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Economic Development is all about jobs and capital investment, right? I have written in this blog in the past about how we need to change the definition. “Economic Development is whatever the client says it is”, says one consultant that we work with. Is the pursuit of Art economic development?

I am fascinated by those who have taken the time and have the courage to pursue the arts. I think I have artistic streak in me, but I don’t take the time or make the effort to pursue it. Others do. Others turn it into a business. I have written about my friends the Eaton’s (Eaton Gallery) who I don’t spend enough time with talking about art or going to their parlor events. I always regret it. The husband and wife team of  Pam (business maven) and Herb (artist) work really hard at selling and promoting their art here in BloNo.I have another friend who is an awesome artist and is shy about it. He has has great success as a commercial artist, but most people have not seen his fine art. It is truly awesome and monumental work. He even promised me an art piece (you know who you are and what I am talking about).

Over in our Warehouse District, a couple of guys have taken over an old warehouse and turned it into a bit of an arts incubator. One of them, Jason Mack, of Mack Glass has turned his work  of blowing ans spinning glass into an annual Christmas event, and this year promises to be even bigger. Jason takes old bottles, clear and green and cooks them down into a molten lava and proceeds to spin the hot glass into a metal frame that has the shape of a Christmas Tree. This year they will be doing it over at the Bloomington Center for the Performing Arts on the weekends of December 4-6 and 11-13, starting at 9:00 each day to 5:00 pm. It should be a fun sight to see. Hopefully this can turn into an arts oriented Christmas tradition each year.

People like Jason have a passion for doing things that make our lives a little more manageable each day. I like what Jason is giving us. It is a gift. It gives us something to look forward to. Looking at art and merely giving it wonder should manage to settle your mind. The world today throws so much  at us by the numerous media outlets, politics, war, the economy, you name it. Art, whether it is hanging on a wall, poised on a pedestal, being performed through song , word, or instrument has a way to keep us fresh, happy and at peace. It helps settle your mind.

If economic development can be measured by the quality of the community and the quality of place, then the presence of art, public or private, the ability of artists to pursue their passion, the opportunity for people to view art and enjoy it, means art is economic development. I’ll see you at Jason’s Mack’s glass Christmas Tree.

Fargo is a hopping town. I went out last night instead of staying stuck in a hotel room out by the mall and ended up at the HoDo Hotel and Lounge. I went, based upon the recommendation of  new Twitter friends, especially someone who  goes by the handle @FargoMoorehead and is part of the local CVB. I love how this works. I roll into town, announce I am here and all of a sudden I have good recommendations for places to go.This, by the way, is a great example of how a CVB can be extremely responsive to the the needs of a visitor. Using social media they responded immediately by giving me information I needed. Way to go Fargo-Moorhead CVB!

The Hodo was a really cool place. Warehouse, lofty feel with big windows to the outside, a lot of original art, and a hip music background, part hip-hop, part Johnny Cash. Has anyone taken a Cash track and done a hip-hop/country mashup? Hmmm, interesting. Next time I am in Fargo I am staying at the HoDo.

Downtown Fargo as a destination looked pretty good . It was a good mix of nice restaurants, sports bars, pubs and  dives. I think they like their neon signs in Fargo, for each interesting place has a good looking neon sign that borders on kitsch art.

I met Dave the attorney and Bill the Banker at the HoDo lounge after I had eaten a really yummy Asian stir fry, and consumed a couple IPAs’. By the way I was a little disappointing that Fargo, according to the bartender, didn’t have a local micro-brew. I hope Amber was  wrong and under informed ( like the hotel clerk who scrunched her face when  I mentioned downtown). Having said that,  the IPA from some micro-brew in Minneapolis was quite tasty. Dave and Bill were two guys close to or  around my age. We had a great time talking about the differences and  similarities between Bloomington-Normal and Fargo. They were obviously well-informed and understood their community very well. They had pride in their area and it wasn’t blustery or boisterous, which was good.

By the way, no one I met talked like they do in the movie. Ok, the hotel clerk came close, but truthfully, Fargo people are full of the Midwestern charm and helpfulness one would expect. One more thing: According to those I spoke to last night and the local Arts paper Fargo apparently has a thriving art and culture scene.

I head for Omaha today. Looking a the interstate, it looks pretty long, straight and boring. I hope the worlds largest ball of string is on this leg of the journey. I will need something to break up the day.  I will travel through and hit parts of North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa and Nebraska. Follow me on Twitter @bnedguy, I will tweet along the way.

One of the neat things about social media or social networking is that you end meeting people that you would likely never meet unless for the deployment of said social media. I just cam back from a little social media event in Bloomington. It was a tweetup hosted by a local photographer and it was a nice little event. I got to meet some folks that I would have never met before and probably people I would never meet in any other situation. Twitter brings together for common discussion and sharing of ideas.

I also had an opportunity to talk to two very diverse businesses this week about social media and its use. One was an artist and gallery, and the other was a doctor’s practice. Both had attended our social media seminar and wanted to delve a little deeper into its use. Both have different reasons for using the media, and it was fun to explore their business issues, their goals and the best ways to exploit the medium.

Artist Gallery — So how does an artist use social media to grow it s business? First of all what is the business model. In this case the artist operates his own gallery and sells almost all of his art through his gallery. He said tha most of his art can be found within a 50 mile radius of his gallery. He and his business partner/spouse work very hard on promoting their gallery and the art scene in Bloomington Normal. My advice to them was to establish their Twitter account (they already have a Facebook page) and begin slowly to build up a following of friends and followers in Twitter. Here is some other advice I gave them and that other artists might consider:

1. Post tweets about other local artists. Send information about shows and new work by local artists in the area.
2. Re-tweet their tweets. Be kind and tell your followers about the work other artists are doing. Hopefully they will do the same in return.
3. Tweet about thoughts or inspiration you are having about new art you might create. Use twitter as a tool to inform your art.
4. Obviously tell people about events you are having in the studio.
5. Follow other artists.
6. Send pics of your own art…not to often though. Although a simple landscape with no words attached can be a powerful message.
7. Encourage others to follow by using other SM sites.

Are there other suggestions for artists? The Creative class, particularly artists are often overlooked as business people. However they add a lot to the community. They bring new money to the community yet their footprint is usually fairly small. A concentration of artists can contribute large levels of economic impact.

Visit a local artist. Buy some original art. You will be happy you did.