11 minute read
ARTS AND CULTURE
Lanesboro is alive with the arts and history! Take in a spirited comedy or stirring drama in a state-of-the-art professional theater. Enjoy an inspiring regional art tour or gallery opening. Catch a concert or unique film event. Delve into genealogy, old photos or local history at the Lanesboro Historical Museum. » lacc.mn/arts
BLUFF COUNTRY STUDIO ART TOUR LANESBORO ARTS
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40051 Cty Rd 12 | (651) 307-6373 bluffcountrystudioarttour.org Art enthusiasts can find exciting treasures in the hills and valleys of Bluff Country during the annual self-guided Studio Art Tour, always the last full weekend in April.
CHERYL LAMON - ARTIST
108 Coffee St E | (507) 467-4466 cherylsfabricgarden.com "One of my greatest joys is working with bright, bold color. I blend colors to make things out of fabric and add decorative stitching to create motion and depth."
COMMONWEAL THEATRE COMPANY
103 Parkway Ave N | (507) 467-2446 lanesboroarts.org Multi-disciplinary arts organization that serves diverse audiences through year-round programming in its galleries, at the St. Mane Theatre, & in public spaces throughout the community. AD P. 11
LANESBORO ARTS GALLERY
103 Parkway Ave N | (507) 467-2446 lanesboroarts.org Year-round non-profit art gallery presenting accessible and diverse artworks in a rotating exhibition gallery, a juried sales gallery featuring 90+ artists and artist demonstrations. AD P. 11
208 Parkway Ave N | (507) 467-2525 commonwealtheatre.org Award-winning, professional live theatre since 1989! With an enticing mix of musicals, comedies, dramas and more, there's something for everyone at the Commonweal! AD P. 13
HISTORY ALIVE! LANESBORO
200 Parkway Ave S | (612) 823-0776 historyalivelanesboro.org Our Pop-up Plays are true stories of Lanesboro performed in our historic streets. Huge cast and new stories each year. Performing in the afternoons (1pm & 3pm) of the last two weekends in September.
JOAN FINNEGAN FINE ARTS LANESBORO COMMUNITY THEATER
206 Parkway Ave N | (507) 272-2270 lanesborocommunitytheater.blogspot.com LCT presents a winter play, a summer musical and movies in the park in the fall. Look for us on Facebook to learn about auditions and performances.
LANESBORO HISTORY MUSEUM
105 Parkway Ave S | (507) 467-2177 Experience the culture and values of Lanesboro's people. Three floors of history, an interactive phone booth and activities for kids. The museum is part of Lanesboro's voice to the world.
34617 Cty 12 | (507) 272-0254 joanfinnegan.com Joan's studio is a short drive from Lanesboro. Her paintings reveal the softer side of our world, capturing the wonder of that fleeting moment in landscape, still life or portrait.
LANESBORO AREA ART TRAIL
103 Parkway Ave N | (651) 307-6373 lanesboroareaarttrail.com Visit Lanesboro's vibrant community of artists during a self-guided studio art tour on weekends in August, September and October.
PETERSON CREATIVE PHOTOGRAPHY & DESIGN
30601 Grouse Rd | (507) 421-9906 petersoncreativephoto.com Professional portrait art for your home. Sessions offered on location or in studio. Schedule your appointment for portraits you'll treasure for years to come. Commercial photography also available.
ST. MANE THEATRE
206 Parkway Ave N | (507) 467-2446 lanesboroarts.org/st-mane-theatre Intimate performing arts historic downtown 126-seat venue presenting a full schedule of concerts, film screenings, professional drama and community theatre productions. AD P. 11
STEVE HARRIS, WRITER
507 Fillmore Ave S | (952) 836-7904 Steve Harris, author of ''Lanesboro, Minnesota,'' is a writer and is available for freelance contract
work. AD P. 43
SUE PARISEAU POTTERY
40051 Cty 12 | (651) 307-6373 suepariseaupottery.com Studio pottery featuring wood fired functional work. Open by appointment or during Bluff Country Studio Art Tour or Lanesboro Area Art Trail.
