The development of a Welcome Center for Northeast Minneapolis artists is a program of the Northeast Minneapolis Arts District, a non-profit arts organization. In 2023 the Arts District negotiated a free 6-year lease for the corner office of the Timber & Tie Apartment Complex.
In July 2023, Arts District board member, Remo Campopiano was asked to chair the Welcome Center taskforce. At the September 13th board meeting, Campopiano propose an idea to create a 3d timeline tracing the history of the visual arts going back to the early seventies. It was unanimously approved.
Currently the Welcome Center has four components that are related and supportive of the overall goal to bring attention to the art and artists of the Northeast Minneapolis Arts District. These components are:
Whence Project
The Whence project will trace the history of our visual arts community, beginning in the mid-seventies to the present. Physically It will fill the back wall of the AD Welcome Center in the form of a three-row timeline.
Imagine this scenario… With their smartphone, a visitor scans a headline/QR code. The article downloads to their phone and immediately starts reading the story aloud. They can choose to listen later and continue scanning other headlines. In addition, all the articles will be on the website to read or listen to at any time.
Public Art Map Project
On the adjacent wall will be a map of the district using similar materials and design style to the Whence project. It will identify each public artwork on the map with a trigger (pass your hand over a sensor) that starts a video about the artist and the work. The video plays on one of a series of TV monitors that occupy the top of the two inside walls. When not preforming a specific task, they will be displaying slideshow of local artwork.
Roundtable Project
In the center of the room will be a roundtable that can seat twelve people. There is nothing better than a circular table to level the playing field and promote equality and collaborative thinking. Around this table we envision monthly gatherings of diverse groups that have stories to tell; people from different time periods and aesthetic backgrounds, in other words, all the people that made our visual arts community what it is now. Our intent is to ensure that they are equitably represented in the timeline.
Volunteer Welcomers
There is one more element that needs to be worked out; how do we open the Welcome Center to the public. We do not plan to open until the Spring of 2024 at which time we intend to have in place a volunteer program of welcomers. If you would like to be a volunteer welcomer, or help develop a volunteer program, please contact via email, Remo Campopiano or Jim Gregory.
These four projects are designed to activate the space for community development and facilitate a positive and productive future for our artists and their cooperative visions.