The daily digest of Twin Cities culture | Secrets of the City

There must be an economic principle somewhere—economic Darwinianism, maybe; or perhaps Milton Friedmanism—that shows that, while deep recessions are painful, they also yield some positive effects. Consider: Today, we’ve lived through a seventeen-year era of expanded prosperity that, basically, really only benefitted one group of people—aging, professional-class Baby Boomers—and drove up the gap between the wealthiest and poorest in this country to highs not seen since just before the Great Depression. The result? With the majority of citizens left out of the boom, reverse speculation has caused the life savings of these vast hordes of wishful wealth hoarders to tank, along with the deflating Stock Market, like so much lobster in Maine.

Economic downturns, despite their generally deleterious effect on national wealth, are great levelers. If everyone is losing money and getting poorer, the divide between the haves and have-nots is diminished, and we all end up with the same dimming prospects, as well as the same chance to build something new. And who is most likely to turn things around during a time of economic malaise? As Andrew Mellon, the great banker and Secretary of the Treasury under Herbert Hoover, explained after the 1929 financial crash, it is those who are willing to take calculated risks and do exceptional work—“people [who] will work harder, live a more moral life… enterprising people [who] will pick up the wrecks from less competent people”—who will thrive.

Among those who emerged particularly victorious from the Depression of the dark 1930s were, as I listed in a previous post, such unlikely figures as Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko, and other artists who participated in the WPA and FAP programs. This makes sense, as artists, in many ways, have long been relegated to economic bottom feeder status in this country. So, oddly, a systemic downturn does relatively less damage to artists relative than it does to the formerly flush rest of the population, and puts artists in a better position to bounce right back on their feet once everyone and everything has settled to the murky ocean floor.

With this as my hypothesis, during this current crisis I’ve been watching those artists who are already beginning to dust themselves off and think forward about new opportunities. Below are several examples of local artists who are boldly brave enough to risk all, precisely when everyone else is skittishly looking for a rock to hide under:

West End Arts

West End Arts is a newly formed group of artists, neighbors, and friends organized to promote and foster arts in the West End of St. Paul. They intend to do this by encouraging and connecting artists, and extending arts into the community through exhibitions, live performances, and educational outreach.

hile this group is still somewhat amorphous, kicking around various ideas, both admirable and pie-in-the-sky (like turning the old Schmidt Brewery into an artist’s utopia), in its short history it has already had several exhibitions at the Pilsner Building and is planning an iron pour for November 22.

Visit here if you’re interested in getting involved by attending a future meeting. Just be sure

Jackson Artists Center

The Jackson Artists Center, or JAC, when completed will be located at 18th Avenue and Jackson Street and will include forty-three owner occupied live-work artists flats, arts production and exhibition spaces, and a sculpture garden. About half the units will be designated as “permanently affordable,” with prices starting as low as $89,000 (! – prices not seen since 1983 !) for income-qualified applicants.

Northern Lights

The brainchild of Steve Dietz, Northern Lights is a “roving, collaborative, interactive media-oriented, art agency from the Twin Cities for the world. It presents innovative art in the public sphere, both physical and virtual, focusing on artists creatively using technology, both old and new, to engender new relations between audience and artwork and more broadly between citizenry and their built environment.”

While only a few months extant, Northern Lights has already mounted a formidable range of projects, in its effort to support “global and local artists working particularly at the intersection of disciplines to freely create new work that excites the senses, explores ideas that matter, and re-imagines ways of energetic engagement among artists, institutions, sites, and audiences.” Jeez, and we're in a recession?

Minneapolis Art on Wheels

Minneapolis Art on Wheels exists to “diffuse art, engage with community and claim/explore urban public space for artists, students and residents with the use of bike-mobilized media disseminators.” Among the values statements this group espouses are “the power of art in its own right,” “the power of art to facilitate community engagement,” and “alternative modes of transportation.” Among this group’s projects are its Mobile Broadcast Units (MBUs), described as “incredibly powerful media diffusion tools that inspire a wide range of applications in supporting public art, social engagement, community outreach and diffusion of creative works.”

OK, I’m not as sure as I could be of this last artists group, but, well, there's bound to be a clunker in any bunch of startups—so, I'm sure you all get the general idea. Artists simply are not going to give up making art just because bankers are giving up loaning money, automakers are giving up selling cars, and everyone and their hedge-fund-managing brother is looking for a handout.

If you’ve got an art project or start up you’re crazy enough to be launching during this watershed 100-year cyclical economic perfect storm, we invite you to post it below in the comments.