Collide-A-Scope festival highlights North Minneapolis arts

“More then just having people come out to see shows, we want to build relationships,” says Corey Mills, one of the co-producers of Collide-A-Scope. Mills says the festival is a chance for neighbors across the metro area to get in touch with what’s going on in North Minneapolis. “There is a lot of good stuff happening here.”

Collide-A-Scope runs September 15th-28th at the Capri Theater, 2027 West Broadway, Minneapolis

“It’s very rare that you get all different types of arts combined.” said Tryenyse Jones of LuvJonZ, who will be playing with Singer-Songwriter Chastity Brown on September 17th. “It’s great to have a collective group of different types of arts for people to feast on.”

Collide-A-Scope lives up to its name by providing a colorful and diverse array of performances—from a family show entitled The Supercilious Ways of Walter Wading to a collection of spoken word stories by Rodney Dixon about the struggle of growing up in North Minneapolis. Dixon will premiere Struggling Art Speaks, Listen. at the Collide-A-Scope event.

“His poetry is beautiful, it is human, it’s rhythmic and it’s real,” says Mills of Dixon’s spoken word talent. “It puts life struggles in a form that all at once makes you engaged with them, care about them and want to do something about it.”

The festival also features Dance and Film, a West African dance production interwoven with elements of film, Speak Your Mind, a film project by students at Juxtaposition Arts and Asian Media Access, and The Cubicle, a two-person comedy about the monotony of corporate life.

“I personally believe that art and music and just the Arts in general are a healing factor,” said Jones, “and that’s just something that’s really needed in this Northside community.”

Ariah Fine lives in North Minneapolis with his beautiful wife and daughter. He is a blogger, community organizer, and author of Giving Up.