The YES! House
A nonprofit fundraiser supporting
Department of Public TransformationThe YES! House is a creative community gathering space and arts venue in Granite Falls, MN.
$25
raised by 1 people
The YES! House is a creative community gathering space located at 726 Prentice Street in Granite Falls, MN.
The general purpose of The YES! House is to provide space for artists and community members to come together in creative connection. The building includes two apartments (for short-term artist residencies), shared studio space, a rock-climbing/training room, a performance venue, an art gallery, a coworking/gathering space, an audio recording studio, a media lab, and an artist/wellness workshop/classroom space.
Audiences travel up to 90 miles, and between June 2024–June 2025, more than 2,600 attendees—nearly equivalent to the entire population of Granite Falls—participated in community gatherings, artist residencies, and civic conversations under the theme of “The Art of Neighboring.”
The YES! House is not just an arts venue—it provides essential community infrastructure for connecting across differences, building trust and relationships, and mobilizing toward community goals. By activating creativity as a civic tool, The YES! House builds trust, deepens local investment in community life, and nurtures creative leadership. Each program and event, though sometimes seemingly simple, is part of an interconnected strategy designed to invite participation, cultivate pride, and expand the region’s creative capacity. All activities are offered free or at a low cost to remain accessible and approachable to all.
The YES! House is a project of Department of Public Transformation.
Department of Public Transformation (DoPT) is a rural-based, artist-led nonprofit that activates creative strategies to strengthen neighborly connection, civic engagement, and participation that reflects and represents the community. Founded in 2017 following an artist-led rural research project engaging 127 artists in 24 communities, DoPT incorporated as a nonprofit in 2018 and now builds on more than a decade of rural community development practice and deep relationships across Southwest Minnesota (SWMN), the Upper Midwest, and beyond.