PARK RAPIDS — An art center is more than a showcase for art. It can be a catalyst to facilitate an art scene in a small town. The Nemeth Art Center in Park Rapids adds to Northern Minnesota's growing rural arts scene.
Beginning in 1977, it was originally called the North Country Museum of Arts. In 2011, it became the Nemeth Art Center.
Mark Weiler has supported the Nemeth Art Center for a decade and became its executive director in 2023. Before joining Nemeth, he ran a commercial art gallery in downtown Fargo for 13 years. He hopes to expand the vision built by board members: to show local talent while hosting art from outside Minnesota in Park Rapids.
Weiler said, “The creative capital is one of the driving forces behind the local economy. People are coming into town for entertainment. The creative aspect of it... We want to provide another outlet for that.”
A big part of the Nemeth Art Center is its artist-in-residence program. Weiler said the program is very healthy and has led to connections with patrons, board members and the Park Rapids community.
“Having a network of people that are excited about what we're doing in the summer and having a lot of vitality in what's happening in Park Rapids with the culinary scene, the theater, the opera, and those all benefit the kind of cultural nexus of what they're trying to do in Park Rapids.”
The Nemeth Art Center hopes to host artists in residence to engage with visiting artists. The idea is to come to Park Rapids, meet the community, and create collections based strictly in Park Rapids. They experimented last year having more artists visiting throughout the year.
The Youth Art Show reception is at the Nemeth Art Center, with an awards ceremony on Saturday, June 1. The show features about 35 pieces by local students in 8th through 12th grades. There will also be cash prizes, with a first-place award of $300.
“We really try to promote just the creative class and get that creative energy in the high schoolers that maybe don't have much exposure in what they're doing outside of the classroom.”
When Weiler was working in the commercial gallery space in Fargo, he built a cultural community that grew into a center for downtown arts events in Fargo. “And we hope to kind of bring that ethos to what we're doing at the Nemeth in a seasonal way, but also just bringing people together.”
Weiler said, “Trying to connect the visitor with the local. I think there's a lot of impact you can have both economically and creatively if you make those connections.”
The rest of the summer at the Nemeth Art Center will feature four artists, E.V. Day, Emma Beatrez, Madeleine Bialke and Wayne Gudmondson. Find more information on Instagram and at the Nemeth’s website. The center is open Thursdays through Saturdays from 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Tell us about upcoming arts events where you live in Northern Minnesota by emailing psa@kaxe.org.
Area Voices is made possible by the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund and the citizens of Minnesota.
