Artspace - Building Better Communities Through The Arts 

The Cowles Center will be a new high-profile home for more than a dozen Minnesota performing arts groups, a flagship for dance, a statewide arts education resource, and a major contributor to the Twin Cities economy.

The new complex will permanently connect two of downtown Minneapolis’ most historic landmarks, the 1888 Masonic Temple known since 1979 as Hennepin Center for the Arts and the 1910 Shubert Theatre, which originally stood two blocks away. Artspace acquired HCA in 1997 and the long-vacant theater the following year. Over 12 memorable days in February 1999, we moved the theater to its new home on Hennepin Avenue; at 5.8 million pounds, it was the heaviest building ever moved on rubber tires – a feat duly recognized by the Guinness Book of Records.

A decade in the making, the Cowles Center will fill a major void in the Twin Cities’ arts scene by providing office, rehearsal, and performance space for small and midsize arts organizations, including all of the area’s major dance companies. The Center’s innovative arts education program, launched in 2004, reaches students throughout Minnesota by means of interactive web-based technology.