Welcome to the Arts Partnership

The Arts Partnership was conceived by the four highly acclaimed organizations that perform regularly at the Ordway Center for the Performing Arts – Minnesota Opera, the Ordway, The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, and Schubert Club. The Partnership strengthens its organizations in service to the community through growing collaboration and stewardship of its shared assets.

Formed in 2006 with considerable input from community leaders, the Partnership joined together to solve persistent challenges arising from sharing a multi-purpose venue. These included an overcrowded schedule and growing facility needs. Together the group collaborated on an $83.8 million Capital Campaign to replace the underutilized 300-seat McKnight Theater with a state-of-the-art, 1,100-seat Concert Hall on the Ordway’s campus. The increased capacity and flexibility not only better serves the needs of the Partners, it has also meant greater opportunity for a wider range of community organizations to perform at the Ordway. Equally important, the campaign provided an endowment to help ensure the long-term stability of all four Arts Partners by providing funds that make using the venue more affordable.

The success of the Arts Partnership demonstrates what can be accomplished when organizations collaborate to overcome challenges, creating opportunities that none of them could have achieved on their own. The Partnership is now entering a second phase to preserve the strength of collaboration and ensure a healthy arts ecosystem rooted in the Ordway and serving our greater community.