If you have viewed an exhibit, attended a gallery talk, taken a class, or picked up a children's art kit, you can thank Lisa Bergh, executive director of the Hutchinson center for the Arts. For the past six years, she has worked to put Hutchinson on the map as a regional arts hub. While the work will continue, Bergh's role is changing. July 22 is her last day at the art center. She has taken a new position at Ridgewater College.

Justin Beck, art center board member, may have summed up the collective feeling about Bergh when he said, “She will be sorely missed.”

“She brought many great ideas and a very unique skill set to HCA,” he said. “She was the main driver for me joining the board and beginning to pursue my own art career. She was able to open new doors for funding and grants as well as provide great programming for our community — especially for kids. She brought in the gallery shows and expanded our reach to welcome new artists and has helped establish HCA as a regional destination for artists to showcase their work.”

Jill Springer, board chair, agreed.

“I think Lisa was amazing at making and having existing connections with the arts culture of Minnesota,” Springer said. “She was able to make connections with really talented artists and bring them to the center for visual arts exhibits. She has also been amazing at creating classes for our community. For adults and children alike, her programming was accessible for all people who wanted arts exposure. She fostered all genres of arts, and was a great advocate for what the arts offers our community.”

Bergh shares her own thoughts about the arts and her experiences at the art center in this Leader Q&A.

What is your role at Ridgewater? Will you be at the Hutchinson or Willmar campus or both?

I am joining the Ridgewater College art department. I will be teaching art courses based out of the Hutchinson campus. This allows me to stay connected to the Hutchinson arts ecosystem!

What attracted you to the Hutchinson Center for the Arts job? Was it everything you thought it would be?

Leading the art center allowed me to tap into many of my creative skills: arts programming, community engagement, arts education, audience development, curating, arts advocacy, marketing, grant writing and strategic planning. The art center gave me the chance to wear a lot of different hats (if not all the hats on some days). I will miss working with artists and the community, but I won't miss climbing the tall ladder to change the lights for exhibitions.

What were the high points of your tenure? What accomplishments are you most proud of?

It's easy to talk about the big drops in the bucket that occurred during my tenure, but life is really about the small interactions we have with people. What motivates me as an arts leader are these micro experiences, or the ripples created from the big drops in the bucket:

  • Talking with a man in a memory care unit who sparkled with authentic joy when he was able to articulate the purpose and ideas behind the painting he made.
  • Watching children laugh and make action paintings as large as a parking lot.
  • Witnessing artists' careers leapfrog to new heights after exhibiting with the art center.
  • Knowing in every art class there is a kid or two experiencing so much more than a camp to keep busy and engage their creative spirit, it may be the one thing helping them have a piece of normal in a chaotic life.
  • Being an ambassador for Hutchinson when someone would visit from out of town and be blown away by an exhibit and the venue they were never expecting to find in a little town.
  • Watching groups of creatives band together to form new connections and creative outlets.
  • The interpersonal relationships with board members, community members, stakeholders, and the artists I have been fortunate to work alongside the past 6 years.

The art center is a verb and its work is a moving target, a continuum of new collaborators building on the contributions of those who have come before. I owe my successes to the leaders, staff, and volunteers who shaped the center before my arrival. I hope the drops I added to the bucket continue to ripple out.

As an artist, was it difficult to change hats and work as the executive director of an art center? How did you reconcile the two?

Artists are communicators, collaborators, makers, and innovators who work with ideas and their hands. I was proud to share my skills and build regional connections for the center. The work was always busy and rarely a typical 9-5 schedule. The post offered me variety, creative challenges, and the flexibility to maintain my personal studio practice throughout my tenure.

What are the trends you're seeing in the art field that will trickle down to community art centers?

The practice of community collaboration, civic funding for arts, and leveraging the arts for driving tourism and community revitalization is proving to be a successful model for small- to medium-sized communities. Hutchinson was an early adopter in understanding the economic value of supporting the arts. The partnership program is a model more communities are exploring to ensure local arts thrive and artists choose to stay and work in their home communities.

Is there anything else you would like to add?

The center is celebrating 10 years of service and well positioned for its next chapter of growth and expansion. Volunteers, stakeholders, and the talented board of directors will continue to build on the capacity of the center. I am certain the next right person to lead the organization will emerge and leverage the center's assets to meet new benchmarks of success. I hope the city, business leaders, arts advocates, donors, volunteers, and artists continue to lean into the arts with their support so their intentions continue to ripple into the community. I am looking forward to cheering on the next leader and their work.

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