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Our Story

A tradition of artistry.

Original Phipps Building
Original Phipps Building

For three decades, the Phipps Center for the Arts been a place to explore, host and celebrate the arts. We are a destination for visual art, theater, song, and dance in the St. Croix Valley of eastern Minnesota and western Wisconsin.

The Phipps Center for the Arts opened in 1983 with a theater and classroom space, due in large part to the generosity of the William H. Phipps Foundation, in tandem with community support. In 1992 we doubled in size with the addition of galleries, a Black Box Theater, a larger scene shop, and Music and Dance studios.

The center’s programming is run by six councils – Drama, Children’s Theater, Music, Visual Arts, Dance, and Volunteers. These councils select programming, work onstage and backstage, build sets, jury the art for our galleries, usher at performances, staff the ticket office and gift gallery, and have representatives on our board of directors.

Our community art programs have been enlivened through rich partnerships with local organizations over the years. In 2003 we joined with Hudson Hospital to create the Healing Arts program, which has since expanded to Westfields Hospital in New Richmond, as well as the Enriching Art Program at Croixdale in Bayport, MN.


The Phipps is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization and takes pride in contributing to the creative and economic vitality of our community.