The ARC – Winona’s Historic Theater Takes Center Stage

Winona is making a bid to be known as one of Minnesota’s cultural destinations, and its latest milestone sits inside a restored 1909 Masonic temple. Now called The ARC — short for arts, recreation and culture, the building has become a permanent home for the Great River Shakespeare Festival and several other local arts groups. This historic theatre is only one piece of a larger citywide investment in the arts that also includes the local Minnesota Marine Art Museum and the $60 million Minnesota Masterpiece Hall set to open in 2027.

In 2023, the Winona City Council set aside funding for repairs and struck a deal with the Great River Shakespeare Festival to manage the space, bringing several other local arts groups along as partners. Renovations were completed last year, with additional updates — including a new bar and a redesigned first floor — finished in time for this year’s festival season.

Pericles, Prince of Tyre, photo by Dan Norman

Before The ARC, performing arts groups often had to move sets, costumes, and equipment in and out of borrowed venues for every show. Now, the Great River Shakespeare Festival has a stage of its own, currently running performances of Pericles, Prince of Tyre and A Midsummer Night’s Dream through July 26. The building also hosts the Frozen River Film Festival, Theatre du Mississippi, the Sandbar Storytelling Festival, and the River City Dancers, with the groups now sharing resources and cross-promoting events.

City leaders describe The ARC as one piece of a broader strategy to grow Winona’s identity as a cultural destination — alongside the decades-old Minnesota Marine Art Museum and the $60 million Minnesota Masterpiece Hall, a concert venue under construction and expected to open in 2027. Winona Mayor Scott Sherman has pointed to the arts, along with outdoor recreation and economic diversity, as key drivers of the city’s continued growth, with hopes the reach will extend well beyond the region.

Festival organizers say more work remains, including upgrades to bathrooms and seating, and are planning a fundraising campaign to fund those improvements.

In short, Winona’s arts scene is only getting started.