Photo illustration by Kensie Wallner

July 21 Corks & Canvas Donates All $ To Minot Relief Fund

By Millie Hanson
Visual Arts Editor

During the Third Annual Corks & Canvas on July 21, 2011, all proceeds from the $10 wine wristbands and raffle tickets will be donated to help those who were devastated by the flooding in Minot earlier this summer.

Thursday night will be an entire evening of wine-tasting and indulging the eyes and soul with art. For those 21 and over, sip wines from around the world while meeting artists in each of the 15 locations and view their newest works. Fifteen merchants will be involved with wine donated by Johnson Brothers, National Republic and Bernies, among others.

Visitors to these businesses can enter a raffle for some very expensive prizes and one can enter as many times and at as many places as desired. Said Karissay Newby, owner of Lena K, “If you want to win something and bid big on it, you can buy a hundred $1 tickets and put them all in there. You never know…”

The Minot Area Community Foundation is spearheading the campaign to help the people of Minot and surrounding communities that were affected by flooding caused by unexpected, terrifyingly high water. Within this organization is the Minot Area Recovery Fund which will help the greater
Minot area including the counties of Ward, Renville, Bottineau and McHenry. The Community Foundation, as it’s called, has been around since 2000 and has already made 652 grants totaling $3,228,607.

The Minot Recovery Fund’s website states that they are, “focused on getting people’s lives restored from the flood, stretching every dollar and making highly informed grant decisions, while retaining flexibility to address emerging needs.” The celebrity associated with Minot, Josh Duhamel who appeared in the latest Transformers movie, was deeply affected as can be heard in an interview by KXMC and can be found on YouTube.

Newby commiserates about the people of Minot: “It’s hard to imagine. They’re devastated. They’re just so thankful (for help), because it’s just overwhelming.”

In other efforts to help the people in Minot, the Kilbourne Group is raffling off a chance to see a movie of the winner’s choice at the Fargo Theatre. The winner and 75 of their closest friends will watch a private screening of a film they choose, with complementary movie drinks and snacks.

O’day Cache is donating a $300 private shopping, after hours, experience with food and drinks.
Lena K is donating a newly designed clothing item by their resident artist. Check the Corks & Canvas Facebook page for updates.

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Mark Weiler, co-owner of ecce art + yoga and founder of the Fargo Downtowner, echoes the sentiments of many downtown businesses, “What pursuades people to stay in a community are the cultural events, Corks & Canvas, things of that nature.”

Corks & Canvas is one of the many events that is organized by the Fargo Downtowner, a promotional branch of the Downtown Community Partnership with 40 businesses participating and events happening on a regular basis. They’ve been in existence for three years and have the goal of increasing traffic to the independent businesses downtown.

“It’s not that we (downtown businesses) are making a huge profit from Corks & Canvas, we’re not. It’s more of trying to build a community environment, and also one that’s sustainable. People, especially younger people [...] are looking for fresh, innovative ideas, and nightlife that doesn’t a revolve around going to the same bars.”

Corks & Canvas is one of the events in the summer that encourage Thursday night traffic. The strategy for Open Late Thursdays in the summer is comprehensive and well thought out: 1st Thursdays is Cruising Broadway, 2nd Thursdays is Corks & Canvas, 3rd Thursdays is MOB (Music On Broadway), and the 4th Thursdays encourages businesses to stay open late and keep the pattern going and top-of-mind for the community.

“Open Late Thursdays was chosen as there is a late crowd (that evening) and during the summertime people typically go out of town on Fridays.” Perfect as it taps into the mindset of people already yearning for the weekend’s promise of enjoyable distractions.

Events coming up later in the year downtown include Sept. 8th’s Welcome Back Students night. The focus on buying things but rather creating a community environment and introducing students to downtown Fargo.

Also scheduled is Oct. 13’s Downtown 10 To 10. Stores will be open from 10am until 10pm , and there will be live music, food sampling and drinks as well.

For more information on the Minot Recovery Fund and to donate, visit http://qr.net/minot

For Josh Duhamel’s video on YouTube, search on Josh Duhamel Minot Flood.

For more information on the July 21 Corks & Canvas Fundraiser for Minot, visit Facebook and search on Corks & Canvas.

For more information on the Fargo Downtowner, visit http://fargodowntowner.com/
For a list of auction items, scan this code or go to: http://qr.net/ek8k

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IF YOU GO:
WHAT: Corks & Canvas: Art and Wine Walk 2011 Fundraiser for Minot.
WHEN: 5 – 9 p.m, Thursday, July 21, 2011.
WHERE: Downtown Fargo along Broadway and surrounding streets. Make sure to get a Downtowner map.
COST: $10 for wine and assorted beverages with all proceeds going to the Minot Recovery Fund, $1 for each raffle chance to win merchandise from participating merchants.