New 20,000 square-foot Warroad arts center under development

Oct. 24—WARROAD, Minn. — The arts will soon have a new home in northwestern Minnesota.

River Place, an arts, culture and event center, is under development in Warroad, Minnesota, and the River Place Board of Directors is designing the facility to be a welcoming and creative place for everyone, said Brenda Baumann, River Place Board president.

"Creativity can be expressed in different ways," said Baumann. "It can be expressed through looking at students' art, through art galleries, it can be expressed through theater."

According to Baumann, the future 20,000 square-foot, multipurpose facility will be able to accommodate all types of art with a performance space, places to display art and room for banquets and conferences. Warroad is home to artists that work out of their homes, dance companies and a community theater program, she said, so River Place will be a new venue for performances, art shows and other community events.

The facility is planned for a space along the bank of the Warroad River and Highway 11.

In September, the board named John Davis as the organization's executive director. Davis is the founder and former executive director of Lanesboro Arts in Lanesboro, Minnesota, as well as the founder and former executive director of New York Mills Arts Retreat and Cultural Center in New York Mills, Minnesota. He was a 2018 Bush Fellow and also works with the National Endowment for the Arts and the Local Initiatives Support Corporation, a non-profit community development financial institution.

Davis said his work in Lanesboro and New York Mills was focused on art and how art can drive community and economic development in rural communities. While working in both towns, he collaborated with local governments, businesses and schools, he said.

"I'm a big believer in collaborative work, especially when it comes to small communities," he said. "The more collaborations you can have, the greater chance you can bring people together on a shared vision."

The River Place initiative piqued Davis's interest, he said, and made him wonder how the lessons he had learned in Lanesboro, New York Mills and through his other work could be implemented in Warroad.

"I looked at it as an open canvas for possibilities for creativity and problem solving," he said.

Baumann said Davis brings experience and connections to River Place that others working on the project did not have.

"He's got the experience on how to activate centers like this because of his depth of experience," said Baumann.

At present, the River Place facility is still being designed. As River Place's executive director, Davis is designing a programming model for the organization, which will inform the final design of the facility so it can accommodate local and traveling artists, said Baumann.

Baumann hopes to show the public the plans for the space early next year. The organization intends to break ground on the facility in spring of 2023, with completion targeted for spring of 2024.