Northwest Graphic Supply of South Minneapolis, a LoLa Art Crawl Site, Fetes their Restored Classic Marquee Sign Tuesday Night

By Sharon Parker

LoLa host site Northwest Graphic Supply, on Lake Street at 42nd in South Minneapolis, wants to get your attention. So much so, in fact, that they had their classic blue-and-white sign restored and are making a big deal of lighting it up on National Night Out, this Tuesday, August 5, with a party from 8 to 9 p.m.

That should be just about when your block party is winding down, right? 

If you stroll on over, perhaps with a few of your neighbors, you’ll be invited to share your history in the neighborhood and hear a little bit about theirs before they “flip the switch” on their newly restored sign with its festive border of movie-marquee lights.

And there will be treats.

This purveyor of screen printing and art supplies wants everyone to know that they are part of the neighborhood, too, and more connected to you and your neighbors than you may realize.

"Stories" by Megan Moore, who will be at NW Graphic Supply during LoL

As they describe it, their customer base is the local community of “entrepreneurs, artists, sales reps, construction workers, wood workers, youth workers, musicians, luthiers, students, professors, mechanics, brewers, designers, athletes, and textile decorators.” 

“These individuals have one very specific thing in common: screen printing.”  And they’ve been turning to Northwest Graphic Supply for not only supplies but also assistance and expertise for 50 years.

           

And this year, the store is also hosting two Longfellow artists as part of the LoLa art crawl, August 23–24. So, naturally, LoLa had to ask them a few questions.

Please tell us about your business—do you carry art supplies, too?

We are a full service screen print supplier. Most of our business comes from the textile industry and T-shirt printers. We're also an art supplier. We deal mostly to the Longfellow community and schools throughout the midwest.

"Lazienki Park" by Megan Moore

Why did you sign up to be a LoLa site? What do you like about LoLa?

To support our customers. We pride ourselves on the quality of our services and get goosebumps when customers find success in their ventures with product from our store. LoLa is a good way to stay connected with the community of which we are a part.

Will you have anything special going on during the art crawl?

We are very excited to host two local artists, Kim Gordon and Megan Moore. They'll be on site repping their work and holding down nerdy conversations about their particular artistic processes. There'll also be live screen printing demos, so if you've ever wanted to learn the art ... it'd be a good time!

And, obviously we'll be open for business as usual with special LoLa discounts on our art supplies.

"Storm Breaks Over Mississippi River Gorge," by Kim Gordon, who will be at Northwest Graphic Supply for LoLa

(Note that business hours “as usual” for NW Graphic Supply are 8–5 Monday through Friday, but they will also be open on LoLa weekend, August 23–24. from 10 to 5.)