Creative Leadership : Buzz

Active.com includes Minneapolis and St. Paul as number eight in its list of the top 10 running places across the country.

“Aside from ample places to train and races to run, spirited running communities add color and support the local traditions that make certain cities ideal for runners,” the website reads.

The website cites events and infrastructure such as the Twin Cities Marathon, “called the most beautiful urban marathon in the U.S.,” a 50-mile city trail system, and the Grand Rounds National Scenic Byway, and its home to the elite distance running-focused Team USA, coached by Dennis Barker.

New York City was named as the top running destination.

The local foodie website Heavy Table recently started a taproom directory for Minneapolis and St. Paul, which it plans to update regularly.

Ever since the Minnesota Legislature passed a bill in 2011 that “allows for brewers to operate an on-sale establishment on their brewing premises,” new brewing ventures have emerged all over the place, many of which include taprooms.

Dangerous Man Brewing, Indeed Brewing and 612Brew even make up a Northeast “Brew District,” the directory states.

It also includes listings for taprooms to come.

A short video on the TC Daily Planet website titled “Art Saves Lives,” from DJM film company with the help of Art Institutes International Minnesota and the Waite House, documents the making of a local youth-driven mural project.

The mini-documentary shows how a blank wall was transformed, going from the beginning of the project to the mural’s unveiling. The video also includes interviews with young artists and the project’s facilitators. They talk about how the mural beautifies the neighborhood, provides valuable personal and professional training for youth, and builds trust between teenagers and adults.

Recently, Artforum, a national art magazine, included a review of a local art show from Andy DuCett at the Soap Factory in Minneapolis.

The story’s writer, Jay Gabler, is also from the area.

Gabler compares the installation, called, “Why we do this” to a film.

“DuCett has created dozens of distinct spaces and assembled them in an eccentric progression that draws the viewer through the gallery with the promise of a surprise around every corner. His themes are memory and life history—specifically, the memories and history of the thirtysomething Minnesotan man he is,” the piece reads.  

A recent story from the TC Daily Planet tells of a St. Paul resident’s home-crafted K'nex toy, dubbed Clockwork, which “has become a fast internet phenomenon since he released the video of it earlier this month.”

The toy has more than 40,000 pieces of K'nex--a creative construction material--plus eight motors, five lifts, a computer controlled crane and a couple of K'nex balls, according to the story.

It has attracted over a million hits on YouTube and landed on Reddit’s front page.

Its creator, Austin Granger, is quoted in the story, saying, “Every time I make one, I try to go bigger and more complex, and more ambitious than the one that came before it.”

Publishers Weekly recently reported on the Sept. 8 debut of a local literary journal called Revolver.

The new journal publishes a mix of prose, poetry, visual art, photography, and play excerpts, PW states.

Online content will be refreshed every couple of weeks, while a print edition will come out twice a year.

Revolver’s seven founding editors are part of a writing group that began meeting two years ago.  

Esther Porter, a founding editor, explains that the journal came out of their monthly conversations: “We’d go out and close down bars fighting over stories, literature of all kinds. We wanted to have something to show for it.”

Reflecting the group's energy, the journal publishes pieces “that hit the brain like a bullet,” she says.
  



 

Local arts journalist Matt Peiken’s new project, MNuet, is featured in a recent blog post from Knight Arts.

Peiken intends MNuet, which launched on Sept. 4, to be an online hub for statewide classical music coverage.

He wants to create a community around classical music. Furthermore, members of MNuet will help support that.  

"No media organization around here has a staff writer dedicated to covering the classical music beat any more,: says Peiken. "The coverage is all farmed out to freelancers."

While major media outlets broadcast occasional concerts, nobody's reporting on the scene, he says, adding, "You can learn about what the major players are doing, but you don’t get context, and you certainly don’t hear much from individual artists.”

The Salty Tart in Minneapolis recently made a list of the top 10 bakeries around the globe from Departures magazine.

“Though it is a risky move to arrive in a new city and set up shop immediately, it paid off for pastry chef Michelle Gayer,” the story reads.

After working on Los Angeles and Chicago, the baker opened the Salty Tart in 2008 in the Midtown Global Market.

With everything from coconut macaroons to pastry cream-filled brioche to various kinds of seasonal tarts, “The bakery was an instant hit,” the article states.

For the second year in a row, Ecolab Inc. in St. Paul and General Mills Inc. in Golden Valley made Forbes magazine’s list of 100 of "The World's Most Innovative Companies."

Ecolab came in 31st, while General Mills was number 50.

The leading companies were Salesforce.com, Alexion Pharmaceuticals, and Amazon.com, according to Forbes.

