The Wildwood Artist Series
Ellie Bruner founded the Wildwood Artist Series (WAS) in 1990 as a committee of the Mahtomedi Area Educational Foundation (MAEF). The aim of WAS is to provide diverse, family-friendly events, encourage an appreciation of fine arts, and support musical education in our community. Under her leadership, WAS created the Wildwood Artist Series Professional Performing Artist Residency Program, renamed in 2023 to the Ellen C. Bruner Professional Performing Artist Residency Program. The program funds extended residencies by professional performing artists, including clinicians, composers, arrangers, and artists of various cultural backgrounds, to work closely with students at Mahtomedi Public Schools. Currently, WAS provides one residency per year that rotates to the four schools in the district. Ultimately, WAS aims to provide a residency for each school every year.
Artists who have performed in the Wildwood Artist Series include Arlo Guthrie, The Shangri-La Chinese Acrobats, Cirque Zuma Zuma, Peter Yarrow (of Peter, Paul and Mary), John McCutcheon, Cherish the Ladies, Pat Donahue, Billy McLaughlin, The Okee Dokee Brothers, the Vienna Boys' Choir, and the U.S. Army Field Band and Soldier's Chorus.
White Bear Press Article (January 27, 2024) - Read more about how the vision of Ellie Bruner lives on through the Wildwood Artists Series (WAS).