Although not generally linked to arts, winter wheat and geography played an important role in shaping Minneapolis’ creative economy. Early in the 20th century the region eschewed heavy industry to favor food production, an option afforded by a bounty of winter wheat. High levels of production and processing mechanization and the shift from bulk to packaged goods meant a preponderance of labor was needed in logistics, design and marketing.
Processed foods needed to “arrive” at stores nationwide and to “catch the eye” of consumers. The need for skilled creative labor fueled opportunities for generations of graduates from area universities, and fostered numerous creative sub-economies in photography, film, music and design. The geography of winter wheat production also prompted self-sufficiency. Located outside Chicago’s sphere of influence, remoteness ensured deeper development of arts organizations and activity. An educated workforce that desired an arts milieu established the funding and organizational institutions necessary to support the arts, and populated this realm as well.
Northeast Minneapolis housed other manufacturers, but by the mid-20th century job losses to mechanization and off-shoring left empty buildings threaded throughout the community. Unlike the hulking heavy industry edifices found in Detroit however, these smaller spaces held the potential for adaptive reuse. When smaller manufacturers failed to rematerialize, the industriousness of property owners, artists and makers coalesced to adapt spaces to the needs of the still growing creative economy.
The legacy of winter wheat and geography remains relevant. The region is still embedded in food production, and skilled labor needs endure. The region is dependent on producing and attracting creative labor, and creatives continue to seek unique work spaces.
The sustainability discussion is more relevant than ever, since the revitalization narrative suggests creatives invest sweat equity in transforming moribund spaces, but are pushed out along with long-time residents as demand and property values increase.
Maintaining and expanding smaller-scale, flexible spaces such as those found in the studio buildings and other underutilized industrial and commercial buildings in Northeast, however, would ensure the tenure of a necessary creative skilled labor force, and the continued growth of the creative economy.
So I offer the region’s history, entrenched in winter wheat and geography, for its insight into how Minneapolis once wrote its own unique industrialization narrative. Consider winter wheat and geography as an example then, of the possibility that this city and region might once again write its own revitalization narrative; one with a better conclusion.