media, we try to have some stone, all those different things, and different types of artisan treatments to them.

There's a dude, his name's Jim Clark out of Sioux Falls, and he runs a group called Sculpture One.

So, he'll put out a national call for two months, late summer.

A lot of apps come in through that and we trade with four or five different communities each year.

It's almost like a little NFL draft that we go into.

Then, we do a local call.

We took six of those local sculptures and they all put in apps, they put their artist's statements in.

We jury it through a group of about 12 people that help select it.

We are very lucky this year to get some amazing sculptures.

"Europa" on Civic Center Plaza is probably one of the most intricate and expensive sculptures we've ever had here.

Ditto for "Archer" in front of Hotel Alexander.

I mean, we have some really high-end pieces here this year, and I hope everyone comes down and checks 'em out.

The funding for the Walking Sculpture tour and CityArt as a whole, we have multiple programs for CityArt.

Silo Art, the On the Go, the murals, the Walking Sculpture Tour.

CityArt's funded by sponsors for the sculptures.

It's also funded by our municipalities, so funding comes a lot of different ways.

And the size of our tour each year is based on how many sponsors we get.

So, we get 26 months, we have 26 sculptures.

We get 32, we have 32.

So, we are always looking to expand that funding so we can grow our tour.

- I actually started dabbling in 2014 with this metal art stuff.

I used to do a lot with Halloween and absolutely loved it.

And I started cutting jack-o'-lantern faces into LP tanks with the plasma.

And I had a full-time job and a couple of kids, and all of a sudden, it just kept going and going and going.

And I gave up my job after 34 years.

I've been doing this now full-time for six years.

I applied for the CityArt Walk because so many people said, "You need to do it, have you ever done it?"

So, finally I put on my big-boy pants and stepped up a little bit, and came up with a piece.

And we applied it, and they called and said that it was accepted.

And I said, "You're kidding me, did nobody else apply?"

But it won the People's Choice Award and everything.

So, it was a great way to start, I guess.

So, "Airmail", as you, sometimes, as an artist, like for me, anyways, I just have "Airmail", meaning the airplane and a dog riding it, or something like that.

And then, I make it.

But sometimes, you make a piece, and then you come up with the story.

But this one, here, I always had "Airmail" in my head.

And lo and behold, this is what became of it.

- And each year, we buy one of the sculptures and keep it.

And I think as we grow that collection and we continue to do this rotating tour, I think it means a lot for people that wanna visit here, people that live here.

We've seen it do economic gen, and we saw that through the Creative Minnesota studies.

And it's just important for the vibrancy and attraction for people to live, work, and stay here.

- Public art helps beautify our community, and we have a number of businesses that also want to support public art.

So, we just had an example of a franchise coming to the Mankato area that wanted to also display public art.

- This franchise was a nationally-known franchise, and they had opportunity to pick any, a whole bunch of communities to pick.

And they attributed the public art to one of the reasons they invested in Mankato.

That's huge.

- [Kaaran] If I had to pick a favorite this year of mine, I would have to say it's "The Rooster".

And the reason because of that is because I have video of it coming down the street on the forklift, and my husband helped install it.

And it's just larger than life.

It's made out of recycled tires and it's pretty cool.

For someone that's going on the tour for the very first time, I would say it's best to enjoy it with friends and family.

Share your thoughts.

- Take your time.

Do it twice, 'cause what you thought was your first sculpture or your favorite on the first time around, then when you walk back through it, you might change your mind.

And read the artist's statements.

They help you think about what they're thinking about when they're creating a piece, or why they're creating it.

- [Kaaran] I think the biggest takeaway I would love for people to have after they've done the CityArt Sculpture Walk is that they've learned a little bit more about art.

The different forms, the different products that the artists are using and creating their sculptures.

And just a little bit more about our community and what we all have to offer here.

- [Stacey] Art is a common language and I think that it's a thing that can bring us together.

And when communities and citizens and municipalities invest in public art, it's here to stay.

And it is that gap between all of our differences, all of our likenesses.

It's that overall-riding communication point.

(upbeat music) (moody guitar music) - Oh, probably the earliest memory was before kindergarten, riding in the cars with my dad, or pickup trucks, sitting on my grandpa's lap, driving his pickup truck, which I still have out in the back garage.

I've always been into wheels and engines.

And then, in kindergarten, the teachers asked what we were gonna do when I got big.

And I said, "Cars."

