Art Center Serves as a Hub for Winona Artists and Community

WINONA — A short walk from Winona’s downtown, past storefronts and tree lined residential streets, a historic German Presbyterian church built in 1864 hugs the corner of 5th and Franklin Streets. While it once served its parishioners offering spiritual guidance and a sense of community, it serves a different community today.  

The Winona Arts Center (WAC), run by a band of volunteers and 300-odd members, offers a range of classes, exhibitions, and hands-on opportunities to learn and experience art.

Formed in 1956 by seven Winona artists who enjoyed painting together, the Winona Art Group, in 1964, morphed into the Winona Arts Center, a 501 (c) (3) nonprofit. Financed by donations, memberships, grants and building rentals, the art center offers a full complement of art experiences and events.

The Winona Arts Center is housed in a renovated 1864 German Presbyterian church near the city’s downtown. An elevator lift and automated door make the center easily accessible. (Photo by John Torgrimson)

While the building looks like a church on the outside, the apse has been turned into gallery space for local and regional art exhibits, a small stage serves the drum circle and concert performers, and a large movie screen folds down for films. The lower level is home to the center’s RiverBed Press Artist Studio.

The recent addition of a new entrance with an automated door and elevator lift makes the building accessible to all.

The Winona Arts Center’s RiverBend studio for those interested in printmaking. (Photo by Jen Benson)

Board member and RiverBed Press Coordinator Jen Benson explained that the center hosts a regular schedule of activities. There’s a winter/spring concert schedule and every week is loaded with special events – Monday is Drum Circle; Tuesday is Drawing Circle; Thursday is Open Studio; Winona Film Society hosts independent and foreign films on most Friday evenings; and the Frances Prentiss Lucas Gallery is open during exhibitions on Saturdays and Sundays.

For a complete list of offerings, visit the Winona Arts Center webpage.

Open press studio

The Winona Arts Center hosts Open Studio weekly on Thursday from 4:30 – 8:00 pm. The studio is designed for those who are interested in printmaking or need space to work on their own art projects.  

The Winona Arts Center’s Jen Benson demonstrates how the Conrad etching press works. The press is able to create prints 22 by 30 inches. (Photo courtesy Jen Benson)

The unique feature of the art studio is a Conrad etching press purchased in 2014 where printmakers can work on their craft. The press allows artists to create prints by applying pressure to ink-filled plates onto paper. The surface area of the press is 24 by 48 inches and is able to create prints 22 by 30 inches.

Winona artist and printmaker Dirk Nelson explained that oil-based ink that cleans up with soap and water is applied to a plate. Stencils, screens and other material may be used to provide texture and design elements. The plate is then placed on the press, topped with wetted paper, and rolled. Once completely rolled, the print is removed and hung up to dry.

Dirk Nelson gets a plate ready for printing. The monoprint process allows for several colors of ink to be used at the same time. (Photo by John Torgrimson)

Unlike other print processes — like intaglio, lithography, or relief printing that require a separate plate for each color — the monoprint process allows for several colors of ink to be used at the same time. 

Nelson will be demonstrating the monoprint process at future Open Studio Spotlight sessions. This new offering from Winona Arts Center will offer ‘Spotlight’ Open Studio nights featuring demonstrations from artists who are seasoned and experienced in their craft. 

Fish, a print by Dirk Nelson. (Courtesy by Dirk Nelson)

Nelson’s demonstration will showcase the use of stencils, brayers, brushes, watercolor crayons, textures and offset printing. Spotlight events do require registration as spots are limited. Register with Benson via email. 

Outside of Open Studio, the RiverBed Press Artist Studio also hosts a myriad of art classes taught by local artists as well as a quarterly Free Ink event. Free Ink invites the public into the studio to experience the printing process free of charge. Their most recent event on February 1st welcomed over 100 community members.

Dwelling Among the Trees, a print by Jen Benson. The print was created for a Hiawatha Valley Mental Health Center Workshop. (Courtesy Jen Benson)

The River Connects Us exhibit

Upstairs in the gallery, Winona photographer Pete Mutschler and Stillwater poet Tom Gillaspy have teamed up to create The River Connects Us — an exhibit on view through March 2, 2025.  

With the Mississippi serving as the backbone of continental America, the artists created through image and word a single snapshot in time of the river experience. The overall goal of the exhibit is to show how the Mississippi River experience is powerful, making us stronger than the divisions that separate us.

Images and poetry from The River Connects exhibit at the Frances Prentiss Lucas Gallery at the Winona Arts Center. (Photo by John Torgrimson)

On any given day, the Winona Arts Center serves as a community hub, where artisans and art devotees practice their craft; where Winonans and their southeastern Minnesota neighbors unite for an evening of entertainment; and where citizens come to participate in a shared experience.  

The spirits that sit up in the rafters of this old church would be pleased.