Photos: Chris Emeott
All ages find their creative groove at the Minnetonka Center for the Arts.
Before or after retirement, one never knows if another work opportunity is around the bend. Take Frank Picos for example. He enrolled in classes, including stone carving, at the Minnetonka Center for the Arts (MCFTA). He developed such skill and passion for the medium that, as a retiree from a career in supply chain and construction, he now serves as the center’s stone carving instructor.
“The community has been great, and I was lucky enough to connect with other instructors and other artists [who] were encouraging me and getting me to take it to another level,” Picos says. “Learning how to learn and learning how to teach and present information was a big part of that process.”
Frank Picos serves as a stone carving instructor at Minnetonka Center for the Arts.
“He’s created a whole new career following his retirement. His enthusiasm and commitment to the art center is so obvious,” says Roxanne Heaton, MCFTA executive director.
For over 70 years, MCFTA has provided high-quality, diverse art education and programming, creating a community resource that enriches across ages, interests and abilities.
Around two-thirds of MCFTA students are 55 and older, according to Heaton’s estimate. “If you’re asking why older people are drawn to art making, it’s a lot about the search for that ideal that we all hope for: that you remain healthy and vibrant and relevant and heard in your older years,” she says. “People get to a certain stage in their life, and they have a bit more time on their hands. If they’re lucky, they can retire and spend some time focusing on themselves and their own needs, and they often look to art making as their way to find a voice, express themselves and to grow and engage with life in a different way and still remain vital,” she says.
MCFTA offers dozens of art classes taught by skilled professionals who cater to all experience levels. “Our instructors are excellent at meeting people where they are,” Heaton says. “They’re well equipped to deal with folks of all ability levels, and they do so regularly.”
Stories abound of students who arrive at an art class with little to no experience but end up surprising themselves. Heaton once cajoled her previously nonartmaking husband into taking an introductory welding class with her at MCFTA. He not only loved it but was good at it. “His first piece was absolutely extraordinary,” Heaton says. “I had a sculpture teacher stop me in the hallway and say he’s got a natural knack for it. The second piece got into our very competitive members’ jury show, and he was hooked. This was somebody who kept saying, ‘I’m not an artist.’ You just never know.”
It’s not only about learning a new skill. “A lot of folks taking classes are very experienced and capable themselves, and they are not there so much for the instruction but for the community that it provides,” Heaton says. “I think that’s another advantage of these experiences. As you age, it’s important to engage with others, getting out of the house and then focusing on something completely different than your normal day to day.”
Hesitancy is common when it comes to new endeavors. To quell doubt, interested students can observe classes before registering, and shorter-term workshops are available as opposed to longer multi-week classes. “We also have older adults in particular who may not necessarily be interested in artmaking, or for whatever reason, they’re physically not capable of artmaking, but they come to us for other things, like our lectures or our exhibit program,” Heaton says. “We have a great gallery that has a rotating menu of exhibits throughout the year, and when the building’s open, the gallery is open, and admission is free.”
Regardless of how one experiences MCFTA, it’s a hub of vibrant activity, and as Picos says, “It’s a community arts center—emphasis on community.”
Minnetonka Center for the Arts
2240 N. Shore Drive, Wayzata; 952.473.7361
Facebook: Minnetonka Center for the Arts
Instagram: @minnetonkaarts
