Spring Green, Wisconsin
While many travelers know Spring Green as the home of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Taliesin—his home, studio, and architectural laboratory for more than 50 years—this small Wisconsin town is one of the Midwest’s most vibrant creative communities. Wright’s philosophy of designing buildings that are in harmony with the landscape has attracted generations of ceramicists, painters, and craftspeople who found inspiration in the rolling hills of the Driftless Area. Today, galleries and working studios are scattered across the Wisconsin countryside, inviting visitors to meet artists shaping clay, blowing glass, weaving textiles, or creating furniture by hand. Art Lab provides a community hub for exhibitions, workshops, and collaborative artmaking. At Wilson Creek Pottery, you’ll find a variety of hand-crafted plates, bowls, coffee mugs, and serving pieces, as well as opportunities to talk to the artists who created them. The town’s creative spirit extends beyond the visual arts. The American Players Theatre’s lineup includes everything from Shakespeare to contemporary works on both indoor and outdoor stages. For something whimsical, The House on the Rock offers an unforgettable experience with its exotic and unusual collections displayed in a house that was built on a chimney of rock. Together, these institutions create a destination where art, architecture, and imagination are woven into the landscape.
Mineral Point, Wisconsin
Once a thriving lead and zinc mining town settled by Cornish immigrants, Mineral Point’s limestone cottages and historic storefronts now house one of the Midwest’s richest concentrations of working artists. The town has embraced its past, transforming former miners’ homes into pottery studios, galleries, workshops, and textile ateliers. At the heart of the community is Shake Rag Alley Center for the Arts, where frequent workshops invite visitors to try everything from plein air painting and blacksmithing to documentary filmmaking using cell phones, botanical paper embroidery, and traditional fiber arts. The center also hosts retreats and a summer youth program, and it offers lodging for those wanting to immerse themselves in the creative experience. The Globe Clay Center welcomes beginners and experienced potters to explore wheel throwing and hand-building techniques in a stone-built basement. At Longbranch Gallery, you’ll find rustic, folk, and fine art. Depending on the time of year that you visit, the Mineral Point Opera House has a great lineup of local theater and free movie and open mic nights. Rather than simply preserving its past, Mineral Point has transformed its historic building into spaces where creativity continues to shape the town’s future.
Lanesboro, Minnesota
Nestled in Minnesota’s bluff country, Lanesboro has become a model for how the arts can revitalize a rural community. Local leaders invested in artists, galleries, theaters, and creative businesses, transforming the town into a year-round cultural destination. Anchored by Lanesboro Arts, a nonprofit that supports artists through exhibitions, public art, artist residencies, educational programming, and its annual Art in the Park festival. Its Juried Sales and Exhibition Gallery features work by more than 90 regional artists, while rotating exhibitions introduce visitors to emerging and established makers from the Upper Midwest. Visitors can tour the artist studios four times per year as part of the Lanesboro Area Art Trail. (The next ones are August 21 & 22, September 18 & 19, and October 16 & 17). The town’s commitment to performing arts is equally impressive. Commonweal Theatre Company produces nationally recognized productions that feature resident and guest actors from around the country. Nearby St. Mane Theatre hosts films, concerts, and community events. Lanesboro demonstrates how investing in the arts can transform a small town into a compelling creative destination.
