Duluth Art Institute May Be Forced to Move

DULUTH, MINN. — The Duluth Art Institute which has called the St. Louis County Depot home for nearly 50 years, may need to find a new location at the end of this year.

The St. Louis County Board received a recommendation from its selection committee that the lease proposal for 2024, submitted by the Duluth Art Institute, not be accepted.

The Request for Proposal or RFP contained a requirement that the minimum rental rate for nonprofit organizations is $4.97 per square foot. The DAI response came in at $3.61 per square foot, a 3% increase from this year’s rate of $3.50.

This is the second year the County has required an RFP for the lease after it was discovered that State statute required them.

Robin Washington the Board President of the DAI said he’s concerned with how the County responded to the group’s RFP response. “To say this year that suddenly we have to commit to the required amount and then negotiate. Again, I don’t know what business practice they are doing and I do hope they do use good business practices at the county.”

The Executive Director of the Duluth Art Institute says the art organization was a charter tenant of the building. She says if it is forced to move by the end of the year there will be problems. Those issues would start at the end of the year when the Gallery has a two-month exhibit scheduled to begin in December and runs through January.

“ We are now instituting a calendar schedule that was decided on two years ago, said Christina Woods, Executive Director of eh Duluth Art Institute. “ So it’s really important in museum and gallery practice to be planning two to three to five years ahead.”

Next Tuesday, the County Board will make a final decision on the 2024 leases for all the tenants of the St. Louis County Depot.