We Work Here

This month-long exhibition engaged visitors in a conversation on the value of creative work to our lives, our economies and our communities. What does it take to make art work? How are artists and arts organizations reimagining the creative economy? What is the future of art and engagement in the Twin Cities?

A working storefront for ideas, a temporary employment agency for creative workers and a reading room filled with crowd-sourced materials will help to animate the themes of the exhibition. A series of related dialogues and programs will explore the topic in-depth, providing opportunities for peer-to-peer knowledge and skill sharing.

Inspired by the ideas presented in Art Work: A National Conversation About Art, Labor, and Economics, a newspaper published in 2009 by Chicago-based Temporary Services, We Work Here will draw attention to a timely national conversation and its relevance to local communities.

With this exhibition, Works Progress blurs the lines between artist, curator and audience - asking all to play the role of investigator, instigator and co-creator. By blurring these individual roles we hope to inspire participants to think beyond their traditional modes and declare creativity, economic sustainability and community vitality as goals held in common.

We Work Here was funded in part by the Minnesota Arts & Cultural Heritage Fund, as appropriated by the Minnesota State Legislature with money from the vote of the people of Minnesota on November 4, 2008.