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The Northwoods Arts Council was formed in September 1993, by a group of seven people whose vision was saving the neighborhood school and bringing theater, art, music, and educational opportunities to Hackensack and the surrounding communities. NAC's mission is to provide education, arts enrichment, and economic development in North Central Minnesota through visual, performing, and literary arts. Since 1993 the mission has evolved from hosting art classes, band concerts, Sculptures in the Park, musical productions, and original “Lucette” plays, to staging the world-renowned percussionist Jose Duffee and his Big Band performances in Hackensack, and the Northwoods Art and Book Festival. Over a 25 year time period, this festival has grown significantly in energy and talents with an eclectic mix of artists, authors, children's activities, exhibits, food, and entertainment. It is a free event making the arts accessible to all.
Due to the COVID crisis, Northwoods Arts Council was unable to host its two major events: music festival and art and book festival. Currently, both are scheduled for 2021. A new event was created, a lakeside concert, held this past September. It was an effort of the organization to help make the organization a viable entity and the arts accessible to all with a free event. This concert was a huge success. NAC's future planning includes several more lakeside concerts for the community in 2021 from May until September. The organization's revenue has been temporarily stalled due to COVID. We are looking at various avenues to pursue funding so we will be able to maintain all of our summer events.