In the next several weeks, NACDI will host two workshops designed to build community, strengthen relationships and provide an opportunity for a community conversation about the upcoming Anpetu Was’te Cultural Arts Market project. Over the next year NACDI will be planning and implementing a visitor gateway and public arts market for the American Indian Cultural Corridor at the Hiawatha LRT Franklin Light Rail Station area. The American Indian Cultural Corridor has become a vibrant destination corridor that celebrates American Indian identity and stimulates economic opportunity. Franklin Avenue has quickly emerged as a model of community and economic revitalization through arts-driven redevelopment.

The Anpetu Was’te Cultural Arts Market project will reconnect two historic neighborhoods, Seward and Ventura Village, that have been cutoff from each other by a series of large underpasses, highways and railroads— locally referred to as “no mans land.” NACDI’s plan is to transform the area around the Franklin Light Rail Station area into a unique cultural and community experience utilizing public theater, plaza markets, living art installations, cultural food trucks, and public art. This catalytic project will create opportunities for local entrepreneurs, develop needed active community space, improve pedestrian safety, reverse decades of high-crime activity in this area, and strengthen Indigenous geographic identity. Stop by to learn more and contribute your efforts to the cause, or read more about the project here!