Featured Stories

In Praise of Bricks and Mortar

Bill Lindeke Wednesday, June 06, 2012

Geographer Bill Lindeke has an eye for the urban details that make the Twin Cities pleasurable and intriguing--and when those details have something to do with the walkable portions of our streets, they're likely to appear as images or words in his blog, Twin City Sidewalks. In this post, from last week, he highlights a Saint Paul store that embodies--and symbolizes--why, in an age of burgeoning online commerce, we will always need real places to buy things.

Creative Leadership, Shopping, Strong Local Economy, Sustainability

Highland Park

The Big Picture 12: Dessa of Doomtree

Jon Spayde Wednesday, May 23, 2012

We check in with the literate, stylistically adventurous singer, rapper, writer, and Doomtree hip-hop collective member to get her take on the Twin Cities as a creative community and a nurturer of bold DIY music.

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

A Line or Two: The Walker Performs

Jon Spayde Wednesday, May 23, 2012

In A Line or Two, I share some of my discoveries and enthusiasms as I make my way around the Twin Cities. Call it an editor's note as blog entry. This week: a preview of what the Walker has in store for its stage.

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

Downtown

Can "design thinking" create a community of innovators?

Karen Olson Wednesday, May 16, 2012

"Design Thinking" isn't just about planning an object and making an image of it. It's a process of innovation that emphasizes engagement with real human issues--and it's arrived at CoCo, the local coworking space, in an educational initiative aimed at helping tech entrepreneurs and other freelancers open their minds even wider.

Coordination/Collaboration, Creative Economy, Creative Leadership, Design, Higher Education

Downtown, Downtown/Lowertown

Charles Landry in Minneapolis: From art in the city to the city as art form

Camille LeFevre Wednesday, May 16, 2012

In town to talk about the Central Corridor, Hennepin Avenue, and other local nodes of city planning, lauded urbanist Charles Landry called for an approach that integrates the cities' diverse cultures into a rich, essentially artistic, mix--and makes everyone feel appreciated and included.

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

Downtown

Candy Chang asks: "What do you want In Minneapolis? What do you want in St. Paul?"

Camille LeFevre Wednesday, May 02, 2012

The New Orleans-based public artist, known for whimsical, low-tech projects that get people talking about the intersection between their cities and their lives, was here to kick off an inquiry into the transformation of Hennepin Avenue and the future of our towns.

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

Downtown

A Line or Two: The City 2.0 and the real world

Jon Spayde Wednesday, May 02, 2012

In A Line or Two, I share some of my discoveries and enthusiasms as I make my way around the Twin Cities--call it an editor's-note-as-blog-entry. This week: Let's get our towns deeper into The City 2.0, the exciting urban-idea initiative promoted by TED.

Coordination/Collaboration, Creative Economy, Creative Leadership

Kate Nordstrum's Brave New Music

Don Lee Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Kate Nordstrum's genre-busting musical programming at Minneapolis' Southern Theater caught the eye of the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra's innovative concert planners. Now she's teaming up with the SPCO to present a new series that explores the space between indie-experimental and concert-hall classical.

Arts and Culture, Creative Economy, Creative Leadership, Nightlife

Cedar - Riverside/West Bank, Downtown/Lowertown

Geoffrey Canada in Minneapolis: "Get Ready for Your Moment"

Julie Kendrick Wednesday, April 18, 2012

From books to documentaries to television appearances, Geoffrey Canada has earned accolades as an education reform leader and the head of Harlem Children’s Zone. Last week he was in Minneapolis to speak to a convention of youth and educators involved in the service-learning movement, where he told them "you never know when you'll be needed."

Coordination/Collaboration, Creative Economy, Creative Leadership, diversity, Philanthropy, Talent Dividend

Downtown

Tech bloggers weigh in on Minnebar 2012

Graeme Thickins and Mark Gritter Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Minnebar, our annual, semi-structured geek get-together, is becoming a tradition and a real force in the local tech community. This year's conference happened on Saturday, April 7--and two experienced tech bloggers gave their views of the confab soon after. Here are some excerpts.

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

Dayton's Bluff and Swede Hollow in the 19th Century

A Line or Two: Hikes and History

Jon Spayde Wednesday, April 11, 2012

In A Line or Two, I share some of my discoveries and enthusiasms as I make my way around the Twin Cities--call it an editor's-note-as-blog-entry. This week: A web site that makes hiking through our towns an exercise in historical imagination.

Arts and Culture, Creative Economy, Creative Leadership, Regionalism

Dayton's Bluff, Downtown, West Seventh

Mike Derheim, Mark Malmberg, and Mark Hurlburt

Geeks Doing Good: The Nerdery Overnight Website Challenge

Julie Kendrick Wednesday, April 04, 2012

Fueled by ice cream, pizza, and rivers of Red Bull, hundreds of nerds recently gathered at the University of Minnesota’s St. Paul campus to help “good nonprofits with not-so-good websites.”

Coordination/Collaboration, Creative Leadership, Design, Emerging Technology, Entrepreneurship, High Technology, Philanthropy

Midway

A Line or Two: Tell Us About Your Microneighborhood

Jon Spayde Wednesday, March 28, 2012

In A Line or Two, I share some of my discoveries and enthusiasms as I make my way around the Twin Cities--call it an editor's-note-as-blog-entry. This week: Do you live in, or know about, a great microneighborhood in Minneapolis or Saint Paul? A block, an alley, a corner where people come together regularly to have fun and share their lives? Tell us about it.

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

Southwest

The Block That Rocks

Julie Kendrick Wednesday, March 21, 2012

Don't talk to the residents of the 5300 block of Emerson Avenue South in Minneapolis about urban alienation, "bowling-alone" isolation, or being too busy to build next-door friendships. Led by a few creative souls, the multi-generational microneighborhood has found more ways to connect, celebrate, and hang out together than any urbanologist would dare predict.

Coordination/Collaboration, Creative Leadership

Southwest

A Recipe for Real Change

Michelle Vigen Wednesday, March 21, 2012

Adapted from Bush Fellow Michelle Vigen's blog, Common Spark: a simple (if not easy) process to help organizations turn the good ideas and information with which we're inundated--why we should recycle, bike, eat better, revive citizenship, you name it--into real changes of habit and life.

Coordination/Collaboration, Creative Leadership, Energy, Green Jobs, Sustainability

creative leadership : Featured Stories