A Community Arts Collective:
Artists and Arts Organizations Working Together

In April of 2008, through a grant from the Blandin Foundation, a group of area art organizers met to create an arts collective. This new organization would strive to build and educate audiences about the arts in their community, work jointly to market their individual events, and most importantly, establish the Grand Rapids area as the arts destination in northern Minnesota. These meetings led to the creation of Grand Rapids Arts.

With further support from the Blandin Foundation, Grand Rapids Arts developed a strategic plan and recruited a Board of Directors and committee members. Since September of 2010 the Board of Directors has met regularly to put the ideas of the Grand Rapids Arts members into action.

Mission Statement

Grand Rapids Arts will create a structure to cooperatively market Grand Rapids area artists and arts events with an emphasis on collaboration, shared resources, and the Grand Rapids area as an arts destination.

These are the current organizational members of Grand Rapids Arts. This is not an exhaustive list of the community’s cultural resources. We fully intend to work with and for all area artists, arts organizations, projects, and causes, whether or not they are represented on Grand Rapids Arts.

Organizations

Edge Center for the Arts:
The Edge Center in Bigfork, MN is a gallery and performing hall seating 275 that hosts diverse, quality artistic performanceS and exhibitions. It is a place for community arts collaboration and growth and a place where the arts stimulate the thinking and emotions of the residents of Northern Minnesota.
Website: www.the-edge-center.org

Grand Rapids Area Male Chorus:
The Grand Rapids Male Chorus brings together thirty to forty men of all ages from the Grand Rapids area with regular rehearsals and performances throughout the region.
Website: www.gramalechorus.org

Grand Rapids Players:
The Grand Rapids Players present three to five theater productions each year with actors, directors, and all theater personnel from the Grand Rapids community.
Website: http://grplayers.com

ICTV:
Itasca Community Television, Inc., is a nonprofit organization with a mission to strengthen the Itasca area through public access media. It produces and accepts video content for playback on local cable television and via its website www.watchictv.org. It is funded through the Grand Rapids Area Cable Commission, grants, service fees, and memberships.
Website: www.watchictv.com

Itasca Choral Society:
Itasca Choral Society sponsors Itasca Community Chorus and the Tuesday Summer Concert Series. The mixed choir rehearses weekly from September through April and delivers four concerts annually. Itasca Community Chorus makes quality choral music accessible to all. ICS features accomplished instrumental and vocal soloists and ensembles during the summer concerts.
Website: http://itascacommunitychorus.blogspot.com

Itasca Orchestra and Strings Program:
The Itasca Orchestra and Strings Program (IOSP) provides opportunities to learn, hear, and perform orchestral music for the youth and adults in Itasca County. IOSP presents three symphony and three student concerts a year and offers strings instruction to youth and adults.
Website: www.itascaorchestra.org

KAXE, Northern Community Radio:
Northern Community Radio/KAXE 91.7 builds community in northern Minnesota through radio programming, cultural events, and interactive media. The studios are located on the north bank of the Mississippi River in downtown Grand Rapids, and the site features an outdoor amphitheater with a large saddleback tent, donated by Rotary, used in season for concerts, festivals, and community gatherings. KAXE 91.7 celebrated 33 years of public radio broadcasting in 2011.
Website: www.kaxe.org

MacRostie Art Center:
MacRostie Art Center (MAC) is dedicated to community growth through the arts in northern Minnesota. MAC offers classes, monthly exhibitions, and an art shop.
Website: www.macrostieartcenter.org

Mississippi Melodie Showboat:
Mississippi Melodie Showboat has been rounding the bend of the Mississippi River for over 50 years to present a program of song, dance and comedy outdoors during the last 3 weekends of July. Each year a brand new show loved by all ages!
Website: http://grshowboat.blogspot.com

Myles Reif Performing Arts Center:
Since 1981 the Myles Reif Performing Arts Center has been dedicated to stimulating the arts in northern Minnesota with a truly diverse range of world-class performances and art exhibitions. The Reif Center auditorium seats 600 and serves the Grand Rapids High School for presentations and performances.
Website: www.reifcenter.org

Your Support Matters

The arts are an essential part of life in any community. The Grand Rapids area benefits from a broad arts sector that provides creative opportunities for community members, showcases local talent, and features visiting artists and exhibitions. However, the artists and organizations at work in our community face the challenges of operating in a rural area, reaching out to diverse audiences, and leveraging limited resources. Grand Rapids Arts was formed to address these challenges and establish the Grand Rapids area as a vibrant arts destination.

Grand Rapids Arts depends upon the support of its member organizations, individual patrons of the arts, local businesses that value the social and economic benefits the arts bring to the community, and foundations that recognize an opportunity to leverage their grant making dollars in support of a collaborative arts organization.

The Grand Rapids Area Community Foundation acts as fiscal agent for Grand Rapids Arts.

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