Photos: Lauren Gryniewski, Round Three Photography LLC
At McNeely Music Center, Manitou Fund creates a future-forward teaching space to connect the East Metro.
White Bear Lake’s flourishing arts district has a new addition. Three years after breaking ground, the McNeely Music Center opened its doors for music lessons and programming this autumn.
A project of the Manitou Fund, a White Bear Lake-based charitable foundation, McNeely Music Center will bring opportunity to musicians of all ages in a future-forward environment. Music educators and recording engineers on staff will provide private and group lessons and master classes, and the center hopes to host schools and community groups for experiences, performances and workshops. “Music can be transformative and change people’s lives, and that’s what we’re trying to create in this space,” says Oliver Din, president and CEO of the Manitou Fund.
The center features state-of-the-art design, acoustics and equipment. Every room in the building is interconnected, allowing musicians to listen, learn and create collaboratively in various spaces in the building. “The whole building is like a giant recording studio,” Din says. “It was well thought out in terms of flexibility and use, and being future proof.”
Architecture and interior design firm MSR Design and Chicago-based Threshold Acoustics employed a technique of structural decoupling when creating the lower-level recording studio. Because the inner rooms are not connected to the outer rooms, external sound and vibration from the nearby highway are mitigated. Absorption panels throughout the building showcase enhanced design and efficiency. From the exterior, large glass windows reveal the high-ceilinged lobby and performance space.
“The intent is to light a spark in the community,” Din says. “We have so many talented and driven people … here who may never get this opportunity [otherwise].”
McNeely Music Center has music educators and recording specialists on staff to provide a variety of lessons, experiences and workshops in the community.
McNeely Music Center is part of a broader play by the Manitou Fund to elevate arts in the region through action. The building works in tandem with the Manitou Fund Education + Arts Center in Stillwater, and people can record, listen and observe in both spaces simultaneously.
The Manitou Fund was created by Minnesota businessman and active civic leader Donald McNeely and his wife, Marjorie, in the 1960s to support humanity and the arts. When its endowment rose nearly $1 billion in 2019, the Manitou Fund became one of the largest charitable foundations in the state. It has put those resources to action. With McNeely Music Center, the Manitou Fund Education + Arts Center and the Wilder Forest property in May Township, the fund now has more than 55,000 square feet of charitable-use indoor spaces and 1,440 acres dedicated to nurturing the arts and environment.
“I am particularly interested in the younger demographic of musicians. Hopefully, the center will help motivate young people to pursue careers in music and music production,” says Greg McNeely, Manitou Fund board chair. “The center is open for all.”
Din is enthusiastic about seeing these spaces meet their full potential and is looking ahead to even bigger projects to come in the East Metro. “I’m a firm believer that we’ve got to take some risks here, and we really have to push the envelope,” Din says. “If we want to create a level of change and connection … It’s about providing not just the space but the vision and the opportunity to create projects, create experiences that hopefully create a level of community inspiration.”
