Featured Stories

Geek gals: Can the Twin Cities lead in helping women take their place in high tech?

Elizabeth Millard Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Despite some women-led startups, high tech here, as elsewhere, is still more or less drowning in testosterone. But some strong local initiatives are pointing the way toward more opportunities for women to get their geek on.

Coordination/Collaboration, Creative Economy, Creative Leadership, diversity, Emerging Technology, High Technology

Tricia Khutoretsky, Director and Curator of Public Functionary

A New Kind of Art Space: Public Functionary

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.

Arts and Culture, Coordination/Collaboration, Creative Economy, Creative Leadership, Design, Strong Local Economy

Northeast

Urbanist Charles Landry on the Twin Cities: reknit the urban fabric, learn to brag

Jay Walljasper Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Jay Walljasper checks in with British urbanist Charles Landry, who recaps his experience touring the Twin Cities, meeting a wide array of local urban changemakers, and applying his principles of city vitality to our reality. And Landry draws some conclusions about how our towns can thrive in the coming decades.

Coordination/Collaboration, Creative Economy, Creative Leadership, Design, diversity, Transit Oriented Development, Transportation

A Line or Two: The Live Literary Year in Review

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.

Arts and Culture, Creative Economy

No Coast Craft-o-Rama: A Slide Show

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.

Arts and Culture, Creative Economy, Design, Entrepreneurship, Shopping, Strong Local Economy

Phillips

Microlending and More for Women's Business Dreams: WomenVenture

Elizabeth Millard Wednesday, December 05, 2012

Saint Paul's WomenVenture helps woman-run startups get off the ground with a potent mix of feminist spirit, microlending, and business incubation. But as its clients testify, it's the group's commitment to ongoing support that sets it apart.

Coordination/Collaboration, Creative Economy, Creative Leadership, diversity, Entrepreneurship, Strong Local Economy

Saint Anthony Park

Videoline: Tane Danger on Public Policy Comedy

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.

Arts and Culture, Creative Economy, Creative Leadership

Uptown/Lyn Lake

A Line or Two: Saturday Night at 38th and Chicago

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.

Arts and Culture, Coordination/Collaboration, Creative Economy, Nightlife

Phillips

Coffee with your Tattoos? Tattoos with Your Coffee? A Slide 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.

Arts and Culture, Creative Economy, Design, Entrepreneurship, Strong Local Economy

Lake Street, Uptown/Lyn Lake

A Line or Two: Joyface!

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.

Arts and Culture, Coordination/Collaboration, Creative Economy, Creative Leadership, Entrepreneurship, Reuse / Rebuild, Strong Local Economy

Phillips

M.anifest (Kwame Tsikata) and Susan Campion leading Giant Steps

The Giant Steppers: Susan Campion and M.anifest

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.

Arts and Culture, Coordination/Collaboration, Creative Economy, Creative Leadership, Entrepreneurship, Strong Local Economy

Xelias Aerial Arts: A Slide SHow

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.

Arts and Culture, Creative Economy, Creative Leadership

Northeast

From Grain Exchange to "Brain Exchange"

Elizabeth Millard Wednesday, October 24, 2012

The historic Minneapolis building, once given over entirely to commodities like wheat and rye, is turning into one of the major hubs for high-tech in the Twin Cities. Credit an ambitious coworking space as catalyst, an ideal downtown location, and (surprise!) the continuing need for techies to actually inhabit the same physical space.

Coordination/Collaboration, Creative Economy, Creative Leadership, Design, Emerging Technology, Entrepreneurship, High Technology, Reuse / Rebuild, Strong Local Economy

Downtown

A Line or Two: A Sushi Rescue

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.

Arts and Culture, Creative Economy, Entrepreneurship

Bruno Bornsztein in conversation with Jon Spayde

Curbly's Bruno Bornsztein talks about entrepreneurship, persistence, and the passion for balance

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.

Arts and Culture, Creative Economy, Creative Leadership, Design, Entrepreneurship

Creative Economy : Featured Stories