Crafty City

The No Coast Craft-o-Rama had lots of really nice stuff. It was also great to see so many folks in the Midtown Exchange--supporting both the Midtown Global Market businesses as well as the artisans.

I'm sure most readers of this blog are familiar with the Midtown Exchange building, but for those who aren't it is an amazing feat of historic preservation and adaptive reuse. Located on Lake Street (at Elliot) in South Minneapolis, the building complex was once home to a Sears warehouse, store, and distribution center. It was built in 1928 and shuttered in 1994. Early development proposals called for razing the site and putting in big box retail. Thankfully the City of Minneapolis purchased the land, put conditions on its redevelopment, and got a developer who found a way to make an incredibly mixed-use project work at this location. Currently, the Midtown Exchange is home to condos, lofts, and rental apartments, the headquarters of Allina Hospitals and Clinics, the Midtown Global Market, a Hennepin County Service Center, and a hotel. Not to mention that it backs up to the Midtown Greenway!

At the craft show, Adam Turman was selling awesome screen prints of city icons. I bought a couple that will make a fine addition to our currently barren living room. Check out the sampling below.