BIGFORK — Sometimes, you can live in a community so long, you forget what makes the place special. Sometimes, all it takes is an outsider’s perspective to remind you what makes your home unique. Sketches of Minnesota does just that.
The Edge Center for the Arts in Bigfork will be one of 10 communities hosting Sketches of Minnesota 2025 on Saturday, Oct. 11.
Sketches of Minnesota is a program that sends facilitators and improvisational comedians to various communities in the state. It’s a joint effort by Minnesota Humanities Center and Danger Boat Productions comedy troupe with support from the Legacy amendment and Blandin Foundation.
It’s a unique event that starts out with a dinner, and while people are eating, facilitators lead conversations at each table. They will ask questions like, “What do you like about living here?”, “What makes your town great?”, and “What are things in your town that people may not know about?”
The Dragon Boat Productions comedy troupe then writes comedy sketches based on attendees' answers. After dessert, the troupe performs these mostly improvised comedy skits.
Barry Feld, who has been involved with the Edge Center, told the KAXE Morning Show, “We sort of each live in our own little bubbles and we don't have many opportunities to come together. This is a way to get people to come together, to unite us and to not divide us and to build connections within a community and across communities.”
Feld thinks of this as more than just a Bigfork event, but instead for all of the “Edge of the Wilderness” area, including Marcel, Effie, Wirt and Togo.
The event and meals are free, but attendees must register for the event before Sunday, Oct. 5, at the Edge Center for the Arts' website. The social hour begins at 5 p.m. Oct. 11 followed by the dinner at 6 p.m.
The event is family friendly, and Feld said he thinks the event is a unique way to view someone’s community in a different light.
“Each town's story is a different place. It’s sort of bringing the conversations they hear to life and then showing back to all of us who we are together, rather than apart,” Feld said. “The reasons why we live up here are shared values, and there's much more that unites us than divides us.”
Other Northern Minnesota stops ahead for Sketches of Minnesota include Oct. 18 at the Firefly Center of Art & Wellbeing in Fosston and Oct. 27 at the New York Mills Arts Retreat and Regional Cultural Center. It also stopped at the Clearwater Forest Camp and Retreat Center in Deerwood in September.
At the conclusion of the tour, Danger Boat’s sketch writer will weave the best parts of each performance into a final soon-to-be-announced show, according to the troupe's website. This grand finale will offer a whirlwind tour of Minnesota through sketch comedy, song and story.
Tell us about upcoming arts events where you live in Northern Minnesota by emailingpsa@kaxe.org.
Area Voices is made possible by the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund and the citizens of Minnesota.
