Minneapolis invests $750,000 to fill empty retail spaces with culture and creativity

Following a successful pilot last year, the City of Minneapolis today announced the expansion of its Vibrant Storefronts initiative in year two - providing a total of $752,879 for eight local artists and creative entrepreneurs bringing culture and creativity to vacant retail spaces across Minneapolis.

Vibrant Storefronts brings artists and arts organizations together with property owners by subsidizing rental costs for two years. This provides opportunities for local artists and creative entrepreneurs to strengthen their business models and engage the public through their art with the goal of fostering creativity, enhancing vibrancy, and promoting sustainability in Minneapolis.

"What do you do with an empty storefront? You could let it sit. You could wait for the right tenant. Or-if you're Minneapolis-you hand it over to artists, and watch it come to life." said Mayor Jacob Frey. "That's what we're doing with our Vibrant Storefronts Initiative - and with this expanded investment, we're helping local artists and organizations bring their talent to the streets of Minneapolis-from Loring Park to Uptown. These aren't just art spaces-they're proof of what happens when a city believes in its creative people and backs them with real support."

This year's roster of Vibrant Storefronts awardees includes Evergreen Audio, Modern Day Me, Grainline, Strange Loop Laboratory, Center for People and Craft, Zoma House, True North Studios x Curioso Coffee, and Cruise.

The Vibrant Storefronts pilot initiative was a recommendation that came out of Mayor Jacob Frey's Vibrant Downtown Storefronts Workgroup and is part of the City's comprehensive plan, Minneapolis 2040. Mayor Frey allocated and the City Council approved $250,000 in the City's 2024 budget to launch the initiative.

"The Vibrant Storefronts initiative launched last year in Loring Park and has been an incredible contribution to a neighborhood with a long history of creativity," said Ward 7 Council Member Katie Cashman." I am thrilled that not only is this program continuing in 2026, but it is expanding to the Uptown and Downtown areas. The Vibrant Storefronts have received nothing but positive responses, and I am so excited to see what our artists do next for Ward 7, and the City as a whole!"

"The Vibrant Storefronts initiative is truly a meaningful and visible way that the city is directly investing in our collective creative future," said Ben Johnson, Arts & Cultural Affairs Director for the City of Minneapolis. "Minneapolis is a city of artists, and we believe that this investment will reignite community cohesion, drive innovation, and bring new creative focus on historically-beloved areas of our city."

In its inaugural year, the Arts & Culture Vibrant Storefronts fund awarded $224,202 to subsidize rental costs for five creative entrepreneurs in the Harmon Place Historic District. A vibrant array of community-centered events and creative initiatives took place through the work of the initial five awardees. These included grand openings, open-mic nights, live art and fashion shows, concerts and more. This year, the program will continue in Harmon Place and Loring Park while also expanding to 1^st Ave North as well as into Uptown at Hennepin Ave. and West Lake Street. Each will feature dynamic quarterly programming, transforming vacancy to vibrancy in Minneapolis.

2025 Awardees and their project locations:

• Evergreen Audio at 300 1st Ave. North - Evergreen Audio will encourage community participation by offering access to professional-grade audio creative tools and performance spaces and recording studios through free or low-cost events.

• Modern Day Me at 401 1st Ave. North - Moder Day Me (MDM) plans to expand their existing programming, using the space to bring people together through creativity, creating a vibrant hub for connection, celebration, and collective growth.

• Grainline at 1621 Hennepin Ave - Grainline is both a storefront and a workroom for garment development. Their goal is to cultivate an ecosystem that platforms artistically crafted goods, the skill of garment development, and the knowledge on how to make a successful and financially viable career within the fashion industry.

• Strange Loop Projects at 1629 Hennepin Ave - Strange Loop Laboratory programming will offer diverse performing arts experiences anchored by an evening length immersive dance-theater production. This show will engage audiences of up to 75, inviting them to explore the entire space and reflect on the deeper meaning of human connection as the action unfolds around them.

• Center for People and Craft at 519 Oak Grove Street - Center for People and Craft, a new folk school will operate as a community-based education hub offering hands-on classes in traditional folks taught by artisans living in our community. The classes will include woodworking, fiber arts, herbalism, storytelling, and folk music, and will be rooted in cultural heritage, ecological sustainability, and accessible skill-building for learners of all ages.

• Zoma House at 1426 West Lake Street - Zoma House is a newly imagined multidisciplinary creative space brought to life by the efforts of 3 Black-led arts organizations in the Twin Cities: ZOMA Studios, NEO Narrative, and The Heartcraft Collective. ZOMA House will have a storefront with a rotating selection of products from local artists and our principal collaborators.

• True North Studios x Curioso Coffee Bar at 3001 Hennepin Ave - True North Studios x Curioso Coffee Bar will provide a space for guests to explore art, joy, coffee, and connection in a delightful and welcoming environment. The studio will be run by ARTrageous Adventures, in partnership with Lucent Blue Events + Design, which will cater to families and adults (from Gen Z to Baby-Boomers) as well as to local visual artists, musicians, creators, and makers. It will offer classes, birthday parties, workshops and a wealth of other resources to fuel the local creative and entrepreneurial community.

• Cruise at 3008 Hennepin Suite B - Cruise is a hybrid contemporary art space and multipurpose retail gallery that reflects a "Third Coast" perspective connecting Minneapolis to other cities along the Mississippi River and the Upper Midwest to the Great Lakes more broadly. Exhibitions are the backdrop for experiential art making. Cruise's "art gym" model provides arts-and-crafts much like a fitness center. This increasingly common business model de-emphasizes traditional fine arts mastery and emphasizes skill sharing and social connection.

Miss the announcement? You can watch it on the City's YouTube channe l.

To learn more about Vibrant Storefronts, please visit the Arts and Cultural Affairs website.