Arts and Culture : Featured Stories
Jon Spayde Wednesday, July 24, 2013
In a Q and A with The Line, marketer and theater maven Mayer asks: with nearly eighty professional theater companies in town, why don't we do more to promote theater as an attraction that sets the Twin Cities apart?
Jon Spayde Wednesday, July 24, 2013
Croissant-loving editor compares four of the finest products of local artisanship.
Jon Spayde Wednesday, July 17, 2013
Bill Kelley Wednesday, June 26, 2013
On Saturday night, lensman Bill Kelley braved the threat of another downpour to take some lively shots of Secret City, Minneapolis' answer to the Northern Spark alfresco arts festival, which was based solely in St Paul this year. Check out his images of Aztec dance, djs, fire performance, sound art, and a huge inflatable civic mood ring called MIMMI.
Julie Kendrick Wednesday, June 12, 2013
If you're on the board of directors of HUGE Theater in Minneapolis, you have to improvise. That is, you have to actually go onstage and do improv in a three-evening run that is also an official series of board meetings.
Jon Spayde Wednesday, June 12, 2013
Your editor helps run a meditative labyrinth-walking project amid the cheerful madness of the Northern Spark one-night, all-night arts festival--and points out another cool artfest that's ongoing.
Camille LeFevre Wednesday, June 05, 2013
For artist/gallerist Pete Driessen and the theater artists of Off-Leash Area, turning their garages into art spaces provided opportunities for innovation, experimentation, and freedom, very close to home. And the neighbors don't mind a bit.
Jon Spayde Wednesday, June 05, 2013
This week: Mayor Coleman's office launches a blog for the City of Saint Paul that's more about the city as a scene than as a simple civic entity.
Jon Spayde Wednesday, May 22, 2013
It came into my mailbox the other day--Minneapolis' first-ever study of the impact of the creative sector on the city's bottom line, in terms of sales and employment. There were points of pride, surprises, and caveats, along with ample proof that the arts pull more than their weight in bringing prosperity to the city.
Bill Kelley Wednesday, May 08, 2013
The May Day Parade and Festival is our Mardi Gras--a heartfelt explosion of color, music, art, fun, and earth-friendliness after the weariness of long winters. Bill Kelley caught the parade action last Sunday in the Powderhorn neighborhood as Minneapolitans dressed up and rocked out to say goodbye to the cold.
Jon Spayde Wednesday, May 08, 2013
Monday night I joined urbanist Katherine Loflin, The Line publisher Dena Alspach, colleagues from the Citizens' League, an old magazine-biz pal, and a lively audience for some informal urbanism: an improv comedian emceeing a discussion about why people love/don't love the Twin Cities--and why they stay or go. Craft beer and Asian appetizers were in the mix.
Anna Pratt Wednesday, May 01, 2013
Jen Chilstrom and Kimberly Jurek have just opened (May 1) a new kind of fashion boutique. The Showroom is a combination retail shop/workshop/coworking space where local designers can come, work, exhibit, share ideas, and grow creatively.
Jon Spayde Wednesday, May 01, 2013
The nonprofit Springboard for the Arts used to concentrate solely on career development for artists. Now, under the leadership of Laura Zabel, it's become a powerful force in redefining the whole relationship between artists and the communities they live in--and in marshaling artistic creativity to improve those communities.
Jon Spayde Wednesday, May 01, 2013
Monday, May 6, The Line and its civic partners kick off a weeklong Placemaking Residency with urbanist and placemaker Katherine Loflin, who knows why we love (or don't love) our cities.
Bill Kelley Wednesday, April 24, 2013
Images from a concert of ecstatic music in three traditions: Hindu Indian, Islamic and Christian Persian, and Sephardic Jewish, played and sung by some of our most accomplished local world musicians. The setting? Minnesota's Hindu temple. The purpose? To bring hearts and minds together. The result? Joyful catharsis after a terrible week.
Jon Spayde Wednesday, April 24, 2013
She was the key consultant on the Knight Foundation/Gallup Soul of the Community project, which looked at why people love where they live and how that attachment can drive economic development. The in-demand placemaker is the star attraction at a weeklong series of discussions next week, cosponsored by The Line.
Jon Spayde Wednesday, April 10, 2013
This week: Three of the Twin Cities most accomplished master-musicians represent three great cultural and spiritual traditions in a concert that spans centuries and civilizations.
Camille LeFevre Wednesday, April 03, 2013
Consolidating its position as a laboratory for cutting-edge design thinking, the University of Minnesota's College of Design hosted the first Public Interest Design Week. Its climax was an awards show that displayed ingenious design-driven solutions to the dilemmas of poverty and ill health in America and around the world.
Jay Walljasper Wednesday, April 03, 2013
Art lives in the Twin Cities--and not just in the tonier parts of town. Thanks to initiatives like Twin Cities LISC's Building Sustainable Communities program, art and artists are taking major roles in helping some of our most challenged inner-city communities thrive.
Jon Spayde Wednesday, April 03, 2013
This week: Get in gear (or jump on your fixie) for what ARTCRANK, our high-powered local (and national and international) poster collective, touts as "the biggest bike-art shindig ever thrown," this Saturday.
Jon Spayde Wednesday, March 27, 2013
This week's Line or Two looks at a web site that showcases a wide range of colorful, informal images of the Twin Cities--sketches done on site in Saint Paul and Minneapolis by local artists who belong to a worldwide network of urban sketchers.
Anna Pratt Wednesday, March 20, 2013
It's weathered industry exoduses and foreclosure--but now the proud old East Side Saint Paul neighborhood is home to a hot new bar/restaurant, Ward 6, that's both a sign of, and a force in, a wider renewal.
Bill Kelley Wednesday, March 20, 2013
On March 15, the nominees for this year's Minnesota Book Awards got together with the general public--not for the award ceremony, which isn't till April, but for some informal reading, book-buying and pressing of the flesh. Free (or mostly free) of the award-night jitters, it was a chance to celebrate our extremely vibrant literary community--and Bill Kelley was there.
Jon Spayde Wednesday, March 20, 2013
This week: You've heard of "yarn bombing," knitting as a kind of graffiti (knitted cozies around trees and phone poles, yarn symbols strung through the links of chain-link fences, etc.). But how about knitting as out-there performance art? Our most fabulous local yarnmeister, StevenBe, will be doing just that on March 23rd. How will he turn knitting into performance? By weaving in stories--yarns?--from his glamorous life.
