West End grants keep on giving

The West End Flourish began with a pebble in the pond. In 2020, the state of Minnesota formed the Artists on Main Street program, designed to provide funding to projects in small town parks and business districts throughout Minnesota. The following year the city of Cloquet and the Oldenburg Arts and Cultural Community (OACC) collaborated and received one of the four available grants out of some 41 applicants. Money was available for a two-year cycle.

In spring of 2021 as the Covid pandemic was receding, optimism was on the rise. Cloquet Community Development director Holly Hansen organized a virtual workshop, the inception of the West End Flourish. Goals included revitalizing the West End business district through art.

Emily Swanson of OACC was instrumental as she worked alongside the city, reaching out to artists that helped to forward the program. Funds from the OACC, Carlton County, and Covid stimulus money helped further the idea. Some West End businesses also contributed.

Over two rounds, the grants covered a wide range of artistic endeavors that highlighted the West End either by location or subject matter: an outside piano, a movie, blacksmith sessions, plein air painting, turning storefronts into galleries, a book club, puppet theater, a one-day street party, street banners, flower containers and more.

A few of the grant recipients spoke with the Pine Knot about the experience.

Known as "The Chair Lady," Kris Nelson of Cloquet has a passion to display her art in a unique way. During her years as a K-12 art teacher in Wrenshall, Nelson loved to guide young minds and hearts toward art. She found her passion in painting colorful and meaningful small mural-like paintings on aged wooden chairs. The results are eye-catching, personal and thought-provoking. Each chair is worth a close look as the details unfold. She applied and received a $1,000 grant for a project called "Have a Greet Seat." The goal was to paint and display three of her chairs within businesses on Avenue C, and the businesses got to keep the chairs, including a fabulous Alfred Hitchcock-inspired scene on old movie theater chairs at the former Chief Theater, now home to Holy Smokes Coffeehouse & BBQ.

Perpetuating

With two years of available funding, the Artists on Main Street program approved a second grant, and Nelson received help with a project called "Flourish Galleries." She successfully opened three window displays, and highlighted nine local artists in the brightly lit window spaces along Avenue C.

"Working with other artists is always enriching to me," Nelson said. "Sharing ideas, collaborating on their displays, and finally seeing it all come together with lights in the windows was very fulfilling."

The lighted windows are still in use. So are at least a couple flower containers made from segments of large tree trunks.

Also in 2022, local artist Adam Swanson designed a lasting project in collaboration with the city of Cloquet, creating streetlight flag banners displaying original artwork including mountain bikers, ski jumpers, Nordic skiers - all in action - plus a landscape.

An established artist in Cloquet for 11 years, Swanson loves painting murals. He has done some 15 mural projects, with displays in Duluth, the Twin Cities, and even the Chicago area. Speaking from his home studio just outside of town, the artwork around the walls lets you see the range of his bright and unique style.

"For five or six years, Holly and I had been trying to make a mural in Cloquet, and we thought, 'What can we do to make this happen?'" he said, describing the Artists on Main Street meeting he attended, hosted by Hansen, in 2022.

Funding for a mural project is considerable and the grants were mostly in the $1,000 range, so instead Swanson and Hanson came up with the idea of the banners. Swanson provided four image designs, digitized them and worked with a local printing company closely to take the images from painting to banner. In September of 2022, the durable streetlight banners were hung on the street lights of Broadway Avenue, and they still grace the street on a seasonal basis.

"I think that was a really elegant solution for a medium- to lower-size budget and a public work of art, something that's lasting," Swanson said. "It's hard to find ways to make something permanent, and something everybody can connect with, because public art is a balance, you can't be too edgy. It has to be durable in many ways."

Early on, the Pine Knot News created an 8-page section informing the community of the challenges facing the West End and the goal of bringing new life to the sleepy business district through art and other efforts.

Pine Knot News advertising manager Ivan Hohnstadt also came up with the idea of holding some kind of public celebratory street event to bring people to the West End. It's still going strong.

"The initial idea included a regular gathering with food trucks and music here in the historic West End, and it evolved into a one-day block party.' Hohnstadt said. "In 2022 and 2023, it grew to include a bouncy house and kids' train, along with other interactive activities."

Growing gig

The now annual event features a wide variety of vendors selling everything from homemade soaps and birdhouses to a variety of foods, and community groups such as the Carlton County Historical Society, Carlton County Animal Rescue group, and County Seat Theater, and even demonstrations by a Lego robotics team. Additionally, there is music, food and lots of people watching. This year's event is set for Saturday, Sept. 14 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Avenue C and surrounding streets, which will be open for pedestrian traffic only.

"We hope folks of all ages will come join in the fun," Hohnstadt said. "It's a great way to further the community as you connect with neighbors, friends and businesses. We'll keep the windows lit up for you."

The grants and spotlight on the West End continue to spur further initiatives and at least one large grant for street lights.

Currently, construction is underway to install the new lights in the West End, thanks to a $483,649 infrastructure grant from the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development's Small Cities Development program awarded in 2022. Included in the grant was the replacement of 21 obsolete streetlights (and wiring) plus five more lights in poorly lit areas and a new sign for Wentworth Park.

The grant included $12,495 in financial leverage, including a "Historic West End Business District" sign created by USG Interiors (value of $6,695) that is now visible as people drive into the West End.

"The Historic West End Business District has the highest concentration of historic properties left in the city of Cloquet," Hansen said. "The layout of this district has so much potential to be leveraged for interesting events such as weekly summer farmers markets and more ... My hope is that the District is respectfully maintained and utilized and that building owners work to market their storefronts for full utilization to help the District thrive."