Tonight - Downtown Minneapolis Neighborhood Association Board Meeting

Time: 6:00pm

Location:  Central Library, Room N-202, 300 Nicollet Mall

Showing through January 12 - "How the Richest Man in Russia Became Its Most Famous Prisoner" from the Film Society of Minnesota

Where: St. Anthony Main Theater - Screen 3

When:  See the Film Society of Minneapolis St. Paul website for a full listing of January 6 - 12 show times.

This exhilarating documentary chronicles Mikhail Khodorkovsky's transformation from a self-proclaimed socialist to a fully realized capitalist – also recounting the stunning turn of events that made him one of world's most famous political prisoners.

Weaving together in-depth interviews (including the first on-camera exchange with Khodorkovsky since his arrest), archival material, and stylized computer-animated reenactments, Tuschi shows us a man who embodies the paradox that is modern Russia – condemning the very corruption that helped make his fortune and envisioning a new Russia with respect for the rule of law.

The Week Ahead in Mill City / January 9-15

Each Monday morning we provide an easy to reference list of events and activities for the week ahead in the Mill City neighborhood.  Submit your events here...

Monday, January 9

NT Live Filmed Presentation of Collaborators at the Guthrie

Arts Town Hall Meeting at Mill City Museum

Tuesday, January 10

DMNA Board Meeting at Central Library

Books & Bars Series at Aster Cafe

Wednesday, January 11

'10 Key Foods to Keep You on Track in the New Year' Class at Local D'Lish

Economy Busters Wine Dinner at Spill the Wine

Student Reading at The Loft

Thursday, January 12

Brenda, My Darling with Eric Utne at The Loft

Taste Twin Cities Downtown Minneapolis Skyway Tour

Friday, January 13

Live Music at Crooked Pint

Live Music at Aster Cafe

'Quick Week Night Meals' Class at Local D'Lish

Minneapolis Home & Landscape Expo at the Dome

Saturday, January 14

Live Music at Crooked Pint

Live Music at Aster Cafe

Taste Twin Cities Downtown Minneapolis Skyway Tour

Winning Recipes from the Pillsbury Bake-Off at Mill City Museum

Minneapolis Home & Landscape Expo at the Dome

Sunday, January 15

Urban Yoga Workshop at Southern Theater

Tai Chi for Health Class for Beginners Workshop at Open Book

Rock Guitar Workshop with Randy Sobaski at MacPhail

Minneapolis Home & Landscape Expo at the Dome

2012 Volunteer and Internship Opportunities at The Soap Factory

The Soap Factory is proud to be supported by a team of over 400 volunteers and 20 interns each year. In 2011 volunteers completed over 14,000 hours of work, supporting programs like The Ten Second Film Festival, The Amazing Adventures of the Corporate Wizard in the Land of LARP, The Haunted Basement and all the regular exhibitions and building improvements.

Applications are now being accepted for 2012 volunteers and interns.

All prospective year-round volunteers must attend a New Volunteer Orientation session. The next orientation session is scheduled for March 10.   Internships at The Soap Factory are a terrific way to explore working at a nonprofit art gallery. Every year over 20 interns work closely with Soap Factory staff, board members and exhibiting artists.

See the website for application deadlines and other details.

This Weekend in Mill City / January 6-7

Events this weekend in and around the Historic Mill District and Minneapolis Riverfront Neighborhoods.  Have an event to share?  Contact us...

Friday, January 6

Live Music at Crooked Pint Ale House

Minneapolis Home & Landscape Expo at the Dome

Live Music at Aster Cafe

Saturday, January 7

Minneapolis Home & Landscape Expo at the Dome

Live Music at Aster Cafe

Taste Twin Cities Downtown Minneapolis Skyway Tour

Washburn A Mill Tour at Mill City Museum

“Jigs and Jives" Family Music Event at MacPhail

Sunday, January 8

Moonlight Snowshoeing at Boom Island

Minneapolis Home & Landscape Expo at the Dome

Park Board Selects Officers, Committees, Representatives for 2012

From a January 4, 2012, Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board e-newsletter:

The Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board (MPRB) held its annual meeting Tuesday, Jan. 3, and elected its officers for 2012. Commissioners elected John Erwin as President for the third consecutive year and Liz Wielinski was elected Vice President.

“I’m proud to continue the role of President, representing a Board that has made significant changes the last two years. Those changes include responsive leadership, a more efficient workforce, expanding our city’s tax base through riverfront development, and enhancing our parks and increasing greening while holding the line on property taxes,” said John Erwin, President of the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board.