Jon Spayde Wednesday, March 13, 2013
Despite a feisty ongoing effort to keep it open, Saint Paul's much-loved College of Visual Arts is slated to close--all the more reason to hurry over there to hear a talk about a fascinating Baroque artist, given by a fascinating local art historian/entrepreneur.
Camille LeFevre Wednesday, March 06, 2013
When Heather and Brent Fredrickson bought a modernist house in a historic Saint Paul neighborhood that was something of a midcentury architectural showcase, they had one big problem: an awkward bathroom. The remodel they did added a 21st-century environmental ethic to the whole home.
Jon Spayde Wednesday, March 06, 2013
Stumbling upon the blog/online magazine that may be the one place to go if you want to know what smart young millennials in creative industries here are thinking and feeling. Hint: there's a lot of pop culture, irony, and a self-consciousness about hipsterdom that's intense but cheerful. And some serious stuff too.
Jon Spayde Wednesday, February 27, 2013
This week: A greeting card in a coffee shop sends me to a Minneapolis West Bank memorial that recalls a beloved, vanished building and honors the history and traditions of generations of West Bankers.
Jon Spayde Wednesday, February 20, 2013
In A Line or Two, I share some of my enthusiasms and discoveries as I make my way around the Twin Cities. Call it an editor's note as blog entry. This week: A multi-everything hip-hop/spoken word extravaganza organized by our coolest Lao-American diva and sponsored by the lovable Saint Paul Almanac.
Camille LeFevre Wednesday, February 06, 2013
When globetrotting dancers and choreographers Uri Sands and Toni Pierce-Sands, formerly of the Alvin Ailey company, decided to establish a new kind of multicultural dance school in Saint Paul, they knew where they wanted it to be: along the Central Corridor in the heart of the city.
Jon Spayde Wednesday, February 06, 2013
In A Line or Two, I share some of my enthusiasms and discoveries as I make my way around the Twin Cities. Call it an editor's note as blog entry. This week: A celebrated, exiled Iranian artist brings her images of beauty, repression, and tragedy to Macalester's fine arts center.
Anna Pratt Wednesday, January 30, 2013
The bars and restaurants in this uber-trendy corner of downtown Minneapolis draw national attention. Meanwhile, developers, community groups, and residents are turning the surrounding neighborhood into a pleasantly dense, lively, and livable urban village.
Jon Spayde Wednesday, January 30, 2013
In A Line or Two, I share some of my enthusiasms and discoveries as I make my way around the Twin Cities. Call it an editor's note as blog entry. This week: The Walker Art Center hosts an Aussie touring show unlike any you're likely to see this year.
Jon Spayde Wednesday, January 09, 2013
In A Line or Two, I share some of my enthusiasms and discoveries as I make my way around the Twin Cities. Call it an editor's note as blog entry. This week: A "circus" of fun-to-watch physics demonstrations at the Minneapolis Convention Center.
Anna Pratt Wednesday, December 19, 2012
What is an art gallery? What should it do, not just for the artists it shows and the patrons who view and buy the art, but for the community as a whole? These are some of the questions Tricia Khutoretsky and her colleagues are asking as they prepare to debut a new, and rather oddly named, art space in Northeast Minneapolis.
Jon Spayde Wednesday, December 19, 2012
In A Line or Two, I share some of my enthusiasms and discoveries as I make my way around the Twin Cities. Call it an editor's note as blog entry. This week: A look back at 2012 in the local lit world, courtesy of a new web site that keeps track of live poetry and prose events.
Bill Kelley Wednesday, December 12, 2012
On December 7 and 8, Minneapolis' Midtown Global Market turned hyper-crafty as 96 hand-makers of beautiful, funny, and freaky objects gathered to sell their wares. It was more than a holiday craft fair--it was a celebration of the Twin Cities as a leader in the new crafts movement. Our photographer, Bill Kelley, was there.
Tom Niemisto, MN 2020 Wednesday, December 05, 2012
The Theater of Public Policy, cofounded by the improbably named improv guy Tane Danger, uses comedy to probe public issues. Call it improvisational democracy, with real situations, serious intentions, and plenty of laughs.
Jon Spayde Wednesday, December 05, 2012
In A Line or Two, I share some of my enthusiasms and discoveries as I make my way around the Twin Cities. Call it an editor's note as blog entry. This week: An evening at the JoyFace Poetry and Arts Collective's pop-up celebration, the Full Blast Bliss Reading and Art Show.
Bill Kelley Wednesday, November 28, 2012
Shops that pair high-end coffee with edgy, adrenaline-boosting activities are becoming a Twin Cities hallmark. We've got coffee and motorcycles (Bob's Java Hut), coffee and serious biking (Angry Catfish), and now coffee and that artistic test of pain-endurance called getting serious tattoos.
Jon Spayde Wednesday, November 28, 2012
In A Line or Two, I share some of my enthusiasms and discoveries as I make my way around the Twin Cities. Call it an editor's note as blog entry. This week: a venturesome group of artists and poets have created a pop-up gallery in a vacant storefront at 38th and Chicago. This weekend, you're invited to join the Joyface Poetry and Arts Collective as they fill the space with experimental beauty--and plan the future of their project.
Michelle Bruch Wednesday, November 14, 2012
He's an up-and-coming rapper who divides his time between Ghana and the Twin Cities. She's a globetrotting business consultant who trained as a classical musician and an engineer. Together they created Giant Steps, a sort of Startup Weekend for creative types. The idea: business and art can (and should) find common ground.
Jon Spayde Wednesday, November 07, 2012
In A Line or Two, I share some of my enthusiasms and discoveries as I make my way around the Twin Cities. Call it an editor's note as blog entry. This week: A preview of what's coming up in the Walker Art Center's performance program, including Britain's hottest young choreographer and a show in which an elephant-headed Indian god takes on Hitler.
Bill Kelley Wednesday, October 31, 2012
No doubt about it: the aristocracy of the circus are the aerialists, the trapeze and high-wire and other up-in-the-air artists who defy gravity (and major injury or death) by soaring high above the crowd. There's a deceptively modest-looking place in Northeast Minneapolis where you can study these arcane skills, and photographer Bill Kelley paid it a recent visit.
Jon Spayde Wednesday, October 31, 2012
In A Line or Two, I share some of my enthusiasms and discoveries as I make my way around the Twin Cities. Call it an editor's note as blog entry. This week: At an upcoming potluck and community meeting, you can get to know a unique arts-based activist group in Saint Paul's Frogtown.
