STAPLES — After more than three decades of service, Mark Turner, executive director of the Five Wings Arts Council, is set to retire, closing a chapter many say was defined by visionary leadership and unwavering commitment to the arts.

Working at the helm of an organization known for bringing arts and cultural opportunities through diverse and impactful funding outlets and programs, the Five Wings Arts Council has flourished under Turner’s leadership evolving from a modest initiative into a regionally recognized arts and cultural beacon.

Vicki Chepulis, who has worked alongside Turner for the past decade, said his leadership has been instrumental in the success of the nonprofit arts organization.

“Mark’s leadership at Five Wings has been instrumental in providing resources and support for creative experiences for tens of thousands of people in our region,” said Chepulis, who serves as Five Wings Arts Council’s grants and program manager.

Established in 1977 from a legislative initiative to develop more arts and culture opportunities and resources at a local level, the Five Wings Art Council is one of 11 regional arts councils in the state and serves individual artists, arts organizations, schools, and government organizations in Wadena, Todd, Cass, Crow Wing and Morrision counties.

Funded through appropriations from the Minnesota State Legislature with money from the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund, known as the Legacy Amendment, Turner said one of the most important aspects of his role as executive director has been being a steward of public funds.

“It’s challenging at times to be that organization that is responsible for distributing public funds, but it’s truly an honor. But what comes with that is a lot of strings, from the state, from the legislature and from state agencies,” said Turner, who also noted that thanks to generous funding from the McKnight Foundation the arts council is also able to fuel individual artists grants.

With a mission to support, educate and encourage artists and arts organizations in the region to foster and facilitate local arts development, Five Wings Art Council offers financial support in a variety of grant programs and personalized assistance — from the performing arts, literary arts, schools, and community arts organizations to individual artists.

The impact of the arts council can be found throughout the region, from grant funding for nonprofit arts organizations like the Lakes Area Music Festival and the Staples Area Men’s Chorus to art and cultural hubs like Great River Arts and the Crossing Arts Alliance. The Central Minnesota Barn Quilt Trail utilized grant funding to help propel the folk art movement throughout the region, with quilts featured in every county in region five. Founder Lisa Kajer said both Turner and Chepulis were helpful and encouraging when it came to applying for grants.

“It made all of the difference in the world to the project because the funds allowed us to produce a new larger trail map of all of the barn quilts in our area and improve the webpage to make it user friendly, and increase the number of barn quilts on the trail,” said Kajer.

Scattered throughout the region are countless performing arts initiatives like the Madhatters Community Theatre and Stage North Theatre, to schools and government organizations. Grant programs like the Arts Based Community Development program have given communities throughout the region access to arts and cultural experiences and opportunities.

Chepulis said that reach is because of the unwavering commitment Turner has shown throughout the past 30 years.

“Thanks to his calm, steady, intelligent and very capable guidance our region supports creative expression that enhances the quality of life here,” Chepulis said, “My gratitude is deep for all he has given.”

In 1992 Turner started as the arts program manager under the direction of the Region Five Development Commission. Fresh out of college and living in his hometown of Clarissa, Turner said working in the arts wasn’t a role he had envisioned for himself.

“I always like to say that I wasn’t really looking for a job in the arts, but the arts found me,” Turner said.

Turner was also the sole employee and said getting to know the region, as well as understanding the needs of the arts community, was his first priority.

“We also had a really modest budget of about $40,000 for the entire organization,” Turner said. “In comparison to now, which is just shy of a million dollars for the five counties.”

In 2000, spearheaded by Turner, one of the turning points was strategically severing ties to the Region Five Development Commission. The amicable departure paved the way for the Five Wings Art Council to become its own entity under guidance from feedback from the arts community.

“The needs of the communities had grown and it made sense at the time to spread our wings, so to speak,” said Turner. “It gave us more autonomy, more flexibility with what we could do, and actually freed up funding as well, because there was money for indirect expenses.”

Turner said he would also see how the arts community changed.

“When I first started, the best way to describe it was more like a sponsorship of arts activities going on. A lot of regional arts groups at the time were bringing in outside art,” Turner said.

One of the biggest changes Turner has seen in his 32 years in the arts community is how it is utilized.

“Communities are now more engaged in wanting to produce their own art and reflect their own creativity rather than bringing in a sponsored arts activity,” Turner said. “And there’s just more of an appreciation of the artists in our own communities.”

In Wadena county, Five Wings Art Council has provided grant funding for a wide range of arts related activities including the Whiskey Creek Film Festival, Salsa Fest, Music in BN Park, Wadena Farmer’s Market and the Wadena County Historical Society.

