| WHO: | Northern Lakes Arts Association | ||
| BUSINESS TYPE: | Arts Nonprofit | ||
| SIGNATURE PRODUCTS: | Theater and Arts Programming | ||
| WHERE:
SOCIALS: WEBSITE: |
Ely, MN |
By Millie Frankel, Staff Writer at Meet the Minnesota Makers
Summer wildfire smoke isn’t unfamiliar territory for Ely, but when wildfires hit the Boundary Waters
this July, it was a different story. “I had never experienced smoke of this density. It was just so thick and heavy,” says Ian Francis Lah, executive director of the Northern Lakes Arts Association. People couldn’t spend time outside, summer events were cancelled, and businesses took a hit. But NLAA had access to an air-conditioned theater at the local college.
“We were about to open the second show of the summer,” remembers Ian. “I thought, well, let’s just make it as accessible as possible and open the doors.” NLAA made the first weekend of Jesus Christ Superstar pay-what-you-can. “That way, if people just need space to not think about what’s happening and to be with community, even if it’s only for 90 minutes, it’ll give them a little reprieve,” says Ian.
The following week, the smoke cleared, and life had the veneer of normalcy, but the community was still feeling the effects. Ian decided to continue the pay-what-you-can model and started an initiative for attendees to spend the price of a ticket on dinner at a local restaurant before the show, returning support back to the community.
NLAA Grows from the Ely Art Tradition
The arts have long held a position of importance in Ely. When NLAA decided to put on Jesus Christ Superstar, Ian went looking for old playbills and found productions from 1979 and 1990 sponsored by local businesses, revealing how the community has supported theater for decades.
Ely’s artistic nature has roots in early immigrant communities working in the mines. The arts were a way for the community to gather together and weather difficult times. Says Ian: “We did not have a lot. The moments that we were together were filled with song and dance.”
When the mines in Ely began closing, money got even tighter and, as often happens, the arts became less of a priority. “Some community members started to realize how the arts were such a huge part of the community,” explains Ian. So, in 1988, the NLAA was formed, “to uplift the arts and to continue artistic education, outreach, and support.” Since the very beginning, the organization has supported arts of all kinds, from visual, to performing, to literary.
Combatting Isolation through Arts Programming
“The arts are an opportunity to open people’s minds, but also to bring new people in.”
During his tenure as Executive Director, Ian has expanded the vision of NLAA to diversify and reinvigorate the Ely arts ecosystem. Born and raised in Ely with artist and educator parents, Ian moved to New York to become a professional actor and spent ten years working at different theaters around the country. These experiences gave him a unique perspective on the needs of Ely. As a local, he observed that Ely’s history as an isolated, tight-knit community of immigrants living in a harsh environment had evolved into a protective wariness toward outsiders. On the other hand, his experiences travelling showed him that working with others and experiencing new things expanded his artistry and helped him grow as an actor. 
Ian also saw how investing in the arts could support Ely’s economy without being tied to mining or summer tourism. “I recognized pretty early on that the arts and culture sectors offer an economic pillar that is neither extractive nor seasonal,” explains Ian. These observations led him to expand NLAA programming to bring in artists from across the region and the entire country to work within the Ely art community. “The end result will create a community that is a desirable place to be, while being open to everyone,” reflects Ian.
Working Together: Ely Artists and Beyond
One of the first things Ian did as the NLAA executive director was to form the Ely Cultural Alliance with other Ely arts nonprofits, allowing them to work together on programming for the community. NLAA also runs numerous children’s camps and after-school programs for performance and visual arts, and offers scholarships for students to pursue their artform in college.
“Our real mission is uplifting the unsung voices of the artists of our region, especially LGBTQIA+, indigenous artists, and artists of color, because there is a lack of representation,” says Ian. He has expanded NLAA grants to be available to artists across the Northwoods, rather than restricting them to those living in Ely and implemented a teaching element to engage the community in the artists’ work. Each quarter, they award a grant to a Northwoods artist to put up a 3-month art exhibition, and teach a class for the community. They also developed the Creative Spirit of the North, a one-year studio residency and unrestricted grant for a Northwoods artist that also incorporates a teaching element. This year, they launched the Literary Laureate of the Northwoods, a similar residency program for regional writers.
Another of Ian’s initiatives involves bringing to Ely professional actors from all over the country to work with local community members in theater productions.The local actors get to see professionals doing what they love and encouraging them to do the same, while the professionals learn from the Ely community, “be it how to survive a mosquito-y summer, or the strange type of resilience it takes to live in a place like this,” says Ian.
Moving Forward: Art as Community Resilience
Resilience is a defining factor of the Ely community. The harsh winters, unpredictable climate, and ups and downs of the local economy necessitate people to turn to community as a way to survive. To Ian, the arts play a vital role in fostering community resilience. They spark human conversations through a shared experience, invoke empathy for those different from oneself, provide economic opportunity, and offer a place for communal catharsis. “I think that’s one of the reasons why, during the fires, we surprisingly had one of our best attended performances of a show,” says Ian. “People were so stressed. I think people needed a space where it was okay to exhale and let all of that out.”
“How do we continue to create spaces and opportunities where we can find solace or we can find joy or
we can find release?” NLAA’s answer is to commit to continuing the positive impact of their cultural programming and support of the arts throughout future hardships. That means increasing accessibility initiatives such as the pay-what-you-can ticket model, maintaining scholarship funds, and avoiding cutting a single program. For those invested in the rural Minnesota arts ecosystem, showing support for NLAA by becoming a member, sponsor, donor, or simply attending one of their shows is indispensable. Says Ian: “I see the work that we have to do now as an organization is to give the support back to the community that supported us.”
Keep in Touch
Find out about the next show and learn about opportunities with NLAA at https://www.northernlakesarts.org/
Follow along for a glimpse into NLAA’s productions and to find ways to support them on Instagram and Facebook.
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