There is a renaissance happening in the Twin Cities.
Minneapolis and St. Paul have both been recognized with National grant investment; a National Endowment for the Arts grant will launch a plan to invest in cultural development along Hennepin Ave. next month and St. Paul beat Minneapolis by a few months with last month’s roll-out of the Irrigate project along a six mile stretch of the Central Corridor Light Rail. Irrigate is funded in part by a grant from ArtPlace.
Both projects are remarkable for the critical use of arts as economic driver.
Adding to the arts venues that dot the Hennepin Avenue route from the Walker Art Center to the river, the Minneapolis plan includes galleries, artists’ studios, public art, residential and commercial as well as public outdoor spaces. Minneapolis community leaders believe there is interest from private property owners to subsidize some of the creative venues and ventures, such as art galleries, and that this investment will provide a significant and lasting return on investment.
In St. Paul Irrigate is a citywide initiative that brings together government and private partners to create artist-led community development for the same end goal as Minneapolis—significant and lasting.
Building on the artist communities already anchoring both ends of the six-mile stretch of light rail corridor in St. Paul, artists of all levels, experience and discipline are invited to attend a free workshop (workshops run a couple Saturday’s a month in October, November and December) and learn more about how to put their creative talents to use as part of the Irrigate place making initiative. More information on the Irrigate project at: irrigatearts.org.
