With their programs postponed, Twin Cities arts organizations are finding new ways to open doors to the communities they serve.
The compounding crises of the COVID-19 pandemic, higher unemployment and unrest after the death of George Floyd have made life more precarious for many in the Twin Cities, and people in the arts are among those who are stepping up.
Springboard for the Arts' parking lot has been a site for distributing food and other necessities. All My Relations Arts became a food and neighborhood protection site. Victoria Theater Arts Center has hosted community healing events. Catalyst Arts has sponsored events around uniting artists. Pillsbury House Theatre created a pantry and supplied water to mourners at Thursday's memorial service for Floyd.
Perhaps most dramatically, Mixed Blood Theatre has transformed itself into a big-box store. The shuttered theater is now offering food and other essentials to its neighbors on Minneapolis' West Bank.
"The intent started with the Somali community here in Cedar-Riverside. We were going to set out a few tables to pass out food, but now we look like a Costco, with items spread out all over the place," said Catherine Campbell, who has pivoted from production manager of the theater to helping keep the neighborhood fed and safe.
That was the impulse for efforts at nearby All My Relations, too. With the gallery closed and volunteers using its Franklin Avenue parking lot as a central point for protecting the American Indian cultural corridor during unrest following Floyd's death, organizers put out a call for help in keeping the protectors nourished.
"People started bringing everything in, so the gallery turned into a holding space for all the supplies: fire extinguishers and water and diapers, anything that could help the community that had been impacted by the destruction," said Angela Two Stars, director of All My Relations. "It was a special thing to see — especially since the American Indian Movement was created out of a response to police brutality in the '60s against the American Indian community — to be able to rely on our people to protect the Phillips neighborhood."
Two Star said All My Relations is eager to get back to sharing art; it had public artists out creating murals last weekend. She said the best way to keep up with the rapidly changing situation at All My Relations is its website or through the Native American Community Development Institute.