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All donations are tax deductible and go directly to our Building Maintenance and Community Projects Fund.

Credit card? Right here.

Donate


Cash or check? Mail to Granite Area Arts Council, PO Box 111, Granite Falls, MN 56241 or stop into our building at 807 Prentice St.

Our 2024 Year in Review-

Our home base - the historic KK Berge building - turned 100 this year! And our scrappy volunteer-run Granite Area Arts Council turns 17. We’re so thankful for all of you, and all we’ve done together in 2024: 


  • Hosted 22 art exhibits in our refurbished gallery spaces, along with opening receptions and artist talks, including the special Kathleen Jordan exhibit and the 2nd annual Upper Sioux Community Artist showcase, Waniyetu Aihduha / “Preparing for Winter”

  • Offered a year-long slate of classes, workshops, special events, and continued operating our popular Makers on the Minnesota gift shop, featuring work by over 70 local artists. 

  • Led a state-wide symposium on Placemaking at Prairie’s Edge Casino for City and Tribal employees, Economic Development Professionals, and Arts Administrators

  • Held the 4th summer of Makers Markets, with live music and artisan booths down by the river on first Thursday of every summer month. 

  • Ran a summer art camp, painted new downtown crosswalks murals, and worked with students to add to the flood wall murals and mosaics. 

  • Staged a 100th Birthday Bash for our beloved KK Berge Building, with a pop-up community exhibit co-curated with the Yellow Medicine Historical Museum, Soup made from local produce by the YME Food Sciences class, a special birthday cake by Carl’s Bakery, the fireside musical stylings of Ben Lecy, and custom Prohibition cocktails and mocktails. 

  • Gifted our birthday building with a southside mural by Nick and Nicole Fischer! We also restored the stained glass in the front, and replaced a broken AC system just in time for the heat of summer. 

  • Decorated and put up our third Granite Falls Tiny Solstice Village, where kids and tiny-furniture enthusiasts decorate and illuminate dollhouses to create a pop-up micro city for the holiday season.

  • Brought fabric artist Stephanie Rogers from Red Wing MN to do a two-part Community Artist Residency (GF CAIR) with free open workshops, special Granite Falls photographic sew-on patches, and a community quilt gifted to a local community member recovering from cancer treatments. 

  • Brought GF CAIR artist Leah Cook back for a special outdoor t-shirt printing lab in Rice Park, who also made a special batch for our hardworking Public Works Department. 

  • Hosted along with community partners, the 4th SquidFest (The Only SquidFest in the Midwest!), including an artist residency resulting in a 25-foot giant squid puppet, now loose and basement-hopping in the community. 

  • Helped host the Meander Opening Night event. 

  • Sent the GF CAIR program to Taiwan to attend the international ResArtis conference, and present our board game Space Station Survival: Placemaking Edition at the Taiwan Art Space Alliance Conference. 

  • Worked with the City on ongoing beautification projects, including downtown mosaic planters featuring local pollinators. 

  • Opened our 14th annual Christmas Market. 

  • Welcomed a new board member! We’re so proud Robin Robertson joined our ranks! (And if you’re interested in spending a few hours a month to contribute to the community with us, please email - we’d love to welcome you too!) 

Now we’re gearing up for an exciting 2025, ever-expanding our work and dreams in the community. 

We couldn’t have done any of this without you, and we’re going to need your help to keep going! Here’s what your donation can help us make happen:

-          $20? Covers art supplies for one summer camp participant.

-          $50? Covers groceries for an artist reception.

-          $100? Makes an open class or public workshop available for low cost - or free!

-         $250? Offer a range of kids’ art activities at a community event.

-          $1000? Cover 10% of replacing our broken air conditioner with a split unit, that keeps us all cool and our utility bills lower! 

Have ideas for us? Want to spend some time alongside us, volunteering to contribute to the community we all share? We’d love to hear from you! Email us at the same address. 

Again, we’re so thankful you’re our neighbor - and for your support these seventeen years. We admire and share your enthusiasm for making art a valuable part of life in Granite Falls – and beyond!