Bob Dylan's Public Artwork to Go on Display at Maryland Casino

Even iconic musicians like Bob Dylan have a side hobby. When he’s not touring the world or recording albums, the folk singer-songwriter enjoys creating metal sculptures—a creative pursuit he attributes to his upbringing in northern Minnesota, home to one of the world’s largest open pit iron mines. Now, The New York Times reports, Dylan’s latest public artwork—a large iron archway—will soon go on display at a Maryland casino resort.

The MGM National Harbor is slated to open later this year at the similarly titled waterfront attraction in Prince George’s County, Maryland. The casino commissioned Dylan’s archway—a 26-by-15-foot work titled “Portal”—and plans to install it in the building’s west entrance. The metallic creation is made from “everything from farm equipment, children’s toys, kitchen utensils and antique fire arms to chains, cogs, axes and wheels,” according to a press release.

As the Times points out, this isn’t the first time the public has seen Dylan’s ironwork: He first displayed his metallic creations at London's Halcyon Gallery in an exhibit titled “Bob Dylan, Mood Swings,” which ran from November 2013 to January 2014.

"I've been around iron all my life ever since I was a kid,” the musician said at the time in an artist's statement. “I was born and raised in iron ore country where you could breathe it and smell it every day. And I've always worked with it in one form or another.”

[h/t The New York Times]

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