Merrill Arts Center (MAC) was originally incorporated in 1996 as Woodbury Arts Council. Founded by a small group of citizens who were watching the explosive growth of their beloved tiny farm town. They wanted to be certain that the city planners were taking the arts into consideration. At first, the group functioned primarily as a matchmaking and advocacy group, showing up at city council and planning meetings, networking as the voice of the arts in Chamber of Commerce events, and helping to connect new community members to existing arts organizations.  The group operated as an all-volunteer organization, with a part-time Executive Director for over a decade, with a small budget around $25,000 until Dorothy K. Merrill passed away and left a quarter of her estate to the Arts Council to build “The Dorothy K. Merrill Fine Arts Center”. Her gift of $3.2M was used to build the Merrill Black Box on the new East Ridge High School in collaboration with the South Washington County School District; and to purchase 3 adjoining Suites at 380 Rivertown Drive in Woodbury. Immediately, the operating budget increased to nearly $400,000. Additionally, the organization changed its name to honor its benefactor and began running programming for the first time.