Star Tribune
Financially troubled Fridley arts center needs $15K to stay open
Dire financial pressures and a bit of bad luck have put the future of a nearly half-century-old Fridley arts center in jeopardy.
The North Suburban Center for the Arts needs to raise $15,000 by April 30 or it will cease operations, Executive Director Aly Rhodes said. Even if a last-minute fundraising effort is successful, the money would cover expenses only for the next few months, leaving the center’s long-term future unclear.
“It’s heartbreaking,” said Rhodes, who joined the staff in September and took over as interim executive director in February. “We have gone through several stages of grief.”
The center has suspended registration for summer camps and put plans for Burbfest, its largest fundraiser of the year, on hold. Another charitable event at Forgotten Star Brewing, featuring crafts, a raffle and a dance party, is still a go for April 28.
“We have a very good plan going forward if we can get through the next six weeks,” said Board Member Ann Bolkcom, a Fridley City Council member. “We just need to get over this hump.”
The arts center’s financial problems have been mounting for the past two years. In 2021, the Anoka County Board voted to stop paying the center $50,000 annually to host classes, exhibitions, family events and other programs. The County Board also evicted the center from its longtime home in the county-owned Banfill-Locke House.
Anoka County Parks determined the former tavern and farmhouse needed $1.5 million in repairs. The County Board voted to end the arts center’s contract as a result.
In 2022, the center moved to a decommissioned fire station it rents from the city of Fridley for $1 a month. At that time, the Banfill-Locke Center for the Arts rebranded itself the North Suburban Center for the Arts (NSCA).
There have been plenty of obstacles to overcome in the new location, including an electrical fire that broke out the day the lease was signed. The furnace had to be replaced, and the center had to pour new concrete floors and remodel parts of the building. The NSCA also became responsible for utilities, which added thousands of dollars in expenses.
“We didn’t spend money on frivolous things,” Bolkcom said, adding that volunteers donated furniture and put in many hours painting and plastering walls. “There is a lot of love for this place. And a lot of love put in it.”
Some missteps may have contributed to the arts center’s plight. Rhodes and Bolkcom said the former executive director, Abby Kosberg, failed to apply for grants that would have provided desperately needed income this year, and some required forms necessary to maintain nonprofit status went unfiled.
In February, the NSCA received a letter from the state Attorney General’s Office stating that its 2021 Charitable Organization Annual Report, which would allow it to solicit contributions, had not been filed.
“I immediately took action to clean up the mess,” said Rhodes, who said she recently hand-delivered outstanding documents to the Attorney General’s Office to keep the arts center in good standing. The organization was re-registered as a nonprofit, a March 3 letter from the Attorney General’s Office said.
In a phone interview, Kosberg said she worked tirelessly to apply for grants, but in some cases the center was not eligible for them. During her three-year tenure, grant and gift income rose from $65,400 in 2019 to $82,700 in 2020, the organization’s 990 forms show.
Kosberg also said the organization’s business model that relies on earned income — not solely grants — was “radically rocked” by the pandemic.
“It’s disappointing that they are simplifying to that one thing,” Kosberg said. “There are a lot of moving parts. It was not for a lack of effort. I tried my best. It’s unfortunate they are in this position. I wish them well.”
Funding is tenuous for all small arts and cultural organizations, she added in a follow-up email.
All artists have been paid and bills are up to date, Bolkcom said. But three staff members, including Rhodes, have gone months without paychecks.
Fridley Mayor Scott Lund said there has been no talk of using city money to help.
“The city already gives them a pretty good deal,” he said, referring to the nearly free rent for the former fire station at 110 77th Way NE. “They are in dire straits. Hopefully they won’t close.”
The NSCA had its most successful holiday market ever in December. The event brought in a record $15,000, with a portion of that remitted to artists, Rhodes said. And the center is already applying for grants for 2024, she said.
But without more income soon, this month’s “Weaving the North” exhibit featuring works by members of the Weavers Guild of Minnesota could be the center’s last.
“This has been an icon in Fridley,” Bolkcom said. “It would be incredibly sad and devastating to close.”
Northern State 35, Concordia (St. Paul) 34: Wyatt Block’s 2-yard TD run and the PAT with 10 seconds remaining lifted the Wolves past the host Golden Bears. Block’s touchdown capped an 11-play, 72-yard drive by the Wolves, who trailed 24-7 in the second quarter. Jeff Isotalo-McGuire’s 34-yard field goal with three minutes, 32 seconds remaining gave the Golden Bears a 34-28 lead.
Winona State 31, Bemidji State 28: Cade Stenstrom rushed for two TDs and passed for 150 yards and a TD to help the host Warriors outlast the Beavers. Stenstrom’s 1-yard TD run and the PAT with two minutes, 10 seconds remaining gave the Warriors a 31-21 lead. The Beavers responded with an 11-play, 93-yard drive to pull within 31-28 with 18 seconds remaining but the Warriors recovered the ensuing kickoff.
