Art Walk Receives Unanimous vote by City Council
Written by: Seth Stattmiller and Josh Blanc
The Central Ave Art Walk scored a big win at the Minneapolis City Council on, August 27th, 2026 thanks to Council President Elliott Payne and Council Member Michael Rainville who co-authored an amendment advocating for the Art Walk after last week’s MNDoT presentation of its plan for the 2028 Central Ave reconstruction which did not mention the Art Walk. CP Payne and CM Rainville’s amendment came at the end of two years of Art Walk advocacy from the Arts District board and Recovery Bike Shop, support from the Hennepin County Active Transportation Committee, several NE neighborhoods, over a thousand residents who emailed, and twenty years of discussions within the Arts District that included an Art Walk in the 2008 Small Area Plan.
Below the video of the city council vote on the Art Walk
Also a video of the case of why the Art Walk is important to fight crime and allow citizens to have the street they want.
Write a letter to keep the pressure on! Tell them you want an Art Walk on Central Avenue
I am [NAME]. I am writing to express my support for the creation of the Central Avenue Art Walk between Broadway St NE and 27th Ave NE during MNDoT’s Central Ave reconstruction. This stretch of Central is the “front door” of the Northeast Minneapolis Arts District. An Art Walk will give the Minneapolis arts community a visual presence unlike anything else in the country, create a draw for our city and state, and support local artists and businesses. The Art Walk will also serve to calm traffic on one of our city’s busiest streets by creating edge friction and visual stimulation and activity yielding more engaged drivers and a safer corridor.
It will also create a more comfortable “eyes on the street” environment during a critical time of increasing street activity and crime for our city. The Art Walk will do all of this without sacrificing any part of MNDoT’s plan and without costing the city or the state a dime.
The Northeast community has been formally calling for the creation of the Central Ave Art Walk since the 2008 Central Ave Small Area Plan and the Central Ave reconstruction project represents the only chance many of us will see to bring this project to life.
We are requesting that MNDoT increase the west side pedestrian area to accommodate a 11′ “boulevard” area for permanent large scale art pieces and weekly 10′ street market stalls. We also request that MNDoT set aside space for four (4) large art pads (15 x 15’) adjacent to the Central and Lowry intersection and four (4) large art pads adjacent to the Central and Broadway intersection (one on each corner). These two intersections are the gateways to the Northeast Minneapolis Arts District and will be reserved for something especially grand.
Please visit www.recovery.bike/artwalk to continue the conversation.
We look forward to seeing this project grow and the community expects to enjoy and support the art walk for generations to come.
To the Minnesota Department of Transportation:
ricardo.lopez@state.mn.us
info@CentralAveImprovements.com
nick.carpenter@state.mn.us
christina.perfetti@state.mn.us
CC Northeast Minneapolis City Council Ward 1 Member Elliott Payne
elliott.payne@minneapolismn.gov
CC Minneapolis City Council Member Ward 3 Michael Rainville
Ward3@minneapolismn.gov
CC Northeast Minneapolis City Council Member Michael Rainville
ward3@minneapolismn.gov
CC District 60 (NE Mpls) Senator Doron Clark
sen.doron.clark@mnsenate.gov
CC District 60A (NE Mpls) Representative Sydney Jordan
rep.sydney.jordan@house.mn.gov
