The Uptown Art Fair in Minneapolis was canceled for 2021, because of “unanticipated challenges.” A statement from the executive director of the Uptown Association said that having the 2021 fair was “not something that we can feel comfortable with, for safety reasons and for our artists.” She cited dumpster fires and an increase in drag racing as some of the safety concerns.
The executive director also said that, “Considerable time and work was put in to navigating the challenges our city is facing to ensure a safe and welcoming space for our artists, vendors, sponsors and guests. Multiple options were considered and planned, including moving the event to an alternate location a few blocks away to showcase the greater Uptown community.”
According to tweets obtained by Crime Watch Minneapolis, activists were planning to shut down the Uptown Art Fair if it did occur. They allegedly said that the fair only benefits “rich white people” and said that the people who attend just “flee back to the burbs.”
The KKKomrades have been posting that they had planned to disrupt and shut down the art fair because "white people." pic.twitter.com/VPEzQ0uEgH
— CrimeWatchMpls (@CrimeWatchMpls) July 6, 2021
According to the Minneapolis St. Paul Business Journal, the Uptown Art Fair usually attracts over 300,000 attendees. That revenue is sorely needed by businesses in Uptown who have been adversely affected by COVID and the civil unrest of the past year.
Many see the decision as another result of the civil unrest that has been occurring on the streets in Uptown almost every night since early June, when a wanted man, Winston Smith, was shot and killed by U.S. Marshals after failing to follow instructions. Protesters and police have clashed on several occasions, after rioters began lighting fires and breaking into surrounding businesses. On Tuesday, police and firefighters worked for two and a half hours to clear the streets and put out fires lit by the instigators.
Mainstream #MNmedia won't/didn't report this. One outlet gave about a one sentence mention on a report about the Uptown Art Fair cancellation.#UptownMpls
— CrimeWatchMpls (@CrimeWatchMpls) July 7, 2021
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Hayley Tschetter is a reporter with The Minnesota Sun | Star News Network and The College Fix. She graduated with a degree in Communications from the University of Northwestern-St. Paul. Send news tips to [email protected].
Photo “Uptown Art Fair” by Uptown Art Fair.
