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
MINNEAPOLIS â Mochas, music and mutual aid, anyone?
Northeast Minneapolis' PILLLAR Forum kicks off its third annual all-ages music festival â Rage & Reset â on Friday, featuring 19 bands across two stages, DJ sets and a vintage market through Sunday.
âMusic has always been more than entertainment; itâs a way for communities to come together, especially in difficult moments,â said PILLLAR founder Corey Bracken."
by, Sam Fischer
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 Pilllarâs new venue space attached to the cafe and Iâm so glad they decided to bring it back for another year, but bigger and better!
One of the reasons I love PILLLAR is that itâs a space for (sustainability and community), and itâs hard to find certain spaces to build community,â Biasco said. âPart 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 Forumâs proprietor didnât plan on live music at his Central Avenue hangout, but now he has it in droves.
Last yearâs 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 PILLLARâs brand, Corey sought to integrate waste reduction and energy conservation into the culture and operations of the PILLLAR Forum CafĂ© when it opened in spring 2022. The cafĂ© 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 âcoffee andâ shops. Coffee and bikes? Youâve got Venture North, Angry Catfish, and The Fix. Coffee and records? Thereâs 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.WhiteÂ
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