The aptly named Type/Variant house is ever changing.

Built in 1994, the copper siding-clad home was shiny and brown. As it aged, the copper oxidized, giving the panels their own patina, some a blue-green, others a deep brown.

Client Richard Polsky and Minneapolis architect Vincent James drew inspiration from rural industrial structures in Wisconsin and Minnesota, envisioning each cubic part of the home as simple, elegant timber-like features.

“We selected copper siding after seeing one of [Polsky’s] artworks — a beautiful copper etching composing a set of plates of simple variations,” James said in an email. “They loved the evolving copper color as it weathered and that the changes were outside of their control.”

The home, which won the American Institute of Architects Honor Award for Architecture in 1998 as well as the American Institute of Architects Minnesota Honor Award in 1996, even garnered a New York Times feature for its ingenuity and modernist look. After decades of enjoying all the seven-bedroom, nine-bathroom home has to offer — from its artistic forms to fishing on the nearby lake and tapping maple trees on the property — the Polsky family recently listed the Hayward, Wis., home for $4 million and hope to find buyers who will relish it the same.

“[Us kids have] spread out quite a bit over the years. It was a place for my parents to go every summer. It was getting harder for them to get there,” said Polsky’s son Charlie Polsky. “It’s sad that the house is for sale. But it’s a house that needs to be used.”

Richard Polsky always had grander ideas for his land in Hayward, about a 2 ½-hour drive northeast from the Twin Cities. A professor at Columbia University, he interviewed artists and was interested in how they expressed their views creatively.

“My father, who is turning 93 this year, is a lifelong artist and has been interested in aesthetic and space for a long time,” Charlie Polsky said. “We started interviewing architects in the mid-90s, and he had a vision for what the house should be in terms of materials and how it is built.”

A federal judge ruled this week that a middle school principal being an ally for LGBTQ rights does not mean she gets the legal protections of someone in a marginalized group.

U.S. District Court Judge Patrick J. Schiltz on Wednesday dismissed a lawsuit filed by Mary Kay Thomas against the school board of Marshall, Minn.

Thomas, formerly a principal in the Marshall school system, sued in 2021 after she said she had been discriminated against because she advocated on behalf of LGBTQ students. She said she faced opposition after ordering a Pride flag hung on the walls of the school cafeteria, and after she helped students establish a Gay‐Straight Alliance.

Schiltz, in his judgment, accepted that Thomas, after her advocacy, was disciplined via suspension, asked to resign and eventually assigned to an administrative position — created just for her — in a small, windowless office.

However, Thomas, as a “straight, cisgender woman,” falls outside of the categories protected by Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, Schiltz argued. Title VII protects employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex and national origin.

“Thomas was discriminated against because of what she advocated, not because of her sex — because of what she said, not because of who she is,” he wrote in his judgment.

He also said that Thomas could not provide an example of a specific instance of anti-LGBTQ discrimination. Her advocacy against bigotry present in broader society was not protected by Title IX of the Civil Rights Act. Title IX aims to prevent discrimination in education, the judge said.

Jeremy Williams, school superintendent for Marshall, welcomed the court’s decision, calling it “well-reasoned” in an emailed statement.

The St. Paul Police Department said the Ramsey County Medical Examiner has identified Carrie Shobe Kwok as the woman killed while working on a mural near the Lowertown Lofts Artist Cooperative where she and other artists lived.

Police Chief Axel Henry said in a news conference Thursday that there is no indication Kwok knew the shooter, adding that her death was one of the most brazen acts he’s seen in 30 years of policing.

“[This killing is] one of the most cold-blooded things I’ve ever seen in my life. And as, what appears to be right now, a random act performed in a manner like that — I’ve never seen anything like that even in a movie. It is awful,” Henry said. “As the evidence comes out in the next few days, I hope we use this as an opportunity to really revisit how serious we are as a state and as a country about the types of violence that have become all too common.”

Kwok’s death comes days before the St. Paul fall art crawl, an annual event showcasing work from artists across Lowertown and Minnesota. In a statement, event organizers said they hope to honor Kwok’s memory.

“Her passion for creativity reminds us of the essential role that art plays in our community — it connects us, heals us, and allows us to express our deepest emotions,” St. Paul Art Collective Executive Director Mariusz Kujawski said in a statement. “Let us come together to celebrate not only the art she created but also the vibrant contributions each of you makes to our collective artistic journey.”

The man suspected of killing Kwok was tracked to Belle Plaine where St. Paul officers attempted to arrest him. St. Paul Police said the man was armed with a handgun when he was confronted by the officers, and two St. Paul officers shot him.

Both officers gave the man medical aid before he was airlifted to HCMC where he died. The officers involved in that shooting were placed on standard administrative leave as the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension investigates that shooting. Although police have not named the suspect, a family member identified him as Seantrell Murdock, 29, of Belle Plaine.