Our Anpetu Was’te Cultural Arts Marketplace continues to make progress. In the past month, the design of the market has become clearer. Our reciprocal relationship with the City and County has allowed us to solidify many elements of the plaza design and has allowed us to identify the areas that still need more attention. In concert with the plaza design we have begun a traffic study to analyze how automobile traffic would move through the area with the changes we are proposing. That study is wrapping up and will help define how our project and the County’s road resurfacing project work together.

We have been preparing materials for the artists that will help us design elements of the plaza. The artists will be integrated into the design team to create elements of the plaza design. This partnership will strengthen the design and impact of the project.

Our staff toured a number of buildings that are near the project site that could be redeveloped to support community goals for the area. These represent the types of projects that we hope the Anpetu Was’te Cultural Arts Marketplace will catalyze in the coming years. There is immense potential for redevelopment at the Franklin Light Rail Station, but so our goal is to create an environment where development can be successful and making sure that community vision is included in any future projects.

An exciting new neighbor is Verdant Tea <http://minneapolis.verdanttea.com> . Their tasting room recently opened near the project site. We have already seen Verdant Tea staff at our engagement sessions and at development meetings in the neighborhood. They have great enthusiasm to not just run the business, but also improve the neighborhood. We think they will be a great addition to the community.

The Anpetu Was’te project has reached some recent milestones and accomplishments. We had a positive meeting with staff from Little Earth of United Tribes to explore how Little Earth residents could have a role in selling crafts at the Market as well as participating in the maintenance of the space. This emerging partnership could connect the project with the largest urban native housing community in the metro.

We also had a positive meeting with the Seward Neighborhood Group Community Development Committee. The project has been presented to the nearby neighborhoods a number of times and we integrated feedback and guidance from these groups into the planning and development of the market. We continue to work with the nearby neighborhoods as partners in the project.

As we continue the development process for Anpetu Was’te, one of our largest challenges is identifying a stable and sustainable funding source for ongoing programming and maintenance.  This seems to be a major challenge for the field of Creative Placemaking broadly. Are we making temporary interventions, or is there a way to create lasting structures that support artists and placemaking? As the field matures, is there a role for both projects that occur for a finite amount of time and projects that are ongoing? Is one more impactful than the other?