Written by: Josh Blanc
The Arts District board is in the process of creating a new Arts Action Plan survey (AAP II) to help us all understand our arts community’s current status, who are we now and what are our needs as artists in today’s environment? The Board encourages interested parties to read the original Arts Action Plan. The original questions start on page 136 of the plan
The 2003 Arts Action Plan (AAP) drew upon surveys and studies of 443 people, including 136 artists, 83 businesses and 224 community members living and working in what would become the Northeast Minneapolis Arts District. The document spelled out how to develop the area into a successful arts district and community.
According to the AAP, “One thing became abundantly clear” from interviews, “Northeast Minneapolis’s reason for exploring the creation of an Arts District was not the same as for other communities. In other words, the reasons for examining the feasibility of such a district was to support first the artists, and thereby the larger community. It was not to use the artists to pump more money into the Northeast Minneapolis area (although this will be a benefit).”
Jerry Allen and Associates (JAA), a consulting firm, with community representatives, researched the first AAP in 2002. In January 2003, the Minneapolis City Council voted to create the Northeast Minneapolis Arts District. The plan was slated to span the next 15 years. We are now eight years past the first 15 years. It is time to update the Arts Action Plan and design a path forward for the next 15 years in the Northeast Minneapolis Arts District.
A second Arts Action Plan
The Arts District community has changed dramatically since the early 2000s. There was no social media, cell phones were not widespread, and the internet was in its early stages. There were only six art buildings at the time; there are now 17.
In December 2000, the Northeast Minneapolis Arts Association (NEMAA), which, alongside the City of Minneapolis, originated the Arts District, was reported to have 300 members.
In 2014, the Northeast Minneapolis Arts District was approved as an Minnesota corporation separate from NEMAA. In December 2020, it merged with the Northeast Community Development Corporation (CDC), a 501 (c) (3) non-profit doing business as the Northeast Minneapolis Arts District.
Twenty-six years later, the Arts District estimates that more than 1,200 artists work and/or live within its boundaries. District leaders believe that artists, businesses and the community face many new needs and challenges.
The Arts District board is in the process of creating a new Arts Action Plan survey (AAP II) to help understand the community and its needs.
The Arts District Board has hired Brenda Kayzar, PhD, of Urbane DrK Consulting, to begin updating the second AAP. The Board encourages interested parties to read the original questions and develop their own questions to suggest for the new survey.
According to the original AAP, “Success for cultural districts requires a long-term perspective, a focus on quality of design, genuine collaboration with artists and a strong public/private partnership.”
The AAP is the Arts District’s manifesto. Now, Northeast artists, businesses and community members will have the opportunity to help update that document with their questions, ideas and contributing data on what an arts community needs to have a long and prosperous life.