Hennepin Theatre Trust

Programming: Hennepin Theatre Trust protects and preserves the important historic arts district and improves the experience for all who work, play, live or visit downtown. We bring broadway's leading professional productions to Minnesota audiences. Annually, shows such as hamilton, wicked, frozen, dear evan hansen and come from away attract nearly 350,000 people to downtown minneapolis for inspiring entertainment in our historic theatres. In addition, our three historic theatres attract a diverse array of today's brightest music, dance and comedic talent, including david byrne, amos lee, sounds of blackness, ira glass, dancing with the stars, brazilian singer seu jorge, paul reiser and ali wong. Combined, our diverse Theatre programming brings more than 600,000 people to downtown minneapolis from around the upper midwest region and beyond. The Trust contributes millions to the local creative economy, including local artists and technicians. As leaders of the Hennepin Theatre district, we bring together a wide range of stakeholders on numerous projects, and develop public-private partnerships that unlock positive solutions to challenges in downtown such as business vacancies, homelessness, safety and youth unemployment.

Education:hennepin Theatre Trust's spotlight education program is an essential part of arts education in many Minnesota schools. Annually, we help nearly 8,000 students in more than 100 high schools build confidence, critical thinking, empathy, a sense of community, knowledge and appreciation of theater. The program supplements and enhances arts curricula through production assessments, workshops and arts journalism, increasing equitable access to quality theater education. Spotlight showcase, our annual recognition event, is Minnesota's largest celebration of high school theater and provides over 1,600 students the opportunity to perform at the historic state Theatre. Additionally, spotlight education partners with community organizations and elementary schools to create inclusive and sustainable arts experiences.disney musicals in schools (dmis) is a program that develops sustainable musical theater programs in public elementary schools. Hennepin Theatre Trust pairs professional teaching artists with teams of school-based educators to produce a 30-minute version of a disney musical, helping to foster positive relationships between students, faculty, staff, parents and the community. Dmis helps to develop the wide spectrum of skills needed when producing a piece of musical theater, including critical thinking, problem solving, ensemble building, communication, self-confidence and interpersonal skills.

Public art:hennepin Theatre Trust transforms the places and spaces that make the Hennepin Theatre district a vibrant, welcoming and safe place for all to enjoy through our public art program, the largest in the midwest. Outside our theatres, we connect people to unexpected arts and cultural experiences such as the iconic bob dylan mural, large-scale banners, art in underused spaces, and live arts and cultural events throughout the Theatre district. Our free outdoor programming, titled 5 to 10 on Hennepin and created with key partners, helps increase public safety and benefits homeless youth and adults in the district. The monthly event brings live music and art experiences to outdoors spaces on Hennepin avenue, and provides attendees with food and connections to social services.in 2018, we launched the "it's the people" initiative inspired by the people whose experiences and stories create the unique vibrancy of Hennepin avenue. The major public art project captures the heart and soul of minneapolis' most famous street through nine large-scale banners displayed on five buildings between 5th and 10th streets along Hennepin avenue. "we are still here is a multiyear collaborative partnership between native american community development institute [nacdi] and Hennepin Theatre Trust to bring large-scale, high-profile public artworks to the Hennepin Theatre district and the american indian culture corridor. This ongoing and evolving initiative seeks to match emerging native artists with established native arts mentors in an extending fellowship that creates a variety of public art works which promote native and indigenous storytelling in the community along Hennepin avenue and throughout the greater twin cities metro area.