Jon Spayde Wednesday, October 24, 2012
In A Line or Two, I share some of my enthusiasms and discoveries as I make my way around the Twin Cities. Call it an editor's note as blog entry. This week: The frightening challenge of not messing up sushi-making at a new, hands-on cooking school.
Ben Stone Wednesday, October 17, 2012
The capital city glows like a jewel box in this time-lapse video, which takes in the Mississippi and the downtown skyline.
Jon Spayde Wednesday, October 17, 2012
In A Line or Two, I share some of my discoveries and enthusiasms as I make my way around the Twin Cities. Call it an editor's note as blog entry. This week: On Thursday, a scholar of public art talks about the new memorials that are springing up in America--and the challenge of memorializing victims rather than heroes.
Jon Spayde Wednesday, October 10, 2012
Web journalist, Ruby on Rails geek, entrepreneur, and DIY maven Bruno Bornsztein, founder of Curbly.com and a handful of other sites, typifies the tech-savvy business guy circa 2012. But his most intriguing characteristic might be the limit he's put on his ambition.
Jacie Knight Wednesday, October 03, 2012
The founder and artistic director of Youth Performance Company reflects on what she's learned from the kids she works with about the real source of the "bullying epidemic" in our schools--and why she commissioned a musical theater piece to deal with it.
Jon Spayde Wednesday, October 03, 2012
In A Line or Two, I share some of my discoveries and enthusiasms as I make my way around the Twin Cities.Call it an editor's note as blog entry. This week: The IFP Minnesota Center for Media Arts lauds James Bakkom, a one-of-a-kind artist who also contributed to some of our region's finest achievements in theater and film.
Julie Kendrick Wednesday, September 26, 2012
The Dakota War of 1862, the survival of Native languages, Minneapolis' urban Indian heartland--these were the challenging themes that a group of young Native filmmakers took up this summer at an innovative media institute dedicated to reconnecting them with their roots.
Jon Spayde Wednesday, September 26, 2012
In A Line or Two, I share some of my discoveries and enthusiasms as I make my way around the Twin Cities. Call it an editor's note as blog entry. This week: A lively lunch at Minneapolis' newest brewpub on its first day--and a first look at Paul's Ball.
Jon Spayde Wednesday, September 19, 2012
In A Line or Two, I share some of my discoveries and enthusiasms as I make my way around the Twin Cities. Call it an editor's note as blog entry. This week: Check out a mashup of comedy, improv, belly dancing, and scary knowledge this Sunday.
Camille LeFevre Wednesday, September 12, 2012
Far from simply decorating the light-rail route, Saint Paul's Central Corridor Public Art Plan is redefining art in the public sphere.
Springboard for the Arts Wednesday, September 12, 2012
Mike Fitzsimmons and John Grider, AKA Broken Crow, explain how the Irrigate initiative helped get their intense, stylish animal images up on a University Avenue business--helping that business to stand out during light rail construction.
Jon Spayde Wednesday, September 12, 2012
In A Line or Two, I share some of my discoveries and enthusiasms as I make my way around the Twin Cities. Call it an editor's note as blog entry. This week: a pair of highly unusual--as in flamboyantly libidinous--eco-activists bring their film-in-progress to town.
Jon Spayde Wednesday, August 22, 2012
Saint Paul's music-loving mayor wants a city with a scene--a dynamic downtown with the special energy that only art and music provide. Last Thursday he shared some successes, some hopes, and some rock-concert memories with The Line.
Jon Spayde Wednesday, August 22, 2012
In A Line or Two, I share some of my discoveries and enthusiasms as I make my way around the Twin Cities. Call it an editor's note as blog entry. This week: Midway Contemporary Art's library, a genuine hidden treasure.
Bill Kelley Wednesday, August 15, 2012
Our yearly onstage carnival of the odd, the eloquent, the poignant, and the perverse is over for 2012. Bill Kelley was in the audience at the Rarig Center and Intermedia Arts to record six of the 163 shows that took the Fringe stages between August 2 and 12. From a raucous burlesque version of a classic TV sketch to Chinese dance to a surreal Dust Bowl fable, here are images of performance at its edgiest.
Jon Spayde Wednesday, August 15, 2012
In A Line or Two, I share some of my discoveries and enthusiasms as I make my way around the Twin Cities. Call it an editor's note as blog entry. This week: Irvine Avenue, Saint Paul's street of mystery.
Julie Kendrick Wednesday, August 08, 2012
With a new school year approaching, we take a look at three unique programs that show how Minnesota has become a "thought leader" in developing--and funding--positive alternatives for youth.
Jon Spayde Wednesday, August 08, 2012
In A Line or Two, I share some of my discoveries and enthusiasms as I make my way around the Twin Cities. Call it an editor's note as blog entry. This week: a lunchtime celebration of local Japanese food.
Michelle Bruch Wednesday, July 25, 2012
How are Minnesota and the Twin Cities doing as film production centers and locations? There have been some major disappointments recently, but new moves give us reason to hope we can lure Hollywood back.
Bill Kelley Wednesday, July 25, 2012
It's Saint Paul's--and Minnesota's--biggest celebration of African American life, commemorating the Rondo neighborhood, which was largely bulldozed away to make room for Interstate 94 in the 1960s. This year, lensman Bill Kelley followed all the festivities.
Jon Spayde Wednesday, July 25, 2012
In A Line or Two, I share some of my discoveries and enthusiasms as I make my way around the Twin Cities. Call it an editor's note as blog entry. This week: The sublimely glittery Peace House mural is headed for destruction--and a kind of resurrection.
Jon Spayde Wednesday, July 18, 2012
In A Line or Two, I share some of my discoveries and enthusiasms as I make my way around the Twin Cities. Call it an editor's note as blog entry. This week: A wild chalkboard mural full of literary allusions enlivens the SubText bookstore's subterranean Saint Paul space.
Minnesota Orchestra Wednesday, July 18, 2012
The massive renovation of the Minnesota Orchestra's home is far from over, but that doesn't mean we can't tour the completed Orchestra Hall digitally.
Jon Spayde Wednesday, July 11, 2012
In A Line or Two, I share some of my discoveries and enthusiasms as I make my way around the Twin Cities. Call it an editor's note as blog entry. This week: Watch the local entries in the 48-Hour Film Project--and quaff a microbrew or two.
