There are 80 organs in a human body with six major ones: the heart, brain, kidneys, liver, skin and lungs. The Northeast Minneapolis Arts District also has six major organs. Northrup King Building (350 artists), The Ritz Theater (315 artists), Casket Arts (120 artists), California Building (102 artists), Thorpe Building (53 artists) and Q.arma building (52 artists). These buildings hold over 80% of the artists’ studios in the Arts District.
The 18 art buildings are the organs of this arts community. Places where over 1,200 artists, inventors and makers need space to make their ideas and dreams come to life. The smaller 12 buildings are essential to the system of the Arts District representing growth and opportunities of our art campus. Each of these major organ buildings are mature spaces with quality business managers who run them. If we lost any of these assets it would seriously damage both the arts community and the neighborhood’s quality of life.
As we at the Northeast Minneapolis Arts District have discussed numerous times, zoning policy is an important factor to ensure these buildings are protected from moneyed interests. The ubiquitous “luxury” mid-rise apartment buildings or hip commercial offices that replace Northeast’s characteristic brick buildings have rent costs many times that of the average artist’s studio. Developers can easily price out most artists (as they did in the North Loop in the 1990s) and this threatens to turn the identity of the district from creative to commercial.
It takes dedication of building owners, community organizations and the general public believing in the creatives who inhabit this community to make it reach its full potential. While the 2040 zoning survey questionnaire is now closed, the resulting policy still needs to be voted on by the city council. Your voice can still be heard by telling your city representative what you value in your community.
On the third weekend in May, the artists will open their studios for the 27th year of Art-A-Whirl® presented by NEMAA, Northeast Minneapolis Arts Association. If you ever need evidence of the impact these artisans make on a community, make a point to visit both large and small art buildings. See yourselves as the hemoglobin in the red blood cells that carry the oxygen to the community’s organs.
Written by Josh Blanc and Jasa McKenzie