SKATE-ABLE ART PLAZA GRAND OPENING
Saturday, June 15, 2019
RAIN DATE: Saturday, June 22, 2019 (announcement will be made by 8AM Saturday morning)
Skate-able art plaza celebration: 10:00AM–12:00PM
Program: 10:45AM
Location: Corner of West Broadway Avenue and Emerson Avenue North, Minneapolis, MN 55411
JXTA OPEN GALLERY HOURS
JXTA Contemporary Lab will be open for visitors to meet youth artists and peruse artwork for sale. Emerson Gallery will be open for visitors to see the current exhibit ‘Live from New York’ by Bronx-based graffiti artists Tats Cru.
Saturday, June 15, 2019
Open hours: 10:00AM–1:00PM
Location: 1108 West Broadway Avenue & 2007 Emerson Avenue North
Planning for the installation of the new plaza began almost two years ago, in partnership with City of Skate (CoS), the West Broadway Business and Area Coalition (WBC), and the City of Minneapolis. Teaching designers and youth apprentices in JXTA’s Environmental Design Lab designed the plaza with the CoS community, and with design support from UMN’s Department of Landscape Architecture. More than 170 people made gifts in support of our new city amenity, and an Action Grant from the Mississippi Watershed Management Organization funded the installation and maintenance of 3 rain gardens to capture and treat stormwater on the site.
Construction began in April 2019, and we are now ready to open this space to our community because we know that youth and families in North Minneapolis and everywhere want and need more public space designed with youth and community in mind. The plaza is wheels-friendly and flexible. Beginning in June 2019, the plaza will be open for multi-use, as well as activation during FLOW, Open Streets, and other community events, art pop-ups, and youth-focused skate programming (hosted by CoS on Saturday mornings). The partners hope the space will support youth, artists, and community members to gather around creativity, innovation, health, and culture.
After tearing down an old building on our campus on the corner of West Broadway Avenue and Emerson Avenue North in 2017, in May 2018 we announced the launch of a momentous capital campaign to raise $14 million for a new, state-of-the-art building on the same lot. The skate-able art plaza will serve as a means to activate this space while we raise these funds and shape the future of our campus. We are also excited to celebrate the brand-new mural by Bronx-based aerosol artists Tats Cru, now on view behind the skate-able art plaza. The 840’ ft. mural, made possible in part by a donation from Wet Paint and a host of individual donations, drew inspiration from community input, and was created during Tats Cru’s recent residency activities between April 26 and May 4, 2019.
The skate-able art plaza was made possible by the backers of our Kickstarter campaign, a host of other individual donors, an Action Grant from the Mississippi Watershed Management Organization, a partnership with the City of Minneapolis Government, and the generous support of the Superbowl Host Committee, NEA Our Town, and Artplace.