Bill Kelley Wednesday, June 20, 2012
Last Saturday afternoon, the big green field next to the Walker Art Center--where the Guthrie Theatre once stood--morphed into the city's biggest open-air music venue for Rock the Garden 2012. Bill Kelley's images capture the indie-energy.
Jon Spayde Wednesday, June 20, 2012
In A Line or Two, I share some of my discoveries and enthusiasms as I make my way around the Twin Cities. Call it an editor's note as blog entry. This week: Get to know Irrigate, our public-spirited and art-fueled Central Corridor placemaking project.
Camille LeFevre Wednesday, June 13, 2012
In the final Talk-It Hennepin forum on the redevelopment of Hennepin Avenue, experts touched on some touchy subjects, like the purpose of public space, who gets to use it and how, the role of memory in placemaking, and how to celebrate diversity without creating ethnic Disneylands.
Jon Spayde Wednesday, June 13, 2012
In A Line or Two, I share some of my discoveries and enthusiasms as I make my way around the Twin Cities. Call it an editor's note as blog entry. This week: A city once synonymous with dullness has got its urban act together.
Julie Kendrick Wednesday, June 06, 2012
They show up in unlikely places around town--scores of yoga practitioners practicing their poses and tossing charitable contributions into a kitty. It's rogue yoga and grassroots philanthropy, and as it grows in popularity, the three women who started it want to keep it unpredictable.
Jon Spayde Wednesday, June 06, 2012
In A Line or Two, I share some of my discoveries and enthusiasms as I make my way around the Twin Cities. Call it an editor's note as blog entry. This week--a rediscovery reconnects me with an unorthodox, original man whose elegant essays helped lay the groundwork for "placemaking."
Bill Kelley Wednesday, May 23, 2012
Managing Photographer Bill Kelley talked to some friends, checked in with some experts, and wandered the city a bit on his own to find the local street art that appealed to him the most. Herewith, his images of art meant to make you stop, look, have a startle reaction, and then continue on your way, energized.
Jon Spayde Wednesday, May 23, 2012
We check in with the literate, stylistically adventurous singer, rapper, writer, and Doomtree hip-hop collective member to get her take on the Twin Cities as a creative community and a nurturer of bold DIY music.
Jon Spayde Wednesday, May 23, 2012
In A Line or Two, I share some of my discoveries and enthusiasms as I make my way around the Twin Cities. Call it an editor's note as blog entry. This week: a preview of what the Walker has in store for its stage.
Camille LeFevre Wednesday, May 16, 2012
In town to talk about the Central Corridor, Hennepin Avenue, and other local nodes of city planning, lauded urbanist Charles Landry called for an approach that integrates the cities' diverse cultures into a rich, essentially artistic, mix--and makes everyone feel appreciated and included.
Julie Kendrick Wednesday, May 09, 2012
The masterminds behind an ambitious--and nonprofit--little Lyndale Avenue venue called HUGE are taking the Twin Cities improv comedy scene to a new level.
Susan Klemond Wednesday, May 09, 2012
Need a kicky pair of high heels or an affordable, eco-friendly coffin? Two shops sharing a building on Saint Paul's evolving Smith Avenue are ready to help with fashion or funerals.
Camille LeFevre Wednesday, May 02, 2012
The New Orleans-based public artist, known for whimsical, low-tech projects that get people talking about the intersection between their cities and their lives, was here to kick off an inquiry into the transformation of Hennepin Avenue and the future of our towns.
Don Lee Wednesday, April 25, 2012
Kate Nordstrum's genre-busting musical programming at Minneapolis' Southern Theater caught the eye of the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra's innovative concert planners. Now she's teaming up with the SPCO to present a new series that explores the space between indie-experimental and concert-hall classical.
Bill Kelley Wednesday, April 18, 2012
Saint Paul's Selby Avenue is the home of some celebrated and beloved local institutions. But for this issue, lensman Bill Kelley took portraits of Selby Avenue places that may be a bit below your radar unless you know the street well--plus some cool new businesses that have popped up in recent months. It's our effort to show how one of the Saintly City's most attractive, even genteel, streets is also one of its most dynamic and diverse.
Jon Spayde Wednesday, April 18, 2012
In A Line or Two, I share some of my discoveries and enthusiasms as I make my way around the Twin Cities--call it an editor's-note-as-blog-entry. This week: SnakPak, one museum professional's off-the-wall online compendium of wit and beauty.
Nancy Crotti Wednesday, April 11, 2012
The teeshirts bearing the brand Forgotten are articles of faith as well as articles of clothing. The fledgling company was created to help the Ugandan farmers and cotton spinners who create the shirts and the inner-city Minneapolis teens who screen-print them. Now a major rock tour is set to take Forgotten gear to a new level.
Jon Spayde Wednesday, April 11, 2012
In A Line or Two, I share some of my discoveries and enthusiasms as I make my way around the Twin Cities--call it an editor's-note-as-blog-entry. This week: A web site that makes hiking through our towns an exercise in historical imagination.
Jon Spayde Wednesday, April 04, 2012
In A Line or Two, I share some of my discoveries and enthusiasms as I make my way around the Twin Cities--call it an editor's-note-as-blog-entry. This week:The Science Museum of Minnesota kicks off its 2012 Beaker and Brush discussion series--a chance to explore the still-mysterious zone where science and art intersect.
Jon Spayde Wednesday, March 28, 2012
German-born Katharina (Katie) Eggers has studied politics in Paris, taught in Thailand, and worked as a UN-EU liaison in Brussels. Now this young, internationally connected overachiever is preparing to launch a print magazine that will highlight the Twin Cities' connections to the nation and the world. And she has some pointed things to say about what it's like to be a newcomer in our towns.
Izak Leon and Adam Jacobs Wednesday, March 28, 2012
Izak Leon and Adam Jacobs' video "Dinkytown: Food Music Books" is a a lively look at the semi-legendary neighborhood of cafes, bars, clubs, and bookstores adjacent to the University of Minnesota campus. The two Perpich Center for Arts Education students portray a neighborhood that's moving toward the mainstream while still holding on to many of the values of its countercultural past.
Jon Spayde Wednesday, March 28, 2012
In A Line or Two, I share some of my discoveries and enthusiasms as I make my way around the Twin Cities--call it an editor's-note-as-blog-entry. This week: Do you live in, or know about, a great microneighborhood in Minneapolis or Saint Paul? A block, an alley, a corner where people come together regularly to have fun and share their lives? Tell us about it.
