News Release: Theater producer/director Bain Boehlke receives 2009 McKnight Distinguished Artist Award

May 1, 2009 - Theater professional has made an impact on Minnesota's arts for 50 years.

The McKnight Foundation has named Minnesota theater producer, director, designer and actor Bain Boehlke as the 2009 McKnight Distinguished Artist, in recognition of artistic excellence spanning more than five decades. The annual honor, now in its 12th year, includes a $50,000 cash award and recognizes individual Minnesota artists who have made significant contributions to the quality of the state's cultural life. Boehlke is the founding artistic director of the Jungle Theater in Minneapolis.

"The work and singular spirit of Bain Boehlke have left a lasting imprint on Minnesota's theater community," says Kate Wolford, president of The McKnight Foundation, "Under his leadership, the Jungle Theater has earned a national reputation for artistic integrity and excellence. The Jungle's contributions have also long supported healthy community development along Lake Street, one of the Twin Cities' most vital commercial and cultural corridors."

For decades, Boehlke has been a constant, catalytic leader in the Twin Cities theater scene. Among his prior awards, he has received the McKnight Fellowship for Theater Arts in 2001; was named Best Actor of 2006 by the Star Tribune for his role of Artie Shaughnessy in The House of Blue Leaves; and the Jungle received the Sally Ordway Irvine Award in 1992. Of Boehlke's accomplishments, Jungle board chair John Sullivan says, "Bain has been an unselfish contributor to both the arts and the broader community, from generously sharing his theater craft with young actors on the stage to committing to The Jungle Theater being the cornerstone of a vital Lyn-Lake neighborhood."

Boehlke approaches theater with what he refers to as "poetic realism," aiming to serve each playwright through a precise examination of the characters inhabiting his or her play. The Star Tribune has credited Boehlke's staging for "its naturalism and its refusal to take on the heavy burden of being a symbol of life... The first priority is the development of character, not the presentation of ideas." A consummate set designer as well as an actor and director, one of Boehlke's first tasks for himself when working on any play is to consider the space and begin constructing a model. With each early interpretation of the physical plane in miniature, he says, "You create an authentic world in which the play fully lives."

In 18 seasons, Boehlke has directed, designed sets, or appeared in most of the Jungle's 80-plus productions, which include Long Day's Journey Into Night, Bus Stop, Fool for Love, House of Blue Leaves, A Life in the Theater, Lobster Alice, Under Milk Wood, Gertrude and Alice, Torch Song Trilogy, Speed-the-Plow, and The Gin Game. In 1996 he was also featured as "Mr. Mohra" in the Oscar-winning Coen brothers film Fargo.

Born in Warroad, Minnesota, near the Canadian border in 1939, Boehlke was one of two children born to parents who were both teachers; his father later became a school superintendant. In the late 1950s, Boehlke and classmates took over an abandoned barn to produce two seasons of summer theater. After a short stint at the University of Minnesota (during which he received the award for best undergraduate actor), Boehlke joined the army and left Minnesota. Stationed in Berlin, he continued to act, entertaining his fellow soldiers with plays and staged readings.

"Bain Boehlke is an exacting artist of boundless spirit and unflagging integrity," says actor and director Wendy Lehr of her friend of more than 40 years. "His work is authentic, ingenious, heartfelt and suffused with the brilliance of his keen perception." Lehr was among the group of actors that composed Boehlke's post-army touring company, Theatre on the Road, in the 1960s. Until they disbanded in 1965, the performers traveled in an old Volkswagen car and a pickup truck, bringing contemporary and classic plays to venues throughout the Midwest. Brimming over with creative energy and social revolution, the troupe predated a revitalization of American theater that would sweep the country that decade.

From 1965 to 1978, Boehlke was associate artistic director and leading actor at the Children's Theater Company in Minneapolis. After leaving CTC, Boehlke founded Trinity Films in 1978 to produce the documentary Dietrich Bonhoeffer: Memories and Perspectives. During this period, his acclaimed Twin Cities productions included Macbeth, Uncle Vanya, and The Lower Depths. Meanwhile, Boehlke also lent his talents to theaters nationwide including Arizona Theatre Company, Louisville Children's Theatre, and Honolulu Theater for Youth. During his time off in Arizona, he traveled south to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, where the inspiration to create the Jungle Theater first struck him.

In 1990 he returned to Minneapolis, and established the Jungle at the intersection of Lyndale and Lake Street. After opening in 1991, the intimate, 99-seat Jungle quickly became a focal point for Twin Cities' theater, spurring neighborhood redevelopment as well as cultural communion. "I wanted a storefront theater where we could have a small space, do simple productions, and lavish a lot of care on them," Boehlke has said. "I think of a rose. You don't need a bigger rose to enjoy it. Size isn't the issue; it's the integrity of the artistic experience." Recognized equally for its dedication to American theater classics and for Boehlke's own meticulous attention to artistic detail, the Jungle moved across the intersection to its present 150-seat location in 1999.

Last year, after 50 years on stage, Boehlke decided a break was in order. In early 2009, he began a one-year sabbatical from the Jungle. About his time away, Boehlke has said, "It's essential to have the freedom to withdraw. If you hold onto anything too tightly, it smothers." So far, he has revisited the American Southwest, the California coast and Hawaii, each a marker of earlier journeys and reminders of the road that has brought him to today. He intends to return to the Jungle in 2010 with a renewed and clarified focus. "I don't think in terms of retirement," Boehlke said to the Star Tribune earlier this year. "I think in terms of transformation and change."

ABOUT THE MCKNIGHT DISTINGUISHED ARTIST AWARD

The McKnight Distinguished Artist Award recognizes individuals who helped lay the foundation for Minnesota's rich cultural life. Despite opportunities to pursue their work elsewhere, they chose to stay — and by staying, they have made a difference. Previous recipients are composer Dominick Argento (1998), ceramic artist Warren MacKenzie (1999), writer Robert Bly (2000), choral conductor Dale Warland (2001), publisher Emilie Buchwald (2002), painter Mike Lynch (2003), orchestra conductor Stanislaw Skrowaczewski (2004), sculptor Judy Onofrio (2005), theater artist Lou Bellamy (2006), sculptor Kinji Akagawa (2007), and writer Bill Holm (2008).

The McKnight Foundation will honor Boehlke at a private dinner later this year.

NOTE TO EDITORS AND PRODUCERS

For high-resolution photos of Boehlke or to arrange for interviews, please call Tim Hanrahan at the Foundation at 612-333-4220.

ABOUT THE MCKNIGHT FOUNDATION

The McKnight Foundation seeks to improve the quality of life for present and future generations through grantmaking, coalition-building, and encouragement of strategic policy reform. Founded in 1953 and independently endowed by William L. McKnight and Maude L. McKnight, the Minnesota-based Foundation had assets of approximately $1.6 billion and granted about $99 million in 2008.