History

Enrichment Through Culture (ETC) was formed as an arts council in 1990 to support local visual artists. Conceived by a group of artists in a community education painting class and assisted by the Wisconsin Arts Board, the group surveyed the public opinion during the 1989 Rutabaga Festival and found that what Cumberland wanted was an arts fair. Put on an arts fair they did an event that has evolved into our annual Celebration of the Arts.

Also born from Community Education, the Cumberland Community Theater presented its first play, The Good Doctor in May 1989 at the Isle Theater. The theater group produces a variety of productions each year, from family shows, to musicals, to adult comedies, to children’s theater.

Originally formed in 1965, the Cumberland Music Club (originally the Cumberland Federated Women’s Music Club) has presented its annual Christmas concert each second Sunday in December, the proceeds of which are used to provide scholarships for local music students. The music club also produces the ETC Music Series, which regularly showcases the areas many talented musicians on the ETC Arts Center Stage.

In 1999, the Cumberland Community Theater and Cumberland Music Club joined Enrichment Through Culture when the current Arts Center was donated by the Ruppel family. Today, the Arts Center continues to be a gathering place where we can develop our existing creative energy and fill cultural needs in our rural setting.