What began as a grassroots initiative pairing vacant storefronts with public art in one Minneapolis, MN, neighborhood has grown into an “urban walking gallery” enlivening key commercial corridors in the city center and beyond, and incorporating live performances, artists markets, and pop-up galleries.
The Made Here program aims to highlight local artists, give residents and visitors more reasons to stroll the West Downtown Minneapolis Cultural District, and to attract tenants to vacant storefronts. It is billed by organizers as the largest project of its kind in the nation.
“We position this as a win-win for everyone,” says Joan Vorderbruggen who founded the program. “I think that 13 properties with a combined vacancy of more than 50 years have acquired tenants or new owners within 12 months of participation, so it really does create a positive forward motion for vacant spaces.”
There have also been public safety benefits, “that we didn’t understand until we had implemented a few times,” Vorderbruggen says. “People have a change in their perception of safety. This has also increased entrepreneurship in smaller vacant spaces, and we’ve seen increased investment by property owners in their own properties.”
Retail may have moved from brick and mortar to “click and order,” Vorderbruggen says, “but one of the things that can combat this is to have creative experiences that you can’t have on your laptop, that you have to go downtown and see. Artists are capable of bringing those experiences in ways that corporate America can’t.”
Details on the Made Here program plus information on downtown housing tours and upper story conversions appears in the June issue of Downtown Idea Exchange. Click to learn more about Downtown Idea Exchange and other resources for revitalizing downtowns and commercial corridors.