-Minnesota State Arts Board - Minnesota North Star

FY 2012 Grantees

Artist Initiative

Project grants for artists at all stages of their careers, to support artistic development, nurture artistic creativity, and recognize the contributions individual artists make to the creative environment of the state of Minnesota


Number of grants awarded on March 7, 2012
140
Total dollars awarded on March 7, 2012
$ 1,244,368

Grantee, City Grant Amount
Elizabeth Abbott, Minneapolis $  7,000
Abbott will complete a memoir about her experience as a female Army Reservist serving in Iraq and training Iraqi soldiers. She will offer writing workshops at her local VFW and the Minnesota Veterans Hospital.
John Akre, Minneapolis $  5,000
Akre will promote his animated feature film, "Walker and Driver," through screenings and events that include the work of other Minnesota animators.
Julieta Alvarado, Minneapolis $  10,000
Alvarado will research Thomas Jefferson's collection of harpsichord music from his personal music library in Monticello and present it in recital throughout Minnesota.
Norman Andersen, Minneapolis $  10,000
Anderson will expand his skills in metal working by learning how to TIG weld and he will create new work that makes use of these skills. He will share his results with the public through public showings and workshops.
Scott Lloyd Anderson, Minneapolis $  10,000
Anderson will create paintings of local, contemporary, urban, and suburban environments, many to be painted on location, culminating in an exhibition.
Marion Angelica, Minneapolis $  9,722
Angelica will travel to New Mexico to research and create of a body of ceramic work based upon the land and vegetation of the high desert. Upon her return, she will offer a public workshop and exhibition.
Bridget Beck, Oakdale $  9,900
Beck will create a mobile sculpture that she will bring to eight different elder care facilities in Minnesota. As part of the design process, she will engage residents of the facilities in hands-on workshops.
Raina Belleau, Minneapolis $  10,000
Belleau will complete a "Natural History Museum" installation that uses the scientific method and Darwinian ideology to create an unusual and surprising exhibition that explores the human/animal dichotomy.
Kris Bigalk, Minnetonka $  10,000
Bigalk will promote her forthcoming book of poetry, "Repeat the Flesh in Numbers," and also will complete a second poetry collection. In early 2013, she will host a reading of her own work and that of other women poets, followed by a discussion of the role of women in the Minnesota poetry community.
Melissa Brandt, Rochester $  10,000
Brandt will complete her screenplay, "Chicken Day," about a rural town in Minnesota, and will hire Minnesota actors to perform a public reading of the work.
Matt Burgess, Minneapolis $  5,000
Burgess will rent studio space to work on his second novel, a literary/crime hybrid about the underground hip-hop scene in Minneapolis. He will read an excerpt from the completed manuscript at Micawber's Books in Saint Paul, in the spring of 2013.
Tim Byrns, Duluth $  9,900
Byrns will create and install ceiling mounted sculptures in an open public space in Duluth. The work will explore three major Hellenistic principles, Stoicism, Epicureanism, and Skepticism.
Nona Kennedy Carlson, Minneapolis $  10,000
Carlson will complete the first draft of her novel, "Boom," which takes place in the Bakken Oil Field of North Dakota. She will hold public readings throughout Minnesota and be available to lecture at colleges and other institutions that deem the work important or relevant.
Craig Carnahan, Saint Louis Park $  10,000
Carnahan will compose a music-theater work based on the poetry and writings of Walt Whitman. He will use this to market his work to opera companies and music festivals.
Bounxou Daoheuang, Brooklyn Park $  10,000
Daoheuang will design and create a traditional silk weaving of the White House in this ancient form of Laotian textile art.
Linda Chatterton, Minneapolis $  10,000
Chatterton will commission composer Ailis Ni Riain to compose a new work for flute and will give concerts in England and Minnesota.
Daniel Chouinard, Saint Paul $  10,000
Chouinard will research and write the third installment of "Cafe Europa," a live travelogue-with-music focused on Minnesotans in France and Italy during WWII.
Alicia Conroy, Minneapolis $  5,500
Conroy will travel to Nova Scotia to do research about the indigenous Mi'kmaq people and their first encounter with European colonists, in order to complete a draft of her historical novel. As segments of the novel develop, she will read the new material at public readings in Minnesota.
