Franklin Arts Center

A Community Chooses the Arts

1001 Kingwood Street Brainerd, MN, 56401

Overview

When the Brainerd School District decided to replace Franklin Junior High School, a civic landmark since 1932, it formed a citizens’ committee to find the best new use for the building. The committee concluded that an arts center offered the most potential benefit for the community. Thus was conceived the Franklin Arts Center, now a mixed-use facility with 25 live/work apartments for artists and their families; 37,775 square feet of artist studios and space for arts organizations and creative businesses; and 36,247 square feet (two gymnasiums and an auditorium) operated as community space by the School District. 

Could a city of 13,000 best known as the gateway to Minnesota’s Central Lakes District find enough arts-related uses to fill a large school? The answer was yes. The commercial wing of the project filled almost immediately, transforming the building into a lively community of artists, artisans, studios, arts organizations and arts-friendly businesses. 

With the completion of the residential wing in late 2008, the Franklin formally entered its new life as an Arts Center and joined Artspace’s portfolio as its sixth live/work project in Minnesota.

Architect: Miller Dunwiddie Architecture

Community Partner: Crossing Arts Alliance; Brainerd Public Schools

Funders: Blandin Foundation; Brainerd Lakes Area Community Foundation; Bremer Bank, Brainerd; Crow Wing County Soil and Water Conservation District; Initiative Foundation; Land O'Lakes, Inc.; Mardag Foundation; Mid-Minnesota Credit Union; Otto Bremer Foundation

Financial Partners: Brainerd Lakes Area Development Corporation; Brainerd Public Schools; Crow Wing County; Greater Minnesota Housing Fund; Minnesota Department of Employment & Economic Development; National Equity Fund; National Park Service/Minnesota State Historic Preservation Office; U.S. Bancorp

est. 2008

Type of Development:

Live/Work Artist Housing

Number of Units:

25

Total Square Footage:

146,789

Community Space Sq. Ft.:

74,022

Total Project Cost:

$8.4M

Features:

Resident Gallery
Historic School Look and Feel