Featured Stories

Forging an Arts Tradition: Metalsmithing in MSP

Camille LeFevre Tuesday, June 21, 2016

MSP boasts a cultural milieu in which diverse art forms, architecture and design take root and flourish. Metalsmithing, which includes jewelry design, is an integral part of the culture.

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

Southwest, Uptown/Lyn Lake, Calhoun - Isles, Summit Hill and Crocus Hill, Northeast

June Arts and Culture: Food for the Mind, Body and Soul

Camille LeFevre Tuesday, June 07, 2016

Festivals galore during the month of June, just a few of them listed here. There's the big one--Northern Spark 2016--as well as smaller neighborhood gatherings and opportunities to make new friends over food and brews.

Arts and Culture, Central Corridor, Coordination/Collaboration, Creative Economy, Creative Leadership, diversity, Entrepreneurship, Nightlife, Philanthropy, Sustainability

Riverfront/Mill District, Downtown, North Side, Uptown/Lyn Lake, Downtown/Lowertown

Fast and Frequent: New A Line Gets You Where You're Going Between Minnehaha and St. Paul

Brian Martucci Tuesday, June 07, 2016

Metro Transit's first aBRT, the A Line, provides fast, frequent, all-day service in one of the region’s busiest transportation corridors for MSP'ers.

Central Corridor, Coordination/Collaboration, Creative Economy, Strong Local Economy, Transit Oriented Development, Transportation

Como Park, University, Midway, Nokomis, Highland Park, Thomas - Dale/Frogtown, Summit - University

Hmong American Farmers Association Cultivates Profits, Productivity, Community

Amy Goetzman Tuesday, May 24, 2016

Since they began farming in Vermillion Township in 2014, HAFA's members have introduced Minnesotan palates to new flavors, seen production and profits increase exponentially, and cultivated a greater sense of community.

Arts and Culture, Coordination/Collaboration, Creative Economy, Creative Leadership, diversity, Entrepreneurship, Green Jobs, Shopping, Sustainability

Spring Green: The Rose Sets A New National Sustainability Standard for Affordable Housing

Joel Hoekstra Tuesday, May 17, 2016

A recently completed affordable-housing complex in the South Quarter of Minneapolis is arguably the most healthy and sustainable in the U.S.

Affordable Housing, Coordination/Collaboration, Creative Economy, Creative Leadership, Design, diversity, Emerging Technologies, Energy, Sustainability

Lake Street

Mayor Chris Coleman (center) w Solomon Parham (left) and Spencer Christensen (right)

Sounds True: St. Paul Celebrates All Genres During Year of Music

Loren Green Tuesday, May 10, 2016

In declaring 2016 the Year of Music, the City of St. Paul showcases all of the music genres, schools, initiatives and venues thriving throughout the city as economic drivers and cultural amenities.

Arts and Culture, Coordination/Collaboration, Creative Economy, Creative Leadership, diversity, Entrepreneurship, Nightlife

Greater East Side, Como Park, Macalester - Groveland, Midway, West Seventh, Downtown/Lowertown, Summit Hill and Crocus Hill, Summit - University

May Arts and Culture: MSP Makers

Camille LeFevre Tuesday, May 10, 2016

Makers—the artists, entrepreneurs, innovators (aren’t they all the same?) who brighten lives with their joy of creativity and aesthetic panache—highlight May’s selections. Art-A-Whirl, of course. But the MSP Maker Faire is big news, too.

Arts and Culture, Coordination/Collaboration, Creative Economy, Creative Leadership, Design, diversity, Emerging Technologies, Emerging Technology, Entrepreneurship, Shopping

Como Park, Uptown/Lyn Lake, Nokomis, Northeast

MSP's Theater Community Then and Now: Building New Rooms in a House They Constructed

Peg Guilfoyle Tuesday, April 19, 2016

The second article in our two-part series about the diverse people and companies that helped build the Minneapolis-St. Paul theater community.