Mark Conway, Avon $  4,100
Conway will complete the second half of a book of poetry by conducting research in Ireland and taking time to write in Minnesota. He will give readings of the completed work in libraries in the Crosby-Ironton region and the Center for Irish Studies at Saint Thomas University, in Saint Paul.
William Cottman, Minneapolis $  10,000
Cottman will create and perform a multidisciplinary ensemble work using the contents of a self-published book of poems and photographs.
William Cravis, Minneapolis $  10,000
Cravis will create an interactive video installation that invites the participation of more than 100 people and is presented at galleries and other Twin Cities venues.
Guillermo Cuellar, Shafer $  8,500
Cuellar will build a propane-fired soda glaze kiln with used brick, new burners, and kiln shelves. With the assistance of a pottery student, he will have an exhibition of new work in soda glaze.
Grant Cutler, Minneapolis $  8,900
Cutler will compose a musical narrative entitled, "Whoever You are Holding Me Now," that describes the birth, death, and rebirth of an idea or belief.
Gina Dabrowski, Saint Paul $  7,900
Dabrowski will visit sites to photograph repurposed landfills. She will exhibit this work both locally and nationally, meeting with curators and collectors to increase her visibility as an artist.
Immanuel Davis, Minneapolis $  10,000
Davis will perform a series of concerts around the state of Minnesota with world-renowned colleague Barthold Kuijken. In addition, Davis will develop a Web site that will raise his professional profile as a baroque flutist.
Susana di Palma, Robbinsdale $  6,800
Di Palma will attend the 17th Bienal de Flamenco de Sevilla, attend twenty concerts, take classes in singing for dance, and do research and prep work on "Con Vivir," a theater/flamenco piece.
Sandra Dowd, Minneapolis $  10,000
Dowd will experiment with pastels, print,s and paint, to create a series of self-portraits that will be exhibited along with past self-portraits that span the last 30 years.
Jenny Dunning, Northfield $  10,000
Dunning will revise her novel, "Yak Farming," to ready the manuscript for submission to agents and publishers. She will also teach a writing workshop at the Crossings Art Center in Zumbrota, based on her experience of using research in writing fiction.
Heid Erdrich, Minneapolis $  10,000
Erdrich will research, write, and collaborate with Ojibwe filmmakers and artists to create video poems. She will renew her performance skills via workshops and conferences, and work with a voice/drum mentor. She will give at least one public reading in rural Minnesota and offer a weekend workshop to TGIF Frybread, an indigenous writers group at the Loft Literary Center. In addition, she will exhibit the collaborative video poems in both the metro area and in greater Minnesota.
Craig Evans, Rosemount $  10,000
Evans will capture the renaissance of banjo luthiers and their craft through the completion of his Banjo Builders Series. His completed series will include interviews of 24 banjo builders and has been accepted by the Smithsonian for inclusion in its Folkways Catalog. A screening of the completed series will be held in Rosemount.
Bernice Ficek-Swenson, Golden Valley $  9,300
Ficek-Swanson will create three large, copper plate photogravures on the subject of water, at the Jon Goodman Photogravure Studio in Massachusetts. Upon completion, she will make a presentation about this project and the photogravure process at Photography At The Center in Minneapolis.
Kyle Fokken, Minneapolis $  10,000
Fokken will research and explore how to translate the style of his small indoor sculpture into large, durable, outdoor work and purchase equipment that will enable him to work safely.
Penelope Freeh, Saint Paul $  10,000
Freeh will create and perform a new dance work in collaboration with New York-based performer Patrick Corbin and Minnesota composer Jocelyn Hagen.
Teri Fullerton, Minneapolis $  9,500
Fullerton will make large-scale photographs of military families while they have a loved one that is fighting in Afghanistan or Iraq. She plans to display the photos in libraries, local businesses, and other venues.
Jennifer Garza, Saint Louis Park $  10,000
Garza, an animator, will use the story of a mute character, Breakers, to challenge audiences to experience another world - a world without sound.
Vance Gellert, Minneapolis $  10,000
Gellert will produce a photographic exhibition about the 35W bridge collapse and develop a related book of photographs. An exhibition of his photos will take place at the Minnesota History Center and in other Minnesota locations as part of the fifth anniversary commemoration.
