creative economy : Featured Stories

It's a hip hybrid of retail poster shop, design studio, and coworking space where some of Saint Paul's most entrepreneurial artists gather around--yes!--a big table. And it's a bold move to help build up downtown, too.

The Twin Cities poster scene is flourishing, and one of its epicenters is Big Table Studio in Saint Paul, which Camille LeFevre profiled a couple of weeks ago. Herewith are Managing Photographer Bill Kelley's images of some of his favorite posters on display and for sale at Big Table, by various local artists, celebrating love, evil, beer, bikes, bands, and other exciting facts of life.

One of the major influences on Big Table Studio (see feature above) has been Jenni Undis' Lunalux print shop and paper-goods store in Minneapolis. So we thought it would be opportune to re-run our Lunalux feature from 2011, in which we describe how Undis combines charm and cool, tradition and innovation. (By the way, the other major influence on Big Table is the CoCo coworking space--check out our Big Picture feature below for more on that.)

In a season of economic gloom and doom, the veteran business developer and partner in the CoCo coworking spaces sees a hopeful future in the bright eyes and collaborative ethics of young entrepreneurs.

"Coopetition"--cooperation among competitors or potential competitors--was a force to be reckoned with in the Twin Cities during 2011. Our politics may be gridlocked in partisanship, but the smartest entrepreneurs and civic officials locally are embracing a wider vision than the zero-sum game.

A couple of distinguished local boutique chocolatiers, one big and one small, are helping holiday chocolate lovers forget the foil-wrapped Santa--with high-cacao-content, eco-conscious, elegant bonbons and truffles.

What's the purpose of meetings, meetups, networking? New ideas, new opportunities, certainly. But for Craig and Patricia Neal, face-to-face gatherings can have a deeper purpose: the transformation of consciousness and, ultimately, of the way we live and do business. Their Heartland company was founded to prove the point.

With no agenda, no speaker list, and a very relaxed schedule, Minnesota's first City Camp "unconference" brought geeks and government-heads together for a radically democratic exploration of how we might design Democracy 2.0.

When her husband left her, her innovative postnatal-care company, her finances, and her hope for the future hit the skids. But then, with courage, savvy, and some high-powered help, she came back, big time.

Did you know that there's a National Park right in the middle of the Twin Cities metro? It's long and narrow, and it's called the Mississippi River. The National Park Service and its local ally, the Mississippi River Fund, want you to know more about our stretch of the river. Get your cell phones, tablets, and laptops out.

Vikas Narula learned early that informal networks of power and influence may be more important to a business than its official org chart. So he started a consultancy to help companies identify their unofficial movers and shakers.

Often, says Concordia University economist and biz-school dean Bruce Corrie, our minority and immigrant communities are seen solely through the "problem" lens. Their struggles are real, but their contributions to our prosperity and potential for growth are greater than most majority Minnesotans realize. And Corrie's got the figures to prove it.

The Twin Cities-based importer of hard-to-find European chocolate sees it as much, much more than a  confection. For her, the finest chocolate, like the best wine, has the power to change our lives for the better. That's why she's passionate about issues like cacao percentages, and why she pairs yoga and tai chi classes with chocolate tastings.

Following our selection of some favorite public artworks in Saint Paul two weeks ago, here is our take on the beautiful and the quirky in Minneapolis outdoor art--minus the Spoonbridge and Cherry, which is terrific but a little overexposed. It's just a taste of the richness available, designed to get you outside looking at art before the snow flies.

Muralist, public-school teacher, and MCAD professor Elissa Cedarleaf Dahl has a big idea for Minneapolis: a mural program that would engage at-risk kids, create beautiful public art all over the city, and celebrate our neighborhoods and the people who live in them.