A detail from the poster for “Origins” shows the Wyman Building, which was home to a concentration of galleries, and the New French Bar, where artists socialized in the 1970s-80s. By the 1990s this Downtown Minneapolis arts scene faded and the spotlight was on Northeast. (Bryce Mason)
Early Arts District advocates were determined not to let gentrifying factors that scuttled the downtown Minneapolis arts scene get the better of the evolving Northeast scene. They bought property, whereas most art-sts downtown only had the option to rent. They encouraged building owners who saw arts as the niche — not just a means to make the area cool and desirable. And they intentionally built community or communities on sustainable scales.
The “Origins” timeline history display that will launch amid the hubbub of Art-A-Whirl® at the Arts District Welcome Center, 904 14th Ave. NE, lays out the framework of stories from the 1970s to 2015, the occasion of winning the first of many #1 Arts District awards from the USA Today 10 Best Readers’ Choice competition.
In a manner similar to the Arts District Welcome Center’s first exhibit, “We are Here to Stay,” the exhibit team is producing visuals with QR codes that deliberately leave space for an evolving online companion timeline to be populated with written and audio stories and photographs.
Guest interactions during Art-A-Whirl hours will help shape future writing and curation. The event will take place 5-8 p.m. Friday May 15; noon to 6 p.m. Saturday, May 16; and noon to 3 p.m. Sunday, May 17.