It's a good thing the board members of the
American Craft Council made sure the Twin Cities had a deep talent pool before they chose to relocate the group's headquarters from New York City to Minneapolis.
Because not one of the ACC's staff members in NYC made the move.
For a variety of reasons, according to spokeswoman Bernadette Boyle, all 20�25 stayed East, including Boyle. Speaking by phone from New York on Monday, the day the Minneapolis office opened for business, she said the transition feels "bittersweet."
She has heard good things about the historic Grain Belt Brewery building, where the ACC is leasing space from RSP Architects, the firm that renovated the castle-like structure for its own headquarters.
The Twin Cities were familiar to people at ACC because of the craft show the organization holds annually in St. Paul, one of four such shows in cities across the country. (Another of those cities, Atlanta, was under consideration for the new headquarters site.)
So they knew that the Twin Cities are a "cultural hotbed for crafts," Boyle said, with great museums and simply a great place to live.
The organization had to move. New York simply wasn't economically viable for the ACC anymore, Boyle said.
Some staffers, like Boyle, are continuing with ACC for a few weeks or months, and the show staff will stay on, working remotely. About 15 people will staff the new office, she said.
One feature of the SoHo office still due to make the move to Minneapolis is the organization's 7,000-volume library, which Boyle said is open to the public, by appointment.
Source: Bernadette Boyle, American Craft Council
Writer: Chris Steller