Featured Stories

The Big Picture 3: Kate Iverson on the arts and the "social media underbelly" of the Twin Cities

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

"I basically took what was happening in the Twin Cities creatively and made my own resume," says Kate Iverson, a triple- or quadruple-threat art promoter, gallerist, and online journalist who lives at the hyperspeedily evolving interface of art, design, and social-media communication. We could think of no better person to fill us in on where those worlds meet in our towns, and to let us in on some of her favorite trendsters and Twitterers.

Arts and Culture, Creative Economy, Creative Leadership, Design

Longfellow

The early-music entrepreneur: Jordan Sramek's innovative ideas help his Rose Ensemble thrive

Don Lee Wednesday, April 13, 2011

While many classical music ensembles struggle to survive and thrive, there's one early-music group in Saint Paul whose bottom line is as secure as its artistry--in large part thanks to the fresh ideas and entrepreneurial savvy of its artistic director, Jordan Sramek. Sramek has led Saint Paul's Rose Ensemble vocal group to artistic freshness and solid growth not by crowd-pleasing gimmicks but by knowing his audience, stretching the boundaries of the repertoire, and turning concerts into rich and multifaceted experiences of the past.

Arts and Culture, Creative Leadership

Downtown/Lowertown

4Front Update: John Foley's progress report on a project to show off the Twin Cities to the world

Wednesday, April 06, 2011

Here's an update on 4Front, the ambitious project initiated by local adman/marketer John Foley to make the Twin Cities a world-class innovation hub by calling international attention to our achievements and persuading top creative talent from around the world to come here to work and live. The means? Annual awards in four major areas of innovation, and a world's-fair-like showcase. Foley and a stellar board of directors are working on funding, planning a fall kickoff event, and mulling a new way to connect prizewinners with the community.

Arts and Culture, Creative Economy, Creative Leadership, Design, Life Sciences

As the snow melts, the metro area gets ready for its most bike-friendly spring yet

Elizabeth Millard Wednesday, March 30, 2011

In the past year or so, the Twin Cities have solidified their reputation as one of the bike-friendliest metropolitan areas in America. And we're not resting on our laurels. An expanded bike-share program, a brand-new online bike-rental business, new trails and connections, a new bike/coffee shop combo in the works, and more--they all point to a great spring for the human-powered-transport set.

Creative Leadership, Regionalism

North Side, Downtown, Phillips, Lake Street, Midway, Warehouse/North Loop, Powderhorn

Despite tight money, local developers are rallying to house, and help, the homeless

Anna Pratt Wednesday, March 23, 2011

When the Great Recession swept in, it took a toll on development--including the building of new housing for the homeless. But now, along with other signs of life in the economy, local developers in the for-profit and nonprofit sectors are back on the job in a highly visible way, rehabbing major buildings and creating "support housing" within them--places to live that also offer services that help keep people off the streets.

Affordable Housing, Creative Leadership, Reuse / Rebuild

Downtown, Downtown/Lowertown

For the architects of 4RM+ULA, the whole city matters

Wednesday, March 02, 2011

When James Garrett Jr., Nathan Johnson, and Erick Goodlow formed an architectural firm, they vowed to do more than create attractive buildings. The three Saint Paulites knew the city and its needs from the ground up, and they wanted to make an impact on the whole urban fabric. Via their company, 4RM+ULA, they're bringing a holistic design sense to some of the highest-profile projects in the Twin Cities--including the Central Corridor.

Arts and Culture, Central Corridor, Creative Economy, Creative Leadership, Design, Diversity

The Big Picture 2: A conversation with Lars Leafblad on Minnesota's search for a new identity

Wednesday, March 02, 2011

Lars Leafblad, a principal in the Minneapolis executive search firm KeyStone Search, was dubbed "the most networked man in the Twin Cities" by Minnesota Business magazine last year. In the second of our Big Picture conversations about the future of our city and state, Leafblad acknowledges that we're good at cooperation and connection--but adds that we need a compelling new image of what we want to be and where we want to go.

Cooperation/Collaboration, Creative Leadership, Emerging Technology, Regionalism

Four-way entrepreneur Don Smithmier: they told him to "focus," and luckily, he didn't listen

Michelle Bruch Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Don Smithmier starts companies without worrying about crafting a single image for himself. In fact, he calls the Minneapolis office of Matter Worldwide, his umbrella company, "the physical manifestation of my weird brain." It contains four companies he founded or in which he's a partner: a music studio, a web design firm, a web news aggregator, and a bold new venture in online learning. And then there's his country-and-western band...

