Paradise Center for the Arts
Encyclopedia
The Paradise Center for the Arts is located at 321 Central Avenue in Faribault, Minnesota
in the United States
. For more than 60 years, this building, the Paradise Theater, served the region with a 915 seat atmospheric theatre
, capable of producing arts programming on a fully functioning stage and showing newly released films. The theater closed in the late 1980s, under pressure from more modern, multiplex theaters that had sprung up in the region.
The period of vacancy at the Paradise Theater was not void of artistic enterprises. The Faribault Art Center (FAC) which became a nonprofit in 1965, Faribault Area Community Theater (FACT), founded in 1988, and The Merlin Players all became very active players in the regional arts scene. For over 40 years, the Faribault Art Center (now the Paradise Center for the Arts) has been part of the Faribault community. Begun in the 1950’s by a small group of artists, FAC promoted visual arts to local artists and art lovers through classes, exhibitions, and community involvement projects. FACT also had a strong history of making theatrical performances accessible to community participants as well as patrons. There are currently two community theater performances a year: one summer large scale musical and one smaller three act play.
The Merlin Players (TMP) is a non-profit theater organization that provides professional, affordable theatre experiences to audiences throughout southeastern Minnesota. These productions are designed to offer actors, technical staff and director’s challenges for artistic growth. Dedicated to the ideology that artists are deserving of monetary reimbursement for their talents and efforts just like any other work, TMP provides stipends to everyone involved in productions, not just the actors, including students who provide backstage and technical support. This relationship provides students with experience working with professionals, which has led to strong mentoring relationships. TMP has a production schedule of four full shows a year at the Paradise starting with Always, Patsy Cline in May 2008. Their first show in the Paradise was in December 2007, a production of A Christmas Carol.
Built in 1929 on the site of the former Faribault Opera House, the Paradise was recently renovated. It was designed by the firm of Liebenberg and Kaplan (who also designed the Uptown Theater and the Oak Street Cinema
in Minneapolis). The motif is one of a Moorish courtyard with Turkish caps over the doors, turrets and "stonework" on the walls. Originally built to seat 915, the Paradise has been altered to seat 300. The remainder of the building has become a multi-purpose art center with an exhibition gallery, classrooms, and retail space, with fully restored facades in the lobby. The Bahl Family Auditorium was restored (with the change in size) to its original 1929 splendor.
Tami Oachs, Executive Director
Matt Drevlow, President of the Board of Directors
Dan Freking, Bookkeeper
Marilyn Filan, Secretary
The Board of Directors has 14 members drawn from Faribault
, Lonsdale, Northfield and Owatonna communities in Minnesota
.
Faribault, Minnesota
As of the census of 2000, there were 20,818 people, 7,472 households, and 4,946 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,644.8 people per square mile . There were 7,668 housing units at an average density of 605.8 per square mile...
in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. For more than 60 years, this building, the Paradise Theater, served the region with a 915 seat atmospheric theatre
Atmospheric theatre
An atmospheric theatre is a type of movie palace which has an auditorium ceiling that is intended to give the illusion of an open sky as its defining feature...
, capable of producing arts programming on a fully functioning stage and showing newly released films. The theater closed in the late 1980s, under pressure from more modern, multiplex theaters that had sprung up in the region.
The period of vacancy at the Paradise Theater was not void of artistic enterprises. The Faribault Art Center (FAC) which became a nonprofit in 1965, Faribault Area Community Theater (FACT), founded in 1988, and The Merlin Players all became very active players in the regional arts scene. For over 40 years, the Faribault Art Center (now the Paradise Center for the Arts) has been part of the Faribault community. Begun in the 1950’s by a small group of artists, FAC promoted visual arts to local artists and art lovers through classes, exhibitions, and community involvement projects. FACT also had a strong history of making theatrical performances accessible to community participants as well as patrons. There are currently two community theater performances a year: one summer large scale musical and one smaller three act play.
The Merlin Players (TMP) is a non-profit theater organization that provides professional, affordable theatre experiences to audiences throughout southeastern Minnesota. These productions are designed to offer actors, technical staff and director’s challenges for artistic growth. Dedicated to the ideology that artists are deserving of monetary reimbursement for their talents and efforts just like any other work, TMP provides stipends to everyone involved in productions, not just the actors, including students who provide backstage and technical support. This relationship provides students with experience working with professionals, which has led to strong mentoring relationships. TMP has a production schedule of four full shows a year at the Paradise starting with Always, Patsy Cline in May 2008. Their first show in the Paradise was in December 2007, a production of A Christmas Carol.
Built in 1929 on the site of the former Faribault Opera House, the Paradise was recently renovated. It was designed by the firm of Liebenberg and Kaplan (who also designed the Uptown Theater and the Oak Street Cinema
Oak Street Cinema
The Oak Street Cinema was a small, single-screen movie theater in the Stadium Village neighborhood of Minneapolis, MN near the University of Minnesota campus. The theater played both first-run independent films and repertory showings, including retrospectives of such filmmakers as Ingmar Bergman,...
in Minneapolis). The motif is one of a Moorish courtyard with Turkish caps over the doors, turrets and "stonework" on the walls. Originally built to seat 915, the Paradise has been altered to seat 300. The remainder of the building has become a multi-purpose art center with an exhibition gallery, classrooms, and retail space, with fully restored facades in the lobby. The Bahl Family Auditorium was restored (with the change in size) to its original 1929 splendor.
Tami Oachs, Executive Director
Matt Drevlow, President of the Board of Directors
Dan Freking, Bookkeeper
Marilyn Filan, Secretary
The Board of Directors has 14 members drawn from Faribault
Faribault, Minnesota
As of the census of 2000, there were 20,818 people, 7,472 households, and 4,946 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,644.8 people per square mile . There were 7,668 housing units at an average density of 605.8 per square mile...
, Lonsdale, Northfield and Owatonna communities in Minnesota
Minnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
.