The Northeast Minneapolis community is made up of fourteen engaged, unique neighborhoods, and throughout history has been a sanctuary for immigrant and working-class residents. Over time, large warehouse buildings went from being places of product manufacturing to vacant - until artists came to revitalize them with studios and galleries. Today the heart of Northeast Minneapolis is the Arts District, an area of over 400 galleries, studios, and artist-filled buildings.

Over the past 30 years, artists have revitalized our Northeast community. As a result of this heightened activity, restaurants and businesses thrive. However, having the hindsight history provides, there is a concern: In many other areas artists revitalize, only for that area to succumb later to gentrification. This is something both artists, businesses and residents of Northeast want to avoid. The problem: how do we preserve Northeast as a permanent home for artists, and continue to sustain it? Further - how can we demonstrate the economic impact they have?