Press
PILLLAR FORUM IS AN ALL-AGES MUSIC venue, cafe, and skate shop located on Central Avenue in the Northeast Arts District...Since ICE came to the city, PILLLAR has become a makeshift community center for people to stop in during neighborhood patrols. 'The people that re in the streets every day are also in PILLLAR every day,' syas Parsons, who works as PILLLAR's production manager."
by, Evan Minsker
Audience members at the all-ages Minneapolis rock venue Pilllar Forum tussled with ICE agents on the street outside the club on Sunday — prompting that night’s show to be canceled. The owner of Pilllar Forum, Corey Bracken, said several of his customers and musicians were pepper-sprayed by ICE agents and at least two were hit with batons on the street outside the venue
Pilllar Forum, a skate shop, coffee bar, and all-ages music venue in Minneapolis, has become a place of refuge for locals who are out in the cold protecting their neighbors from ICE. “We’ve kind of become a community hub for people patrolling the streets,” owner Corey Bracken says. “They come in, they get warm. They’re able to drink coffee, hang out, and organize.
If there’s one thing that I’ve said to both our staff and to everyone else, it’s that safety is our number one priority,” Bracken says. “If our staff doesn’t feel safe or the bands don’t feel safe or there are things that are taking place, we will address that situation. If it comes down to closing early or canceling, we’ll make that decision
From the beginning of when this issue began in Minneapolis, all of us here know how we feel about the matter and have been very vocal that we are against ICE. And we are against them being in our spaces and we are against sanctioned violence
There’s a lot of highs and then there’s a lot of lows—it’s just been a roller coaster”, Bracken says. “You see the community coming together. You see the peaceful actions that we’re taking to try to stop this. But then you see Alex Pretti getting murdered. You see Renee Good getting murdered. You see these people getting murdered at the hands of our federal government, with no repercussions
Pilllar Forum, a café and event space in northeast Minneapolis, is one such organizing hub, says owner Corey Bracken. The business has a history of hosting protesters, .... But even for businesses not facing imminent closure, stress is high.
Pilllar Forum is a small space, but packed with people on Friday. There are whistles and hand warmers and signs. Owner Corey Bracken is serving coffee behind the bar. He says federal law enforcement activity has made the coffee shop a gathering place of sorts.
MINNEAPOLIS — Mochas, music and mutual aid, anyone?
Northeast Minneapolis' PILLLAR Forum kicks off its third annual all-ages music festival — Rage & Reset — on Friday, featuring 19 bands across two stages, DJ sets and a vintage market through Sunday.
“Music has always been more than entertainment; it’s a way for communities to come together, especially in difficult moments,” said PILLLAR founder Corey Bracken."
by, Sam Fischer
Friday night at PILAR Forum was like a dream. I’m sorry to anyone who wanted to see a video of the bands I got to see, but you should have just been there.
The shows are always all-ages, and underage music fans have responded favorably. Amateur band line the gig calendar and are given fairly professional sound and stage production here. Coffee and food are available at shows; along with booze now too"
On March 7-9th, Pillar Forum hosted their second annual Rage and Reset - A three day festival with a lineup stacked of Twin Cities punk and indie bands.The first annual Rage and Reset was put on in celebration of Pilllar’s new venue space attached to the cafe and I’m so glad they decided to bring it back for another year, but bigger and better!
One of the reasons I love PILLLAR is that it’s a space for (sustainability and community), and it’s hard to find certain spaces to build community,” Biasco said. “Part of what we want here is just a space where people will come monthly, hopefully, see familiar faces, make new connections and build more community, and feel a part of something in Minneapolis.
Pilllar Forum’s proprietor didn’t plan on live music at his Central Avenue hangout, but now he has it in droves.
Last year’s Rage & Reset, which was two nights instead of three, served as the inaugural event of the PILLLAR Forum venue space on Central Avenue in Minneapolis, according to PILLLAR owner Corey Bracken. Since 2021, PILLLAR has been hosting shows in the cafe side of its retail space which sells skateboards and related merchandise.
As sustainability is core to PILLLAR’s brand, Corey sought to integrate waste reduction and energy conservation into the culture and operations of the PILLLAR Forum Café when it opened in spring 2022. The café already offered reusable mugs for onsite consumption, and was interested in a reusable to-go option especially as supply chain issues were making it more difficult to find inexpensive options for compostable cups. When Corey met the MNimize team in March 2022, this dream became a reality!
Northeast Minneapolis coffee-slash-skateshop PILLLAR Forum never intended to be a show space; "music wasn't really even on the radar" when they opened last year...
Bracken says a friend recently helped him put into perspective just how important spaces like Pilllar are for a city that wants to have a vibrant music community.
"They were like, 'What you're doing here, these kids are gonna remember it forever.' Like, these are gonna be those core memories of 'Remember going to that show, and seeing that band, and moshing, and all that stuff, at that coffee shop?'" he says. "I totally remember going to those types of shows when I was in my late teens, early twenties... now I'm like, holy shit, now I've got a space providing those same memories for bands and people that are coming out to see the music."
DISPATCH checked in with Corey Bracken, founder of PILLLAR, a Minneapolis-based skateboard company focusing on sustainability. Not only that, the company also took over the former Anelace space by Lowry and Central in Northeast with the new Forum Cafe, complete with decks, clothing, and a mural from a big deal national artist.
The Twin Cities has a lot of great “coffee and” shops. Coffee and bikes? You’ve got Venture North, Angry Catfish, and The Fix. Coffee and records? There’s Caydence. Coffee and books? Moon Palace. Coffee and games? Steamship. Corey Bracken wondered: Why not coffee and skateboards?
Pilllar Skateboards is a skateboard company based here in the Twin Cities. They are the first ever climate positive skate company, laying the path for companies to take the initiative as well. Corey was such a fun guy to talk to. I hope you enjoy!
by, E.White
PILLLAR Skateboards is based out of Minneapolis and their primary focus is about making the world a better place. Whether its planting a tree for every deck purchased, creating apparel out of recycled material, using bamboo bottles to reduce use of single use plastics, PILLLAR is a climate positive Skateboard company you NEED to pay attention to.
by, Progression Skateboard Co.
Carbon neutrality is not a term usually thrown around at your neighborhood skatepark... Corey Bracken founded PILLLAR Skateboards with the goal of becoming the world's first climate positive skateboard brand.
by, Everywhere Co-CEO Irys Kornbluth
PILLLAR brings environmentalism to the skateboard world with an extra "L"
by, Chris Delvin
PILLLAR has a simple mission: to promote skateboarding, sustainability and climate awareness for a new generation of environmentally and socially conscious skateboarders.
by, Climate Emergency Fund staff writer