Written by Colin Willemsen, Upstream Care for Place Fellow I am Colin Willemsen, an 18-year-old landscape and nature photographer located in Duluth, Minnesota. My mission revolves around finding and capturing distinctive locations, along with revealing the hidden splendor within well-known areas along the North Shore of Lake Superior. My experiences along Superior’s shores have fostered… Read More →
Do you love where you live? Are you an artist, a maker, a creative, or a culture bearer with a story to tell about your place? Are you always trying to inspire people to be stewards of the places we love and share? Upstream, supported by Springboard for the Arts, seeks 12 Minnesota artists, creatives,… Read More →
Rhys Williams could imagine nothing better for his retirement than starting a farm in the beautiful bluffs of the Minnesota driftless region. “I’m very blessed to have this opportunity,” says Williams of his switch back to farming. After serving as the Executive Director of The Good Acre, a nonprofit food hub based in Falcon Heights… Read More →
Caring for our natural places is an important part of caring for the people who live near them. Research has shown there’s a connection between green spaces and health and wellness benefits. HealthPartners, which operates 90+ hospitals and clinics across Minnesota and Wisconsin, brings natural green spaces and sustainable landscaping practices together to improve the… Read More →
When Max Musicant and his group of neighbors left their apartment building when the fire alarm went off, he quickly realized something: he didn’t know anyone around him. As the founder and principal of The Musicant Group, placemaking and public space activation firm, he knew something had to change. After a quick trip to the… Read More →
“Food from here, for here” is the driving force behind The Good Acre (TGA), a nonprofit food hub that links local growers & food producers with communities in the Twin Cities. TGA is helping build a strong, healthy food system that celebrates and supports Minnesota’s incredible farmers. Their role as a food hub is uniquely… Read More →
For over a century, the Iron Range of Minnesota has been a center of mining activity—creating jobs and driving economic growth. And the Iron Range also has a unique and distinct natural personality. Tamarack bog, craggy ridges and beautiful expanses of pine forest distinguish this area as a gem for Minnesota’s outdoorspeople. Mining activity has… Read More →
The health of our natural places has a big influence on the length and quality of our lives. As the largest consumer-governed, non-profit health care and financing organization in the nation, Upstream Partner HealthPartners is committed to doing its part to bring health and conservation together. The health care industry generates a considerable amount of… Read More →
Upstream is thrilled to announce the selection of our 2023 Upstream Artist Fellows. Upstream Artist Fellows are 13 artists from a variety of mediums who share a love for Minnesota’s natural places and care for them personally and through their work. The artists will embark on a nearly year-long relationship with each other and Upstream,… Read More →
When it comes to loving and caring for our natural places, habits learned early carry through life. That’s especially true for Sam Hesla, a 30 year old Wilderness Inquiry volunteer from Minneapolis. When Sam, born with Down syndrome, was six months old, he took his first camping trip with his parents. And when he turned… Read More →
Do you love where you live? Are you an artist, a maker, a creative, or a culture bearer with a story to tell about your place? Are you always trying to get people to move to your town? Upstream Initiative announces an open call for the A Care for Place campaign! Supported by Springboard for… Read More →
Compeer Financial, with a large Minnesota workforce, helps farmers, ranchers and growers with financial services and products across the midwest. They help farmers, large and small, achieve their goals through lending programs. They care for our places by helping farmers to make the transition to sustainable agriculture. Compeer works with traditional agriculture, but also serves… Read More →