Lina Belair, who has served as the executive director for the Wadena County Historical Society for over 10 years, said she worked with the arts council to help support the costs of coordinating, marketing and hosting a wide variety of programs.

“BookEnds is one of the several arts and culture activities that WCHS has implemented in the past to better connect people with the culture of the region,” said Belair. In addition to literary programs funded by grants through the arts council, Belair said they have received funding to host music, art exhibits and poetry readings.

“As a result of grants through Five Wings Arts Council, adults and youth of west central Minnesota have had the opportunity to connect with a variety of authors and their written work and learn something new about their region and the world,” said Belair.

In Crow Wing county, the Lakes Area Music Festival has flourished under the guidance and support of Five Wings Art Council.

Scott Lykins, artistic and executive director of Lakes Area Music Festival, said they have been fortunate to be a recipient of many grants for both concert and educational programs. Established in 2009, the same year the Legacy Amendment went into effect, the Lakes Area Music Festival has become a creative cultural force in the region bringing the nation’s top classical performers to the stage and creating numerous educational programs for youth.

“For the past 16 years we have had the pleasure of working with the Five Wings Arts Council as our regional arts council, receiving support as they ensure Legacy funds benefit every county throughout the state,” Lykins said.

Throughout the five counties in region five, Five Wings Art Council has been instrumental in providing funding, guidance and support, as well as lobbying for arts funding each year during Arts Advocacy Week held in March at the Capitol.

“I remember attending many Arts Advocacy Days at the state Capitol. Mark was always the point person leading groups from our region in meetings with our legislators. It was wonderful having an experienced, well spoken leader ensuring that those meetings went well and told the story of the exciting work taking place in each legislator’s home district,” Lykins said.

The Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund, also known as the Legacy Amendment, was passed by a statewide vote of the people of Minnesota in 2008 and created dedicated funding for arts and culture in the state.

The amendment passed thanks to voters of Minnesota, but behind the scenes regional arts councils, the nonprofit Minnesota Citizens for the Arts and Turner himself were instrumental in lobbying for the amendment as he said, through good old fashioned door knocking.

Working alongside Minnesota Citizens for the Arts and a few key legislators, Turner said the mission was to get the word out.

“I was part of the committee to get that amendment passed, and internally we called it the ‘vote yes’ committee, but yes, I did the door knocking, the TV interviews, talking to everyone and passing out literature,” said Turner.

The passage of the Legacy Amendment, Turner said, was when Five Wings Art Council was able to really flourish as a regional arts council.

“It really doubled our outreach. We were able to add staff as well as gain exposure and the amendment made us able to develop different programs that we weren’t able to in the past,” Turner said. “That single thing catapulted this organization to be able to help us become what it is today.”

According to a study completed in 2019 by Creative Minnesota, the research branch of Minnesota Citizens for the Arts, although region five is ninth in population size among the state’s eleven regions, region five is 5th in the number of full-time artists and creative workers.

Five Wings Art Council was recognized as being the regional art council that provides more arts grants funding per capita than any other region in the state. The study also states that the economic impact from organizations and audiences and state government revenue from artists and creative workers in the Brainerd lakes area is $15.8 million per year.

In October, Five Wings Art Council welcomed Miranda Lape as the new executive director. The Fergus Falls native has a background in nonprofit grant making, program management, and communications and served as the grants program manager for Lakes Region Arts Council.

Lape said she considers herself a Legacy kid, even more so after moving out of state before returning to Minnesota.

“I grew up doing community theater and getting to be just absolutely immersed and surrounded by art and culture that we are so lucky to have thanks to the Legacy Amendment,” Lape said.

As she prepares to take over the helm as executive director, Lape said she is excited for the opportunity to take the next step in her career.

“I love being in rural Minnesota, and that we get to have the same kind of arts experiences in a rural space and that we don’t have to travel to the bigger cities to get really high quality and immersive experiences,” Lape said.

As the executive director of the Five Wings Arts Council for the past 32 years, Turner has helped pave the way for hundreds of organizations and individual artists to thrive. It is a legacy that Turner said is built upon the idea that the arts bring people together.

“The arts have a way of making us feel good, making us feel connected, making us feel alive and well. Arts and culture is the glue that binds our communities together,” he said.

There will be a retirement celebration for Turner 5:30-7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 20, at the Landmark Inn in Staples.

For more information about the Five Wings Arts Council, and the many grant programs they offer visit

www.fwac.org

.