MidCity Fest will coincide with Gremlin Theatre’s and Sacred Path's participation in the Twin Cities Fringe Festival.

The new name and festival is a collaboration between District 12 representatives and a group called Econoculture, whose mission is to spur economic development in Minneapolis-St. Paul neighborhoods by creating partnerships between arts and cultural institutions in those communities.

When Scott Mayer of Econoculture approached the St. Anthony Park Community Council about creating an arts festival, “it was synchronicity,” said Amy Sparks, District 12 executive director. The Community Council had just formed an arts task force to promote arts in the University- 280 area, which houses a number of artist studios and arts venues.

The Arts District Task Force was created about a year ago to explore ways to maintain the arts community as the Central Corridor light-rail project moves through. The Community Council received a $20,000 grant to conduct an action study for the arts district, Sparks said.

Twenty-five businesses, nonprofit organizations and individuals will take part in the festival with tours, special promotions and exhibits. There will be free live music and arts entertainment at the Lyric Arts Apartments amphitheater at University and Hampden. The music will be held from 6-9 p.m. Friday, Aug. 6, and noon-9 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 7. The tentative line-up includes students from the Rock Star Supply Company and School of Rock, Alissa Barthel, Lulu’s Playground, Medusa Cabaret and Rass Kwame and Ananse Band.

An all-day art fair will be held at the Lyric on Saturday. An art exhibit and sale will be held next door in the Carleton Artist Lofts Community Room, 2285 University Ave., and in the outside courtyard on Saturday.

Twenty artists from the Dow Building, 2242 University Ave. W., will host Do the Dow Art, an exhibit in a studio off the loading dock on the Hampden side of the building. Hours are 5-10 p.m. Friday, Aug. 6, and noon-10 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 7. The Women's Drum Center, also located in the Dow Building, will perform outside the building on Saturday afternoon. The Chittenden and Eastman building, 2402 University Ave., will also host an art show.

The first 300 people who take photographs of themselves participating in the MidCity Fest will win T-shirts featuring the new MidCity logo. To win, you must photograph yourself at three participating venues and present the photos at the Lyric Arts venue.

Other businesses involved in MidCity Fest include Art at 2402, Cafe Biaggio, Edge Coffee House, Handi Medical Supply, Holly House Center for Integrated Health Care, Independent Film Project Minnesota, Keys Café, Park Midway Bank, Picture Frame Supply, Rockstar Supply Co., Running Tiger Academy, Salon George, Sharrett’s Liquor, Subway, Succotash, The Dubliner, Twin Cities T’ai Chi and U.S. Bank.

Sponsors include Traveler’s Foundation, St. Anthony Park Community Foundation, Lyric Arts Apartments, Cornerstone Company and Wellington Management. Imagehaus created the MidCity Fest logo.

You can find out more about the festival at its Facebook page: www.facebook.com/midcityfest.

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Sammy from the Midway  - One Born Every Minute   |166.137.143.xxx |Jul 27 2010 20:33:59 To the Editor: I guess P. T. Barnum was right. A sucker is indeed born every minute. Let's get real here. This is not the "mid city" neighborhood. This community is a combination of South St. Anthony Park and of the Midway. It has been so for decades and some clever (not to mention crude and sophmoric) rebranding slogan "It's more fun in the middle" will not change this fact. Perhaps part the $20,000 the district council got from it's finders can be used for the much needed whitewash that will be needed to cover up this mistake. Michael Samuelson Newell Park, Saint Paul 651-331-9560, cell Reply 1   2

ALPJ from Saint Paul  - Art Instructor and Artist   |12.179.215.xxx |Aug 6 2010 09:29:45 This sounds like a great way to give some much needed attention to this area and to the artist lofts and communities that are alive and growing in Saint Paul. Sometimes you need to play up the name of an area in order for it to stick- so I'm not offended by the slogan like some people. I think this could just be the start so best wishes with this festival- I know a lot of people that plan to attend. Wish something could have been more visible in the Trib to give it more attention since Uptown, Loring and Powderhorn get all the attention. We started a Como Park Art Crawl and Staycation fest for the first time a few weekends ago- maybe we could look at merging the Mid City and Como Park Art Crawls in other years??!!! Reply 0   0

Michael Goldbloom  - Great work!   |71.210.164.xxx |Aug 6 2010 14:34:44 MidCity Fest is an important addition to the arts in St. Paul and for the state of Minnesota. Reply 0   0

Sammy from the Midway  - Gosh Darn It. Let's Put on a Show!   |166.137.140.xxx |Aug 6 2010 18:36:37 Dispite my own misgivings I went to a few of the activities that were noted as being part of this new arts festival. How embarrassing. At the music stage I counted no more than thirteen attendees and at least three if them were event organizers. And what's the deal of omitting any reference of the local district council in the event guide? They we a big part of putting in this festival so why aren't they listed as a co-sponsor. I predict a few pissed off arts committee members come Monday. Reply 0   0

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