Modern Day Me activates people, places and ideas through art, design and experience. It is channeling the ethos of the Twin Cities into public works projects, as well as creative services for clients that have included the IDS Center and the Minnesota Twins. Modern Day Me also fosters that ethos by giving contemporary and future creatives real opportunities to bring their creative visions to life.
“I’ve always been curious about people,” said Jared Hanks, founder of Modern Day Me. “What makes us tick? What gives us purpose? I’m sure it’s many things, but I believe that expression – real creativity, with a design or a goal – is the thread that connects all of us.”
Jared grew up on the east side of St. Paul. After studying sociology, culture and human development at UofM, he was all set to begin a career in education. Starting out during the tail end of the Great Recession didn’t make things easy, but he managed to land a part-time job tutoring for Minneapolis Public Schools, as well as night and weekend shifts at an in-patient treatment facility for women with children. Those experiences solidified Jared’s passion for youth work, and taught him the importance of education in breaking the cycle of addiction, dependency and welfare.
Jared would go on to found two businesses, both designed to engage local youth in their community: a landscaping company, and Helping Hand Companies which provides garden design, installation and general labor services. Although landscaping and general labor can both be considered creative to arguable degrees, the young social entrepreneur charted a new course when he joined Juxtaposition Arts, a non-profit youth art and design education center in North Minneapolis.
“Juxtaposition connects kids to the creative industry by providing them with work opportunities in graphic design, architecture, urban planning and more,” said Jared. “I helped it grow and become more profitable during my seven years as its head of business development. But Juxtaposition did much more for me. It refined my calling.
“I launched Modern Day Me so I could exclusively focus on connecting creatives to market opportunities. That goes beyond just seeking opportunities out. It means actually creating them, by presenting ideas that will best showcase the talents of ambitious young creatives while serving our clients’ aspirations and needs.”
Modern Day Me’s work takes many forms, including marketing and branding, custom murals, public art, and event curation. “The projects we’re most passionate about are the ones that have the greatest social impact,” said Jared. “For example, we recently partnered with the Minneapolis Downtown Improvement District to reinvent a 12,000 square foot alleyway that had been hit especially hard by the lockdown. It had become overrun with criminal activity, and had grown so bad that police began barricading traffic.
“We’re not problem solvers. We’re solution creators, who bring in more positive instead of blocking the negative. We revitalized that alleyway with greenery and other organic elements, as well as a giant multi-color mural incorporating a basketball court for the kids attending a nearby school. From pressure washing to completion, everything was handled by the very same people who stood the most to gain from improving that little piece of our community. Today the alley is a vibrant and welcoming backdrop for community events, gatherings, games, yoga classes, and so much more. We’re excited to continue working with the city as we handle public engagement for its upcoming First Avenue reconstruction project.
“None of that is to say that our work for the private sector feels any less rewarding. Our creatives welcome any opportunity to beautify a corporate workspace with custom artwork or a one-of-a-kind mural. We also love education. Modern Day Me has helped students explore their creative expression at several public schools and universities, where we have provided everything from one-day workshops to semester-long classes on mural making.
“Our focus may seem expansive, but at the end of the day, everything we do boils down to the same thing: treating ideas as the world’s greatest asset. A lot of people think their ideas can’t make a difference unless they’re a luminary. Modern Day Me proves that you don’t have to be the next Malcolm X or Mother Teresa if you want to change the world for the better.”
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