Marshall woman has made a big impact on the arts in her community
By Larry Magrath
A string of personal and economic circumstances brought a well-known Marshall resident to the area and brought some world recognition to the community.
Charlotte Wendel is spending her retirement shepherding the busy and growing Marshall Area Fine Arts Council. With a background in professional dance and a degree in ballet from James Madison University, Wendel found her way to Southwest Minnesota.
“You grow where you’re planted,” Wendel said. “That’s what my grandmother always said. OK, you’re in Marshall. Grow there. You’re not limited by population and Marshall is a very progressive city, and it’s a great place to live.”
The Virginia native grew to love dance which her mother encouraged from a young age as a way to strengthen her leg muscles. It served as physical therapy after surviving polio and spinal meningitis at age four. The polio vaccine was not yet invented and physical therapists were busy with the rehabilitation of military service members injured in Korea.
“I started taking dance then after I started getting stronger. I said: ‘I love this. I’m going to stick with this.’ and I did all the way - kindergarten all the way through high school.”
At the university she majored in dance and had a minor in history. Like many artists, she worked as a professional for a while but needed a fall-back and chose to teach history and physical education for a living-wage job.
“If you grew up in Virginia, you know history. You lived it. It was right there. The civil war was fought there. It was a great place for history,” she said.
Charlotte married a North Dakota man who came to Williamsburg, Virginia, for training to become an Army Ranger for the Vietnam War. Upon his return from service he needed to get back to the open space of the plains so they moved to Cooperstown, N.D. From there they bought a farm near Wadena but the farm crisis ended that venture and the family moved to Clarkfield, Minn. Her husband took a job with the Farm Service Agency, and eventually they moved to Marshall. Once settled in, she opened Southwest School of Dance.
Within years, MAFAC was formed in 1987 as a way to support local artists. A core group met in the basement of First Lutheran Church. The group commiserated over the lack of an arts organization.
“This was like the wasteland of art. I mean there was nothing here for us to showcase our work. We wanted a place where we could show other people’s artwork. Where people could sell their crafts and their artwork and all those things.”
“We needed a community concert series and we needed these things for the community, so we incorporated and it’s done nothing but grow ever since. Look where we’ve come,” she said.
Now in its 37th year, the group occupies a Third Street shop where regional artists of every genre showcase and sell their work and it also serves as a place to gather. The concert series has proved popular as well as the recently completed Night Music series that showcased local and regional musicians.
Meanwhile, at the school of dance in the 1990s, she said she was pleasantly surprised at the support from the community. The students were regulars at national competitions and awards followed, as well as an invitation to the Olympics held in Atlanta in 1996.
A decade earlier the Geneva Summit of 1985 thawed relations between the United States and the Soviet Union. Cultural exchanges followed and the Southwest School of Dance contingent were noticed at top national competitions.
“We looked exactly like they thought the All-American girls image was, and not only that, these were kids 10, 11, 12, 13 and 14 that were extraordinarily proficient in ballet.”
With fundraising through the Prairie Dance Alliance, the community and the U.S. State Department, the group traveled and performed in St. Petersburg, Russian and Moscow. Vladimir Putin was mayor of St. Petersburg at that time and presented flowers in appreciation to the group.
“Everybody had to have a duty. My husband went as the manager and Marilyn’s (Leach) son went as our tech advisor. It was a great adventure. Vladimir Putin gave me flowers at St. Petersburg in their top performance center. The TV was there and it was just a tremendous experience and we performed in Gorky Park.”
Wendel noted that it was a privilege to represent the United States and everyone learned the many cultural differences between the two countries. Among the lessons were the fact that Russian audiences show their appreciation by presenting flower and bouquets to the individual dancers up on stage after the performance rather than clapping. The Russian audience was not used to the variety of ages, differing heights, body types, and skin color of the performers. Their dancers were selected for uniformity.
“People couldn’t believe that something like this came out of Minnesota. My philosophy is: it’s what’s inside that counts. You set goals and you work toward them,” she said.
The studio credits include 48 individuals who went on for professional careers, Wendel said.
While providing a tour of the center, Wendel marvels at the variety of locally-sourced art on display.
“This is probably our biggest seller, the jewelry. It’s usually made by Pat Brace. I’d probably say that I’ve bought my share of it. I love it. I think it’s beautiful. We’re very lucky to have such craftsmen in this area. It’s all locally made, all the artwork.”
Larry Magrath is a freelance writer based in Marshall.
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