Spring Art Party unites again
By: Connie Beckers 07/01/2006
It was June 3...another sleepy, dusty, Delta...oops, it was a breezy, beautiful day in North Commons Park! There must have been 700 people at North Commons Park throughout the day buying art from local artists, jiving to the tunes of local bands, applauding young music students, shaking their groove thang with belly, hip-hop and fire dancers, being swept away with story tellers, making awesome kids art, delighting in snow cones and tacos and just plain having a great time. Sure, we could have had more people, more press and more sales....that’s almost always true. But this event was an enormous success because when we measure it against Northside Arts Collective’s mission to unite, enrich and advance the Northside community through the arts, we hit the nail right on the head!
Young people from North High School and Plymouth Christian Youth Center helped survey guests. Of the 138 people surveyed, 46 were from outside North Minneapolis and 85 said that our Spring Art Party improved their perception of the Northside. Community and neighborhood groups shared information about their organizations along with a free kids art project. Some folks told me that they lived three blocks away and hadn’t been to this Park before. Some saw our yard signs, some read it in the community news, some were told by a friend or one of our artists. And quite a few were fans of the music and dance groups! All in all, it was a great day for the Northside! Mark your calendars now for Saturday, June 9, 2007 — at North Commons Park again!
Thanks to everyone who participated in all the ways necessary to make this a success — the planners, the doers, park staff, police, block clubs, volunteers, host neighborhood, neighbors, guests, artists, food vendors, community groups, donors of money, food and water, and loaners of sound equipment. And thanks for choosing North Minneapolis! For info on the Northside Arts Collective contact 612-521-0399 or nacarts@earthlink.net.