with Pathways Learning Center, Tim Hellendrung (HUGE Improv Theater), Heather Meyer (Brave New Workshop Comedy Theater) and Black Dog Coffee Shop and Annex

The Clapback Cabaret is a series of monthly comedy cabarets and skill-building workshops on St. Paul’s East Side, designed to empower Asian Pacific Islander American (APIA)/Diasporic women and trans women-identified voices to combat microaggressions. The series is hosted by FAWK, who use comedy to talk about controversial issues and who identify a bind that Asian women live in: being quiet comes with the stereotype of being submissive, while being strong comes with the label “dragon lady”. Clapback…

Community GIS worked with the Preservation Alliance of Minnesota to help visualize - what they term - a neighborhood cultural asset inventory. This particular inventory is in the Logan Park neighborhood of northeast Minneapolis. Cultural asset mapping showcases the unique, quirky, and sometimes intangible elements and histories that holistically coalesce to create individual neighborhood character. Using the story map, you can explore the notable places in Logan Park - each story contributes to the Logan Park neighborhood experience and distinct sense of place.

CURA's Community GIS staff created this set of maps for the Metropolitan Regional Arts Council that show the racial and ethnic diversity of each of the seven Twin Cities metro area counties (using the US Census race and ethnicity categories). The three most diverse cities in each county are also highlighted.

MRAC staff are working to make their…

According to the U.S. Congressional Research Service, in 2014 “the number of unaccompanied alien children (UAC, unaccompanied children) that were apprehended at the Southwest border while attempting to enter the United States without authorization reached a peak.” Many of these children have been and continue to be detained by Customs and Border Patrol (CBP), released after a complicated custodial process, and placed in removal proceedings before an Immigration Judge, where they must fight their case against deportation. One of the most common ways to fight against deportation is to seek Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS), a form of relief for children who are the victims of…

The Monkeybear Collective is creating six short puppet shows to be performed in public spaces across all the wards of Minneapolis and St. Paul in fall of 2017, as a voter drive heading into the municipal elections. Each show fits inside a suitcase, making our shows extremely mobile. The ease of carrying a suitcase will give them the flexibility to perform wherever, whenever. As people gather around the performances, they’ll be handing out magnets people can put on their fridge with a web address for finding out their ward/precinct and also fliers with info/map about wards/elections, as well as voter registration forms that people can fill out on the spot. The Monkeybear Collective…

Spearwave is a monthly intimate exhibition and gathering space for conversations about art that explores Somali Muslim American identity within the supportive environment of the Mosque and other relevant community settings. As a gesture, Spearwave fosters interconnectedness, allowing participating artists fresh opportunities to experiment and blossom. Many community members have never been in a museum or do not see contemporary art as being able to express and help them navigate their experience in the world, but we believe through approaching Somali people with art shown and discussed inside their community spaces of Mosque, Somali businesses and shared public…

“New Native Identities: Native Youth of Minneapolis” is a playwriting/performance that focuses on today’s lives of Native American youth living in Minneapolis. The genesis of this project began when I realized that with the increasing embracing of social media—an encroaching social globalization and rise of tribal pride and social justice/diversity in urban centers such as Minneapolis—that Native youth are experiencing very unique changes in spiritual and cultural identities. A play will be written based on “talking circle” workshops with Native youth, hearing their voices and stories of their spiritual and cultural identities. Our workshop and play will be held in the Phillips…

It’s almost impossible to imagine a community with any power at all if we can’t first come together and create a narrative we want to share. “The Gatherings: Our neighborhood, our stories” is a series of events with art activities, performances and food to be held in community gardens throughout the Rondo neighborhood. Rondo is one geography, many communities, many narratives, but the same result – a fragmented community made up of mostly people of color, mostly low income and mostly carrying some type of historic trauma. This doesn’t necessarily make the community weak, but the division does. In what feels like a fragmented…

ArtCrop is a project created by Oskar Ly, in collaboration with Hmong American Farmers Association (HAFA), aimed to address some of the root causes that Hmong farmers are facing while testing a community supported art share model with Hmong artists as workers to support their respective alternative economy. ArtCrop will host a series of three community dinners and one culminating art installation on the cooperative farm located in Hastings, MN this summer. Over the dinners, farmers will share experiences on current conditions and future aspirations of their livelihoods. The themes that emerge will be documented into a mural-style tapestry and the process will…

In partnership with Redeemer Center for Life, Harrison Neighborhood Association, Neighborhoods Organizing for Change, Intertwine Northeast, Gerard Klass

H-Cubed is an artist-led, community-driven, family-centered, grassroots organized series created with the purpose of cultivating healing and harmony in the North Minneapolis Harrison neighborhood through intentional creative space-making. H-Cubed grew as a community resource in response to the police killing of Jamar Clark and 4th Precinct occupation just north of Harrison.

Each month, we host a catered meal with featured artists, open mic, and…

The Immigration Law Project at Mid-Minnesota Legal Aid provides direct legal services to address the critical needs of eligible immigrant clients in Hennepin and Anoka counties.

This winter, CURA Community Viz worked with the Immigrant Law Project to create a Safety Planning Card for immigrants: a wallet-sized card that can hold important information like your A-Number, important medical information, and the number of your attorney, as well as your rights and responsibilities if you have an encounter with law enforcement.

MMLA staff hand out these cards in workshops they do and has them available at…

As Frogtown neighborhood in St Paul got ready to update their 10-year Small Area Plan, the neighborhood association wanted to make sure they communicated the process and the plan itself in a way that would get more people involved. CURA Community Visualization staff and artists collaborated with Frogtown Neighborhood Association to make a guide to the Small Area Planning…

CURA’s Community Visualization staff and designers worked with American Indian Cancer Foundation to create a resource that shares important facts about the American Indian cancer burden. Information on cancer for American Indians and Alaska Natives is often presented for the United States as a whole, which can mask some important differences that exist for these regions.

Interfaith Outreach & Community Partners is an organization in suburban west Hennepin County that responds to emergency needs, moves families toward stability and positive change, and engages volunteers and partners in service, leadership, and capacity building.

This spring, CURA's Community Visualization staff and designers worked with IOCP to create an improved one-pager for their Great Expectations effort…

This spring, CURA’s Community Viz staff and designers worked with creators of the Equitable Development Scorecard to turn the Word doc into a graphic pdf that can be printed, filled in, and customized.

The Scorecard was created by Twin Cities community leaders to make sure that the principles and practices of equitable development, environmental justice, and affordability are available to all communities…