Featured Stories

Saint Paul Artist Oskar Ly: An Organizer and Ambassador for Hmong Arts

Nicole Rupersburg Wednesday, March 19, 2014

Issue Media Group (The Line's parent company) has launched Creative Exchange, a national online platform for storytelling and resource sharing around creativity and community. Saint Paul artist/organizer Oskar Ly was featured in the first issue.

Arts and Culture, Central Corridor, Coordination/Collaboration, Creative Economy, Creative Leadership, diversity

Midway, Downtown/Lowertown

One of Vorderbruggen's "Starcatcher" windows

Joan Vorderbruggen: Reawakening Empty Storefronts to Their Community Potential

Ann Klefstad Wednesday, March 05, 2014

The first article in a new series on Twin Cities artists who build community, activate space, engage viewers, and stimulate interaction or dialogue with their work, and how their creative placemaking helps reveal and enhance community identity.

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

Downtown, Powderhorn

Ten Thousand Things in "The Music Man," photo by Paula Keller

Ten Thousand Things: Connecting with Communities Through Imaginative Theater

Carl Atiya Swanson Wednesday, February 19, 2014

The Minneapolis theater company Ten Thousand Things builds connections both radical and backed by tradition by telling stories for intimate and often non-traditional audiences, with the lights up and minimal staging, using the power of communal imagination.

Arts and Culture, Coordination/Collaboration, Creative Economy, Creative Leadership, diversity, Talent Dividend

University, Cedar - Riverside/West Bank, Downtown, Lake Street, Thomas - Dale/Frogtown, Powderhorn

Body/Head, Photo By Annabel Mehran, courtesy Body/Head

Sound.Art MIA and Engaging New Museum Audiences

Camille LeFevre Wednesday, February 12, 2014

Museums across the Twin Cities are re-thinking traditional museum practices, to attract and increase engagement with untapped audiences and thrive in the 21st century, including the Minneapolis Institute of Arts.

Arts and Culture, Creative Leadership, Nightlife

Phillips, Downtown

Image from the African American History Workshop

The John Biggers Seed Project Builds on a Public Art Legacy

Anna Pratt Wednesday, February 05, 2014

Arts and Culture, Coordination/Collaboration, Creative Leadership, diversity, Talent Dividend

North Side

Minneapolis Convention Center plaza, courtesy Kristin Maywire, Urbain DRC

The Creative City Challenge: Public Art with Lasting Influence?

Brian Martucci Wednesday, January 15, 2014

Finalists have been selected for the second annual Creative City Challenge. The winning, interdisciplinary, public-art installation--selected by popular vote this winter--will be open all summer on the Minneapolis Convention Center plaza.

Arts and Culture, Coordination/Collaboration, Creative Leadership, Design, Regionalism

Downtown

Osage dancers, courtesy College of Design

The Endangered Osage Language Gets a Unicode-Friendly Alphabet

Brian Martucci Wednesday, January 15, 2014

Jessica Harjo, a recent graduate of the University of Minnesota’s Design MA program and a current PhD candidate, has sketched out a novel orthography for the Osage language.

Arts and Culture, Creative Leadership, Design, diversity, Entrepreneurship, Higher Education

University

Beer, Breweries, Bees, Bikes: The Line's Top Stories of 2013

Camille LeFevre Wednesday, January 08, 2014

The Line buzzed in 2013 with articles—many of them in the top 10 most-read of the year—on topics starting with a “b”: beer and architect-designed breweries, beekeeping and bike entrepreneurs among them.

Arts and Culture, Central Corridor, Creative Economy, Creative Leadership, Entrepreneurship, Strong Local Economy, Sustainability

Greater East Side, University, Payne - Phalen, Warehouse/North Loop

Preserve and Protect: How Minneapolis' Somali Immigrants Are Keeping Their Artistic Traditions Alive

Alexandra N. Katz Wednesday, December 11, 2013

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

Lake Street

Boutique Guitar Gear: Local Inventors Help Musicians Achieve the Holy Grail of Sound

Dan Heilman Wednesday, December 04, 2013

In the world of handmade guitar gear, Twin Cities inventors are known by guitarists the world over for bringing a range of experience and creativity to products that for decades were mass-produced.

Arts and Culture, Creative Economy, Design, Entrepreneurship, High Technology, Nightlife

Hank and His Bus: Catalysts for Changing Architectural Education?

Camille LeFevre Wednesday, November 06, 2013

Arts and Culture, Coordination/Collaboration, Creative Economy, Creative Leadership, Design, Emerging Technology, Entrepreneurship, Green Jobs, Higher Education, Reuse / Rebuild, Talent Dividend, Transportation

University, Northeast

Made in Minnesota: The Makers Coalition and the Renewal of Our Industrial Sewing Heritage

Anna Pratt Wednesday, October 23, 2013

The Makers Coalition is supporting a new generation of industrial sewers and the local makers movement. The coalition brings together 60 businesses, educational institutions, nonprofit organizations, and service providers to fulfill its mission: To bring back industrial sewing skills, which largely disappeared in America decades ago.

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

Downtown, Uptown/Lyn Lake, West Seventh, Downtown/Lowertown, Northeast

City Art: New thinking about public art in Saint Paul is transforming the public sphere

Christine Podas-Larson Wednesday, October 16, 2013

Arts and Culture, Central Corridor, Coordination/Collaboration, Creative Leadership, Design, diversity, Sustainability, Transit Oriented Development, Transportation

Saint Anthony Park, Downtown/Lowertown, Thomas - Dale/Frogtown, Payne - Phalen

Throughout the U.S., Public Art Engages Communities and Transforms Neighborhoods

Elaine Labalme Wednesday, October 16, 2013

Public art has evolved into an essential element of urban placemaking and social engagement. From murals on vacant buidlings to art in laundormats to temporary art installations that invite public participation, we take a look at public art and how it's changing cities.

Arts and Culture, Central Corridor, Coordination/Collaboration, Creative Leadership, Design, diversity, Regionalism, Strong Local Economy, Transit Oriented Development, Transportation

Downtown/Lowertown, Thomas - Dale/Frogtown

Elizabeth Armstrong - Photo courtesy MIA

New Art Meets Old Masters: A Conversation with MIA curator Elizabeth Armstrong

Jon Spayde Wednesday, October 09, 2013

Minneapolis Institute of Arts' first-ever curator of contemporary art talks about how she uses new art to illuminate old art (and vice-versa) in the MIA--and her plans for new forms of community involvement with the museum.

Arts and Culture, Creative Economy, Creative Leadership

Phillips, Downtown

arts and culture : Featured Stories