Projecting on Minneapolis' Nicollet Mall
In February 2026, Immersivegroup and Zero Empty Spaces lit up the side of a building on Nicollet Mall for the Minneapolis Downtown Council. A hand-drawn downtown filled the wall, fitted around its windows, and told the street that artist studios were on their way.
The challenge
Zero Empty Spaces turns vacant commercial space into affordable working studios for artists, with the doors left open so the public can watch the work being made. Founded in 2019 by Evan Snow and Andrew Martineau, it chose Nicollet Mall for its first studios in the Midwest: the former Walgreens at 815 Nicollet, fitted out for around a dozen local artists.
To announce them, Immersivegroup projection-mapped the side of a building on the Mall and ran the show on Immersiveserver.
The results
In the run-up to the opening, a wall most people walked past without looking became the brightest thing on the Mall, seen by everyone on foot and from every bus running along it. In March, Zero Empty Spaces opened its doors at 815 Nicollet to the artists the wall had been announcing.
Technology
- Media server
- Immersiveserver
Credits
- Client
- Minneapolis Downtown Council
- In collaboration with
- Zero Empty Spaces
- Projection mapping, installation & operation
- Immersivegroup
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