thing I love about White Bear Center for the Arts is it is not White Bear Center for the ceramic arts, or White Bear Center for the visual arts, it is White Bear Center for all of the arts underneath one umbrella.”
Scholl said White Bear Center for the Arts will continue to grow its writing class offerings, as well as its movement classes that include yoga. In the future, he hopes to see the addition of classes in what he calls“ the dirty arts.”
“ We’ re not at a point yet where we can offer welding classes, or significant wood work classes that produce a lot of saw dust and dirt,” said Scholl.“ We just don’ t have the right ventilation, but it is my wish for the institution to eventually have a space where we can really get into some of that bigger, dirtier art.”
In 2025, White Bear Center for the Arts has several major shows planned. Information about each of them can be found online at Whitebeararts. org / current-exhibitions
White Bear Center for the Arts 4971 Long Ave. White Bear Lake, MN 55110 651-407-0597
Lakeshore Players Theatre
Ticket sales at Lakeshore Players Theatre have been very strong over the past couple of years, but the organization is still struggling on the fundraising side.“ People tend to think of their ticket as their investment in an organization, but the way in which our organizations are built they often need both a ticket sale and donations to support the work,” said Lunceford, whose theatre has been getting more creative with how they bring in revenue.
“ One of the best ways to fundraise in the arts are matching gifts, so we’ ve had a really great relationship with North Star Bank, which creates‘ A Season of Giving’ matching donations for us every year for the holiday period. That basically allows any new donor or renewing donor to double their gift. It really does help to drive those donations when people understand their gift makes more impact,” he said.
Lakeshore Players Theatre is also investing more time and effort in its annual gala. The 2025 gala will take place on May 15, 2025, at the Hanifl Performing Arts Center, and will incorporate a performance of“ Anything Goes,” which runs from April 24, 2025 to May 18, 2025.
Lunceford hopes that between the gala, grants, individual donations and matching donations, Lakeshore Players Theatre will be able to top the just-shy of $ 300,000 brought in for 2024. Fundraising accounts for 35 to 40 percent of the nonprofit’ s annual budget.
In 2024, the theatre’ s most popular shows were“ Little House on the Prairie: The Musical,” which featured multiple generations of people from acting families working together, and a new version of“ A Christmas Carol” that was written specifically for Lakeshore Players Theatre.“ Our Christmas Carol production is actually our highest selling show in Lakeshore’ s history,” said Lunceford.
Lakeshore Players Theatre has also enjoyed strong success with its“ Concerts at the Hanifl” series that features everything from blues and bluegrass to classical and classic rock music.“ Music was actually the first thing to come back after COVID, and with the success of the first part of 2024, we invested a lot more in concerts and have a much more robust concert schedule all the way through the end of 2025.
The 2025 series includes performances by the“ Encore Wind Ensemble” and“ Country Roads: A Tribute to John Denver” in May and“ The Sidekicks: Music of the‘ 80s” in June.
More information about Lakeshore Players Theatre and its 2025 shows can be found online at Lakeshoreplayers. org.
Lakeshore Players Hanifl Performing Arts Center 4941 Long Ave White Bear Lake, MN 55110 651-426-3275
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