about
contact
MacRostie Art Center
405 1st Avenue NW
Grand Rapids, MN 55744
218-326-2697 phone
218-327-0271 fax
info@macrostieartcenter.org
mission
Dedicated to community growth through the arts in northern Minnesota.
staff
Paula Brandel, Executive Director: paula@macrostieartcenter.org
Alanna Hanson, Gallery Coordinator: alanna@macrostieartcenter.org
Jaime Lawler, Finance and Education Coordinator: jaime@macrostieartcenter.org
board
Charlie Ramos, President
Bill Rutherford, Vice President
Shirley Miller, Treasurer
Michelle Carlson, Secretary
Beth Biley
M'Lou Brubaker
Mary Metzger
Sam Miltich
Elizabeth Miskovich
Derek Rolle
Barb Sanderson
Katherine Sedore
history
MacRostie Art Center (MAC) was formed in 1960 as the Itasca Art Association (IAA), a loosely organized painters' club, with a primary interest in watercolor. Lacking a permanent home for three decades, IAA focused on informal, mutual support, peer-review development, convening in kitchens, spare bedrooms, studios, and abandoned storefronts with an occasional workshop conducted by a well-known regional painter.
In 1991, Ruth MacRostie made a gift of the building at the corner of 1st Avenue NW and 4th Street With the addition of crucial start-up funding from the Blandin Foundation, IAA decided to change its name to MacRostie Art Center, both to commemorate Ms. MacRostie's generosity and to reflect institutional maturity. The MAC's declared goal to become an art center had important implications for programming and outreach.
Today the MAC is an established regional art center that brings together students and teachers, artists and buyers and people throughout the community with a passion for creating and experiencing art. The classes offered to children and adults, the gift shop featuring the work of local artists, and the monthly exhibits of regional and national artists all serve to advance the goal of the MAC to foster community growth through the arts in northern Minnesota.