page_title: Austin, Minnesota
section_title: Arts and culture
hierarchical_section_title: Austin, Minnesota / Arts and culture
caption_attribution_description: The nave of St. Augustine's Church (Austin) as seen from the choir loft
context_page_description: Austin is a city in, and the county seat of, Mower County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 24,718 at the 2010 census. The town was originally settled along the Cedar River and has two artificial lakes, East Side Lake and Mill Pond. It was named for Austin R. Nichols, the area's first European settler.
  Hormel Foods Corporation is Austin's largest employer, and the town is sometimes called "SPAM Town USA". Austin is home to Hormel's corporate headquarters, a factory that makes most of North America's SPAM tinned meat, and the Spam Museum. Austin is also home to the Hormel Institute, a leading cancer research institution operated by the University of Minnesota with significant support from the Mayo Clinic.
  In 2015 Austin was named one of the "Top 10 Affordable Small Towns Where You'd Actually Want to Live" and one of the "Best Small Cities in America".
context_section_description: Music
  Austin is home to several long-standing performing arts organizations, including the Austin Symphony Orchestra, which was established in 1957. The Austin Artist Series, one of the Midwest's largest and longest-running concert and performance series, was established in 1945. The Historic Paramount Theatre hosts a variety of local and regional performances, and Austin High School's music programs have been recognized for decades as among the state's best. Austin is also home to a community choir (Northwestern Singers) and several community bands (Austin Community Band, Austin Community Jazz Band, and the Austin Big Band). Austin has produced many professional musicians of regional and national acclaim, including John Maus, Trace Bundy, Charlie Parr, Martin Zellar, Matthew Griswold, and Molly Kate Kestner.
  In 2015 the MacPhail Center for Music, based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, opened its first outstate location in Austin, at Riverland Community College. MacPhail's Austin campus provides individual instruction on nearly a dozen musical instruments for adults and children, as well as large ensembles and early childhood music instruction.
  Theater
  The Frank W. Bridges Theatre is home to an active theatre program at Riverland Community College, while Matchbox Children's Theatre, established in 1975, provides shows year-round for both adults and children. Summerset Theatre, a community theater company organized in 1968, also presents several shows per year.
  ArtWorks Center
  The Austin ArtWorks Center, established in 2014, hosts gallery exhibits, educational classes, performance space, and a retail gallery. It is operated by the Austin Area Commission for the Arts, which also sponsors the Austin ArtWorks Festival, an annual celebration of visual, performing, and literary arts. The Center is in the First National Bank Building, which opened in 1896.
  Architecture
  Austin has several historically and architecturally significant buildings, including Austin High School, St. Augustine's Church, Roosevelt Bridge, the Historic Paramount Theatre, the Hormel Historic Home, the Arthur W. Wright House, and several blocks of buildings on Main Street. Austin is also home to a Frank Lloyd Wright home, the Elam Residence.
caption: The Austin Symphony Orchestra and Chorus performing at St. Augustine's Church (2015)
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