Jon Spayde Wednesday, March 21, 2012
In A Line or Two, I share some of my discoveries and enthusiasms as I make my way around the Twin Cities--call it an editor's-note-as-blog-entry. This week, a cabaret showcase that will bring together some of the city's A-list avant-garde performers in what promise to be gorgeously twisted takes on our politico-sexual status quo.
Camille LeFevre Wednesday, March 14, 2012
Native American trail, gaudy entertainment district, forge of gay consciousness, showcase of the arts: Minneapolis' Hennepin Avenue has been all of these and more. Recently, historians, urbanists, and the public gathered to explore the avenue's colorful history as part of the city's initiative to shape its future.
Jon Spayde Wednesday, March 14, 2012
In A Line or Two, I share some of my discoveries and enthusiasms as I make my way around the Twin Cities--call it an editor's-note-as-blog-entry. This week, a visit from an old friend, a lunch on Mears Park, and a film about an ancient pilgrim route produce a Spanish-accented take on Twin Cities cosmopolitanism.
Jon Spayde Wednesday, March 07, 2012
In A Line or Two, I share some of my discoveries and enthusiasms as I make my way around the Twin Cities--call it an editor's-note-as-blog-entry. This week, I note the unusual Facebook alert I received the other day: In Saint Paul on Saturday, March 10, there's going to be a poetry reading in a wholesale bakery.
Anna Pratt Wednesday, February 29, 2012
A far-seeing developer and an innovative culinary artist are turning a hard-luck Minneapolis intersection around with present and future projects that are "artisan, local, sustainable."
Jon Spayde Wednesday, February 29, 2012
In A Line or Two, I share some of my discoveries and enthusiasms as I make my way around the Twin Cities--call it an editor's-note-as-blog-entry. This week: Carlyle Brown's American Family opens at Saint Paul's Park Square Theatre in mid-March. It's the nationally acclaimed, locally based playwright's first attempt to explore the black experience through a white central character. And it will also mark Brown's first appearance onstage at Park Square.
Elizabeth Millard Wednesday, February 22, 2012
A handful of local coffee shops are redefining the coffee experience as an art form. From sourcing to roasting, grinding to "latte art," their watchword is quality. If you're looking for quick joe to grab and go, you may need to adjust your expectations upward.
Jon Spayde Wednesday, February 22, 2012
In A Line or Two, I share some of my discoveries and enthusiasms as I make my way around the Twin Cities--call it an editor's-note-as-blog-entry. This week, a look at an innovative art-and-ideas center in Omaha that we just might want to emulate.
Islamic Resource Group of Minnesota Wednesday, February 15, 2012
Muslim Minnesotans range from immigrants to American-born men and women with Mideastern, African, or Asian ancestry to converts with a "Lake Wobegon" background. This film, produced by the Islamic Resource Group of Minnesota, puts very human and very recognizable faces on Minnesota's diverse and growing Muslim community.
Jon Spayde Wednesday, February 15, 2012
In A Line or Two, I share some of my discoveries and enthusiasms as I make my way around the Twin Cities--call it an editor's-note-as-blog-entry. This week: five more of my Top Ten Reasons to Visit (and Love) the Twin Cities. It's a list of offbeat but worthy places and happenings that you might miss if you only visit our big-ticket attractions.
Camille LeFevre Wednesday, February 08, 2012
He's an architect in a hot firm who also builds model rockets and raises African desert tortoises. She's a psychologist. artist, and author. Their Merriam Park house is as vibrant and unconventional as they are. But getting it built required convincing the neighborhood that they weren't "the enemy."
Jon Spayde Wednesday, February 08, 2012
In A Line or Two, I share some of my discoveries and enthusiasms as I make my way around the Twin Cities--call it an editor's-note-as-blog-entry. This week: the first five of my Top Ten Reasons to Visit (and Love) the Twin Cities. It's a list of offbeat but worthy places and happenings that you might miss if you only visit our big-ticket attractions.
Bill Kelley, Jon Spayde Wednesday, February 01, 2012
In one magical zone in the Twin Cities, there's a loon made of junk, a chimney covered in shattered glass and ceramic shards, and a place to buy tarantulas. It's called the Central Corridor. Here's a second look at what photographer Bill Kelley and managing editor Jon Spayde picked out last year as they traveled down University Avenue and Washington Avenue, seeking out their favorite offbeat, oddball, one-of-a-kind things.
Dan Heilman Wednesday, February 01, 2012
An aggressive, and unconventional, marketing campaign to keep people coming to Central Corridor businesses during light rail construction in 2011 appears to have paid off in less business decline than expected--and a mood of cautious optimism about the future.
Jon Spayde Wednesday, February 01, 2012
In A Line or Two, I'll be sharing some of my discoveries as I make my way around the Twin Cities--an intriguing upcoming event, a great restaurant meal, a new art gallery, a conversation with a forward thinker, or a web site you should know about. Call it an editor's-note-as-blog-entry. (And I take the photos--Bill Kelley is guiltless.) This time: a return to the marvelous, and still undiscovered, restaurant Filfillah, where you get the lunch your mom made for you if you grew up in Ankara.
Camille LeFevre Wednesday, January 18, 2012
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.
Bill Kelley Wednesday, January 18, 2012
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.
Jon Spayde Wednesday, January 18, 2012
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.)
Julie Kendrick Wednesday, January 11, 2012
Qiuxia and Kevin Welch are professional musicians, playing the French horn in many major local ensembles. Qiuxia teaches the Chinese language and Chinese cooking. Kevin is a certified tungsten inert gas welder. So why not become microbrewers too, bringing authentic Belgian-style beer to thirsty locals?
Susan Klemond Wednesday, December 14, 2011
Downtown Minneapolis' Holidazzle parade runs for its final four nights starting this Thursday, and as a reminder not to miss what is now a twenty-year-old holiday tradition, we're re-running Susan Klemond's behind-the-scenes look at the parade from last year--with updated schedule information.
Julie Kendrick Wednesday, November 30, 2011
The local-and-sustainable ethic that's everywhere in the Twin Cities food world is spreading to the holiday gift-shopping scene here--and two unique Minneapolis shops are leading the way.
Anna Pratt Wednesday, November 02, 2011
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.
Jon Spayde Wednesday, October 26, 2011
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.
