In Business for the 6/11/25 Northeaster

Items of Note section for the 6/11/25 Northeaster

A project at the former Medtronic property at Sullivan Lake that could add 500 housing units to Columbia Heights moved forward with a city meeting on May 21.

At the turn of the century, Robert Putnam published “Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community.” In the book, he argued that the social fabric of the United States was formed not by formal institutions but instead its looser ones: communities formed at churches, inside jokes at bowling leagues and community clubs. The book has since become a seminal text on loneliness and community in part thanks to the clarity of its message: there is no substitute for getting involved in your community.

On Saturday, May 31, a sunny afternoon in Deming Heights Park in Northeast Minneapolis, dozens of children took turns steering handmade race carts down a blocked-off street, flying into parents’ waiting arms at the finish line. 

If you were there on opening day at the Northeast Minneapolis Arts District Welcome Center, you know exactly what I mean. The place was packed  shoulder to shoulder with neighbors, artists, founders, city officials and curious newcomers — and not just for a quick peek. People stayed. They talked. They explored the Timeline Exhibit in depth. They lingered around the roundtable. The buzz of conversation, discovery and recognition filled the air. It was one of the largest events we’ve ever held — and, without a doubt, one of the most meaningful.

Carole Fisher (1942–2024) was a distinguished multimedia artist, educator and feminist whose work profoundly influenced the Twin Cities art community and the evolution of the California Building as a creative hub.  Born in 1942, Fisher earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts from the Minneapolis College of Art and Design (MCAD) […]

When Jennifer Young first showed Susan Armington her future studio space at the California Building, she took one look and thought, “Are you kidding me? Is this heaven?” 

“Is that where the phrase ‘mulling it over’ came from?” asked an audience member at Elisabeth Heying’s Art-A-Whirl demonstration of making paint. She was meditatively working the smallest of pigment particles with a muller, a lump of glass that’s flat on the bottom, against a slab of glass.