» Due to ongoing precautionary measures, please check online for up to date business and event information. » lacc.mn/ssl
SUMMER
All of a sudden summer is here and Lanesboro is hopping with visitors, warm temperatures, river activities, vibrant energy and pandemic-adapted festivals! We Minnesotans know that summer is the time to enjoy as many days as possible outdoors on the bike trails, hiking at Eagle Bluff Environmental Learning Center and canoeing, tubing or kayaking the scenic Root River. Sylvan Park is a great place to play basketball, tennis or pickleball, get some energy out at the playground, fish the pond or enjoy a picnic under beautiful deciduous trees. The Lanesboro Golf Course and Rivers Bend Golf Course are waiting for you to practice your game along gorgeous views of limestone bluffs and rolling hills. There are many front porches from which to watch the world go by and various outdoor venues to dine al fresco and delight in seasonal flavors, made-from-scratch delicacies, unique cocktails and local beers or wines. Many regular events, like Art in the Park and Buffalo Bill Days, will be adapted this year with appropriate and careful Covid-19 considerations. Visit Lanesboro in the summer to enjoy all we have to offer: natural beauty, outdoor recreation, fishing, art, theatre, history, shopping, dining and a time to truly unwind.
FALL
In September, anticipation for the coming leaf change is seen in the way our streets are lined with corn stalks, mums and pumpkins. The Fall colors are reason alone to visit Lanesboro in October. Catch a glimpse of sugar and red maples, burr, red and white oaks, aspen, birch and other hardwood species. There are plenty of opportunities on the bike trail, hiking trails, and river as you fish or kayak to enjoy the fall colors and more than 40 species of birds that call this area home. Art, history and beauty lovers flock to Lanesboro in the Fall for the Taste of the Trail events, the Lanesboro Area Art Trail and to check out the Lanesboro Historical Museum.
2021-22 EDITION | LANESBORO.COM | 11
-ERIK PEARSON, ARTIST
DISCOVER THE STORY
OF LANESBORO’S NEW THEATER DISTRICT MURAL!
Big cities have big theater districts. In New York, it’s Broadway. Chicago has one, too. Minneapolis? The Hennepin Theater District. All are venues for great shows and fun entertainment. People love them and they help give those places a distinct personality. Lanesboro has a theater district, too. Smaller, for sure, but one that offers wonderful theatre and live performances in two popular and historic downtown theaters: the Commonweal and the St. Mane. As we emerge from the pandemic, we look forward to Lanesboro’s theater district once again attracting audiences from Lanesboro, Bluff Country, and across the Midwest. A beautifully-crafted, community-painted mural is scheduled to be installed later in 2021 on the north end of Parkway Avenue to celebrate our town’s cultural vitality. Created by St. Paul artist Erik Pearson, the mural is the result of a partnership between the Commonweal Theatre and Lanesboro Arts. Pearson worked with local students as Lanesboro Arts' first artist-in-residence in 2001. Four years later he transformed the large plywood panels guarding the Commonweal’s “construction zone” into colorful murals depicting unique aspects of local life. Those murals later graced the interior of the Intermission Restaurant. Pearson designed the new Lanesboro mural on parachute-like material. It is a work that tells a story,
drawing on ideas solicited from Lanesboro residents of all ages. More than 200 volunteers (both residents and visitors) worked indoors on hands and knees under Pearson’s direction, wielding brushes with paint generously provided by the Southern Minnesota Initiative Foundation’s “Paint the Town” grant program. The plan is to permanently attach the now-completed mural to the south corner wall of the Manion Law Office Building. Community stakeholders gave input on the design that honored the history of Lanesboro, representing nature, agriculture, townspeople, cultural and generational diversity, and more. The design Pearson created includes both fictional and real people from Lanesboro based on research and historical photos. In the design the two far left characters are on a stage. The six people to the right of them are in the audience. Then the two people on the far right are on the balcony. On the stage the fairy in the top left represents “A Midsummer Night's Dream” which was Commonweal’s first play performed in 1989, and she's holding the actual window of the building like a lantern. The lantern represents the “ghost light” left on when the theatres are not in use. The fairy is wearing a dress with an agricultural pattern. The next character down represents a musician as the St. Mane Theatre hosts both professional and community-based musical performers. In the audience, the character with the broom represents Robert Greer, one of the first businessmen and Lanesboro’s first mayor. The woman above Mr. Greer represents one of the switchboard phone operators in town, and the phone line travels to each character ending in a guitar on stage. The other characters represent average community members throughout time, including a farmer, a casually dressed male, an historically dressed woman, and a young child. There are some fun details such as marquee lights in the background, a Commonweal Theatre logo on a program, and a ticket stub in a shirt pocket with details from both a Lanesboro Community Theatre show and an Over the Back Fence live radio show.
