Hello from Works Progress!
A Public Thing at Peavey Plaza in November, 2011.
It's been awhile since our last official Newsletter!
As some of you know, 2011 was a year of transitions and transformations for Works Progress. Co-Directors Colin Kloecker and Shanai Matteson made WP their full-time gig in January of 2011, working with WP Collaborators Troy Gallas, Ben Shardlow, and Andy Sturdevant throughout the year on new and ongoing projects. In the past 12 months we've collaborated with so many amazing artists, organizations, and forward-thinking individuals; convening creative community gatherings, making new partnerships across sectors and across the state, highlighting social entrepreneurs and thought leaders at Solutions Twin Cities and Give & Take, giving artists a stage at Salon Saloon, even chartering a riverboat for an all-night, art-filled adventure on the Mississippi as part of Northern Spark!
We've also made some strategic decisions in the past 12 months about the future of our growing organization, and are making the transition into 2012 excited about what's in store!
We recently received an Metropolitan Regional Arts Commission organizational development grant, and are using the opportunity to fully embrace our identity as a public art and design studio - launching new projects while also working to make sustainability and impact a priority.
As part of this transition, we’ve moved the operation out of the kitchen and into a dedicated work/play space! Located above Roberts Shoes at 734 East Lake Street in Minneapolis, the new Works Progress Studio is officially up and running! Though we’re still working on furnishing the office ( click here to check out our studio wish-list), the space has great energy and is already beginning to feel like home. Every Friday from 3 to 6pm we're hosting a Works Progress Happy Hour where friends, colleagues, community members, and anyone else who is interested can stop by our office, grab a beer or cup of coffee, read from our library, chat with other visitors, or bounce ideas off the Works Progress crew! It’s been great fun so far and we hope to see you there soon!
Having an office has also given us the opportunity to move forward with one of our other big goals—hiring our new part-time Project Assistant! Regan Smith has joined Works Progress and will be helping out with ongoing projects and communications, including our newly remodeled blog. She's also responsible for keeping this newsletter running smoothly as a monthly feature, so expect a monthly Works Progress update with project news, opportunities to get involved, and insights from the team from here on out!
Thanks to all of you for your support over the last few years. Your encouragement, excitement, energy, and feedback has kept Works Progress evolving, and we couldn’t do it without you! So please - keep in touch!
Looking forward,
Colin, Shanai, Regan & the Whole Works Progress Team
In November, Works Progress helped to launch A PUBLIC THING - an experimental civic platform that creates open space, in public and in print, for substantive conversation on pressing societal issues.
The first APT gathering was held at Peavey Plaza in downtown Minneapolis and addressed financial independence and interdependence. Energized by OWS and the 99% Movement, we created a temporary commons where anyone could ask a burning question and immediately make connections with others in the community who had relevant knowledge, stories, and questions of their own. About 50 people showed up, and we had some great conversations! This gathering became the source of a collectively-authored, beautifully designed, print publication that created space for the conversation beyond the event. With help from an awesome team of organizers, contributors, and editors, we printed 2,000 copies of the newspaper and distributed it for free during the holiday shopping season. It’s also available online at apublicthing.org and in print at our new Works Progress office space at Lake and Chicago.
We’re looking for a way to continue the project in the spring, and we need your support. If you’ve got a moment, check out our entry to Good Magazine’s 30 Day Challenge on Financial Fitness, and please vote for A PUBLIC THING if you think our idea is a good one! Winning the $500 prize would allow us to host another iteration of APT this spring, connect the program to our ongoing equity work, and cover our costs for a second issue of the APT newspaper.
There are just 3 days of voting left so we’d truly appreciate it if you help us spread the word! (You can share our entry on Facebook or Twitter directly from the website after voting.) Thank you thank you!
Last November, Works Progress went to Detroit as part of the Minnesota delegation to PolicyLink’s Equity Summit 2011. Our delegation of 150+ equity workers and advocates from Minnesota was the largest delegation in attendance at the summit. We were there, in part, to learn how Works Progress can be of service to their work. We were also there to help tell the Minnesota delegation's story. This video is the result of our work! Read more about it here.
Making connections across Minnesota!
Last summer, through a Forecast Public Art research grant, Shanai and Colin had the opportunity to travel around the state working on a project called Minnesota Document. Along the way we met individuals and organizations doing some amazing work, and naturally, collaborations began to grow...
We're embarking on a year-long project with our new friends at CURE (Clean Up the River Environment) in Montevideo, MN. We'll be helping them think creatively about the role of art and design in gatherings they are planning with InCommons to build resilience into their community. We're also cooking up some unique rural-urban partnerships, and look forward to continuing to get to know the great folks out in Western MN.
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What's Next?
Works Progress Happy Hour
Stop by for a cold beer or hot tea and learn what we've been up to, chat with other creative people, or just grab a book and relax!
Every Friday from 3 to 6 pm
734 E. Lake Street, Suite 208
The Upper Middle West's #1 Live-Action Arts Magazine!
Salon Saloon: The Radio Show
Tuesday, February 28th, 7-9PM
$6 - $12 sliding scale
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