Arts District Welcome Center launches with inaugural exhibit “We Are Here to Stay”

This May, the Northeast Minneapolis Arts District will unveil a historic project: the launch of the Arts District Welcome Center and its first biannual Timeline Exhibition, “We Are Here to Stay: The California Building Story.” 

Located in the Timber & Tie Building at 900B 14th Avenue NE, the Arts District Welcome Center has been in development since early 2024. Created to serve as an information hub and cultural archive, the center was born from a community-wide recognition of the urgent need to preserve the district’s artistic history. Since then, the team has conducted over a dozen artist interviews, collected stories and images, surveyed more than 90 California Building tenants and built a robust programming plan aimed at cultural preservation and public engagement. 

At the heart of the space stands a 12-seat roundtable — painted by California Building artists Aribert Munzner and Jim Gregory — designed to foster inclusive dialogue across generations. Behind it stretches the new timeline exhibit: 50-plus panels highlighting personal stories, archival images and pivotal events that shaped the California Building and the broader Northeast arts scene. 

The story begins in the early 20th century, when the building served as a bustling manufacturing plant. But the real transformation started in 1991, when Jennifer Young and John Kremer took a bold step—buying the deteriorating factory and converting it into studio spaces for displaced artists from the downtown warehouse district. It was a gamble, but it worked. Artists found a safe, affordable and collaborative home, and a cultural movement was born. 

This interactive and immersive exhibit honors those early artists and their ongoing impact. Visitors will experience a vivid and personal narrative told through visuals, quotes and audio, tracing a path from the building’s industrial roots to its status today as a thriving creative hub. 

One such story centers on sculptor Aldo Moroni, whose presence shaped the early tone of the building — and Lisa Roy and Remo Campopiano, who carried forward Moroni’s vision legacy of hands-on collaboration and public engagement. Other artists in the exhibit include Florence Hill and Phil Daniel. 

Florence Hill

Florence Hill may not be the most well-known name in the history of the California Building, but her influence runs deep. Best known for leading the figure-drawing cooperative for more than 50 years, Hill created a space for artists to gather, study the human form and refine their craft. As a life-long painter and teacher, she nurtured generations of artists — fostering a spirit of discipline, experimentation and community that helped shape the creative culture of Northeast Minneapolis.

Arriving in the building in the early 1990s, Hill brought with her a fierce belief in the power of art to transform communities. She was instrumental in establishing a welcoming atmosphere within the California Building — one where emerging artists could find not just studio space, but mentorship, support and a sense of belonging.

She taught classes, helped fellow artists navigate the business side of their practice and advocated for equitable access to resources long before those values were widely embraced.

Many artist credit her as the reason they stayed in Northeast Minneapolis. In the words of one former student, “She gave me the confidence to call myself an artist — and the tools to build a career.”

Phil Daniel 

When visitors walk through the front entrance of the California Building and into the lobby, they’re often struck by the light — soft, colorful and deeply atmospheric. What many don’t realize is that much of this effect can be credited to one artist: Phil Daniel.

Daniel, a longtime tenant and glass artist, was commissioned to create a series of custom windows that now define the building’s front entrance. His work is more than functional; it’s luminous storytelling in glass. Each piece reflects not just light but the history, aspirations and community spirit of the building itself.

Daniel, who trained in both traditional stained glass and contemporary techniques, transformed a dark and foreboding space into a welcoming area filled with shifting light and color. His designs center around brightly colored geometric forms, infused with light, creating a dynamic experience that changes throughout the day. These vibrant windows do more than decorate — they animate the lobby with rhythm and energy, echoing the building’s transformation and the creative lives within it.

In Daniel’s own words: “Glass teaches you to listen. To light, to time, to the place it lives in. These windows were made for this building’s soul.”

As part of the Timeline Exhibit, Daniel’s work and contributions to the building’s character are interwoven with the stories, photos, sketches and commentary of many other artists for whom the California Building has been a haven.

The opening will take place Friday, May 2, 7-9 p.m. at the Arts District Welcome Center, 900B 14th Ave. NE. https://northeastminneapolisartsdistrict.org/welcome-center-launches-with-inaugural-exhibit-we-are-here-to-stay/