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Join the ‘Urban Sauna Revival’ that’s heating up Downtown Minneapolis

Little Box Sauna (LBS) has teamed up with The 612 Sauna Society and The Musicant Group to bring the nordic sauna experience to a neighborhood near you. First stop: Piazza on the Mall!

This winter, community members are invited to join The 612 Sauna Society for weekly open sauna sessions. The season kickoff will take place at The Piazza on the Mall, located at 1221 Nicollet Mall, three nights a week from November 27th – December 19th. Sauna sessions take place in 1.5 hour blocks between 5-9:30pm. The sauna will be free and open to the public. Guests can reserve a spot at www.612saunasociety.com (walk-ins welcome based on availability).

The month of December is sponsored by the Westminster Presbyterian Church and produced by The Musicant Group, the Piazza on the Mall is a unique gathering space located in the heart of downtown Minneapolis. Organizers seek new partnerships to keep the sauna on the move and open all winter.

Fridays will include special programming for the public: campfires, live music, storytelling, fire performance and community singing.

Little Box Sauna (LBS) was conceived, designed, built and deployed as an experimental Creative Placemaking project by Andrea Johnson and Molly Reichert. Johnson and Reichert will be teaming up with local partner sponsors and 612 Sauna Society Founder John Pederson to bring the project to neighborhoods throughout the Twin Cities.

What to know:

• Registration limited to one session/week
• Sign up for the waiting list to receive email notifications when next week’s registration opens.
• Parking is available in nearby lots and metered street parking (Recommended: Street parking on Nicollet South of 13th and Orchestra Hall)
• Changing rooms available
• Sauna will be hosted and staffed at all times
• Bathing suits are required at the sauna
• Bring a towel, non-metal water bottle and flip-flops (optional)
• Little Box Sauna FAQs

Friday guests will also enjoy:

• Accordion Musician – November 27
• Fire Performer – Dec 4th
• Storytellers – Dec 11th
• Singing Circle – December 18th

Plus:

• Hot drinks
• Kubb and winter lawn games
• Fire pits and s’mores

Space is very limited. If you reserve a spot, please use it.

**If you must cancel, please use the login link in your order confirmation email to access to your eventbrite account and cancel your order**

Sign up for the waiting list to be notified if a spot opens up and to receive an email link for next week’s registration.

See you on the bench!

Reserve your seat now

Bring Little Box to your community or event!

*** email me to find out how: john@612saunasociety.com ***

Our Team

Molly Reichert

Molly is trained as an architect and teaches in the School of Architecture at the University of Minnesota. She specializes in digital design and fabrication and has worked on numerous award-winning public projects including ‘Meander’ for the Lowertown Stadium, the master plan for Frogtown Farm in St. Paul, MN, LakeForms for the Minneapolis Creative City Challenge, and TönöSauna for the Art Shanty Projects. Molly is internationally recognized in the sweat-bathing community and has presented her design work at the International Sweat Summit in San Francisco, CA. She has visited countless saunas, banyas, and public baths around the world.

Andrea Johnson

Andrea is a licensed architect and educator, who values fostering health and creativity through design and design practices in both urban and rural environments. Andrea grew up within a culture of sweat lodges in South Dakota, and has since immersed herself in the experiences, spaces, and languages of bathing cultures around the globe, most often finding herself in deep conversation with an old or new friend in the banya at the Russian & Turkish Baths in the East Village. At the University of Minnesota, Andrea is a research fellow and lecturer, teaching in the undergraduate and graduate architecture programs, and conducting research on best practices for delivering integrated, high-performing architecture projects, the space of artist studios, architecture and maker culture, and architecture and poetry. Her current experimental “hot room” project is for her mother on Lake Koronis, MN.

John Pederson

I founded this group, The 612 Sauna Society, a Minneapolis-based initiative helping people “waste time with dignity” by promoting Nordic sauna culture. The project started when I built a mobile sauna and converted it into a clubhouse of sorts for people who needed to unplug and connect. Today the group has over 400 members and is leading the way in what has been dubbed “The Urban Sauna Revival” (thanks City Pages!). Before I became “Sauna Guy,” I was a community manger at CoCo Coworking and Collaborative Space and the Director of Operations at The Mighty Mo! Web Development Company. I trained as a journalist by producing programs for NPR’s “Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me!” and “To the Best of Our Knowledge” programs before moving to Indonesia to start the country’s first student-run radio station as a Fulbright Fellow in Sumatra. When I’m not sweating in the sauna, I’m creating opportunities to do so on the dance floor as an organizer for The Dance Shanty.