An interior view of the Empire Arts Center
The Empire Arts Center is a nonprofit organization based in the historic Empire Theatre in Grand Forks, North Dakota.
About the Empire Arts Center[]
It began as a division of the North Valley Arts Council (NOVAC) when the building, a former movie house that had been closed for several months, was donated to that group by the Midcontinent Corporation in December 1994. Sporadic events and concentrated fundraising campaigns over the following two years raised money for a thorough renovation that began the winter of 1996. The devastating flood of 1997 required that much of the work be re-done, but progress continued and the renovated building re-opened in Spring 1998. At that time it housed the offices of the North Valley Arts Council. In 2002 it reorganized and split off as an independent entity, hiring Mark Landa as the executive director and sole employee.
The Empire Arts Center does some original programming on its own, but primarily serves as a venue for a wide variety of community and regional arts organizations, as well as educational institutions. Live theatre and concerts are the most common attractions, although movies are occasionally shown. A large portion of the new lobby area, obtained when the theatre expanded into the neighboring building, is used as gallery space for art exhibits and receptions. The Greater Grand Forks Symphony, North Dakota Ballet, Greater Grand Forks Community Theatre, and the Grand Forks Public Schools often use the Empire's 400-seat auditorium for their events, and summers the Crimson Creek Collegiate Players stage two or three musicals. Every November the Empire hosts the Forx Film Fest, which it inaugerated in 2002 to showcase regionally made independent movies.
Inspired partly by the success of its stage musicals, in 2005-06, the Empire Arts Center co-produced the feature-length movie Music to My Ears, a backstage musical comedy that was shot largely in and around the Empire Theatre building.
Movies Shot at the Empire Arts Center[]
- Dangers from Within (2007)
- Music to My Ears (2006)
- Working Nights (2005)
- Dark Highways (2003)
- Pros and Cons (2003)
External Links[]
The Empire Arts Center website