❋

Events Grants

2024

Announcement for the 2024 Under the Canopy event at The Hook & Ladder Theater & Lounge, featuring various sponsors and performers, with green and black design elements.

Under the Canopy

May - October. 2024

presented by The Hook & Ladder Theater and Lounge

  • Under the Canopy launched at the Hook & Ladder Theater and Lounge in 2021 as a way to more safely host shows amid a global pandemic. Since then, it has become a summer tradition featuring concerts from popular local groups, tribute performances, and community events. In 2024, the series ran throughout the summer and provided musical performances during barrier-free community events such as KFAI’s 46th Anniversary Celebration in May, Soul of the Southside on Juneteenth, Community Bronze Pour to commemorate the 130th anniversary of the firehouse (location of the Hook & Ladder Theater) in September, Festival Calaveras in October and many more. This particular outdoor series has brought a sense of togetherness and pride to our local community and brings a great many folks to our neighborhood for each performance. Over 15,000 people attended this series in 2024. And it will run again in 2025.

Two musicians performing in a bar: one singing with a closed eyes and a white shirt, the other playing an acoustic guitar wearing a dark shirt. A tip jar with a sign is on a small round table between them, and a large TV is on the wall behind them.

Acoustic Listening Series

May- Otcober. 2024

presented by The Zen Arcade

  • The Zen Arcade opened in fall of 2023 next door to the former Third Police Precinct. They chose their location because they believe in this community and they are dedicated to its revitalization. In summer of 2024, The Zen Arcade launched an acoustic listening series to provide free live music for the community.  The series was presented in their lounge every Wednesday evening over the summer, with a different featured artist each week.  Attendance for the series grew with each week, averaging around 20-25 audience members. Most attendees were from the immediate area, many arriving on foot. Enthusiasm for the work presented by the artists each week was great, with lots of applause and song requests.  The artists really enjoyed the intimate, neighborhood vibe the series had. The Zen Arcade was able to offer opportunities for them to put their music in front of a new audience in a unique setting.

Building with a colorful mural that reads "Memorialize the Movement" and features illustrations of people protesting with raised fist symbols and nature imagery.

Justice for George

May. 2024

presented by Memorialize the Movement

  • On May 24th and 25th, Justice For George: Space as Canvas was held over two days. On the first day of the event, there was a panel discussion, documentary screening and the “Paint to Express” workshop held in DuNord Social Spirit’s newly renovated event room in their space next door. On day two, the event was in full swing. The community was invited to the new space for Memorialize the Movement (MTM) in South Minneapolis to enjoy live entertainment, local arts vendors, food from local vendors, a street exhibition of the plywood protest murals – collected and curated by MTM, and a live mural painting project. Overall, the event reinforced the power of community solidarity and creative expression in driving social change through the inclusion of a variety of artists and local businesses. It left a lasting impression of all who attended, reminding us of the strength we have when we come together with a shared purpose and vision.

A man kneeling with a young child, surrounded by traditional Chinese lion dance costumes and a large cartoon figure in a Chinese outfit holding a gold jar, in front of a colorful wall with an "Open" sign.

Asian Phoenix Fest

May. 2022

presented by Arbeiter Brewing Co

  • The Asian Phoenix Festival was Arbeiter Brewing’s grand celebration during AAPI Heritage Month. The Asian Phoenix represents resilience, revitalization, and harmony. She is the opposing force to the dragon. The Phoenix has also become an important symbol to our South Minneapolis neighborhood as we work to renew and rebuild what was lost after the spring 2020 uprising. The inaugural Asian Phoenix Festival took place at Arbeiter Brewing on Sunday, May 26, 2024 and was an amazing success. We estimate that 750 people attended the festival. The performances were Lion Dancing by DTG Lions, Korean Three Drum Dance by Jangmi Arts, Breakdancing by Cypher Side Dance School, and DJ JEN-E. Besides the performers, the other businesses that participated were: Laune Bread, Tiny Art by LRG, Munee, Npauj, Lora Hlavsa, Kimchicks, Kari Lee Art, A Krause Studio, Theater Mu, 2 Scoops Cookies, Bao Bao Buns, Union Hmong Kitchen, and Amazing Momo.

Three people standing outdoors near a fence with barbed wire, looking at a large proposal poster on a board. The poster is titled "Autonomous Request for Proposals" and has handwritten notes. The setting appears to be an outdoor event or protest.

The Future in Ruins: Overwriting the 3rd Precinct

June - December. 2024

presented by Confluence Studios

  • Confluence organized a handful of events from June through December that asked neighbors to consider the future of the former Third Precinct site through the lens of care and support. These events alternated between neighborhood workshops and sidewalk design sessions aimed at engaging neighbors passing by in conversation and collaboration. Around 60 people participated in these events.

    Confluence: An East Lake Studio for Community Design is a vehicle to research, examine, and celebrate the material and social infrastructure of Minneapolis’ Ninth Ward and beyond. Sam Gould and Duaba Unenra established Confluence in March 2020 in response to an invitation to facilitate a participatory development process after a fire destroyed a beloved neighborhood cultural institution. Confluence’s ethos and practice look past the development industry’s rhetoric of “fixing people and places” to harness the radical imaginary and to support ideas of collective learning, and community agency.

