2024 Year in Review: A look back at the arts and entertainment of 2024 in west central Minnesota

WILLMAR

— West central Minnesota continued to show off its vibrant arts and entertainment scene in 2024 with 12 months full of exhibits, shows, concerts, special events and so much more. Authors released new books, artists hung their work in famous locations, an orchestra welcomed a new director, a movie was made in Sacred Heart and history was celebrated.

New London artist Lisa Bergh brought the emotion, feel and color of Greater Minnesota to the Minneapolis Institute of Art in early 2024 thanks to the museum’s Minnesota Artist Exhibition Program. Bergh filled a 2,500-exhibit space at the museum with her paintings and sculptures made from pieces of brightly colored plastic sheeting, plastic and vinyl. The exhibit, “Topography,” was an abstract look at the landscape of Bergh’s home using color, light, form and material.

Across the river in St. Paul, Willmar-based artist and mental health and occupational therapist John Salgado Maldonado shared his vision of the city in a photography exhibit at the Minnesota State Capitol. The show, “Willmar, What Comes To Your Mind?” included photos of the people, places and landscapes that make up the Willmar community. It also showcased Willmar’s diversity. Maldonado hopes the photos would have people re-evaluate how they see diversity differently between people and things.

Since she was a small girl gardening and cooking with her grandmother, Michelle Gauer, formerly of Spicer, has loved food and flavor. In 2024, she put that passion for food into a massive debut cookbook. “Legacy Table.” The tome includes more than 600 recipes in 33 different categories, all collected by Gauer over the last 25 years. Gauer describes the recipes in her book as everyday but with a dash of gourmet and perfectly doable for anyone.

Macy Moore / West Central Tribune

In rooms where its young residents once learned their ABCs and 123s, the city of Raymond now has a permanent home for its history. Opening its doors during Harvest Festival, the Raymond City Museum is located in the Raymond Event Center, which is all that is left of MACCRAY East Elementary School. The museum collection includes artifacts, photos and documents from decades of the city’s past, with exhibits on the military, schools, businesses and newspapers. The museum was brought to life by a dedicated group of volunteers who have worked for years to make it possible.

Shelby Lindrud / West Central Tribune

Visitors to the Swift County Historical Society in Benson are now welcomed into a more focused museum with exhibits that better tell the many stories that make up the county’s history. During the process that took over two-and-a-half years, the society’s reimagining commission reorganized the society’s collection of artifacts, created a new layout for the museum, and built new exhibits. Each city in Swift County is represented while focusing on various businesses and organizations such as doctors or general stores. Other improvements coming to the museum include a new military exhibit, creating a unique entrance with a historic log cabin and welcoming the 1871 Benson District 6 schoolhouse to the museum’s grounds.

Macy Moore / West Central Tribune

In front of a larger-than-expected crowd that required a venue change, Pioneer PBS presented its film about the Willmar 8 bank strike at a special screening in January at the Willmar Conference Center. The film, “Eight Women Together Alone,” produced by Dana Conroy, showed how the eight women who led the two-year strike against Citizens National Bank in Willmar 46 years ago continue to inspire and influence the wider community. The film included interviews with the women as they reminisced about their part and legacy in American labor history and with filmmaker Lee Grant and producer Mary Beth McCarthy, who created the 1981 documentary called “The Willmar 8.” Four of the remaining Willmar 8 attended the screening and answered questions from the audience.

The K.K. Berge Building, home of the Granite Area Arts Council, celebrated its 100th birthday in 2024. To mark the centenary, the arts council held a special exhibit about the building’s history — from its construction by K.K. Berge in 1924 and the many businesses that operated within it, to the floods in 1997 and its salvation by the Granite Falls Riverfront Revitalization organization. The Berge celebration continued through the year, concluding with a Birthday Bash on Oct. 26.

Shelby Lindrud / West Central Tribune

On Memorial Day, the city of Appleton dedicated the Streets of Honor Portraits, an art installation at the intersection of Hering Street, Reuss Avenue, and Highways 7 and 59. The memorial showcases 36 individual 4-by-4-foot portraits of the city’s military dead who gave their lives during World War II, Korea, Vietnam and the Gulf War. The portraits were painted by Kerry Kolke-Bonk and Katia Andreeva. The installation is a visual representation of the city’s streets, which are named after the same military heroes. Appleton is one of the only cities in the country that has named its streets after military service members.