Div. I-AA
North Dakota State 59, Murray State 6: The top-ranked Bison built a 42-3 lead in the first half and went on to defeat the host Racers in Murray, Ken. CharMar Brown ran for 97 yards and three TDs for the Bison.
South Dakota State 20, South Dakota 17 (OT): Amar Johnson’s 3-yard TD run in overtime lifted the host Jackrabbits to the victory. The Coyotes opened the OT with a 40-yard field goal.
Youngstown State 41, North Dakota 40 (OT): The host Penguins went first in OT and scored and then stopped North Dakota’s two-point conversion to hold on for the victory. The Penguins sent the game into OT on a 35-yard field goal with 12 seconds remaining.
Div. III
Augsburg 35, St. Olaf 34 (OT): The host Auggies stopped a two-point conversion in overtime to outlast the Oles. The Auggies went first in the overtime and scored on a 25-yard pass from Ryan Harvey to Tyrone Wilson. It was Harvey’s fifth TD pass — the fourth to Wilson. After the Auggies’ PAT, the Oles scored on a 25-yard TD pass from Theo Doran to Braden Menz. But the Oles’ pass attempt for the conversion failed.
After splitting their two-game West Coast trip to begin the season, the Wolves improved to 2-1 with a 112-101 win over Toronto in their home opener. It was a wire-to-wire win that featured some strong bursts of play from the Wolves and other times when their decision-making was suspect. But those moments when they were on, specifically the start of the game and most of the third quarter, were enough to carry them against a shorthanded Raptors team that was without RJ Barrett, Bruce Brown and Immanuel Quickley.
Julius Randle had 24 points while Anthony Edwards had 24 on 21 shot attempts. Donte DiVincenzo had 16 off the bench. Nickeil Alexander-Walker left the game in the fourth quarter and did not return, though he was in the bench area for the final minutes after going to the locker room briefly.
The Wolves’ starting lineup had its best stretch of basketball on the season after that unit started off sluggish in the first two games. Mike Conley, who was 3-for-16 to open the year, hit two early threes to set the tone, though Conley would finish 2-for-8.
Donte DiVincenzo replaced him at point guard halfway through the quarter and continued the hot shooting from the point guard slot with three threes of his own. The Wolves forced five Toronto turnovers and had a 32-18 lead after one.
Coach Chris Finch toyed with some different lineup combinations in the first half as he had Conley and DiVincenzo begin the quarter together while having Joe Ingles run the point later in the quarter. It led to an uneven second, and the Wolves led 56-44 at halftime.
But the Wolves played inspired coming out of the break. Jaden McDaniels, who didn’t take a shot in the first half, had nine points in the opening minutes of the third. Edwards hit a pair of threes as they pushed their lead to 22. The Wolves weren’t sharp closing the night, and the Raptors had the game within right inside of two minutes, but the Wolves had built enough of a cushion.
Rudy Gobert. Gobert had 15 points and 13 rebounds and was the beneficiary of some lobs from his teammates like Edwards, Conley, Nickeil Alexander-Walker and Joe Ingles. Gobert also finished with four blocks.
Gobert had two blocks on one possession in the fourth quarter that got the crowd off its feet and Gobert pounding his chest. Gobert blocked D.J. Carton and Jamison Battle.
Star Tribune
Trump denigrates Detroit while appealing for votes in a suburb of Michigan’s largest city
NOVI, Mich. — Donald Trump further denigrated Detroit while appealing for votes Saturday in a suburb of the largest city in swing state Michigan.
”I think Detroit and some of our areas makes us a developing nation,” the former president told supporters in Novi. He said people want him to say Detroit is ”great,” but he thinks it ”needs help.”
The Republican nominee for the White House had told an economic group in Detroit earlier this month that the ”whole country will end up being like Detroit” if Democrat Kamala Harris wins the presidency. That comment drew harsh criticism from Democrats who praised the city for its recent drop in crime and growing population.
Trump’s stop in Novi, after an event Friday night in Traverse City, is a sign of Michigan’s importance in the tight race. Harris is scheduled for a rally in Kalamazoo later Saturday with former first lady Michelle Obama on the first day that early in-person voting becomes available across Michigan. More than 1.4 million ballots have already been submitted, representing 20% of registered voters. Trump won the state in 2016, but Democrat Joe Biden carried it four years later.
Michigan is home to major car companies and the nation’s largest concentration of members of the United Auto Workers. It also has a significant Arab American population, and many have been frustrated by the Biden administration’s support for Israel’s offensive in Gaza after the attack by Hamas against Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.
During his rally, Trump spotlighted local Muslim and Arab American leaders who joined him on stage. These voters ”could turn the election one way or the other,” Trump said, adding that he was banking on ”overwhelming support” from those voters in Michigan.
“When President Trump was president, it was peace,” said one of those leaders, Mayor Bill Bazzi of Dearborn Heights. ”We didn’t have any issues. There was no wars.”
While Trump is trying to capitalize on the community’s frustration with the Democratic administration, he has a history of policies hostile to this group, including a travel ban targeting Muslim countries while in office and a pledge to expand it to include refugees from Gaza if he wins on Nov. 5.
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