The Caving Grounds | Minneapolis College of Art and Design

The Caving Grounds

April 03, 2025
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The front cover of The Caving Grounds by Kathleen Heideman

MCAD alum Kathleen Heideman ’91 explores the iron mining history of Upper Michigan in her new book of poetry, The Caving Grounds. As described by the author, “The Caving Grounds excavates the rubble of Negaunee, a small town in Upper Michigan hollowed by a century of mining. The extraction of hematite caused underground collapses and sinkholes; undermined neighborhoods were deemed unstable; homes, churches and even cemeteries were moved, and dangerous areas fenced. Thankfully, a guide will emerge: Rusty.”

As a longtime environmentalist, Heideman was inspired by her interviews with older citizens of Negaunee. After almost three decades of research, she compiled her collection of poetry reflecting on the small and big ways that the mining industry impacted the lives of the people in this town.

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The Minneapolis College of Art and Design (MCAD) acknowledges it is located on traditional, ancestral, and contemporary lands of Indigenous people. This is the ancestral homeland of the Dakota and Ojibwe people, who were forcibly exiled from the land because of aggressive and persistent settler colonialism. We recognize that this place has a complex and layered history. As a community dedicated to creativity, MCAD is committed to ongoing efforts to support and advocate for American Indian Nations and peoples.


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