Second Annual 46th and Grand Block Party to be Held Sunday

celebrates one year of business, celebrates two, and and simply celebrate the vibrant, bustling business corner of 46th and Grand. Will you be there to celebrate with them?

This Sunday the four businesses will take to the streets (or the sidewalks, rather — the streets will not be shut down) for the second annual celebration of what ColorWheel Gallery’s Tammy Ortegon describes as their “wonderful corner.”

The idea for the public celebration came about last year as Patisserie 46 was opening, Kings was celebrating its first birthday, and the intersection was starting to be recognized as a destination point. 

“So we said we should have a celebration, a party to say, ‘Come see our corner,’” Ortegon said. 

Each of the four businesses will have outdoor offerings that reflect its unique style and flavor. ColorWheel Gallery will have face painting and a clown making balloon animals for the kids as well as a stylist from the Fox Den Salon in Uptown doing brightly colored pinch braids and feather extensions. Ortegon also said she is stocking her gallery with fun and funky works with a theme of “Hot Summer Art,” featuring work by Eileen Espinosa, Jessie Lawson, Jennifer Kunin, Lori Greene, Gloria Larsen, Yilma Wouldemehen and herself, as well as jewelry by Cheri Meyer, Ideal Jewels and others. 

Dawn Kraus of Patisserie 46 said the cafe will be serving up something sweet, with an ice cream cart outside from noon until whenever the ice cream runs out (Kraus’ best guess is 5 PM). But with offerings like lemon basil sorbet, lemongrass peppermint chocolate ice cream and mango cilantro sorbet, you may want to get there early. Patio seating will be available but the cafe will close at 2 PM on Sunday as usual. 

From noon until 4:00 PM, Cafe Ena will offer up a selection of affordable Latin style street food for $4.00 or less, including guilty pleasures like Mexican corn on the cob, tostadas, empanadas, and sangria. 

If brats and burgers are more your style, cross the street to Kings Wine Bar, where there will also be live music from noon until 9:00 PM, including local songsters Ashleigh Still, Howler, and Patches and Gretchen. Kings will actually be celebrating two birthdays on Sunday, their own and that of Minneapolis musician Slim Dunlap, who is turning 60 and will grace the Kings stage around 3 PM.

And if nine hours of live music, street art and street food aren’t enough to get you to the event, Tammy Ortegon reminds us that joining in Sunday’s activities and supporting these local businesses is a way to help the wider community thrive.

“Everybody who owns a business on this corner lives right in the neighborhood,” Ortegon said. “All four of us are parents and all of our kids go to school right in this neighborhood, so [this is] to really let the community know when you come and spend money in our stores, you’re supporting your schools, your parks, your neighbors.”