Macy Moore / West Central Tribune

When the Willmar Symphonic Orchestra began its 2024-2025 concert season, it did so with a new director holding the baton. Paula Ulicsni Halvorson, music and orchestra teacher at Kennedy Elementary School with Willmar Public Schools, took over the director position following the departure of Dr. Stephen Ramsey. A member of the orchestra, on and off, since she moved to the area in 2016, Halvorson said there was no doubt that she was going to apply for the position when it came open. Halvorson is looking forward to putting her own mark on the orchestra and the music it plays.

Allan Johnson made a lifelong dream a reality this fall, as he filmed his first feature-length film in Sacred Heart. Having moved to the small town a year ago, it ended up being the perfect setting for his movie, “Kitchen Fire,” a psychological thriller. For two weeks in the fall the actors and film crew turned Sacred Heart into a real-life film set. Local landmarks such as Kathy’s Place will serve as major locations in the movie, which is set to be released in 2025. Johnson plans to have a local screening for the community.

To better represent all the artists and art that calls the county home, the former Tatanka Arts organization renamed itself Redwood Area Arts in 2024. The group also celebrated the grand opening of its new location, its first permanent home. Located in The Tables building at 126 E. 2nd St. in downtown Redwood Falls, the building provides space for artists to sell their creations, hold classes and for community events. Redwood Area Arts hopes the refreshed group helps boost the active arts scene in Redwood County and acts as an economic development driver for downtown Redwood Falls.

Shelby Lindrud / West Central Tribune

Willmar was chosen as one of seven rural communities in the upper Midwest to be featured in Cory Hepola’s web series “My Town.” The show visited local success stories like the MinnWest Technology Campus, while speaking with community members about the city’s economic development and diversity. The goal of the series was to show that rural areas have opportunities for individuals and families to be successful and create good lives.

To mark the 50th anniversary of the “Little House on the Prairie” television show, as well as the 150th anniversary of the arrival of the Ingalls family, the city of Walnut Grove held a special anniversary weekend in July. Several actors from the television show attended the July 19-20 celebrations that included the annual Laura Ingalls Wilder outdoor pageant and the Family Festival. Fans were able to meet the stars, ask questions and get autographs while also touring the Laura Ingalls Wilder museum and visiting the Ingalls dugout site.

Shelby Lindrud / West Central Tribune

Civil War history enthusiasts gathered in Litchfield on April 27 for the annual Civil War Symposium, held by various Civil War Round Table groups from Minnesota. Litchfield was chosen for the 2024 event in part because of its preserved Grand Army of the Republic post hall, one of the few that still survive. At the symposium there were Civil War history presentations led by Drs. Chandra Manning and Stefan Lund, a book sale, a silent auction and a chance for attendees to meet and chat with others interested in the Civil War.

The annual Flere Lag Stevne, held by five Norwegian heritage “bygdelag,” or community organizations, was held Aug. 6-9 in Willmar. The “bygdelag” provide members a place to pursue their passions of genealogy, history and keeping their Norwegian traditions and heritage alive. At the annual gathering, there were several seminars around genealogy, travel and Norwegian history. Attendees were also able to visit a few historical sites in Kandiyohi County and meet with more than 100 other Norwegian history and genealogy enthusiasts.

Shelby Lindrud / West Central Tribune

For nearly 30 years, Dr. Kathleen Jordan worked tirelessly to reduce the spread of tuberculosis in Minnesota. She managed the Riverside Tuberculosis Sanatorium of Granite Falls with her husband and also traveled the state to test for the disease in schoolchildren. In September 2024, Granite Falls recognized that work with the Dr. Kathleen Jordan Project, a multi-day exposition on Jordan’s life and work. Spread across three buildings, the event showcased photos, documents, artifacts and stories about Jordan and the important work she did.

For more than a decade, Jessie Holmstrom created scarily imaginative Halloween displays in New London to terrorize trick-or-treaters from around the area. But after 13 years, Holmstrom decided the time was right to hang up the fake blood, skeletons and zombies. The 2024 edition of the Holmstrom Haunt was its last. Held in the Little Theatre Auditorium in New London, the walk-through haunted attraction included favorite scares and haunts from displays past.