Artspace - Building Better Communities Through The Arts 

Early in 2008, a group of six South Minneapolis residents asked Artspace to help them determine the feasibility of transforming an old auto repair shop into a new “fire arts” center. What began as a pro bono consulting job blossomed into a true partnership for Artspace, which will develop and own the building, and the Chicago Avenue Fire Arts Center, the new nonprofit organization that will operate it. 

The Center’s new home, a one-story, 4,700 square-foot structure that most recently housed the Wreck Brothers auto repair shop, was built in 1915 as a silent movie theater near the commercial intersection of 38th Street and Chicago Avenue.

The Center’s six board members include an international sales executive, a welding and blacksmithing artist and instructor, an attorney, a marketing professional, an educational administrator, and a graphic/web designer. All live near the project site and are active volunteers in their neighborhood.

The Chicago Avenue Fire Arts Center will be a unique facility for the Twin Cities art community. While some venues offer classes in fire art, the Center’s board believes none offer the level of open access to tools and equipment that the Fire Arts Center will provide.

The fire arts include sculptural welding, blacksmithing, glasswork, jewelry making, bronze and other metal casting, and fire performance, among others. The Center will be a home for these and related industrial and fine art forms. It will offer regular classes, provide studio space that artists can rent, and operate a gallery.

The project has received enormous support from the community, including nearby neighborhoods, City Council members, and many individuals who have volunteered their time or made financial contributions. “The community is really ready for this project,” says board member Heather Doyle, “Council member Elizabeth Glidden supports it and sees it as a great fit for the neighborhood.”

The board members view the Chicago Avenue Fire Arts Center as a true community-based effort. They believe the project will support arts activity already taking place in the neighborhood, attract new artists, help make the fire arts accessible to both artists and non-artists, and use the arts to build connections between people across ethnic, cultural and generational differences, and encourage economic development in the area.

“We have an opportunity to catalyze the neighborhood in a unique way that will provide resources and amenities for the whole community,” says board member Victoria Lauing.  “The Center will be something that reflects the community, that will draw in others and be something that people can really rally around.”

Construction will begin early next year, and the Chicago Avenue Fire Arts Center hopes to open its doors by the end of next summer. For Artspace, the partnership with the Center represents our deep commitment to community art projects of all sizes across Minnesota.