And they wanna know, "Buy, sell, fix?"

I said, "All of it."

(moody guitar music) Purchased this car probably when I was 19 or 20 years old.

This is a 1964 Ford Fairlane.

I got it from the little old lady that drove it to our church.

That's the facts.

We have photos of this car sitting out on the north side of our church that I got confirmed at.

By installing this huge engine, we had to widen out the engine bay to shoehorn this big engine in.

427 Ford engine with two 4-barrel carburetors, and got all the goodies in this one.

But the car does only have 30,000, 35,000 miles on it.

It is the original interior, yet.

Boy, just the infatuation from watching other guys in school just having these cool cars.

It's like, someday, I'm gonna have a bunch of 'em and be able to sell 'em and turn it into a business.

(moody music continues) Yeah, I wanted to keep 'em running.

I didn't have the money to take it into the garage, so I figured it out myself.

You can do about anything if you just put your mind to it.

And then, luckily, I've been able to turn the classic car, muscle car thing into a lucrative online business.

And we've been online over 30 years, now.

We sell cars to everyone.

Our first contact is through the internet.

I registered Braatens as my last name.

I registered that over 30 years ago.

We were one of the first classic car businesses in Minnesota online.

Then, I finally bought a place big enough, bought an old gas station.

We could park 50 cars there.

And I thought I'd really made it big, then, I could park 50 cars for sale.

We do a virtual lot online and I keep everything in in five different buildings.

So, we're not all battling the weather, the snow, the birds, vandals, the sun.

Everything's inside.

I think the best-looking muscle car ever was the '67 Chevelle.

And this is a '69, but it'd be two years older.

It'd be more of a square look on that one.

They're great cars.

Well, this 1970 Super Sport Chevelle is probably the king muscle car in the street.

I mean, you ask anyone, and they'll say a '70 Chevelle is very hard to beat.

And I gotta agree with that.

It's a cool car, it's comfortable, plenty of room for the family.

Or you get a convertible top, even better yet.

Got the 454 engine.

It's got power steering, brakes with air.

So, that's a nice add for this car.

This car, cruising it normally, it's geared for highway cruising, so you'd probably still get 15, 18 miles a gallon with it.

(moody guitar music) Everybody has their thing, and some guys like hunting, golfing, fishing.

I just like cars.

They're a way to make money and have fun.

And I brought my kids into it and they love it, too.

And someday, they'll probably take this thing over.

(uplifting music) (uplifting music continues) I'm the youngest of eight kids.

I had a nice tool set, probably more than my dad had, in sixth grade.

So, I would help my older brothers on their cars, but I'd be right there watching, make sure we didn't lose a single socket or a wrench.

And then, I bought my first car in grade school.

And that was an old Ford pickup I bought out of a farmer's pasture, and then restored that and got that running even before I had a driver's license.

They got the style, the class, the chrome, the sound, the feel, the look.

I guess the fact that not everybody has one, they're better looking, I think, the old cars.

The Mustang is probably the all-time classic.

We always have Mustangs.

This is a 2009 Mustang GT500 Shelby.

It's got all the bells and whistles.

Come factory with 500 horsepower.

It's got, I think, 15,000 miles on it now, but I put 5,000 miles on it.

I remember just getting the car around 12,000 miles.

But it is a fun car.

It will get up and go, or it'll get 20 miles a gallon.

I dunno, just the fact that the old cars were nostalgic and brings back good times.

Well, I've always had Fords.

Ford was my first vehicle.

I like GM and Ford stuff.

Everybody has their niche.

Some guys like Chrysler products, some guys like imports.

Camaros are great, Chevelles are great, Fairlanes, the one I'm leaning on, I had this one right out of high school.

So, it just depends on what you like and what you're able to buy parts for and what you can get your hands on.

My favorite three things about these old cars are probably, first one, buying them.

It's fun to buy these cars, too, but it's fun to keep 'em, fun to drive 'em, obviously, tinker on 'em, make 'em better, make 'em faster.

Get the ride height correct, get the right wheels, the right exhaust.

And if you look at my cars, you'll notice that, with all the correct exhaust, the wheels.

But we get 'em pretty close to how you would've had it back in that day.

I love everything about 'em.

And it's something I can do and have fun and make money, so it's perfect.

(moody guitar music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music continues) (upbeat music continues) (upbeat music) - [Announcer] Funding for this program is provided in part by the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund and the citizens of Minnesota.

(bird crying)