Art, Creative Writing, Music & Theatre

Located on the Coon Rapids Campus along the scenic Mississippi National River Recreation Area, the Visual Arts Center is a 28,976 square-foot facility was completed in 2011. The building is designed to maximize daylight and stunning river views from studios and gallery spaces. 

Highlights include: 

• Ceramics studio 
• Glass studio with hotshop and fusing shop
• Foundry for cast bronze sculpture, woodworking, metal welding and fabrication
• Darkroom and processing lab
• Digital arts lab
• Studios for drawing, painting and print making

The Art Club has meetings, organized field trips and is open to the entire student body. “Through meeting we can all learn and grow together in the different medias we choose to explore.” Art Club members talk about new ideas, visit artist studios, galleries, and museums, host two student organized art sales of student work each year, and attend the “SOFA” (Sculptural Object and Functional Art) show in Chicago.

Coon Rapids Campus
Advisor: Andi Fink
Meetings: Wednesday, 1 pm, VA208

One activity of the Ceramics Guild is throwing and glazing soup bowls for the Anoka County Food Shelf. The Ceramics Guild also has provided soup and break at Anoka Ramsey Community College Ceramics Workshops. Visits have been made by such artists as Jason Trebs from St. Paul, Andy Shaw from LSU, Stephen Grimmer from Manitoba, and Dick Cooter from Two Harbors. The Ceramics Guild has demonstrated Raku Firing during the college open house, toured the Northern Clay Center, and taken trips to the Minneapolis Institute of Arts.

Provides opportunities for students interested in writing poetry, fiction and creative non-fiction. The Rapids Review literary and arts magazine is published by the members of the Creative Writing Club.

Advisor: Melody Heide
Meetings: Tuesdays from 5 to 6 pm via Zoom
Zoom Link
Passcode: Write!

Our active Creative Writing Club publishes an annual literary magazine The Rapids Review, and all students are invited to submit original works of poetry, fiction, non-fiction, drama and visual art for publication.

Creative writing students gain editorial experience while working on the literary magazine and students celebrate the literary magazine’s publication with a public spring reading each year.

Submit Your Work

Each semester The Two Rivers Reading Series (Coon Rapids Campus) and Minnesota Writers Series (Cambridge Campus) bring acclaimed and award-winning authors to campus. Public events are video recorded to enable online students access to these readings and interviews. 

The Careers in Writing Speakers Series brings working editors, grantors, agents, writers, and content creators to meet with students to explore career pathways that utilize writing skills. Past speakers have included travel editors, Minnesota State Arts Board grantors, literary agents, screenwriters, authors, book editors, music critics, professional bloggers, cookbook authors and more.

Recently-renovated, the Music Building on the Coon Rapids Campus offers two large rehearsal halls, one small rehearsal room for ensembles, a dual piano/MAC lab with music writing and editing software, a recording studio and six practice rooms for individual practice.

Music performances are typically held in the Coon Rapids Campus Performing Arts Center, a proscenium-style theatre that houses 320 continental seats and wheelchair space for eight.

Every student at Anoka-Ramsey can join performance choirs, bands, orchestras and ensembles that explore genres like rock, country, jazz and more.

Current open ensembles include: Concert Choir, Concert Band, Jazz Ensemble, String Orchestra, Rock and Pop Band, Chamber Ensembles, Introduction to Drumming in the World

Current auditioned ensembles include:Chamber Singers, Musical Theatre Ensemble

The Music Library offers video and audio recording services for Anoka-Ramsey music students. Equipment is available for use during regular business hours in the fall and spring.

Email megan.small@anokaramsey.edu for assistance.

A proscenium-style theatre on the Coon Rapids Campus houses 320 continental seats and wheelchair space for 8. With only 12 rows, no seat is further than 50 feet from the stage. The 40-foot wide by 48-foot deep stage boasts 20 feet of wing space for intimate box sets, full-scale musicals, and even opera or ballet.

Performance Auditions
Spring 2026 auditions have passed, check back at a later date for the fall 2026 production. 

Behind the Scenes
Interested in theatre but not the spotlight? You can get involved backstage by building sets, lighting, and stage crew.

Check back soon for information on the fall 2026 production.