Community Life

We invite you to take a look at the "Community Life" feature of the Artspace website. Artspace buildings are lively, vital artist communities and our intention here is to offer a glimpse of the building-wide events and community activities happening in Artspace projects across the country.

Family Matters: Inside and out, Frogtown is a special place

As a solo parent, practicing artist, and graduate student, I know that life can sometimes be a little overwhelming. But after two years as a resident at the Frogtown Family Lofts, I have come to realize just how special life can be in an Artspace artist community.

Frogtown is a 36-unit live/work project that occupies a 1917 printing press factory in a residential neighborhood of Saint Paul. Completed in 1992, it is unique among Artspace projects in that it was designed especially for families: every unit has at least two bedrooms.

Not long after I moved in, I learned that Frogtown had once had a babysitting cooperative, in which residents took turns caring for one another's children. Soon afterward, when my class schedule called for an evening class, I decided to revive the cooperative. In this way my two-year-old son Miles and I got to know our neighbors, many of whom became our friends.

Frogtown proved to be a special place. Its residents share landscaped gardens, a children's play area, and an art gallery known as The Atrium, where resident artists regularly exhibit their work to the public and one another in group and solo shows. There's an annual winter group show, a children's exhibit, and alternating solo shows. Self-catered opening receptions and artist talks, which take place in conjunction with the exhibits, are free and open to the public. Frogtown's resident musicians and dancers also participate by providing opening night entertainment.

Last summer, an outdoor screening of Mark Wojahn's documentary, What America Needs: From Sea to Shining Sea, presented on the Frogtown patio, was well-attended by residents, friends, and families. A recent event, "Mexico or Bust!", raised funds to support artists' research, travel, and the Coconehamox Children's Book Project. Frogtown residents also participated in the annual Neighborhood Night Out event and the bi-annual "All Co-op Clean-up" day.

Many of the residents are active volunteers, community organizers, and educators. Residents are affiliated with more than 30 nonprofit arts organizations in the Twin Cities area.

Frogtown's artists reside in one of Saint Paul's most interesting neighborhoods. The surrounding area has a large population of Hmong families that emigrated from the mountainous regions of Laos and Cambodia. Hmong merchants run many of the local shops, and the neighborhood market offers delicious fresh Asian vegetables.

All Artspace live/work projects are places where creative families are supported, connected, and encouraged. New residents may be enthralled at first by the lovely spaces and amenities. But if their experience is like mine, they soon become immersed in the community life of the building. When I say that Frogtown was a special experience for me, that's what I'm talking about.

Beth Loraine Bowman is a visual artist. She is working toward a graduate certificate in housing studies through the University of Minnesota's College of Design.

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