To get its results, the magazine used the “Innovation Premium,” which measures “how much investors have bid up the stock price of a company above the value of its existing business based on expectations of future innovative results,” the article states.

Furthermore, companies on the list “must have $10 billion in market capitalization, spend at least 2.5% of revenue on R&D and have seven years of public data,” it reads.

The Minneapolis-based Game Informer magazine is the country’s third-highest-circulation periodical, the Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal reports.  

While so many other print publications have reported declining sales in recent years, “Game Informer's circulation grew more than any U.S. publication in the past year,” surpassing Better Homes and Gardens in growth, and trailing only two AARP publications in total circulation, according to the Business Journal, which cites Bloomberg Businessweek data.

In terms of circulation growth, he second-place national magazine is Family Circle.

Part of the magazine’s success has to do with its connection to the Texas-based GameStop company, the article states.

Recently, The Atlantic magazine recounted in print how Medtronic came to be the major company it is now, after beginning in a garage in Northeast Minneapolis, Fridley Patch reports.

The Atlantic writer, Monica Smith, visited local landmarks while gathering information on the Fridley-headquartered international company.

“Her research was part of a Smithsonian Institution exhibit called Places of Invention that's now in development. It focuses on seven areas of the United States, including Minnesota's 'medical alley,'” the  Patch story reads.

The story republishes this excerpt from the magazine story, below.

One of my favorite stories is about how young Earl [Bakken, Medtronic founder] ... was inspired to become an electrical engineer after seeing Boris Karloff's 1931 "Frankenstein" at the Heights Theatre on Central Avenue near his childhood home in Minneapolis. So in the pouring rain David [Rhees, executive director of The Bakken Museum] drove me by Earl's house and then on to the now-renovated theatre to take photos. He told me about how fun it was to help Earl celebrate his 85th birthday with a special screening of the 1931 movie there. Our next stop was at Medtronic's world headquarters where Earl still maintains an office even though he is nominally retired and lives in Hawaii. I got a kick out of seeing two Frankenstein figures on his desk.

In a recent piece, Midwest Living features Minneapolis as an ideal destination town for a two-day getaway.
 
“No matter what your mood, Minneapolis offers something to suit: beautiful lakes nestled among hip art communities, tree-lined trails behind modern museums, vibrant nightlife blocks from high-class cultural attractions,” the story reads.
 
For starters, the extensive art collections housed at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts make the museum worth a trip. “The Department of Contemporary Art shows works by living artists, and the institute’s collection of paintings spans more than five centuries,” it states.  
 
Also, Nicollet Mall’s pedestrian-level shops, restaurants, and farmers market, and scenic Lake Calhoun are just some of the city’s many attractions, the article adds.  
 

 

 

PedalMn.com has a short video that shows off the state’s extensive bike trails.  

It goes through a number of bike paths both in urban areas and in greater Minnesota. In Minneapolis, bicyclists are followed as they careen past the scenic Chain of Lakes, the St. Anthony Main historic area, and Nicollet Mall.  

Bike-friendly infrastructure, such as bike racks on buses, helps flesh out some of the reasons why the state has gotten so many props lately in this area.

The video will “will remind you why you love to get out and pedal in Minnesota,” the website states.  

Business publication Fast Company recently featured an article about how cities can foster a thriving creative class, and highlighted local nonprofit real estate developer Artspace as an ideal example.
 
The organization's flagship project, the Northern Warehouse in the Lowertown district of St. Paul, has been housing artists for more than 20 years, in a neighborhood that's undergone vast transformation.
 
This is significant, the article's writer believes: "Today, as widespread civic enthusiasm for 'creative' projects has begun to spawn skepticism, the Northern Warehouse may be one of the clearest case studies of the role of artists in rejuvenating decayed neighborhoods--and sticking around afterward."
 
Artspace doesn't prove that artists can power the economy of whole cities, the article notes, but it does seem to be providing an effective model for other urban centers that want to maintain a stable, thriving artistic culture.

Marketing firm Haberman made the list of best places to work in the country, as determined by Outside magazine. The publication singled out companies that "allow people to pursue ambitious careers but also spend time with their families, give back to their communities, and fulfill their passion for adventure."
 
Minneapolis-based Haberman was singled out for its location in the Warehouse District, as well as its distinctive employer-sponsored garden. The article noted that Haberman employees also benefit from a "wellness inferno" competition, where teams can earn weekly prizes for completing various wellness tasks like hosting a walking meeting along the Mississippi riverfront. Also noted were flexible hours and a company-endorsed "fun committee."
 
Outside's list of 100 best places to work includes companies of all sizes, and others that garnered the title include well-known enterprises like Patagonia, SmartWool, Trek Bicycle Corporation, and New Belgium Brewing.