This Minnesota ‘Neighborhood’ Goes All Out For Art

Over the weekend I got to spend some time in an old Minnesota 'neighborhood' celebrating all things related to art. There were paintings, sculptures, woodworking, live performances, food trucks, and craft beer and spirits. The only thing missing was some warmer weather. Nordeast Minneapolis is home to Art-A-Whirl, a 3-day celebration of all things artistic, but the love of art goes far beyond the 3-day celebration.

What's Art-A-Whirl?

Back in 1995, artists in the area took up residence in various neglected industrial buildings in the area, and held an open house to showcase their art to the community. From there, it's only grown, and now attracts tens of thousands of people to the normally quiet neighborhood, adjacent to Downtown Minneapolis.

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Residents of Nordeast enjoy art and celebrate creativity year-round

If you've ever been to Nordeast, you'll instantly notice the number of murals that adorn various buildings, no matter where you look. On top of the building murals, there are sidewalk planters that are made from various elements like mosaic tile, metal, and decorative wood.

Here are some of the murals

Some of the murals, like this one outside Eat My Words, a bookstore, depict a summer garden scene, something that was a common sight in the 1940s and 1950s, when Eastern European immigrants would have large gardens to grow flowers to sell, as well as vegetables to eat.

You'll also notice that there is a lot of quarried granite all over the neighborhood. Does that remind you of St. Cloud?

Near the 331 Club, we walked through a small pop-up market, and in that same small parking lot, there were these two murals. One was a faded-out, almost ghost advertisement for ice cream and orange soda, while the one below depicts the interconnectedness of the neighborhood, even if there was a barking dog interrupting the normally quiet residential areas.

Below is the outside of another building near University Ave. The looping designs reminded me of cursive writing, or when someone gets bored in a meeting and starts doodling on their notepad.

I couldn't quite make out what type of beer this ghost mural was advertising at one point, but it seems to still be in pretty good condition, even with the creeping ivy/vines beginning to make it tough to read.

This piece of neighborhood art looks to have been tagged over the top, or was it part of the design?

Dusty's Bar on Marshall Street, not far from the Grain Belt Brewery, was adjacent to a small business incubator that was hosting some live music, artists, and a music project that is collecting all forms of Minnesota music.

Above is the old Grain Belt brewery along the Mississippi River, part of which is now a public library, and across the street are new apartments and condos.

A Central Minnesota Connection To Nordeast

My mom's parents grew up in the then mainly Eastern European neighborhood, and like my grandparents and my mother, having grown up not far from the area, I often would find myself in the area, drawn to it like a moth to a flame. There was something about the vibrancy of the community, it was a real melting pot.

Even in the mid-2000s, you'd experience people of various races, speaking different languages, all living together in the area, working together, and helping one another; it always seemed to be the real-life depiction of a neighborhood.

Even now, when I go back to the area for Art-A-Whirl, I get that same sense of community, it's so fun to be a part of.

If you get a chance to go next year, or you enjoy going and doing/seeing something different, take a drive down and experience it for yourself. I don't think you'll be disappointed.