INFUSE: Artists on Main Street Project to Activate Old Town Alleyways
The City Center Partnership (CCP) is happy to announce the artists selected for the 2018 INFUSE initiative. These artists will lead creative placemaking projects designed to activate the alleyways in Old Town Mankato, with projects being completed from late June through the end of October. Funded by the Bush Foundation in three Minnesota cities this year, the Artists on Main Street program is a pilot initiative to explore how small, artist-led projects can have a positive impact on addressing downtown challenges. The INFUSE project aims to infuse the alleyway between Riverfront Drive and 2nd Street in Old Town with visual art, performances and creative experiences to encourage pedestrian traffic and improvements to the alleyway in support of the area’s businesses and residents.
A committee of Old Town and Washington Park residents and business owners, along with CCP, Twin Rivers Council for the Arts and City of Mankato staff reviewed proposals from local artists with the assistance of staff from Springboard for the Arts and the Minnesota Main Street program. Selected artists include:
• Michael Cimino: All for One Community Mural and Appendage
• Kendrick R. Daum, Look At This Project: Hokusai Hardware mural
• Julie Dempster: The Sounds of Old Town
• Jason M. Felten: To the Moon and Back mural
• Rachel James: Mankato Mobile Press
• Dick Kimmel: Music Right Down the Alley four jam sessions
• Patty Salmon: A Touch of Paris
• Lindsey Schaefer & Macey Page: Chalk Art Box
• Suzuki School of Music and Riverfront Performing Arts: A Tree Grows – Life, Love and Hope in the Alleys performance
• Gregory Wilkins: Land of Memories