Crystal Gibbins, Baudette $  8,000
Gibbons will create and edit, "Canoe," an online literary journal that showcases new and emerging poets. To celebrate the first issue she will hold a free public reading, featuring the contributors.
Kathleen Glasgow, Saint Paul $  7,800
Glasgow will revise her novel, "The Tender Kit," for final submission to her agent, so it may be considered for publication. Glasgow will also lead a writing workshop for up to 25 teens in the Frogtown neighborhood of Saint Paul, to explore writing from difficult places about difficult subjects. The workshop will culminate in a public reading.
Wendy Brown-Baez, Saint Louis Park $  6,600
Gonzalez-Baez will bring accessible, relevant contemporary poetry and self-reflective writing to underserved nontraditional audiences, through poetry performances and writing workshops, to a variety of community organizations in the Twin Cities.
Molly Griffin, Minneapolis $  6,500
Griffin will generate, revise, and submit for publication, at least six picture book manuscripts, and host a monthly Picture Book Salon to bring together a community of picture book writers in the Twin Cities.
Karen Gustafson, Minneapolis $  9,100
Gustafson will frame completed drawings and begin a new phase of work. She will participate in several open studios so visitors may see her finished work and view the new series as it develops. In addition, she will take a ten-session workshop to build her business skills at Springboard for the Arts.
Carol Gustavson, Grove City $  10,000
Gustavson will create four formal Japanese kimonos using the traditional Shibori technique, to be exhibited at the Hutchinson Center for the Arts. In addition, Gustavson will provide a lecture on this ancient textile technique as it relates to heritage, creation, and culture.
Terry Gydesen, Minneapolis $  10,000
Gydesen will document the 2012 election cycle, focusing on issues unique to the state of Minnesota. She will also create an interactive Web site with words and images to encourage dialogue, debate, and education.
Monica Haller, Minneapolis $  10,000
Haller will create a series of large format photos and video in New Orleans to document the deteriorating land in the delta. The project will be exhibited in the Twin Cities along the Mississippi River during the Northern Spark Festival.
Eddie Hamilton, Minneapolis $  10,000
Hamilton will create new paintings that highlight the challenges and successes of people living with disabilities.
Linda Tutas Haugen, Burnsville $  10,000
Haugen will research the ancient folk music of Norway, specifically the Hardanger violin, Seljefloyte (willow flute), and the Kvedar style of singing, and compose three chamber pieces. In addition, she will host an open performance and workshop for composers and performers to encourage the exploration of folk instruments and techniques.
Mike Hazard, Saint Paul $  7,200
Hazard will take daily photographs of everyday life in the Saint Paul neighborhood of Lowertown. As part of the project, he will learn new digital skills. An exhibition of selected work from the project will be held at the Black Dog café in Saint Paul.
Ralph Hepola, Saint Paul $  10,000
Hepola, a tuba soloist, will create a content management system Web site, Web marketing, promotional materials, and recordings to increase his career opportunities. He will also provide concerts around the state.
KateLynn Hibbard, Saint Paul $  8,000
Hibbard will research and write poems for a manuscript focusing on the experience of women on the homestead frontier of the Great Plains. She will provide a workshop for adults who wish to use historical research to recreate the lived experience of specific individuals, both real and imagined.
Marty Hicks, Saint Paul $  7,956
Hicks will set up foundry equipment and purchase safety clothing, materials, and supplies to pour bronze for the purpose of creating artwork with metal. He will host two pours, inviting both the public and art students to attend.
Asako Hirabayashi, Falcon Heights $  10,000
Hirabayashi will compose a new work for the digital harpsichord and provide public performances in a wide variety of settings in the community.
Tucker Hollingsworth, Minneapolis $  10,000
Hollingsworth will prepare his show, "Mystical Realism," for exhibition in September 2012 at the Mpls Photo Center.
Alexa Horochowski, Minneapolis $  10,000
Horochowski will refine her skills in metal fabrication, welding, and casting, to allow her to work on a larger scale with durable materials that can be installed in public, outdoor spaces.
Jennifer Ilse, Minneapolis $  6,900
Ilse will develop and teach classes in inverted dance to develop dancers for her work and for the general Minnesota dance community.
