Rumriver Art Center celebrates the incredible impact that Angie has has made. Through her teaching and creating a place of belonging, she has left both this art center and the world brighter. Enjoy this personal, heartfelt letter from Angie Renee – on her extraordinary journey and an announcement on her next steps.
“I want to share a little of my history at Rumriver Art Center, because sometimes I need to remind myself how far we’ve come and how many seeds have grown here.
About twelve years ago — around the time Lindsay’s daughter Anika was born — I started teaching at Rumriver. Back then, RRAC was just a one-room operation. I taught one-time hand-built clay classes, birthday parties, mug-making workshops, and even beer steins at the local brewery. I also ran a summer camp for Larry — I still remember holding camp inside Susan’s cosmetic shop!
Eventually, it became too difficult without a kiln on-site, and I had to step back. But when Larry expanded into more space, I offered him a kiln I had. I said, “If I give you this kiln, will you pay to have it installed?” He agreed — and suddenly I could both teach and fire at Rumriver. That was a turning point.
As we gained space, we gained programming. I helped set up the pottery wheel classroom. At first, I was the only teacher, then Angie, Kevin, and others joined in. I began teaching 4- and 6-week wheel classes, building a stronger clay program. Around that same time, I said to Larry, “There’s an untapped population here. For ten years I’ve been working at Northern Clay Center with older adults. We should offer classes for them at the senior living centers in Anoka.”
With this new direction I was given a new title: Vitality Arts Director. I had no idea what that would entail or where it would lead.
I started reaching out to senior centers and older adult living establishments, and together Larry and I promoted the idea. Larry and Susan applied for the Aroha Grant, and we received funding to train teachers to work with older adults. That’s when we began developing our Vitality Arts Program for 55+.
Once we gained the North Studio, Rumriver launched 8-week older adult classes. I taught hand-built pottery, Paul Boecher taught acrylics, MaryLeah Marshall taught watercolor, along with memory-book and other creative projects. The older adult program began to bloom and boom.
People wanted more classes, including a Vitality Wheel class. It was in one of these pottery wheel classes that I met my husband, Jerry.
This was also when I started planning all the 8-week classes.
Larry had the idea of starting a Mentorship Program for 55+ students, and I oversaw it. It was amazing — we connected emerging artists with established artists and watched them grow. They worked together for 9 months and then had a show in our new gallery. I was a mentor in the pilot year of the program, and after putting together our gallery show I told Larry he didn’t have time to run the gallery — and I could take that on.
This is when my title changed to Creative Director.
The pandemic hit, and we all went home for a while.
During this time, I started to teach myself printmaking. I became allergic to clay dust and still needed a way to create. I also discovered something called the 100 Day Project. I posted a monoprint each day for 100 days. It was a great challenge, and the next year I brought the idea to Larry, and we started our own Rumriver Art Center Facebook 100 Day Project. This has built community for a lot of people.
Also during the pandemic, I heard about adult summer camps. We were able to have kids in the art center that summer with distancing and fewer students, but we couldn’t bring in older adults. Larry called cities around us, and we partnered with the park system — our Vitality Summer Camps were born. We offered week-long older adult art camps during the pandemic in partnership with county parks: nature sketchbooks, plein air painting, clay, bookbinding, collage, watercolor, and nature printmaking.
Larry also decided classes were going online — Zoom classes. I taught 8-week hand-built clay classes on Zoom, as well as art history, art journaling, Drawing Outside the Line, and homeschool classes. Others taught as well. It was an adventure. We also hosted a weekly Coffee and Chat on Fridays where folks could connect and talk art. Later, we brought it back in person once we could resume life at RRAC.
As we gained more space, including the upstairs studio, we decided to have a gallery up there as well. Soon I was programming all the classes for the website, running outreach, and managing two galleries — my head was spinning!
Once Mak took over as Executive Director, she knew I was doing too much and had a conversation with me about scaling back. That’s when I let go of the galleries and focused fully on programming classes and workshops. Best decision ever!
After about 12 years, I am stepping down as Creative Director. It has been an amazing journey being part of this growing art community. I have loved working with all the teaching artists and getting to know the students. I enjoyed filling the galleries with beautiful art and helping artists along on their journey. I’ve loved building programming, introducing folks to artists in history and to printmaking techniques, and especially teaching my Drawing Outside the Line class.
I also have a family at RRAC: Mak, Lindsay, Madison, Kirstin, Kiana, Jenna, Emily, and Chris are my family. We know more about each other than we probably need to, but we are each other’s support at work and in life. This team creates the magic for everyone who steps through the doors of Rumriver Art Center. They love the work they do and are passionate about the arts. Also, we’re all a bit crazy in our own way — and that’s what makes RRAC such an amazing and welcoming place.
I cannot tell you how grateful I am to Larry and Susan, who saw me as more than a teaching artist and kept listening to my ideas — even throwing me into a job I never could have imagined. My position was created, changed, and grew as the center grew. It happened to me instead of me seeking it out, since I never saw myself as an administrator. That’s the magic of Rumriver Art Center — you never know what will happen when you walk through the doors. If you don’t believe me, ask any of the RRAC team. Each of us has a story about walking in and being swept up in the magic of this place.
I will continue to teach at Rumriver Art Center, because teaching is my passion, and I’m excited to have more time to do so. I’m also looking forward to traveling more with my husband Jerry, spending time with my kids Haley and Jack, visiting my granddaughter Gia in Los Angeles, and creating more of my own artwork.
Finally, I want to thank YOU — the community of RRAC! We would not be here without all of you who take classes, stop by to see a gallery show, volunteer, or simply walk through our doors.” – Angie Renee
Angie’s incredible impact lives on in the many lives she has touched at Rumriver Art Center. The creative, community-centered programming she led will continue to inspire for years to come. We invite you to drop her a note to wish her a wonderful retirement or share how her creativity and guidance have made a difference in your life. Comment below or send an email to: angie@rumriverart.com