Someday Isle
"A New Country Container for the Arts"

 


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About Us

From its small storefront on Main Street, Someday Isle seems like any other retail store in the Mille Lacs Lake area. Once inside, however, what makes it unique becomes apparent. 

Depot Studios, the parent entity, is organized exclusively for charitable, scientific and educational purposes; more specifically to build self-sufficiency, enhance educational and employment opportunities for all residents, poor and disadvantaged adults, children, and the disabled, in the Mille Lacs Lake area of Minnesota.

Depot Studios is promoting Green Tourism and Farmers’ Market projects as part of selling local produce to local people, one proven way to create economic benefits for small towns.

Someday Isle is the retail leg of this creative table. It provides space for vendors to sell their wares. All vendors are locally based. This includes the corridor between Sandstone and Onamia.

Vendors accept an initial member investment, which provides them with 100 percent of the profit from retail sale of their items. The items for sale at Someday Isle are as diverse as the vendors themselves, providing a wide array of items.

The Creative Center provides art and craft classes for the community as a whole as well as allows local artists space as needed to work on their own projects by providing artists access to materials, a place to work and a space to sell their creations. In return, participating artists donate their time, give classes and become mentors in their area of expertise. This gives the artists high visibility in the community and raises the community's awareness of the arts, which benefits both the artist and the community.    

The Production Site, located at the back of the retail store, is a place to create opportunity. Here, sewing machines and weaving looms are used to produce products that range from rugs, wall hangings, scarves, and visors, to fanny bags. All income generated in the Production Site is used to offset the cost of running the building.

Also, low-income community members are recruited to help generate their own income by producing products and selling them at Someday Isle.

Mission Statement

Depot Studios is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organized to promote and support a model of personal success through participation in applied arts training and the marketing of the products of that effort as demonstrated. Depot Studios is organized to operate throughout the regional corridor from Onamia to Sandstone in the service of individuals raising their family incomes through their own efforts.

Depot Studios has a vision of families moving out of poverty through income opportunities that complement the cyclical nature of seasonal work in a tourist economy. The mission is getting families beyond poverty.

The focus is on facilitating individual's entry into the marketplace as competitive product and service-driven entrepreneurs. The vehicles are Someday Isle and the Creative Center, with assistance from the Production Site and the Computer Lab.

It has a five-member board from the Isle, Wahkon, and Onamia communities. The board members include:

Evangeline Moen, Isle, MN
Crystal Stein, Isle, MN
Mary Hauck, Onamia, MN
Diane Skelnik, Isle, MN
Heather Tideman, Wahkon, MN
Rob Walker, Onamia, MN


© 2008 Depot Studios