At the meeting President Erwin also acknowledged Commissioner Young’s contributions last year as Vice President, stating that Young’s service has been instrumental to the progress the Board and the organization has made.

The Board also elected Karen Robinson to continue serving as Secretary to the Board and Brian Rice as General Counsel.

President Erwin appointed the following Commissioners to serve on Standing Committees of the Board (one-year terms):
Administration and Finance Committee– Chair Scott Vreeland, Vice Chair Anita Tabb, Brad Bourn, Bob Fine, Liz Wielinski
Recreation Committee– Chair Bob Fine, Vice Chair Brad Bourn, Carol Kummer, Liz Wielinski, Jon Olson
Planning Committee– Chair Anita Tabb, Vice Chair Bob Fine, Annie Young, Scott Vreeland, Jon Olson
Operations and Environment Committee– Chair Jon Olson, Vice Chair Annie Young, Carol Kummer, Scott Vreeland, Brad Bourn
Legislation and Intergovernmental Committee– Chair Carol Kummer, Vice Chair Jon Olson, Anita Tabb, Liz Wielinski, Brad Bourn
Standards and Conduct Committee– Chair Annie Young, Vice Chair Scott Vreeland, Liz Wielinski, Bob Fine, Carol Kummer
Innovation and Development Committee– Chair Brad Bourn, Vice Chair Anita Tabb, Bob Fine, Annie Young, Scott Vreeland

Park Board Commissioners, ten citizens and Superintendent Miller were appointed to serve on the following external boards, commissions and panels:
Planning Commission– Liz Wielinski
Board of Estimate and Taxation – Bob Fine
Neighborhood and Community Engagement Commission (citizen appointment)– Ali Warsame
St. Anthony Falls Heritage Board– Scott Vreeland, Liz Wielinski, citizen appointee Stephanie Gruver, John Erwin, Superintendent Jayne Miller
Youth Coordinating Board – Bob Fine
Minneapolis Institute of Arts Board– Anita Tabb
Middle Mississippi Watershed Management Organization – Scott Vreeland, alternate Annie Young
John H. Stevens House Organization– Carol Kummer
Minneapolis Parks Foundation – John Erwin, alternate Brad Bourn
Minneapolis Tree Advisory Committee– Scott Vreeland, citizen appointees John Uban, Peggy Booth, Gay Noble, Jeanne LaBore, Don Willeke
Minneapolis Riverfront Partnership– Liz Wielinski, Scott Vreeland, Bob Fine
Minneapolis DID Greening Design & Infrastructure Committee – John Erwin
City-MPRB Green Ribbon Committee– John Erwin, Anita Tabb
Minneapolis Bicycle Advisory Committee– Citizen appointees Janice Gepner, Matthew Hendricks, Joshua Houdek

The Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board typically meets at 5 p.m. every first and third Wednesday of each month for regular meetings. MPRB Board meetings are broadcast live from 5-9 p.m. on the Minneapolis Government Meeting Channel 79 on Comcast cable and online on the Channel 79 webpage.

Meeting agendas and related information are typically posted on http://www.minneapolisparks.org/ two business days prior to each meeting.

Last Chance to See "Paul Goodman Changed My Life" from the Film Society of Minnesota

Where: St. Anthony Main Theater - Screen 3

When: Wed, Jan 4 & Thu, Jan 5 at (5:00), 7:00

Paul Goodman was once so ubiquitous in the American zeitgeist that he merited a cameo in Woody Allen’s Annie Hall. Author of legendary bestseller Growing Up Absurd (1960), Goodman was also a poet, 1940s out queer (and family man), pacifist, visionary, co-founder of Gestalt therapy—and a moral compass for many in the burgeoning counterculture of the ’60s.

Paul Goodman Changed My Life immerses you in an era of high intellect (that heady, cocktail-glass juncture that Mad Men has so effectively exploited) when New York was peaking culturally and artistically; when ideas, and the people who propounded them, seemed to punch in at a higher weight class than they do now. Using a treasure trove of archival multimedia—selections from Goodman’s poetry (read by Garrison Keillor and Edmund White); quotes from Susan Sontag, Martin Luther King, Jr. and Noam Chomsky; plentiful footage of Goodman himself; plus interviews with his family, peers and activists—director/producerJonathan Lee and producer/editor Kimberly Reed (Prodigal Sons) have woven together a rich portrait of an intellectual heavyweight whose ideas are long overdue for rediscovery.

Ticket Information:

http://www.mspfilmsociety.org/content/paul-goodman-changed-my-life

Breaking - MN Executive Office Suites, LLC Purchases 1st Floor Commercial Space at the Carlyle

MN Executive Office Suites, LLC, will be opening professional executive offices at The Carlyle in approximately April 2012.

