The Northern Lakes Center for the Arts was established in 1989 as a comprehensive cultural center organized and designed to provide local residents with the opportunity to develop and share their creative talents and abilities with one another and with the general public. The Center's success with bringing the arts to local residents and with bringing local residents to the arts has resulted in its being included in the book, The 100 Best Small Arts Towns In America, and in its being awarded the Rural Genius Award from the Front Porch Institute and the Wisconsin Governor’s Award in Support of the Arts.