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A Buzz of Creativity and Entrepreneurship
2007-11-04
There is a buzz of activity on Main Street in Isle, Minnesota in a building that has been converted into part art studio, part gift shop. The studio, or Creative Center, offers classes and workshops for artists and budding artists to learn or improve their craft and learn vital business skills. It also provides studio space for artisans to create their products. The gift shop, Someday Isle, provides an outlet for these same artisans to sell their wares--from hand woven rugs, to floral arrangements, to rubber stamps.
In this high unemployment area, Evangeline Moen and other community members have created this incubator for artists and craftspeople with the mission of moving 100 families out of poverty. Isle’s proximity to Brainerd, and its tourist economy, means that season work is available, but come winter, the jobs dry up. The Creative Center and Someday Isle gift shop provide residents with income opportunities that complement the cyclical nature of seasonal work and an opportunity to becoming self-sustaining entrepreneurs.