Susan Klemond Wednesday, October 05, 2011
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.
Bill Kelley Wednesday, October 05, 2011
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.
Elissa Cedarleaf Dahl Wednesday, September 28, 2011
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.
Camille LeFevre Wednesday, September 14, 2011
There's always something happening on Hennepin Avenue. The wide, lively downtown Minneapolis boulevard has long specialized in entertainment, from the funky to the family-friendly to the high-cultural. Camille LeFevre reports on the kickoff event of an ambitious project that will transform it. The method? Placemaking, with an accent on the arts.
Jon Spayde Wednesday, August 10, 2011
A web site's judgment that Minnesota is "the most hipster state" set me wondering about our homegrown sources of cool. Have we become hip by simply being ourselves?
Meleah Maynard Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Here's a second look at artist-adman Robb Burnham's images of our towns, which we first ran in June: a flute player silhouetted against a towering Gold Medal sign. The orange-lit back door of the Poodle Club. A turreted Saint Paul house with one room illuminated as night comes on. Burnham's drawings capture in a subtle way the soul of our towns.
Don Lee Wednesday, June 29, 2011
The classical-music audience is graying, and the executives of the League of American Orchestras, who met here in early June, are nervously sharing ways to reverse the trend. Can Facebook, DJ dance nights, and Ben Folds save Bach, Beethoven, and Brahms?
Tristan Pollock Wednesday, June 22, 2011
Hobbled by a broken ankle but determined to see as much glow-in-the-dark art as he could, our reporter plunged into the dusk-to-dawn art extravaganza called Northern Spark on the night of June 4. He saw luminescent plankton, 1,600 light-bulb pixels, and a wall of perfectly legal virtual graffiti.
Jon Spayde Wednesday, June 15, 2011
A hunger for authenticity as well as for good food--that's what's driving the renaissance of the small neighborhood restaurant here, according to star restaurateur Kim Bartmann. And for Bartmann, authenticity goes a lot deeper than you might think.
Bill Kelley Wednesday, June 08, 2011
Every summer Northeast Minneapolis struts its artistic stuff at Art-a-Whirl, which bills itself as the largest open-studio and gallery tour in the country, and which highlights the rapid growth of this fine old residential neighborhood into a magnet for artists, gallerists, and edgy restaurateurs. Bill Kelley's images capture the visual--and musical--richness.
Jon Spayde Wednesday, May 25, 2011
On The Line's first birthday, managing editor Jon Spayde takes a moment to reflect on what he's learned about his adopted hometowns in a year. Like the amazing depth of our talent pool, the spirit behind our entrepreneurial energy, and our shyness about self-promotion.
Dan Heilman Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Where Raymond Avenue meets University, artists and innovators have been living and working for decades, lured by cheap rents and a friendly, funky vibe. What will happen to them as light rail comes through, bringing construction disruption now--and an unpredictable development pattern later? The newly formed South Saint Anthony Park Creative Enterprise Zone aims to keep the neighborhood weird--and welcoming.
Meleah Maynard Wednesday, May 04, 2011
Mike Day, senior vice president of the Science Museum of Minnesota, has explored volcanoes and chased tornadoes. But he finds plenty of excitement just helping people discover the mysteries of the world around them--like whether King Tut was murdered and why he had a cleft palate.
Jon Spayde Wednesday, April 27, 2011
The Saint Paul Art Crawl, spring edition, kicks off this Friday evening with the work of artists in some 325 studios and galleries in 27 different buildings around the capital city--and there's some pretty amazing music on tap too.
Dan Haugen Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Most medical spaces and procedures aren't designed with the patient in mind. But that's beginning to change as health-care designers pay more attention to making the patient's experience pleasant and even fun. Here are four local examples of "human-centric" med-design.
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
"I basically took what was happening in the Twin Cities creatively and made my own resume," says Kate Iverson, a triple- or quadruple-threat art promoter, gallerist, and online journalist who lives at the hyperspeedily evolving interface of art, design, and social-media communication. We could think of no better person to fill us in on where those worlds meet in our towns, and to let us in on some of her favorite trendsters and Twitterers.
Don Lee Wednesday, April 13, 2011
While many classical music ensembles struggle to survive and thrive, there's one early-music group in Saint Paul whose bottom line is as secure as its artistry--in large part thanks to the fresh ideas and entrepreneurial savvy of its artistic director, Jordan Sramek. Sramek has led Saint Paul's Rose Ensemble vocal group to artistic freshness and solid growth not by crowd-pleasing gimmicks but by knowing his audience, stretching the boundaries of the repertoire, and turning concerts into rich and multifaceted experiences of the past.
Wednesday, April 06, 2011
Here's an update on 4Front, the ambitious project initiated by local adman/marketer John Foley to make the Twin Cities a world-class innovation hub by calling international attention to our achievements and persuading top creative talent from around the world to come here to work and live. The means? Annual awards in four major areas of innovation, and a world's-fair-like showcase. Foley and a stellar board of directors are working on funding, planning a fall kickoff event, and mulling a new way to connect prizewinners with the community.
Jon Spayde Wednesday, April 06, 2011
Our world-class contemporary-art showcase, the Walker Art Center, will be celebrating--and inspiring--made-in-Minnesota creativity this coming Saturday, April 9, with MN Made, a day of events and workshops keyed to our lovable local blend of sophistication and earthiness. The Walker, like The Line, defines creativity in capacious terms, so you'll not only be able to take part in a crafts sale, seed art and knitting workshops, a gallery tour, and a neo-folkie concert, but you can glean tips on chucking your day job and starting your own offbeat business.
Jon Spayde Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Going to the theater can be soul-satisfying and exciting, but it also prompts questions. How did they get that lighting effect? Why did they decide to put the lead actress in such a strange costume? Why did they choose this play? This Saturday, fans of Minneapolis' internationally renowned Guthrie Theater get a chance to ask anything they want about a major current production, George Bernard Shaw's Arms and the Man, and get answers from senior Guthrie staff and starring actors.
Meleah Maynard Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Another local David--who is also connected to the Pacific Northwest--is an advocate for the role of good design in sustainability. David O'Brien Wagner of Minneapolis' SALA Architects speaks up for the subtle, even spiritual side of green building. Systems and certificates are important, he tells Meleah Maynard, but a building isn't green if it isn't carefully designed to connect the human and the natural worlds.