     Confluence’s vision is to resource the entire Ninth Ward neighborhood with social tools (material and immaterial) so that our social landscape can move beyond basic needs and small differences towards an expansive terrain of power, democracy, and communal life. With a deep understanding that entangled relationships are the roots of home, Confluence works on “People’s Time,” prioritizing the intricacies of individuals' needs and how they grow, change, and enrich a social ecology under threat.

A group of people gathered outdoors during a community event, including a woman with sunglasses and a microphone speaking, people sitting on a wooden bench, a man with a camera recording, a smiling young child holding a popsicle, and other adults and children in the background.

Soul of the Southside

June. 2024

presented by The Legacy Building

  • The Soul of the Southside Juneteenth Festival, presented by The Legacy Building, was held on Wednesday, June 19, 2024 at the corner of Lake Street and Minnehaha Avenue. The event was a powerful celebration of Black liberation, culture, community, and creativity. They created space for kinship and community at Arbeiter Brewing, Moon Palace Books, The Hook & Ladder Theater and The Historic Coliseum Building. SOTS welcomed a record-breaking attendance of 3,700 attendees. The festival transformed our community into a dynamic hub of creativity, connection, and joy, exceeding all expectations and leaving an indelible mark on everyone who joined.

A group of people are gathered outdoors under a white tent, attending a panel discussion or interview with two women seated with microphones. The setting appears to be a community event or festival on a sunny day.

Times Such as These/Southside Shtetl

June. 2024

presented by Southside Shtetl

  • A book release party for “For Times Such As These: A Radical’s Guide to the Jewish Year,” co-authored by local Rabbi Jessica Rosenberg and visiting Rabbi Ariana Katz. It was also a joyful, meaningful place to celebrate Jewish artists' work with strong representation from queer and trans Jews active in movements for social justice in Minneapolis. Alongside the reading, there was klezmer music and art and Judaica made by local artisans, organized by Southside Shtetl, a pop-up Judaica market now in their 3rd year.

    The event on Sunday was a joyful success. A few hundred people came through Southside Shtetl, and over 50 people came to the book reading. Longfellow author and artist Ricardo Levins Morales facilitated the book discussion, and it was a really powerful bringing together of local artists and writers at Moon Palace Books.

    As radical Jews, we don't have access to doing events like this at most of the Jewish specific art and culture spaces. So it was transformative to get community resources to bring our writing and art to our community in this way.

Group of musicians performing outdoors, including a woman playing an accordion and singing into a microphone, a guitarist, trumpet players, and a drummer. Audience members are visible in the foreground.

Sister Species, Spaceport, Robot Slide (solo)

August. 2024

presented by Sister Species

  • On Sunday, August 18, Sister Species held their summer show in the early evening outside in the green space between Moon Palace Books and the Hub Bike Co-op on Minnehaha Ave. It was a night of music and community, featuring performances by the chamber pop septet, along with indie rock trio Spaceport, and experimental artist Matt Olson of Robot Slide.

    We had about 100 people at our show, from babies to octogenarians. Several people described the event as “life-affirming” and “the perfect summer night.” Olson played an opening solo piece that involved participation from the whole audience by playing tracks off their phones. Spaceport played second and shouted out all of the toddlers from their workplace who attended. And, during Sister Species' set, people danced with their dogs to a song about a dog.

A group of people gathered outdoors, with some dressed in colorful costumes, including a person in a yellow outfit with a matching headscarf and a person in a giraffe mascot costume. The scene appears to be a cultural or festive event in a park with trees and buildings in the background.

Going to Seed - Renewal in a Time of Climate Change

September. 2024

presented by Pangea World Theater

  • Going to Seed, a kick-off event held in early September, featured Diane Wilson, Michael Kleber-Diggs and others bringing the community together for poetry, songs, ritual and story circles about our own vision for renewal and healing. We dedicated a future Pollinator Garden at the Green Plaza in Longfellow by naming and planting our commitment to renewal.

    Going to Seed supports people around their grief and feelings of powerlessness in the face of climate change and the intractable systems that keep solutions at bay. Using art in a natural space, Pangea supports a collective sense of hope grounded in the power of our shared Earth, celebration, connection and each other.

    Going to Seed is being designed and implemented by Pangea World Theater in collaboration with the Dakota writer and educator, Diane Wilson, The Indigenous People’s Task Force — Ikidowin Youth Theater Ensemble, Mudluk Pottery, and Longfellow Rising and with Santa Fe artist, Chrissie Orr.

Live music performance on stage with three musicians, one playing keyboard, one singing with a cello, and one playing guitar, in a dimly lit venue with blue curtains and red letters spelling 'MPLS' behind them. Audience seated and standing, watching the performance.

Open Door Series

August - October. 2024

presented by Nobool Presents

  • The 2024 Open Door community music series at the non-profit Hook & Ladder Theater was a resounding success! The fall no-barrier series covered 12 unique shows on Thursday evenings over 3 months. We were able to pay all our performing artists. (Art jobs are real jobs!) This series also had product support from Summit Brewing Co.