Miss Minnesota, Madeline Van Ert, is a Rochester, Minnesota native who is an extremely passionate advocate for service and the arts. After becoming crowned Miss Minnesota earlier in the year, she began her journey to represent Minnesota in the Miss America competition.
Madeline competed for the title of Miss America 2017 at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey on Sunday, September 11. She was able to highlight some of Minnesota’s notable contributions and fun facts during her introduction each night, including General Mills, the Mayo Clinic and even our affectionate nickname of “Minne-SNOW-ta.”
Though Minnesota was not represented in the top 15 this year, Madeline was officially honored with the Miss Congeniality award, in recognition of her support, kind spirit, and genuine love for others.
Madeline returns to Minnesota to complete her year of service as Miss Minnesota, focusing on promoting her platform, The Arts Project. Developing arts education is a process that Madeline is passionate about and hopes to continue to develop and expand. It aligns well with the Miss Minnesota program, which encourages a holistic expression of self, education and creativity, as well as investing in the hearts of our creative, innovative and artistic future leaders.