Susan Klemond Wednesday, March 09, 2011
In colloquial Italian, the word spunto means a creative idea. Italy has given the world more than its share of spunti in art, architecture, music, design, and more--and five years ago some adoptive Twin Citians got a spunto of their own: to create a place that celebrates all things Italian. Today the Italian Cultural Center teaches language, sponsors film showings, collaborates with art and opera venues--and it's just getting started.
Wednesday, March 02, 2011
When James Garrett Jr., Nathan Johnson, and Erick Goodlow formed an architectural firm, they vowed to do more than create attractive buildings. The three Saint Paulites knew the city and its needs from the ground up, and they wanted to make an impact on the whole urban fabric. Via their company, 4RM+ULA, they're bringing a holistic design sense to some of the highest-profile projects in the Twin Cities--including the Central Corridor.
Michelle Bruch Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Don Smithmier starts companies without worrying about crafting a single image for himself. In fact, he calls the Minneapolis office of Matter Worldwide, his umbrella company, "the physical manifestation of my weird brain." It contains four companies he founded or in which he's a partner: a music studio, a web design firm, a web news aggregator, and a bold new venture in online learning. And then there's his country-and-western band...
Seven and Sixty Productions Wednesday, February 23, 2011
A few weeks ago, The Line ran an article by Holly Dolezalek on a Knight Foundation-backed survey that asked Twin Cities residents what they love about their city. At about the same time, Susan Bernstein and Mary McGreevy of Seven And Sixty Productions released this video on very much the same topic, and the answers the filmmakers heard confirm the survey results--but in color and sound.
Jon Spayde Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Lunalux, Jenni Undis' hip printing shop and paper-goods boutique on Minneapolis' Loring Park, pioneered in the crafting of "indie" greeting cards--cleverly conceived fine-press alternatives to Hallmark. Some of the most design-savvy people and organizations in town have gone to Undis for their printing needs--and her retail shop is full of offbeat paper goods you won't find anywhere else.
Jon Spayde Wednesday, February 09, 2011
At first glance, The Saint Paul Almanac is a handy week-planner full of local information. Dig a little deeper and you discover founder/publisher Kimberly Nightingale's vision: a place where stories from every corner of the city, and every ethnic community, come together. But there's more: Nightingale sees the Almanac as a tool for transforming the way Americans learn about each other. And people around the country think she's on to something.
Bill Kelley Wednesday, February 02, 2011
On Sunday, January 30, the slopes of Powderhorn Park in South Minneapolis came alive with some very strange sleds indeed as the fourth annual Art Sled Rally slid, wobbled, and tumbled into history. Our own Bill Kelley was there to capture high points of this very out-of-the-ordinary winter afternoon.
Kevin Obsatz Wednesday, January 26, 2011
When you're waiting for the Hiawatha light-rail train, chances are that somewhere in the station are one or two of the little kiosks created by Brooklyn-based artist Janet Zweig. Turn a wheel, pull a lever, and you'll hear a story about old days in Saint Paul, see a Twin Cities comic perform, discover a singer. More than 100 local performing artists contributed to Zweig's project, dubbed Small Kindnesses, Weather Permitting. The Line managing editor Jon Spayde pulls a few levers to show you how they work.
Dan Heilman Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Franklin Avenue east of Hiawatha in Minneapolis used to be best known for bars and blight. Today, though, the area is blooming with Native enterprise as an American Indian Cultural Corridor takes shape. Culture and art are major drivers of the neighborhood's renaissance--an art gallery is one of the anchors, and there are new tribal and company offices and apartments too--and plans call for a brand-new mixed-use building and a Native-owned hotel. The biggest change, though, is a new sense of cohesion and pride at street level.
Holly Dolezalek Wednesday, January 12, 2011
A survey by the Knight Foundation and Gallup found that cities do better economically when the people in them want to stay in them.It also found that Twin Citians are held here by many things, including our arts and cultural amenities, our parks and recreational advantages, and our improving transit picture. With a new year has come a new political climate, and fiscal challenges continue at all levels of government. What does this mean for our likelihood of holding on to the things that keep people loving the Cities? Holly Dolezalek asked some experts.
Wednesday, January 05, 2011
We've learned to count on the Walker Art Center to bring some of the freshest, edgiest performance troupes in the world to the Twin Cities, from venerable modern masters like choreographer Merce Cunningham and Japanese dance legend Kazuo Ohno to young companies that fuse theater, dance, video, and installation art in unpredictable ways. Tomorrow night (January 6), the WAC inaugurates its 2011 Out There series, an annual showcase for eclectic, genre-bending and -blending stage performance, with Show Your Face!, a decidedly grown-up puppet drama.
Bill Kelley Wednesday, January 05, 2011
The large images that lead off each issue of The Line are one of the ways we express our feelings about the Twin Cities. Managing Photographer Bill Kelley strives to shoot pictures that convey what we love about our towns right now and what we hope for them in the future--a fusion of beauty, energy, fun, and promise. Here are thirteen mastheads that Bill has picked from the more than two dozen he's shot since The Line debuted back in May. We hope they help you see Minneapolis/Saint Paul as both a deeply familiar and a brand-new place.
Molly Priesmeyer Wednesday, December 01, 2010
In North Minneapolis, there's an arts center that's been tapping into, and amplifying, the energy of African-American youth culture for fifteen years. Juxtaposition Arts is a place where neighborhood kids fired up by hip-hop turn street savvy into beauty and visual excitement through art and design. "Juxta" has collaborated with the likes of the Walker Art Center and the Guthrie Theater, but its heart has always been in its neighborhood; and now, with a planned $8.2- million expansion, it's primed to be a major player in the cities' art scene as it amps up its impact on the North Side.
Dale Connelly Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Dale Connelly--disc jockey, wit, culture maven, and for many years the co-host of Minnesota Public Radio's Morning Show, is back, and we've got him. As the Resident Tourist, he'll drop into The Line from time to time to share some of his favorite Twin Cities phenomena. This week: the tiny, elegant Trylon Microcinema, a cineaste's labor of love that lets fifty people at a time watch classic films in plush red seats. Does it have a chance against the multiplexes? Or is it playing an entirely different game?
Chris Steller Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Like it or not, the Twin Cities are competing with major metropolises around the world--we're talking Amsterdam, London, Tokyo, and the like--to attract creative, innovative, entrepreneurial people who can live anywhere. That's the message of adman John Foley, whose brand-new nonprofit, 4Front, aims to raise awareness of this high-stakes situation by creating a yearly festival that's part competition, part showcase of Twin Cities innovation. The goal: to lure the best and brightest worldwide to our towns.
