Northfield Downtown Development Corporation

Nick Sinclair and Stephen Delwiche may be the advance party of the next generation of Northfield’s art community.

In an entrepreneurial effort that promises to truly serve Northfield artists, Nick and Stephen are opening Grezzo Gallery, a place where local artists can make and show their art. They are focusing on emerging artists from the area. Their current show confirms this theme, featuring the work of Lisa Otte, Joe May, and Lindsy Halleckson, along with pieces by Nick and Stephen.

The gallery also plans to serve a broad segment of the market for art. They plan to offer posters and limited edition prints at affordable prices. Nick and Stephen believe that, along with the development of new generation artists, a new market for art is emerging. They seek to place art in homes and offices of that elusive, at least for Northfield, 20-something to 30-something age group.

Grezzo plans to feature a new artist every month. The next show, opening this week, will feature works by Leanne Stemcha and her friends, including Cathy Collison, Sue Hammes-Knopf, Collen Riley, Elizabeth Schott, and Jennifer Wolcott.

Nick says that the partners plan to stage an opening the first Friday every month. He hopes to help reinvigorate Northfield’s Art Crawl, bringing new energy to the event.

So come on down(town) and check off something new and (I hesitate to say it in Minnesota) different in Northfield’s art scene.

Tuesday night, October 31
The Grand Event Center
in Downtown Northfield
Mr. Sticky

Doors open at 7:00PM, Music starts at 8:00PM
$10 Cover Charge, $7 Charge with costume
18+ Event

The best Halloween Extravaganza to date.

See y’all there!
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The City of Northfield will host a public open house on the proposed Greenway Corridor Action Plan this Wednesday, November 1, 5-7 pm at the Northfield City Hall, 801 Washington Street.

This is a long-discussed plan that would be a major step toward improving nonmotorized transportation in our area. It would create interconnected bike/pedestrian paths in a park-like setting - thus the term “greenway” - all around Northfield and into surrounding communities.

One priority is to create a corridor along the east side of the Cannon River from Northfield to Dundas, a “central spine” from which a number of recreational loops will be created.

Everyone is invited to share ideas and comments.

Nationally recognized bicycle and pedestrian safety advocate Steve Clark recently spoke in Northfield. Bill Ostrem of RENew Northfield’s Transportation Committee was the guest on Locally Grown and discussed some of the ideas generated by Steve’s visit.

Hear how we can help make Northfield more bicycle and pedestrian friendly. You can listen to it via the podcast on locallygrownnorthfield.org or tune into KRLX (88.1) today (Tuesday) at 4:30 pm.

At his afternoon session with Northfield’s “leaders”, Steve presented 12 steps that we could take, following the actions of other communities, that would move us toward a more bicyle and friendly community. Read them below:
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The Northfield League of Women Voters (LWV) will continue its “4th Monday” public meeting series with a discussion of the proposed Arts Plan ‘06. Committee members will present information about this city council funded proposal, and also hope to gather public input.

ArtsPlan06 is an exploration of the benefits to the community of further developing Northfield as a regional center for the arts. A citizen-based committee has been conducting interviews with individuals and meeting with groups for a number of months. Implementation of its proposals could help shape the community’s culture, economy and spirit for many decades.

The meeting will be held tonight (Monday, October 23rd) at 7 pm in the meeting room of the Northfield Public Library. For more information, call 663-6097.