DETROIT LAKES — For the first time since it was formed in 2022, the Detroit Lakes Arts and Culture Commission has new officers.
After Vice Chair Nancy Haggart resigned from her position with the commission last month, the group decided to take the opportunity to do a little reorganizing, and at its March 27 meeting, the changes became official by unanimous vote: Chairman Amy Stoller Stearns stepped down from her position, to be replaced by Detroit Lakes Public Schools Superintendent Mark Jenson, a 2023 appointee to the commission.
Becker County Museum Executive Director Becky Mitchell, who had also served as secretary for the commission since its inception, has been elected as the new vice chairman, while Detroit Lakes High School arts instructor Claire Danner will serve as secretary. The commission also welcomed Haggart's replacement, Anna Carlson, to her first official meeting as a member, though she has been attending since January as an observer.
After those organizational matters were taken care of, the commission began delving into its current projects, including the second phase of the Detroit Lakes Energy utility box art project and Art on a Stick.
Last month, the commission had approved potential locations for five new utility box art installations (subject to vetting by the Public Utilities Commission and final approval of the City Council), and up to 12 Art on a Stick installations at four city parks: Lyle Crovisier Park, located at the Boys and Girls Club; South Shore Park; the City Park; and Long Lake Park, with Peoples Park as an alternate site.
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This month, Stearns reported that the Public Utilities Commission would not be providing the $500 artist stipends for the utility box project this year, so they needed to find an alternative funding source. Fortunately, she noted, the Blandin Foundation grant that was received for the Create DL public art initiative last year could be stretched to cover both the Art on a Stick and utility box projects, albeit slightly scaled down.
"If we did four utility boxes and eight Art on a Stick ... we could get it all funded through the Blandin Foundation grant," Stearns said.
The scaled-down utility box project would put vinyl wraps decorated with original art onto existing public utility power boxes at the following locations:
- A box located on the east side of Washington Avenue, next to Essentia Health St. Mary's and across the street from Becker Pet and Garden.
- A box at the Morrow Avenue (Highway 10) frontage road, southeast of MnDOT and across the road from the Sinclair gas station, which is also adjacent to the bike path.
- A box at the corner of Madison Avenue and East Shore Drive, across from the east side of the high school football field and adjacent to Ecumen Detroit Lakes.
- A box on the north side of Randolph Road, next to the old jail building and just west of Lakeshirts.
The site in front of Detroit Lakes Middle School was eliminated from the list because there were some issues with potential rust contamination on that particular box. Meanwhile, the four potential Art on a Stick locations will remain the same, but just two installations will be placed at each park instead of three. The commission is still awaiting Park Board approval for the Art on a Stick locations, so those have yet to be finalized.
The "call for artists" for both the utility boxes and Art on a Stick are expected to go out sometime in April.
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