Camille LeFevre Wednesday, October 13, 2010
To celebrate the creation a graduate minor in product design, and raise awareness of the field within the Twin Cities' vibrant design community, the University of Minnesota's College of Design held a wide-ranging symposium on the discipline of designing objects to sell. Experts weighed in on everything from the role of humor in design creativity to the popularity of vintage clothing stores--and more than one presenter warned that the increasing geographical separation of design centers from factories is weakening product design in the US and favoring China, where designers and producers interact with ease.
Dan Heilman Wednesday, September 29, 2010
The palmy days of Prince, Hüsker Dü, the Replacements, and other iconic Twin Cities bands may have passed, but our music scene is just as vital, and a lot more diverse, today. Just as in the golden age, seeing and hearing the bands live is crucial to really getting to know the scene, so here is our list of definitive venues--from the legendary and cavernous former home base of the Purple One, First Avenue, to the beer-fragrant holes-in-the-wall where tomorrow's stars are plugging in their amps.
Dan Haugen Wednesday, September 22, 2010
The three self-confessed "broke, clueless twenty-somethings" who put out MPLS.TV five days a week want to take their cheeky, edgy web-video love letter to the cities to the next level. With new offices in Northeast, a growing fan base and social-media profile, and no end of new ideas, they just might make it.
Jon Spayde Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Six friends who live near the struggling intersection of 38th and Chicago in Minneapolis wanted to see what they could do to revitalize their neighborhood. So, in the middle of an economic downturn and against most of the odds, they formed a nonprofit to create, of all things, an art center centered on fire. They worked hard and got lucky, and the Chicago Avenue Fire Arts Center is set to open in October with classes in welding, forge building, jewelry making, and blacksmithing. If their luck holds, the CAFAC will be also be a crucible for change in the 'hood.
Susan Klemond Wednesday, September 08, 2010
Guitarist Daíthí Sproule, a globe-trotting member of the Celtic supergroup Altan and one of the true giants of traditional Irish music, lives not in Dublin or New York but on Saint Paul's West Side--along with a growing community of musicians who play Irish music locally and nationally, and who love the fact that their close-knit neighborhood gives them plenty of chances to get together and jam.
Molly Priesmeyer Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Colin Kloecker and Shanai Matteson recently got married--but the wedding was only one of the many connections they've been making as members of Works Progress, a wide-ranging, multi-project organization dedicated to bringing people, ideas, and new perspectives on culture together. Call it face-to-face Facebook, a sharing of real concepts and real skills in the real world, all done in the spirit of improvisation and artistic innovation.
Jon Spayde Wednesday, August 11, 2010
The trendy new TractorWorks office building in Minneapolis' North Loop looks a lot like an art gallery inside-- ex-SoHoite Ron Ridgeway has made it that way. The artist and design professional curates the building's art collection, but what he's actually creating is an art center where employees of the firms in the building can explore their creative selves and get their art on. In the world of "tenant amenities," this just might be 2010's answer to the workout room.
Alyssa Ford Wednesday, July 28, 2010
The Twin Cities teem with cool crafters whose edgy and beautiful creations go miles beyond hand-painted "Bless This Mess" signs and laser-cut rocks that bid us "Imagine." For a long time these artists' main outlets were occasional crafts fairs and web sites. Then along came Sarah Sweet and Angela Lessman, who crafted the big, colorful, funky consignment store in Northeast Minneapolis with the disarming name. All it took for the shop to succeed was a dream, a near-failure, and a work ethic that borders on insanity.
Jon Spayde,Bill Kelley Wednesday, July 21, 2010
In one magical zone in the Twin Cities, there's a loon made of junk, a chimney covered in shattered glass and ceramic shards, a place to buy tarantulas, and a hotel straight out of the Coen brothers. It's called the Central Corridor. The Line's ace managing photographer, Bill Kelley, and its managing editor, Jon Spayde, traveled University Avenue and Washington Avenue, where much of the light rail line will run when it's completed in 2014, seeking out their favorite offbeat, oddball, one-of-a-kind, things, things they hope and trust will be preserved through the construction of the line and the development of the Corridor neighborhoods. Herewith, their top ten.
Camille LeFevre Wednesday, July 14, 2010
People love locally-sourced food and close connections with the people who grow it, right? That's what inspired the Community Supported Agriculture movement. Well, a few forward thinkers in local arts organizations wondered if they could harness that same passion for connection to help support area artists and make art-buying fun, and Community Supported Art was born: cratefuls of art instead of kale, kohlrabi, and spinach. Meanwhile, Brooklyn-born FEAST was established here too, offering artists a festive, food-themed new form of competitive patronage.
Jon Spayde Wednesday, June 23, 2010
It's not a statue plopped in a park any more. Public art is a complex, dynamic new way of looking at the relationship between creativity and community. And Jack Becker, director of Saint Paul's Forecast Public Art, knows as much about that relationship as anybody in America. He led the effort to build up Forecast from a failing art gallery into a multitasking go-to organization for public artists around the Twin Cities and around the country, helping public art become a major public resource as well as a public delight.
Andi McDaniel Wednesday, June 16, 2010
There's a mythical yellow house in a made-up Minneapolis neighborhood where a pair of writers and a musician join together with a rotating company of guest actors and singers to poke gentle fun at the foibles of the city's young, hip, and hopeful. Welcome to Powderkeg Live!, the cool little radio-style live variety show that's miles from Lake Wobegon--but very, very Minnesota.
Camille LeFevre Wednesday, June 02, 2010
There's art happening in Saint Paul's oldest neighborhood, the solidly blue-collar West Seventh, and it's revitalizing the area without gentrifying it. Creative types love the big houses and exhibition spaces that are available, and they're determined to remain good neighbors to the immigrants and old-line St. Paulites among whom they live.
Alyssa Ford Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Design maven Alyssa Ford scoured the Cities for places where great design is for sale, from legendary pottery to elegant, magazine-spread-worthy home decor to art toys straight out of Japanese cartoon culture--and our photographer, Bill Kelley, came along. Check out her picks and his pix.
Jon Spayde Wednesday, May 26, 2010
What's the special sauce that makes so many bright people who come here stay here--and a lot people who go away, come back? (And what do we need to make that sauce even richer?) Some local creative types weigh in.