Maybe you’ve enjoyed plays and concerts in New York, Chicago or Minneapolis. You might also be (or plan to be) a regular patron of the arts right here in Lanesboro. Make plans to check out the new mural that will help celebrate the joy, beauty and power of art in Lanesboro’s own theatre district!
» Learn more about the mural at lanesboroarts.com
The panels Pearson created tell a story using real and fictional characters based on his own research and historical photos. Here are just a few details featured in the mural.
The fairy in the top left corner is on the stage, and represents “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” which was the Commonweal Theatre Company's first production in 1989.
The audience member with the broom represents Robert Greer, one of the first businessmen of Lanesboro and the first mayor.
The character performing with the guitar represents the St. Mane Theatre, because it hosts both professional and communitybased musical performers.
The woman above Mr. Greer represents one of the former switchboard phone operators in town, and the phone line travels to each character, ending on stage, plugged into the guitar.
A PLACE LIKE WHALAN
In a world growing noisier and more complicated by the day, you have to love that there’s still a place like Whalan. Whalan, Minnesota, is a small town (population 67) on the Root River, four miles east of Lanesboro. Travel another nine miles and you find Peterson. You can arrive in Whalan via State Highway 16 or do what most people do—jump on a bike and pedal there on the Root River State Trail. The trail cuts through the middle of town like a sharp knife through fresh pie, which fits well because homemade pie is what many people associate with Whalan, Minnesota. The Aroma Pie Shoppe, located just a few yards off the Trail, lures thousands of bikers each season to pause for delicious pie (and other goodies). If it’s the only reason you show up here, you’ve made a fine choice. But there’s much more in this tiny treasure of a town. People come to hike, bird, fish, take jeep rides, tube down the river, and enjoy a round of mini-golf. In the winter, Whalan hosts a February candlelight cross country ski event and there are also sleigh rides to partake in. There are crafts and boutique shopping to be found at Treasures on the Trail, and the new Whalan Depot has gifts, ice cream, drinks, and snacks. Whalan hosts a July 4th softball tournament and is home to Ernie’s Filling Station (a relic-filled 1917 vintage gas station) and O’s Poppin Kernels. If you want to take in a
Sunday service, Whalan Lutheran Church is a welcoming place. This little town also has a fun and unique history to explore at the Whalan Museum (think railroads, tobacco plants and mink farms). If you end up staying longer than a day and want to plan family fun, reunions, weddings, and such, you’ll find topquality hospitality, highlighted by the award-winning Cedar Valley Resort. There are excellent whole-house rentals too, including Cyclin Inn, Bluffview Guest House, and the new Blossom Valley Inn. Whether you stay for a day or overnight, there is plenty to explore and enjoy in Whalan.
Whalan offers all that in the heart of the quiet, pulseslowing beauty of Bluff Country. Yes, we all should be glad that there’s still a place like Whalan.
EXPERIENCE OWLS UP CLOSE
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Houston, Minnesota Check our website for current hours and program schedule
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