The Arts Partnership

The Arts Partnership was formed in 2006—an unprecedented collaboration among four renowned performing arts organizations—the Minnesota Opera, Ordway, The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, and Schubert Club. Together the Arts Partners raised the funds to build a new Concert Hall to greatly increase audience capacity and enable the partners to reach new and underserved audiences.  The Arts Partnership has strengthened all four organizations and reinvigorated the cultural landscape of Saint Paul and the region. 

 

The 2024-2025 Season marks a year of milestones for the Ordway and the Arts Partnership—40th Anniversary of the Ordway Center for Performing Arts, 10th Anniversary of the Ordway Concert Hall, and the 25th Anniversary of the Flint Hills Family Festival. We continue this celebration into our 2025-2026 season.

 

Arts Partnership Annual Fund 

Contributions to the Arts Partnership Annual Fund will fuel and strengthen the Arts Partnership’s mission and vision to provide a state-of-the-industry venue and home for you, our artists, and over 200,000 visitors who are welcomed at the Ordway each year. The Arts Partnership Annual Fund goal for the 2025-2026 season is $550,000.

 

Strength of the collaboration and what the Arts Partnership Annual Fund Supports:

•  Ensuring a safe and healthy entertainment environment for over 200,000 patrons through regular maintenance of the Ordway venue.
• Administering the Knight Foundation Cultural Opportunity Fund which provides artists and organizations the opportunity to receive support towards renting the Ordway’s Concert Hall. The 2025-2026 recipients include TaikoArts Midwest, Border CrosSing, Source Song Festival, Rhythmically Speaking, and Kao Kalia Yang. The Knight Fund reduces participation barriers and advances the visibility of underrepresented artists.
• Reduced cost of presenting for all four Partners and supports inspirational performances through Arts Partnership Presents. In October 2025, we presented "Sphinx Virtuosi – Visions of Peace" as a special school performance. Over 300 students and educators attended. This production presented highlights like Clarice Assad’s Impressions, Maurice Ponce’s Estrellita, and Alberto Ginastera’s Concerto for Strings, all as a jubilant celebration of the human spirit’s indomitable resilience and our unwavering commitment to the pursuit of peace. We were excited to share this performance with students and inspire them through art.

These projects are critical to ensure the Ordway remains a cultural pillar of the community and a state-of-the-industry venue that attracts both international and local world-class artists. 

Please consider donating, your financial support helps make these activities and initiatives possible! Contact Taylor Akers, Arts Partnership Development Manager at 651.282.3035 or takers@artspartnership.org if you would like more information about the Fund, have any questions, or would like to make a gift.