Welcome to Greater St. Cloud | St. Cloud Shines

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Welcome to Greater St. Cloud

Just up the road from the Twin Cities is a cluster of communities known for a little bit of everything: small-town comforts, big-city conveniences, outdoor recreation, cultural diversity, inspiring art and entertainment. We like living here. We know you will too.

More About Our Communities

A Guide to Housing in Greater St. Cloud

Greater St. Cloud Region Map

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Cultural Diversity

Health & Wellness

Volunteering & Faith

Arts & Entertainment

Recreation & Outdoors

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#StCloudShines Stories

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Feb 16

Community + Creativity = Shania Hirdler Photography & Murals! Check out her full #StCloudShines story on our blog!

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Feb 13

What started as a way to level-set Shania Hirdler’s work-life balance has transformed into a business that actively engages and collaborates with the community. At the end of 2021, she launched Shania Hirdler Photography to give herself a creative outlet and provide for her family in a way that fills her bucket - while having a business that fits her family’s needs.

“When I became a mom in late 2020, I was an elementary art teacher, dance instructor at the Princeton Just For Kix program, choreographing the fall musicals at Sauk Rapids High School, and photographing friends’ and families’ life events as a hobby. I was stretched so thin, and I knew I wasn’t giving 100% to any of my roles. Something had to give. I resigned at the end of the school year. After a year of finding the right balance in my role as a mom and an artist in the world, I decided to launch @shaniahirdlerphotography. This really allowed me a creative outlet alongside providing for our family in a more flexible way and taking on the primary childcare role. Over the years, I have been able to ebb and flow my business to fit our life's needs, like adding our daughter to the family and exploring other artistic avenues outside of my mural work and wedding photography/filmmaking services.”

When she started, Shania offered wedding photography and videography. “My husband and I are a team, capturing wedding days together and creating a gallery or film that tells your story. I’m passionate about helping couples prepare for their day by building a timeline that prioritizes their wants and needs while reducing stress. I find the longer I am in the wedding industry, the more I am able to serve couples in a more individualized way, which has been awesome! We’ve recently been able to grow the business by offering mural paintings for homes and businesses. This has been such a fun shift and allowed me to put a different creative energy into our community. I love to create custom designs after meeting with business owners and then bring their space to life.”

Read Shania's full story via the link in our bio!

#StCloudShines

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Feb 10

Thanks for all you do for our community, Heijeu Arts! Check out the full feature on the #StCloudShines blog!

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Feb 7

@heijeuarts, established in April 2023 by artist Heidi Jeub, aims to deliver top-notch arts education, art-infused community events, and purposeful collaborations across Minnesota. The foundation of Heijeu Arts is rooted in the extensive work of Heidi Jeub, a renowned teaching artist, painter, and public artist. With her rich experience as a teaching artist, Heidi has pioneered innovative methods to educate individuals of diverse backgrounds, ages, and artistic skills.

You may recognize Heidi or Heijeu Arts’ name from her creation of the @tinyschoolartdesign in 2019, a mobile art studio fostering community engagement through art creation. This program serves as the flagship initiative in Heijeu Arts' inaugural year, offering complimentary pop-up art gatherings as well as fee-based art camps. “In a nutshell, it's a portable studio that can land anywhere I'm invited. I set up equipment that only art students see at the college level and bring high-end materials to people so they can have fun, be expressive, and maybe make a little mess.”

“I started Heijeu Arts because I needed to differentiate between my work as an individual artist and the work I do for the community. Community engagement doesn't belong to me, I do not own the ability to connect people. However, with an arts organization, I am able to leverage resources differently to make more connections and, therefore, have a bigger impact on positive community interactions. Before creating the nonprofit, I did all the things one can do in the arts. I made art. I ran a gallery. I taught art. I facilitated creative community conversations. I hung art in galleries, coffee shops, and libraries. I inventoried local artists' work. So, I feel like I've done it all. I've done "arts work" within universities, small towns, big cities, schools, and nonprofits. I was able to know what I enjoyed and tolerated and in some cases ... couldn't stand. I realized I'm very "meat and potatoes" in how I approach the art world, probably because I consider myself rural-centric in how I see the world and how art can serve the world.”

Check out the full #StCloudShines story linked in our bio!

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Feb 1

Check out Nurture to Play, one of our communities great new businesses! #StCloudShines

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Jan 28

@nurturetoplaymn is a unique combination of a coffee shop and an indoor play space that prioritizes safety, imagination, and play for parents. The play cafe will host a grand opening on Saturday, February 15. Their space offers something for everyone, from imaginative play spaces and cozy café lounge to event rentals and engaging classes. Nurture to Play creates a safe, fun, and nurturing environment for families to connect and thrive together.

“Nurture to Play (NTP) is the first business model like this in the Greater St. Cloud area! We are bringing something new and needed to the community. Our space is for children ages six and under. Here, kids can explore and grow while parents can sit back and enjoy a specialty coffee - thanks to Second Street Coffeehouse - without worrying about the noise level or the mess that comes with play. It has been so fun and exciting to meet so many people in this community and hear about their shared feeling of needing a place to let your kids be kids and connect and meet other families."

Learn more in our #StCloudShines story, linked in our bio!

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Jan 20

Check out local author Bryan Fleegel's book, Jack and the Caterpillar! #StCloudShines

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Jan 17

Two years ago, @bryanfleegel started writing Jack and the Caterpillar, the first book in the Adventures of Jack series. The book was inspired by a bedtime story that Bryan told his son, Jack. “This story, for once; he wasn’t just listening - he was captivated. His eyes lit up with wonder, and in that moment, I knew this story held a special kind of magic. It could be something truly extraordinary.” From there, the journey of self-publishing a children's book began.

Hundreds of thousands of children’s books in the US are published each year. But Bryan set out to write a different kind of story. “What makes this book different is two things: the story about friendship, adventure, and helping one another is relatable to many ages. Second, the illustrations in Jack and the Caterpillar are world-class, and illustrations like this help develop the imagination in the young audience.”

Learn more about Bryan, his book, and where you can find a copy (locally!) in our latest #StCloudShines story, via the link in our bio!

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Great jobs, right now.

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Great jobs, right now.

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