Raue Center Announces Partnership With Local Church

CRYSTAL LAKE, IL — Just four months after launching the School For The Arts, Raue Center continues to see record class participation and interest, Raue Center officials said last week. To accommodate this growth, the art center recently announced a number of changes, including the move to their new educational space at St. Mary's Episcopal Church, 210 McHenry Avenue in Crystal Lake.

"With a growing education initiative and in response to the COVID pandemic, Raue Center is committed to providing the youth of McHenry county more access to classes, training, and opportunities that allow them to work together," according to a statement from the Raue. "The isolation of the past three years has limited the available group activities and they hope to provide more in the future to help counter the negative impact of three years under various forms of lockdown."

The Raue Center has partnered with St. Mary’s Episcopal Church. The Raue hosted its first ever “Arts on the Green” series last summer, which included outdoor programming, live music, and more.

"The partnership brought so much joy and excitement that St. Mary's and the Raue began looking for new ways to partner.

“In 2020, in the middle of the pandemic, St. Mary’s asked itself the question: what does it mean to be in community? What is St. Mary’s role in the community, in Crystal Lake and McHenry County?
It was through these discussions that we decided to recommit ourselves to sharing our gifts with our neighbors," said St. Mary’s Deacon Michael Choquette said. "We did not dream that these early discussions would lead to this wonderful collaboration with the Raue Center. We feel blessed to be able to provide the space for the Arts on the Green series and we are looking forward to housing the Raue Center School for the Arts.”

Raue Center is pleased to announce the expansion of their Arts on the Green programming and plans to move the growing School For The Arts classroom spaces to the grounds at St. Mary’s. The
additional classrooms and the Great Hall will welcome students for both private instruction and group classes.

“We are delighted to have been invited onto this beautiful campus at St Mary’s. While our approach to arts education is secular (or non-religious), we are nevertheless honored to be partnering with such a wonderful community that St Mary’s has demonstrated to be in the region," said Richard Kuranda, Raue Center executive director. "Like St. Mary’s, we are inclusive of all. We believe that the arts celebrate the human spirit and that artistic expression and collaboration define who we are as people.”