Sentinel Correspondent
FAIRMONT Downtown Fairmont will soon see some more color. The Red Rock Center for the Arts is launching a public mural project.
The project is something director Sonja Fortune said she’s been wanting to do for many years.
“There was grant money available to slide this project in, so I decided that it was time to make it happen,” Fortune said.
The Red Rock Center was eligible for a $15,000 grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board this year due to Covid.
“It’s helping to keep us going through these difficult times,” Fortune said.
Some of the money is going toward free concerts in the park this summer, hiring art instructors for education classes, making updates to the art room and the mural project.
Sentinel Staff Writer
FAIRMONT–Borchardt Dance Company is not new to the Fairmont community. Nita Borchardt is the second-generation owner of the company and has kept her business going through the pandemic with adjustments and positivity.
Borchardt’s experience consists of dancing professionally for 12 years, including stints in New York, Los Vegas, and on cruise ships. Borchardt Dance Company was originally opened by her mother Kathy and has been around for 40 years. Borchardt came back to Fairmont five years ago and took ownership of the company from her mother in September of 2019.
The pandemic came six weeks away from their annual dance recital. Borchardt and her teachers adjusted to the pandemic by putting together videos for their kids to practice their dance routines and a week after the first shutdown the company moved to teaching over Facebook Live. During the second shutdown, the company moved to teaching Zoom classes.