The Carlyle is a condominium skyscraper in downtown Minneapolis, on Third Avenue South between First and Second Streets.  The Carlyle stands one block from the Mississippi River and the Third Avenue Bridge.

At the time the Carlyle was built, an approximately 3000 sq. ft. space was planned for commercial or professional use.   The interior of this space has not yet been occupied or completed.

Recently, MN Executive Office Suites, LLC, purchased The Carlyle’s professional space.

MN Executive Office Suites, LLC, engaged Blumentals Architecture, Inc., to design executive office space at The Carlyle location.  The design opens to an inviting reception area and includes eight separate professional offices with stunning floor to ceiling windows, a paralegal office, and a kitchenette and conference room.  MN Executive Office Suites, LLC, and Blumentals are seeking to complete construction in a “green” and environmental manner.

Weber & Nelson Law Office, PLLC, is one of the professional businesses that will be located in the new office space.  Other executive offices will be available for lease, and virtual office arrangements will also be an option.

Michael J. Weber is the President and Chief Manager of MN Executive Office Suites, LLC, and Nancy Lee Nelson is Vice President.  Michael also is the founder of Weber & Nelson Law Office, PLLC, where Nancy serves as a Partner.

The professional office space is situated on The Carlyle’s street level, at the corner of Third Avenue South and Second Street South.  The location is nearby skyway access, the U.S. and Hennepin County courthouses, and the light rail system.

The Carlyle received a Pillars of the Industry award, named Best Condominium High Rise in the U.S. in the National Association of Home Builders’ (NAHB’s) 2009 showcase of designs and trends.  Developed by Opus Northwest Construction, The Carlyle has panoramic views of the Stone Arch Bridge, Mississippi river, St. Anthony Falls and Downtown.

More information about The Carlyle:

http://www.emporis.com/building/the-carlyle-minneapolis-mn-usa

http://www.humphreys.com/pdf/Pillar_Awards.pdf

Contact Michael J. Weber at 612-825-6052 for more information.

A Big List - Local Businesses We Patronized in 2011

When we have the option to frequent a local business, we do.  Always.  We love walking the neighborhood, leaving our car in the garage, and supporting the small businesses that help make the Downtown Minneapolis Riverfront such a great place to live.

We spent the past week looking back on our activities throughout 2011 and came up with an 'A to Z' list of businesses we patronized in 2011 - all within walking distance of our Mill District home.  They're all worth checking out, so give them a try and support our community!

501 Fit / 501 Spin - http://www.501fit.com/

Aloft - http://www.starwoodhotels.com/alofthotels/property/overview/contact.html?propertyID=3074

Aster Cafe - http://aster-cafe.com/

Bibelot - http://www.bibelotshops.com/index.php?view=store_locations&store_id=3

Bierbrauer Chiropractic - http://www.bierbrauerchiropractic.com/

Bobby & Steve's - http://www.bobbyandstevesautoworld.com/minneapolis.html

Bulldog, The - http://www.thebulldognortheast.com/

Caribou - http://www.cariboucoffee.com/page/1/our-locations.jsp

City Garden Flower Mill - http://www.citygardensflowermill.com/

Core Power Yoga - http://www.corepoweryoga.com/locations/minnesota/minneapolis.aspx

Crooked Pint Ale House - http://crookedpint.com/

D'Amico & Sons / Mill City Museum - http://www.damicoandsons.com/frame.asp?s=location&ss=minnesota&ft=i&sss=mp

