Key Dates
Art of Healing
Artist: The Art of Healing
Date: December 16, Noon - 3 p.m.
Location: Hennepin Technical College (9000 Brooklyn Boulevard, Brooklyn Park)
Description: Join The Art of Healing team for a gathering with children's activities, food and a variety of health and wellness resources including;
- Flu and COVID vaccinations with $50 incentive
- Exercise and stretching demo
- Facial skincare demo
- Health consultations and screenings
View our event flyer for a complete list of programming.
Black Movie Night
Artist: Black Movie Night
Date: December 16, 7:00 p.m.
Location: The Zen Bin (2123 West Broadway, Minneapolis)
Description: Join us at the Zen Bin for Black Movie Night. Meet in the parking lot of the Holyground building to watch our Movie of the Month; Coming to America (1988). RSVP at thezenbin.com/community
Drawing in Community
Artist: Drawing in Community
Date: December 14, 5:30 - 7:30 p.m.
Location: Crystal Community Center (4800 Douglas Drive North, Crystal)
Description: Drawing in Community is a collaborative art piece between artist Harper Steinbach, northwest metro area LGBTQ+ youth, Hennepin County, and arts nonprofits. Partnering with local nonprofits and schools Steinbach will ask youth what they imagine their community looks like in the future and what community looks like now for them. At the end of the workshop youth will be asked to submit a drawing, word, or phrase to add to the community piece.
A final community piece will be created after 3-4 planned visits to different sites. The artist will make a large-scale coloring (around 6x10ft) sheet that combines all the collected illustrations, words, and phrases previously submitted. This coloring sheet will be open at an “open house” where youth, local officials, the public, and key stakeholders from the BLRT project will be invited to gather in community, contribute to the coloring sheet, as well as talk with BLRT project staff about the development of the project.
Archives for Me and You: Zine making Workshop
Artist: Archives for Me and You
Date: December 2, 11a.m. - 1 p.m.
Location: North Commons Recreation Center (1801 James Avenue North, Minneapolis)
Description: Participants will make 1-page zines (a form of DIY self-publication) by collaging photographs, drawings, and text. Participants will be able to photocopy multiples.
Peace on the Blue Line
Artist: Peace on the Blue Line
Date: November 29, 11: 30 a.m. - 2 p.m.
Location: North Hennepin Community College Auditorium (7411 85th Avenue North, Brooklyn Park)
Description: Jarrelle Barton, a noted African-American composer and musician, will perform on a Chinese zither (called a Guzheng) at three concerts as part of the Metro Blue Line Cultivating Arts grant “Peace on the Blueline.” The first concert, which includes Q&A and Mr. Barton’s introduction to this ancient instrument, will be at Open Streets West Broadway on September 16th. The following events will be at North Memorial Hospital and North Hennepin Community College, the latter featuring images of attendees projected on a screen by fine arts photographer Jerry Sedgewick.
Robot Mobile Disco
Artist: Nick Knutson
Time: November 26, 1 - 4 p.m.
Location: Brooklyn Park Library ( 8500 W Broadway, Brooklyn Park)
Description: A party is coming to BLRT neighborhoods! The Robot Mobile Disco is a roving dance installation, featuring a light up disco floor, D.J.s, and is hosted by the red robot, Giganta! Participants will party with their friends and family along with chatting about the benefits of the future Blue Line light rail expansion for the northwestern communities of Minneapolis.
Heal and Chill: Community Bonfire
Artist: Heal and Chill
Date: November 24, 7 p.m.
Location: 2123 W Broadway, Minneapolis
Description: Heal & Chill is an arts engagement project presented by The Zen Bin, aimed at promoting holistic well-being and community connection. Through a series of dance fitness classes, yoga sessions with fresh-pressed juices by Heal MPLS, and mindfulness activities outdoors with coloring and painting, we create a safe and inclusive space for individuals to prioritize self-care, reduce stress, and express their creativity. Community feedback on the BLRT project will be collected through a variety of creative processes such as video, drawing, and surveys.
Peace on the Blue Line
Artist: Peace on the Blue Line
Date: November 13, 11: 30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m.
Location: North Hennepin Community College Auditorium (7411 85th Avenue North, Brooklyn Park)
Description: Jarrelle Barton, a noted African-American composer and musician, will perform on a Chinese zither (called a Guzheng) at three concerts as part of the Metro Blue Line Cultivating Arts grant “Peace on the Blueline.” The first concert, which includes Q&A and Mr. Barton’s introduction to this ancient instrument, will be at Open Streets West Broadway on September 16th. The following events will be at North Memorial Hospital and North Hennepin Community College, the latter featuring images of attendees projected on a screen by fine arts photographer Jerry Sedgewick.
Archives for Me and You: Oral History Workshop
Artist: Archives for Me and You
Date: November 11, 11a.m. - 1 p.m.
