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In_The_Gallery | New
York Mills, Minnesota  Named
one of the top five culturally cool towns by USA Today Weekend Magazine
in 1994.Featured as one of the top 50 Funky Towns in Mark Cramer's 1995 nationally recognized book, Funkytowns, USA. Featured as one of "The 100 Best Small Arts Towns in America" by travel writer John Villani (1994). Arts as Economic Development The city of New York Mills (population 1,200) was founded in 1884 by Finnish immigrants. Major industries include agriculture (row crops, grain and dairy farming), Lund Boat Company, one of the country's top fishing boat manufacturers, and a variety of service professions. Located in Otter Tail County, which boasts 1,048 of the state's famous lakes, tourism is an increasingly important economic factor in the area. Dozens of resorts and bed & breakfast operations make New York Mills and the surrounding lakes area an idyllic vacation destination. A strong arts presence adds a new dimension to the tourism economy. Faced with the same challenges many rural communities struggled with in the 1970s through the 80s, New York Mills took a bold forward-looking step in 1991 when the city contributed $35,000 to the Regional Arts Retreat and Cultural Center to convert a downtown mercantile building into a multi-use arts and cultural facility. As a per-capita investment, this expenditure would be the equivalent of Minneapolis giving $13.7 million to an arts facility. The center, remodeled through a community-wide volunteer effort, opened its doors in June, 1992. Further renovations include a new hardwood maple floor in the main gallery and an outdoor deck completed in 2005. While other communities withered in the face of declining populations and deteriorating main streets, New York Mills has remained stable economically, while the Cultural Center continues to draw people, activity, revenue and national attention to the community. The Center has become a focal point for the community, and has helped to revitalize it in a number of ways: *by bringing neighbors together through quality programming, helping to alleviate cultural and social isolation; *by drawing visitors and new residents to the town from across the state and country; *by regenerating a sense of community pride with the national recognition it has achieved; *by stimulating the creative process, providing opportunities for each resident to foster their own creativity through the artists-in-residency program and classes offered at the center; The town displays its support of the arts in a number of ways: *The town water tower has the Cultural Center's tractor logo painted on its east side (and a silhouette of a Lund boat on its west side). *The streets in the Commercial Park are named after philosophers and artists. *The Sculpture Park unveiled The World's Largest Art Tractor in June, 1998. *The city has hired an architect to design a cohesive and aesthetic plan for the downtown area. As a result of these joint efforts, the community boasts several new businesses, a 40% increase in jobs, a new school, and a fresh look to the downtown area.  Where
We AreLocated in West-Central Minnesota, 180 miles NW of Minneapolis/St. Paul and 75 miles east of Fargo, North Dakota, the area offers over 1,000 lakes for rest and recreation, including three of the state's top ten fishing lakes. Rolling hills and prairie give way to forests and wetlands as you travel east. The town sits on the North/South Continental Divide. For more about our area go to: www.lakesurfer.com www.explorenewyorkmills.com www.exploreminnesota.com |
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Telephone:
(218) 385-3339 Fax: (218) 385-3366 |
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