2026 Strategic Planning

Group of people holding hands and dancing outdoors.

Tapestry is at an important inflection point.

Some of our greatest strengths—longstanding traditions, deeply committed participants, and experienced instructors, callers, and musicians—are also sources of vulnerability if we do not intentionally plan for the future.

In January 2026, Tapestry’s Board of Directors began a strategic planning process to help guide our organization over the next 5–10 years. On this page, you can explore why we are doing this work now, what we are thinking about, and how the broader community can help inform what comes next.

Our goal is not simply to plan programs or logistics, but to step back and ask bigger questions about who Tapestry is, who we serve, and how we steward participatory dance, music, and community for future generations.

At its April 2026 meeting, the Board of Directors approved a vision narrative and 5 priorities that will form the building blocks of a full strategic plan…

Vision Narrative (5-Year Horizon)

In five years, Tapestry will be a vibrant, visible hub where dance, music, and community life are woven together every day.

Our studios and gathering spaces will be alive with activity—from morning through evening—filled with people of all ages, backgrounds, and experience levels participating in cultural, folk, social, and participatory dance and music. Tapestry will be a place where individuals not only attend, but belong: building relationships, deepening cultural understanding, and finding pathways into leadership, teaching, and artistic expression.

We will be recognized across Minnesota as a leading resource for discovering and participating in cultural dance and music—valued for both preserving traditions and creating space for living, evolving community expression. Dancers, instructors, callers, musicians, and culture bearers will see Tapestry as a trusted partner and artistic home.

Our building will serve as a welcoming and joyful cultural anchor along Minnehaha Avenue—visibly active, easy to access, and intentionally designed to foster connection, hospitality, and social interaction both inside and outside our walls.

Behind the scenes, Tapestry will operate from a place of strength and sustainability, with a clear organizational model that supports and empowers staff and community members to work together effectively.  A stable mix of full and part-time staff, and a diversified financial foundation—including strong individual giving and long-term investments— will allow us to grow thoughtfully while keeping community at the center.


Strategic Priorities:

1. Organizational Capacity & Operating Model

Develop a sustainable, staff-supported and community-informed organizational model, including stable staffing, clear volunteer roles, and systems that enable effective operations in a joyful organizational culture.

2. Financial Strength & Stewardship of Physical Resources

Build a resilient financial foundation—including individual giving, legacy and external funding, and long-term investments—while strengthening energy efficiency of our physical space. Seek to increase the facility’s function  as a welcoming, visible, and socially vibrant community space.

3. Programs & Cultural Ecosystem

Expand and deepen programming while building strong, reciprocal relationships with musicians, instructors, callers, culture bearers, and values-aligned community groups, organizations, and businesses—creating clear pathways for participation, development, leadership, and partnership.

4. Membership, Belonging & Community Participation

Design and implement a cohesive membership and engagement model that fosters belonging, increases participation, and creates meaningful pathways for volunteering, leadership, and shared decision-making.

5. Identity, Visibility, & Cultural Leadership

Clarify and elevate Tapestry’s role as a leading hub for participatory dance and music in Minnesota—strengthening brand, partnerships, regional presence, and how we share our stories.

An elderly woman and a middle-aged man are dancing together, smiling and holding hands. In the background, another woman is also dancing.

  • Tapestry is at an important inflection point.

    Some of our greatest strengths—longstanding traditions, deeply committed participants, and experienced instructors, callers, and musicians—are also sources of vulnerability if we do not intentionally plan for the future.

    In particular:

    • More than half of our participants are over age 50. Many of our founding members are still with us and active in the community, but many have also passed on or are no longer dancing. The next 5-10 years will continue to see a shift in the number of those with the longest histories with the organization who are able to be actively involved. 

    • Many of the dance leaders, culture bearers, and volunteers who make our programs and dances possible are over 60, with limited leadership pipelines in place.

    • Our donor base is relatively small and largely older.

    • Owning and maintaining a building brings long-term responsibilities that require foresight and resources

    These realities are not a crisis—but they do create urgency. Strategic planning allows us to respond thoughtfully rather than reactively, and to ensure that the joy, belonging, and cultural knowledge at the heart of Tapestry continue to thrive for generations to come.

  • This is a multi-month process, running through June 2026. A single retreat or meeting cannot responsibly answer the kinds of questions Tapestry must now face to build a holistic and visionary plan for the next 5-10 years.

    This process will be:

    • Future-focused (5–10 year horizon)

    • Grounded in community voice

    • Centered on values, identity, and long-term sustainability

    • Designed to support a clear, fundable strategic plan

    This process will not be:

    • A one-day exercise

    • About finalizing programs or schedules

    • About operating from crisis or scarcity

    • About rushing toward solutions before vision is clear

  • The strategic planning process will unfold in three broad phases:

    • January–February: Discovery and community listening

    • March–April: Clarifying vision, priorities, and strategic framework

    • May–June: Drafting, refining, and adopting a strategic plan and related capital planning


    Community input is essential throughout this process.