Arts and Culture, Coordination/Collaboration, Creative Leadership, diversity, Nightlife, Philanthropy

Riverfront/Mill District, Macalester - Groveland, Cedar - Riverside/West Bank, Lake Street, Uptown/Lyn Lake, Downtown/Lowertown, Thomas - Dale/Frogtown

Why St. Paul's Historic Heart is Home Base to These Four Businesses

Brian Martucci Tuesday, April 12, 2016

Lowertown boasts a growing roster of relocated and expanded businesses—some from the suburbs, others spun out of Lowertown’s COCO, and some born and bred in the district’s office lofts and storefronts.

Arts and Culture, Coordination/Collaboration, Creative Economy, Creative Leadership, Emerging Technologies, Emerging Technology, Entrepreneurship, Strong Local Economy, Transit Oriented Development

Downtown/Lowertown

Attendees at the American Craft Council Show

April Arts and Culture: Transformations

Camille LeFevre Tuesday, April 05, 2016

This month we include the nationally recognized American Crafts Council Show, a bonanza of handcrafted items; a tour of a transformed warehouse in the North Loop; an all-women record release and cultural revision; and a good way to celebrate Earth Month.

Arts and Culture, Coordination/Collaboration, diversity, Entrepreneurship, Reuse / Rebuild, Strong Local Economy, Sustainability

Midway, North Side, Downtown/Lowertown, Warehouse/North Loop

MSP's Theater Community Then and Now: From the Old Log to the Legacy Amendment

Peg Guilfoyle Tuesday, April 05, 2016

We introduce the first in a two-part series about how MSP became the second-largest theater region after New York, as well as mobile, inventive and idiosyncratic.

Arts and Culture, Coordination/Collaboration, Creative Economy, Creative Leadership, diversity, Entrepreneurship, Higher Education, Nightlife

Riverfront/Mill District, University, Cedar - Riverside/West Bank, Downtown, Downtown/Lowertown, Powderhorn, Warehouse/North Loop

Cohorts, Capacity Building, Creative Communities: The Evolution of Artspace's Geographic Approach

Camille LeFevre Tuesday, March 22, 2016

The arts real-estate nonprofit Artspace is re-scaling its work to take a more geographic approach that includes consulting with a cohort of art organizations in Detroit and developing creative districts in rural Colorado.

Affordable Housing, Arts and Culture, Coordination/Collaboration, Creative Economy, Creative Leadership, Design, diversity, Entrepreneurship, Nightlife, Philanthropy, Regionalism, Shopping, Transit Oriented Development

Museums and Libraries as Co-Creators of Change

Gayle C. Thorsen Tuesday, March 15, 2016

New research reveals the catalytic role that libraries and museums are playing in rebuilding troubled neighborhoods. These important "anchor institutions" are helping drive economic, educational and social efforts in their neighborhoods.

Affordable Housing, Arts and Culture, Central Corridor, Coordination/Collaboration, Creative Economy, Creative Leadership, diversity, Philanthropy, Strong Local Economy

Greater East Side, Midway, Lake Street, Thomas - Dale/Frogtown, Payne - Phalen

March Arts and Culture: States of Being

Camille LeFevre Tuesday, March 08, 2016

This month's arts and culture branches out to include a new brew from the women-owned Urban Growler. That's not only the reason St. Paul is the place to be. Right: St. Patrick's Day.

Arts and Culture, Entrepreneurship, Nightlife, Transit Oriented Development

University, Downtown, Saint Anthony Park, Downtown/Lowertown

Transit-Oriented Development in St. Paul: Connections That Create Value

Brian Martucci Tuesday, March 08, 2016

More transit means more value: How community-driven (Frogtown) and historically aware (Lowertown) TOD works using community-led initiatives paired with city-developed plans that include affordable housing.

Affordable Housing, Central Corridor, Coordination/Collaboration, diversity, Philanthropy, Strong Local Economy, Transit Oriented Development

Midway, Saint Anthony Park, North Side, Downtown/Lowertown, Thomas - Dale/Frogtown, Warehouse/North Loop