Knot Pining: Finding that 'third place'

They’ve been doing it all along, and now they want to take an extra step and bring some vibrancy to Carlton and its environs. Emily and Glenn Swanson from the city’s historic Oldenburg House have hosted numerous arts events at the bed and breakfast — concerts featuring national and international artists, poets, and delightful events with a host of local artists like the Honey Bee Festival a few years ago. They’ve also worked on the West End Flourish, taking art to Cloquet’s historic district in an effort to bring some revitalization.

Oldenburg applied and earned a $50,000 grant recently as part of the Blandin Foundation’s “creative placemaking program for small towns.”

It’s part of a movement across Minnesota to bring people together in spaces where they live. It can be creative endeavors or simply just connecting with neighbors.

After all, it’s in the name: Oldenburg Arts and Cultural Community.

“Rootedness,” Emily said simply when talking about the project this fall. It has culminated into a meeting Tuesday, Dec. 3 at Oldenburg where people can talk about what they envision for Carlton.

“It takes us to loving where we live,” Emily said.

“Rootedness is fundamental to what we are already doing,” Glenn said.

It’s delicious kismet that the idea of creating a gathering place for people to celebrate where they live and who their neighbors are is inspired by a concept created by sociologist Ray Oldenburg. He wrote a book, “The Great Good Place,” that explored the loss of “third spaces” as we lost that old main street closeness after World War II. There is home and work, but people need a “third space” to find their place in a community.

Oldenburg has no apparent connection to the Oldenburgs who resided in Carlton. But he is from a small town in southern Minnesota, in my home county, and married a woman from Duluth and had relatives in the region.

Ray Oldenburg died in 2022 at age 90. He left a wonderful legacy in that first book, and others after it, one offering a history of people interacting in taverns, called “The Joy of Tippling: A Salute to Bars, Taverns and Pubs.”

While some of what Oldenburg talks about remains in the small town bars, the work of groups across the state intends to welcome everyone, in a place they can comfortably call home.

He wrote a lot about the “suburbanization” of America, killing off the old places where people once gathered — the neighborhood bar, cafe, clubs, shops and more. The idea of recreating these spaces in small towns across the state works because they have remnants of what’s been lost, or at least the infrastructure.

Luckily for the OACC, one hurdle may be cleared early in the process. With the opening of the new Carlton County Justice Center, a reshuffling of space will occur at the Historic Carlton County Courthouse downtown. The Swanson’s have been talking with county officials on perhaps taking over the annex building next to the post office, when Minnesota Extension staff moves into the courthouse.

It would be great to have an “incubator” space, Emily said.

While early talk of creative placemaking can sound just like those words sound, a bit nebulous, things should come into focus 4-7 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 3 at Oldenburg. The Swansons sent out invitations, and a few spots remained this week. Call them at 763-226-6828 to get a seat at the table.

There are numerous examples of creative spots influencing a community, bringing people together. I think of the folk schools and cafes in Duluth and Grand Marais. Or the arts revivals in Lanesboro and New York Mills. Redwood Falls and Granite Falls are enjoying recent projects as well.

So, why not in Carlton as well?

As the Swansons note in their primer to the meeting next week: “Our modern, disorienting world with cell phones, social media and globalized commerce has led to a sense of ‘placelessness’ that often robs us of the feeling of ‘rootedness.’ … Human beings need to flourish as

individuals and to live purposeful lives of community engagement.”

It’s a project worth exploring in a town the Swansons have come to know for its acceptance of the arts and finding ways to love the place they live in even more.

“There’s no place like home,” Emily said. “We just want ways to bring people together.”

Mike Creger is a reporter and page designer for the Pine Knot. He can be contacted at news@PineKnot News.com.