Monroe Arts Center Community Classes
Monroe Arts Center, 1315 11th Street, Monroe, WI 53566
About
Monroe Arts Center Community Classes offer instruction in visual and performing arts. The program takes place in a historic Gothic Revival structure that includes art galleries, classroom and office space, multi-purpose space, additional classrooms, kitchen facilities, and green room areas for performers. All parts of the building used for the classes are accessible to persons with disabilities.
• Schedule: Open Tuesday through Friday from 10am to 5pm and Saturday from 10am to 2pm (closed Sunday and Monday, except during special performances and events)
For over four decades, the Monroe Arts Center has provided live, professional, visual and performing arts experiences for the citizens of Monroe and Green County and is celebrating its 52nd season. The organization’s mission is to “Nurture our diverse community by providing opportunities to Experience arts, Encourage creative development, and Ensure preservation and accessibility of our historic facilities.” The Monroe Arts Center is a regional asset serving almost 6,000 students, artists, and patrons yearly, and its galleries offer six exhibition spaces with rotating exhibitions each season that seek to support diversity, accessibility, and inclusion through the visual arts. The galleries function as a gathering place to meet, reflect, learn, challenge, and create.
The building now used for the Monroe Arts Center began construction in 1869, with a wing added in 1959, and it originated as a Methodist meeting house on property first opened for use in 1843. By 1974, funds had been raised to purchase the building and turn it into a community arts center, originally known as the Monroe Arts and Activity Center. In 2015, a new wing was built to house additional art galleries, classroom and office space, and in 2019 Wesley and Fellowship Halls were refurbished to add multi-purpose space, additional classrooms, kitchen facilities, and green room areas for performers. The structure is a historic Gothic Revival building designed by architect Edward Townsend Mix, featuring a dramatic rose window on the south façade composed of tear-shaped stained-glass panels, along with decorative brickwork and an angled corner tower that are hallmarks of his work.
Peg Stiles, a resident of Monroe, led a group of concerned citizens to raise funds to purchase the building and convert the former church into a community arts center. The Monroe Arts Center now maintains a full-time staff of three and two part-time staff, along with hundreds of volunteers.
Last updated July 27, 2026.
• Schedule: Open Tuesday through Friday from 10am to 5pm and Saturday from 10am to 2pm (closed Sunday and Monday, except during special performances and events)
For over four decades, the Monroe Arts Center has provided live, professional, visual and performing arts experiences for the citizens of Monroe and Green County and is celebrating its 52nd season. The organization’s mission is to “Nurture our diverse community by providing opportunities to Experience arts, Encourage creative development, and Ensure preservation and accessibility of our historic facilities.” The Monroe Arts Center is a regional asset serving almost 6,000 students, artists, and patrons yearly, and its galleries offer six exhibition spaces with rotating exhibitions each season that seek to support diversity, accessibility, and inclusion through the visual arts. The galleries function as a gathering place to meet, reflect, learn, challenge, and create.
The building now used for the Monroe Arts Center began construction in 1869, with a wing added in 1959, and it originated as a Methodist meeting house on property first opened for use in 1843. By 1974, funds had been raised to purchase the building and turn it into a community arts center, originally known as the Monroe Arts and Activity Center. In 2015, a new wing was built to house additional art galleries, classroom and office space, and in 2019 Wesley and Fellowship Halls were refurbished to add multi-purpose space, additional classrooms, kitchen facilities, and green room areas for performers. The structure is a historic Gothic Revival building designed by architect Edward Townsend Mix, featuring a dramatic rose window on the south façade composed of tear-shaped stained-glass panels, along with decorative brickwork and an angled corner tower that are hallmarks of his work.
Peg Stiles, a resident of Monroe, led a group of concerned citizens to raise funds to purchase the building and convert the former church into a community arts center. The Monroe Arts Center now maintains a full-time staff of three and two part-time staff, along with hundreds of volunteers.
Last updated July 27, 2026.
Is this your business? There is no cost, but you will be asked to sign up or log in.