Arts and Culture, Cooperation/Collaboration, Creative Economy, Creative Leadership, Emerging Technology, Entrepreneurship

The Big Picture 1: A conversation on designing the future with U of M design dean Tom Fisher

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

The Twin Cities design community wields not just national, but international influence. The U of M is developing alliances between its design college and some unlikely partners as design expands from crafting objects to organizing human experience. The economic meltdown, the Katrina aftermath, and the BP oil spill could have been avoided if those in charge had thought like designers. These are some of the insights from Tom Fisher, Dean of the University of Minnesota's College of Design, in the first of our "Big Picture" interviews.

Creative Economy, Creative Leadership, Design

Johnny Northside and friends: North Minneapolis' best-known blogger has spawned his own blogosphere

Anna Pratt Wednesday, February 02, 2011

John Hoff, aka Johnny Northside, blogs about North Minneapolis with passion and personality. He believes the neighborhood is headed "someplace amazing," and he's helping it get there with stories about its pleasures and problems. And he's inspired others to join the cyber-conversation, co-creating one of the most vibrant civic blogospheres in town.

Affordable Housing, Cooperation/Collaboration, Creative Leadership, Diversity

North Side

Dale Connelly, Resident Tourist: Saint Anthony Falls Lab, where water meets the future

Dale Connelly Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Our Resident Tourist takes a tour of a boxcar-shaped building on the Minneapolis riverfront where, even in winter, scientists use inflowing water from the Mississippi to model all kinds of interactions between land and water. Scientific esoterica? Not really. The scientists at the Saint Anthony Falls Laboratory want to help Louisiana rebuild its delta. They want to understand the algae blooms that create fish-killing "dead zones" in the Gulf of Mexico. And with new federal support, they're turning their expertise toward the study of wind power, biofuels, and "hydrokinetics"--nothing less than the discovery of "new ways to power our civilization."

Creative Leadership, Energy, Green Jobs

Riverfront/Mill District, Downtown

Banners Iidentifying the cultural corridor

American Indian Cultural Corridor: New art, new enterprise on Franklin Avenue

Dan Heilman Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Franklin Avenue east of Hiawatha in Minneapolis used to be best known for bars and blight. Today, though, the area is blooming with Native enterprise as an American Indian Cultural Corridor takes shape. Culture and art are major drivers of the neighborhood's renaissance--an art gallery is one of the anchors, and there are new tribal and company offices and apartments too--and plans call for a brand-new mixed-use building and a Native-owned hotel. The biggest change, though, is a new sense of cohesion and pride at street level.

Arts and Culture, Cooperation/Collaboration, Creative Leadership, Diversity, Strong Local Economy

Phillips

The Commons: Minneapolis author Jay Walljasper on seeking the common good beyond left and right

Jon Spayde Wednesday, January 12, 2011

The commons is a concept that you may be hearing a lot more about in the coming months and years. According to urbanist and journalist Jay Walljasper, who's just published a new book on the subject, the commons is everything we share--from public parks to ideas, urban gathering spaces to the internet, jokes and games to the oceans. And "commons-based solutions" to our political and social problems look past the I-me-mine of the privatized perspective toward the common good, in everything from small neighborhood improvements to social policy. Walljasper sees commons-based thinking as a way past many of our current left-right dilemmas--and he thinks the Twin Cities have a head start in that direction.

Creative Leadership, Philanthropy, Strong Local Economy

Minneapolis's mono is beating out the big ad shops with the message that simplicity sells

Michelle Bruch Wednesday, December 15, 2010

When USA Network needed a new brand identity, some of the biggest ad agencies in North America competed for the account. The winner? An 11-person agency in Minneapolis with a company brand so low-key that they don't even capitalize their name. Since then, mono has become one of the hottest shops in America, applying loads of hip midwestern creative power to the proposition that simple messages are the most memorable.

Creative Economy, Creative Leadership, Design

Lake Street, Uptown/Lyn Lake

The new corporate hybrids: socially conscious local companies bridge the profit/nonprofit divide

Dan Haugen Wednesday, December 08, 2010

Plenty of companies in the Twin Cities and around the country want to do good as well as make a buck. In order to make that easier in a time of shrinking resources, new forms of corporate structure are evolving, including the L3C--the low-profit limited liability company. At least one Twin Cities company has opted for that new status, and others are looking into it and other ways to combine the best of the for-profit and nonprofit worlds. But there are those who wonder of these highly experimental new structures are anything more than good PR.

Creative Leadership, Entrepreneurship, Philanthropy

Creative Leadership : Featured Stories