Can Can Wonderland

About the project

Can Can Wonderland is the first arts-based public benefit corporation in Minnesota. Can Can Wonderland was formed in 2013 by a group of artists who saw an opportunity to create an inviting, arts-immersive community gathering space with playable art, performances, and arts activities. 

Can Can Wonderland is located in St. Paul, MN. 

A $62,500 construction/mini-permanent LISC loan enabled Can Can Wonderland to finance their vision - an arts-based community development project in a formerly abandoned factory in the Hamline-Midway neighborhood of St. Paul. Can Can hosts an indoor, 18-hole artist-designed mini golf course; a sculptural slide; a coin operated art arcade and boardwalk; and a venue for unique arts programming, which includes performances and arts activities and workshops. Can Can Wonderland seeks to recontextualize the arts experience and community gathering space by bringing them together to create playable art. It aims to take the high-brow out of the gallery and the low-brow out of mini golf and marry the two in a way that engages the public and stimulates their imagination by exposing them to new experiences and possibilities.  

Can Can Wonderland strengthens the cultural business districts along St. Pauls' Green Line light rail transit (LRT), leveraging the arts to foster a cultural corridor that highlights local diversity, brings the community closer together, and boosts the neighborhood economies. Can Can Wonderland illuminates the powerful nexus between art and community development. It shows how an arts-based business can be used to help revitalize a long vacant building to create a community asset and economic engine for artists.

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