Uptown Minneapolis businesses, advocates hope to ride wave of Uptown Art Fair
MINNEAPOLIS – The Uptown Art Fair is back, for just its second time in four years.
More than 300 artists, six-miles worth, stretch along streets like Hennepin Avenue in south Minneapolis.
Kristi Abbott, a northeast Minneapolis artist who's originally from Sydney, Australia, specializes in mixed-media collage.
"When I moved here a decade ago, everyone's like 'You have to go to Uptown.' You know, it was the place to come," Abbott said.
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Safe to say, Uptown has changed, even in the last couple years.
"We're trying to bring life back to Uptown," she said.
Abbott is hoping the art fair will do just that.
"I think we broke some records in attendance," said Jill Osiecki, director for the Uptown Art Fair. "It felt basically back to what the Uptown Art Fair was many years ago."
Osiecki said crowds have improved since last year, which was the first post-COVID art fair. She said there were upwards of 100,000 people at the fair on Saturday alone.
"It's exciting to see so many people back here on the streets in Uptown, which is exactly what we want and where we want to be," she said.
Arts & Rec Uptown, which later was known as Uptown Collab, is just the latest Uptown business to meet its demise. You don't have to look far to find more.
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It's either feast or famine for Uptown businesses during the fair. Some flourish, while others completely close down. Hoban Korean had locked doors Sunday.
"It's really hard to function because of the traffic, because of just the foot traffic," Osiecki said.
Employees at Daisys Uptown said business has tripled during the fair. They're hoping for new, returning customers after this weekend.
"Prince loved Uptown and I'm like yeah, he even sang about Uptown!" Abbott said.
She says the energy returned to Uptown over the weekend. She has faith it's here to stay.
"Hoping that this can kind of lift Uptown again," Abbott said.