From ethnic cooking classes to basket weaving, jewelry making, furniture building, photography, fabric arts, writing, painting and other arts, stained glass making, gardening, sustainable living, herbs and health, foraging, canoeing and canoe building, dances and music, there are classes for most every interest at Ely Folk School, conveniently located at the top of the hill in downtown Ely, Minnesota.

The Art Corner is an artist’s paradise located right on the main drag as you enter Ely. We carry a wide variety of professional and student grade art and craft supplies. The Art Corner’s goal is to inspire and nurture everyone’s artist within through their motto “Be Creative, Think Young.” Visitors don’t expect a town as small as Ely to have the depth of art and craft supplies that this store carries. The Art Corner has gained a reputation as being “the place” to get what you need from metal leafing to Arches watercolor sheets. It’s where you can find brands like Golden, Daniel Smith, Princeton, Tim Holtz, and more.

The Brandenburg Gallery showcases the work of Jim Brandenburg who has been National Geographic photographer for over 40 years. Jim Brandenburg is an award-winning nature photographer, filmmaker and philanthropist as well as a publisher of numerous best-sellers including Chased by the Light, Looking for the Summer and Brother Wolf.

WELY/1450 AM and WELY-FM/94.5 are a pair of simulcast radio stations based in Ely, Minnesota. WELY serves the Boundary Waters Canoe Area and surrounding towns and areas of northeastern Minnesota. WELY was founded in 1954. WELY, End of the Road Radio! WELY is owned and operated by the Bois Forte Band of Chippewa.

Story Portage is a non-profit, centered in Ely, Minnesota, created to foster the art of personal narrative and to promote literacy and reading here in the Northwoods. Current and future projects include: Ely, Minnesota Chapter of the League of Minnesota Poets The Maud Hart Lovelace and Star of the North Children’s Choice Book Award Program Random Acts of Poetry VCC Visiting Writers Program   Visit our website and take a look at our current projects to learn more, and contact us if you’d like to be part of Story Portage’s future! Story Portage P.O. Box 286 Ely, MN 55731

Irene Hartfield is a singer, songwriter, and keyboard player living in Ely, Minnesota. Irene worked as a musician in New York in its heyday, the 1970s and 80s. The Irene Hartfield Trio played some well-known watering holes in Manhattan: Jimmy Weston’s, Jilly’s, 8th Street Gallery, Red Onion, Buddy Rich’s Club, and the Grand Finale, being a few. Her group also played at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas, Sneaky Pete’s in Hollywood, Florida, and The Summit Club in Caracas, Venezuela. Irene also worked in the recording industry, playing and singing, and played with wonderful musician friends: Will Lee, Steve Gadd, Steve “Fonz” Gelfand, Arnie Wise, Jay Leonhardt, Stu Woods, and others. Irene worked on Holland America cruise lines for three years, sailing to Bermuda, the Caribbean, and Brazil. Irene also spent a summer playing a month each in three cities in Sweden, a highlight of her career.

10 DAYS OF CELEBRATING WINTER! The Ely Winter Festival is 10 days in February celebrating winter. Activities include the amazing snow carvings in the Park, along with the Ely ArtWalk and other events. Our Headquarters is Northern Grounds at Central Ave and Sheridan St in Ely where you can purchase Festival pins and T-shirts. The Festival hotline is (218)365-7669 (365-SNOW) The Ely Winter Festival is made possible by donations from people like you. We are a 501(c)3 non-profit and deeply appreciate your gifts!

The Ely area is rich with artists, but it had few listings for the artists to show their work. Nancy Scheibe opened the gallery in the spring of 2016 on the main street of Ely, Minnesota to support local artists. A successful Kickstarter and the support of the community made it come to life.