Location: North Commons Recreation Center (1801 James Avenue North, Minneapolis)
Description: Using audio recorders and ASMR microphones, participants will conduct interviews with each other and collect sounds from the park.
Archives for Me and You: Disposable Camera Workshop
Artist: Archives for Me and You
Date: November 4, 11 - 11:30 a.m.
Location: North Commons Recreation Center (1801 James Avenue North, Minneapolis)
Description: After a briefing, each participant will get their own (free) disposable camera. Over the next week, participants are tasked with collecting images of the places and faces of their neighborhoods. Cameras can be returned in person at the following workshop of by mail. All participants will receive physical and digital copies of their photographs.
Robot Mobile Disco
Artist: Nick Knutson
Time: October 28, 2 - 5 p.m.
Location: Zanewood Recreation Center (7100 Zane Ave N, Brooklyn Park)
Description: A party is coming to BLRT neighborhoods! The Robot Mobile Disco is a roving dance installation, featuring a light up disco floor, D.J.s, and is hosted by the red robot, Giganta! Participants will party with their friends and family along with chatting about the benefits of the future Blue Line light rail expansion for the northwestern communities of Minneapolis.
Our Neighborhood on Display
Artist: Our Neighborhood on Display: Welcome and Cherish
Date: October 10, 3 - 7 p.m.
Location: University of Minnesota Urban Research and Outreach-Engagement Center
(2001 Plymouth Ave N, Minneapolis)
Description: Community residents, with support and guidance from writers and artists from The Witness Project, will create group “chapbooks” in poster form exploring themes of community pride, preservation, and development. Chapbooks of approximately 20 poster-pages will contain a hybrid of poems, flash fiction, and micro-essays authored by participants at three or four drop-in workshop events. Each 18” x 24” page will include visual images and collage as well as text. Completed posters will be displayed as turning “pages” on a freestanding poster display rack.
BLRT Couture Dress
Date: September 17
Location: American Swedish Institute (2600 Park Avenue, Minneapolis)
Description: An interactive fashion installation celebrates the upcoming Metro Blue Line LRT extension project through a Couture dress inspired by the BLRT map. The dress will be displayed at events or the proposed light rail station areas. Visitors can scan a QR code for a virtual mini fashion show, blending fashion, technology, and community excitement. Join us in this artistic celebration of progress and transformation. Participants will have the opportunity to provide video testimony We will encourage social media sharing with a designated hashtag. Completing the arts engagement with a time-lapse video showing our participants engaged in the activity.
Colors and Cultures
Artist: Colors and Cultures
Date: September 16
Location: Open Streets, West Broadway
Description: “Colors and Cultures” is an interactive community mask activity hosted by artist Geno Okok for the purpose of encouraging and providing communities of color access to the arts, a space to foster creativity and create awareness for the BLRT Project. As a visual artist and an artist of color, Okok grew up in and experienced the various cultures and nationalities that make up the city of Brooklyn Park. His mask making arts engagement activity highlight diversity, voices and perspectives of all people. During this activity participants experience community building and creating art while bringing awareness to the BLRT project development.
Peace on the Blueline
Artist: Peace on the Blueline
Date: September 16
Location: Open Streets, West Broadway
Description: Jarrelle Barton, a noted African-American composer and musician, will perform on a Chinese zither (called a Guzheng) at three concerts as part of the Metro Blue Line Cultivating Arts grant “Peace on the Blueline.” The first concert, which includes Q&A and Mr. Barton’s introduction to this ancient instrument, will be at Open Streets West Broadway on September 16th. The following events will be at North Memorial Hospital and North Hennepin Community College, the latter featuring images of attendees projected on a screen by fine arts photographer Jerry Sedgewick.
Our Neighborhood on Display
Artist: Our Neighborhood on Display
Date: September 16
Location: Open Streets, West Broadway
Description: Community residents, with support and guidance from writers and artists from The Witness Project, will create group “chapbooks” in poster form exploring themes of community pride, preservation, and development. Chapbooks of approximately 20 poster-pages will contain a hybrid of poems, flash fiction, and micro-essays authored by participants at three or four drop-in workshop events. Each 18” x 24” page will include visual images and collage as well as text. Completed posters will be displayed as turning “pages” on a freestanding poster display rack.
BLRT Couture Dress
Artist: BLRT Couture Dress
Date: September 11
Location: Finnegan's Brewery (817 S 5th Ave, Minneapolis)
Description: An interactive fashion installation celebrates the upcoming Metro Blue Line LRT extension project through a Couture dress inspired by the BLRT map. The dress will be displayed at events or the proposed light rail station areas. Visitors can scan a QR code for a virtual mini fashion show, blending fashion, technology, and community excitement. Join us in this artistic celebration of progress and transformation. Participants will have the opportunity to provide video testimony We will encourage social media sharing with a designated hashtag. Completing the arts engagement with a time-lapse video showing our participants engaged in the activity.