Questions & Ideas Leading the Discussion

Group of people dancing in a hall with decorated ceiling and string lights, wearing casual and colorful clothing.

  • The Board began by examining where Tapestry is today—naming both strengths and fragilities—without trying to solve them yet –something we will also ask community members to consider and share. 

    Strengths We Want to Carry Forward

    • Dedicated, skilled staff

    • A strong sense of community and belonging

    • Intergenerational connection through dance and music

    • A home base that we own with an excellent dance floor that anchors our work

    • A wide range of participatory dance traditions

    • Outreach and experimentation with new programming

    Fragilities We Must Address

    • Aging participants, leaders, and donors

    • Limited and untapped pipelines - in leadership, talent, volunteers

    • Financial sustainability and staffing capacity

    • Cultural and dance community silos 

    • Tension between consumption and participation/community ownership

    • Demands of building ownership

  • The Board explored what Tapestry could be known for in 5–10 years. Common aspirations emerged:

    • Tapestry as the hub for participatory dance in the Twin Cities - a connecting hub for all things participatory dance and the place to go dance

    • Partnerships - yet to be defined - that allow our mission to live far beyond what we can accomplish alone, inside and beyond our building

    • A place where place people of all ages and backgrounds find belonging so deeply they can’t imagine life without it

    • Traditions preserved but also actively evolving to support the future

    • Clear pathways for dancers, musicians, callers, instructors, and leaders to grow

    • A national model for community-building through folk and participatory dance and music

    • A reflection of the diversity of cultural expression in the Twin Cities

    • A thriving organization with the financial, human, and cultural capacity and the physical resources to sustain its mission - with a governance model that exemplifies keeping community at the center

  • As Tapestry plans for the future, we’re thinking about how to balance things that can sometimes pull in different directions. These aren’t “problems” to fix, but real choices we have to make thoughtfully as we develop our longer-term strategic plan.   They include:

    • Tradition and continuity alongside change and innovation

    • Deep community identity alongside broader public relevance and reputation

    • Program growth vs. organizational capacity

    • Silos and cultural stewardship alongside inclusivity and cultural equity

    • Ambition and risk-taking vs. stability and sustainability

    • Emphasis on future generations alongside retaining and engaging older participants

    • Depending upon seasoned talent while also creating space for emerging leaders, volunteers, and new talent

    • Programmatic growth and space use alongside long-term rental relationships

  • The Board agreed that a strong strategic plan should answer a small number of big questions. The following will guide our work:

    • What does long-term sustainability look like for Tapestry—financially, programmatically/culturally, and organizationally - and what then, is the best governance and operational structure?

    • How do we optimize our financial foundation?

    • How do we position ourselves to be the hub for participatory dance? 

    • What physical resources are required for Tapestry to achieve its long-term vision - and how do we steward them well? 

    • How do we build intentional pipelines that ensure sustainability - of volunteerism, programs, cultural traditions, operations and governance -  for future generations?

    • How do we cultivate a culture of care, belonging, and shared ownership within our community?

    These questions focus on who we need to become, not just what we do.

A Quick Note on a Solar Project and Financial Stewardship

Recently, Tapestry’s Board made a unanimous decision to proceed with installing solar now, using reserves to front the costs. The timing of the decision allowed Tapestry to secure access to government incentives that sunsetted on December 31, 2025, which will amount to appx. 30% of the total cost. This decision does not define the strategic plan, but it does inform it. The long-term energy savings, near-term reserve impact, and responsibility of building stewardship are part of the broader context in which future strategic choices will be made. Other possible building projects that have been mentioned in the last several months (facade improvements, lobby redesign) have not been abandoned, but will be considered in light of the priorities and financial capacities defined by the strategic planning process.

Invitation to the Community

We invite dancers, members, musicians, callers, instructors, volunteers, donors, partners, staff, and renters to help us think boldly and honestly about Tapestry’s future.

In the coming weeks, we will be asking questions such as:

  • What role does Tapestry play in your life today?

  • What would make Tapestry more relevant, welcoming, or meaningful for future generations?

  • What should never be lost as Tapestry grows and evolves?

  • What about where Tapestry is right now feels weak or fragile to you? 

  • What about where Tapestry is right now feels strongest and most distinctive?

  • What do you hope Tapestry is known for 10 years from now?

Your perspective will help ensure that Tapestry’s next chapter is shaped not just by plans, but by people.

Submit your thoughts via THIS digital survey. Paper versions will also be available at the admissions desk through February. 

Sign-Up to attend one of our community conversation and listening sessions:

  • Thursday, February 19 from 11:30am-1pm - RSVP HERE

  • Saturday, February 28 from 6-7:15pm (following a Member appreciation potluck at 5pm) - RSVP HERE

Reach out to one of our board members or our Executive Director to have a small group or one-on-one conversation. View our Board Members and their emails HERE. 

Ways YOU Can Provide Input

People dancing in a large hall, including two young girls holding hands and smiling at each other in the foreground, others dancing and socializing in the background.