Artists on Main Street (AOMS) is a creative placemaking program that activates artists and creatives to address challenges and solve problems in downtown districts. These challenges are often things that are left to already over-extended city staff or district stakeholders, and by employing creative and community thinking models, change is able to happen in new ways.
The program began in Northfield in 2019 with a two-year grant from Rethos, funded by Spring Board for the Arts and the Bush Foundation. Northfield continued the program in 2021 and 2023 with a grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board through legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund. In 2023, the Northfield Arts and Culture Commission committed to funding a portion of that year's AOMS program, marking the first time that Northfield's Percent for the Arts initiative provided direct support for AOMS.
In order to provide sustainable funding for public art in Northfield and to ensure that art will have a place in public spaces throughout the city Northfield City Council adopted a 1% for the Arts Ordinance, which requires all budgets for eligible capital improvement projects include an amount equal to 1% of the projected construction costs that is to be used for public art.
This collection features artwork located in public spaces, or viewable from the public right-of-way. Artwork shown here is not necessarily owned by the City of Northfield.
This collection features sculptures owned by the City of Northfield that were acquired either through gift or purchase prior to the adoption of the 1% for the Arts ordinance.