Depot, The - http://www.thedepotminneapolis.com/

Dunn Bros - http://freighthouse.dunnbros.com/

Grumpy's - http://www.grumpys-bar.com/downtown/index.html

Guthrie Theater - http://www.guthrietheater.org/

Keegans Irish Pub - http://keeganspub.com/

Kindee - http://www.kindeethairestaurant.com/

Level Salon - http://www.level-salon.com/

Look + See - http://lookandseeeyecare.com/

MacPhail Center for Music - http://www.macphail.org/

Maxwell's - http://www.maxwellsbar.net/

Men's Dept. - http://www.mensdept.com/

Mill City Commons - http://www.millcitycommons.org/homepage

Mill City Farmers Market - http://millcityfarmersmarket.org/

Mill City Market Grocery & Deli - http://millcitygrocery.com/

Mill City Museum - http://www.millcitymuseum.org/

Open Book Coffee Gallery - http://www.openbookmn.org/coffee_gallery.aspx

Pacifier - http://store.pacifieronline.com/

Real Ghost Tours - http://www.realghosttours.com/

Sarpinos - http://www.gosarpinos.com/pizza-delivery/downtown-minneapolis/?r=2

Sanctuary - http://www.sanctuaryminneapolis.com/

Sawatdee - http://www.sawatdee.com/locations.htm

Sorellas - http://www.sorellawines.com/

Spill the Wine - http://www.spillthewinerestaurant.com/

Spoonriver - http://spoonriver.com/

Wasabi - http://wasabimn.com/

Wilde Roast Cafe - http://www.wilderoastcafe.com/

Zen Box Izakaya - http://zenboxizakaya.com/

2011 Mill City Flashback - Crown Hydro Update

The latest news on the Crown Hydro project proposed for Mill Ruins Park on the Downtown Minneapolis Riverfront:

Minneapolis Parks & Recreation Board (MPRB) Response to Crown Hydro FERC Termination Letter Response

View more documents from Mill City Times

Crown Hydro Response to FERC Termination Letter

View more documents from Mill City Times

FERC Termination Letter to Crown Hydro

View more documents from Mill City Times

2011 Mill City Flashback - Mill City Farmers Market September 11 Harvest Moon Dinner

Neighbors and friends of the Mill City Farmers Market filled the train shed Sunday night for the Harvest Moon Dinner.  Attendees enjoyed a feast prepared by Chefs Heather Hartman and Nick Schneider, Cajun music, a colorful live auction, silent auction, raffle, and guest speaker Minnesota Secretary of State Mark Ritchie. 

Can't think of a better way to transition into the Fall season.

2011 Mill City Flashback - "Seeing the Minneapolis Riverfront" Photo Contest Winners on Display at the Mill City Museum

Congratulations to the 18 winners below whose work will be displayed in the Mill City Museum’s Mill Commons from August 25, 2011 through January 2, 2012.

Join us on Wednesday, September 14th from 6:00-8:00pm for a free public reception celebrating the exhibit and photographers. Light hors d’oeuvres will be served and a cash bar will be available.

Photo contest jurors were looking for striking images of the Mississippi River and the Minneapolis Riverfront that show the relationship between people and the environment past and present, what that relationship has meant to different people in different times, and the positive and negative consequences of our use of the land and waters. Ideal photographs convey a sense of place of the Minneapolis Riverfront and address the way people use the riverfront and its resources.

Below, a sampling of the works:

2011 Mill City Flashback - Day of the Dead / Dia de los Muertos Postcards on Display at the Open Book

Minnesota Center for Book Arts (MCBA) sponsored a Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) postcard competition, and the 253 entries are now on display in the Open Book Lobby Gallery until November 6.  The 4"x6" postcards incorporate a number of artistic methods, including collage, paint, drawing, printing, sewing, photography and digital imagery.  

The below slide show will give you an idea of how diverse the entries are, but we strongly recommend you stop in (1011 Washington Avenue South) to appreciate this creative collection in person.  It's wild!

2011 Mill City Flashback - 35W Bridge Pretty in Pink

The 35W Bridge was pink Friday night to kickoff the "Making Strides Against Breast Cancer" walk held on Saturday morning.

2011 Mill City Flashback - HUGE Turn Out for 2011 Turkey Day 5K

It was a perfect Thanksgiving morning for the 2011 Turkey Day 5K (unlike last year's single digit temps and blowing snow), with over 12,000 runners, walkers, wheelers and pets participating.

2011 Mill City Flashback - Minneapolis Beard & Moustache Club Meeting at Grumpy's

The first-ever open meeting of the Minneapolis Beard & Moustache Club took place December 2 at Grumpy’s, 1111 Washington Avenue South.  Michael Johnson, who you may recognize from Sorella Wine and Spirits, hosted the event.  We popped in for a few pictures:

2011 Mill City Flashback - 35W "Rainbow Pride" Bridge Lights [Photos] [Video]

It was spectatular.  Kim and I attended the lighting ceremony (see video at the bottom) and snapped a few photos.

2011 Mill City Flashback - First Ever Indoor Mill City Farmers Market

It was great to see neighbors and vendors converge at the Mill City Museum yesterday morning for the first ever indoor Mill City Farmers Market.

Added bonus - members from Light of the Moon Band provided festive background music.

2011 Mill City Flashback - Street Performers in Front of the Guthrie Theater [Video]

2011 Mill City Flashback - ArtAndes Weaver at Mill City Farmers Market

Watching Master Weaver Wilber Quispe is mesmerizing.  He will be weaving at ArtAndes Mill City Farmers Market space Saturdays through July.