The O'Shaughnessy

Help raise $5,000 to support The O'Shaughnessy this Give to the Max Day!

"Every show has been extraordinary.”
- 2024-2025 Subscriber

 Your support drives The O'Shaughnessy. 

The O'Shaughnessy is one of Minnesota's premier arts venues, furthering the mission of St. Kate's to educate women to lead and influence through compelling art,  impactful speaker events and lectures, and community engagement opportunities. The O'Shaughnessy presents a world-class series of artistic offerings that center themes of social justice and women’s voices, produces University Events that broaden the general public’s access to academic engagement, and hosts community events featuring local artists and organizations. The venue is a meeting place between St. Kate's campus community and Minnesotans of all ages. Learn more and get involved at oshag.stkate.edu.

CHARTING A NEW COURSE: WHY YOUR GIFT IS IMPACTFUL THIS GIVE TO THE MAX DAY

a letter from The O'Shaughnessy Executive Director, Irene Green

The O'Shaughnessy is at a time of rebirth and renewal in its lifecycle. So many patrons, artists, and community members come through our doors and have an "O'Shaughnessy Story": of seeing their child perform on our stage, attending The Nutcracker together as a family holiday tradition, or seeing a favorite band when it toured through town. The O'Shaughnessy has long been a supporter and collaborator with our local professional dance community, and before that, was home to the Minnesota Orchestra. We honor those stories, and this legacy, as we look to what the next 50 years at The O'Shaughnessy will hold.

Today, The O'Shaughnessy is a place where St. Kate's students and the general public come together to explore what it means to embody St. Kate's mission of educating women to lead and influence. The O'Shaughnessy is guided by St. Catherine University's core values of social justice, reflection, community, integrity, and academic excellence. It is a joy to lead an arts organization embedded within this academic community -- it allows us to infuse art with collective impact.

 St. Kate's science faculty lent their expertise to uplift The Moth Project last season -- teaching young and old alike about the amazing insects with whom we share this planet. The year before that, English faculty supported student-generated poetry -- including student-led workshops in area senior homes to gain the perspectives of our elders on our changing climate. This community poetry was interspersed with music onstage from both local and national musicians. And, many area nonprofits that are committed to sustainability and climate justice gained new volunteers through the tabling they did in our lobby at this event. The expertise on our campus allows us to enhance our compelling arts experiences with multidisciplinary viewpoints that really do point to action -- actions that can make our community and by extension, our world -- a better and more beautiful place.

The O'Shaughnessy is a meeting place for our students' education and our community's engagement. With a renewed commitment to serving the people of Highland Park, we are honored to imagine what comes next and are dedicated to making The O’Shaughnessy truly indispensable to our region: a place for families to enjoy high quality arts experiences with their children, a place to hear voices that have been marginalized, and a place for storytelling to marry science, civic engagement, and history in new, exciting, and impactful ways.

I can’t wait to share space with you, for experiences that uplift us all.
 
-Irene Green

Executive Director, The O’Shaughnessy