Aaron Jacobs, Eden Prairie $  6,200
Jacobs will complete a series of landscape paintings that explore the blurred division between urban and rural environments. He will further develop the business side of his career by creating a Web site and documenting his work. His plans for exhibition are in both urban and rural areas of the state.
Valerie Jenkins, Minneapolis $  9,000
Jenkins will document past work, create a Web site, and create marketing tools to support her artistic career. She will also explore encaustic methods as a way to "fix" finished drawings and will exhibit her work at the College of Visual Arts and at the Rosalux Gallery.
John Jodzio, Minneapolis $  8,800
Jodzio will complete his third collection of short stories and prepare it for submission to publishers. He will also organize four literary events in Duluth, Saint Cloud, Rochester, and Mankato, in which he will read from his new manuscript and feature other writers from those individual cities.
Craig Johnson, Saint Paul $  10,000
Johnson will increase his furniture-making ability by attending an advanced chair-making workshop in Canada. The finished chairs will be displayed in Minneapolis and Grand Rapids. He will also create a blog and make a presentation to the Minnesota Woodworkers Guild about his experience.
Betsy Johnson-Miller, Avon $  8,250
Johnson-Miller will write a collection of essays, based on interviews with believers of different faiths on how similar faith can be in experiencing divine presence or absence. She will speak to different faith groups about her process of writing the essays, give readings of her work, and create an interactive Web site for the project.
Rebecca Kanner, Plymouth $  10,000
Kanner will work on a memoir about what she and her brother have experienced since he joined the Marines in October of 2002. She will also organize a public reading at Dreamland Arts, in Saint Paul, to share her new work about the human costs of war.
Gülgün Kayim, Minneapolis $  10,000
Kayim will acquire community problem-solving training for her social change performance work. She will present the results of her work as a lecture and gallery performance in the fall of 2012 at a conference in Minnesota about art and social change.
Ellie Kingsbury, Minneapolis $  10,000
Kingsbury will conduct a photographic study of the dignity and temporality of ordinary garden produce, with the ambition of relating a shared experience in middle-aged people. She plans to show this new work in both the metro area and in greater Minnesota.
Teresa Konechne, Saint Paul $  10,000
Konechne will gather contemporary and ancestral stories for her documentary film, "Unearthing: Our Stories From the Land," weaving together global connection to the earth, each other, and our mutual survival. She will also host three work-in-progress feedback sessions in the Twin Cities, Mankato, and Moorhead.
Suzanne Kosmalski, Minneapolis $  10,000
Kosmalski will complete a photographic project on historic battle sites, where nations have fought for their way of life and beliefs, from the Minnesota River to the Dakotas and Montana. At least one Minnesota public exhibition of the work will take place during the project period.
Brian Laidlaw, Minneapolis $  10,000
Laidlaw will collaborate with instrumentalist and Hibbing native, Danny Vitali, to research and produce the album "Echolalia." This multimedia music project will incorporate interviews with current Hibbing residents around issues of land use, mining, and urban expansion. A weeklong tour of towns on the Iron Range will follow the album's release in Hibbing.
Paul Lambrecht, Lanesboro $  9,300
Lambrecht will create a large, carved wood sculpture for the National Trout Learning Center in Preston. The sculpture will be unveiled at the public opening of the new facility.
Julie Landsman, Minneapolis $  4,500
Landsman will consult with Bill Cottman of KFAI Radio, in order to finish a final draft of her novel, "Till," set in Connecticut, New York, and Paris jazz scenes from 1920-1955. She will feature this new work in a segment of Talkabout, a program of the Homewood Galleries in north Minneapolis.
Ed Bok Lee, Minneapolis $  10,000
Lee will complete his first manuscript of short stories, while communally workshopping the pieces at established open microphone venues located in or near the Twin Cities neighborhoods in which each story is set.
Cynthia Levine, Saint Paul $  8,000
Levine will participate in a two-week residency at the Watershed Center for Ceramic Arts in Newcastle, Maine. Upon return to Minnesota, she will create new work for an exhibition at the Groveland Gallery in Minneapolis.
Dodie Logue, Delano $  8,000
Logue will devote time to the business side of her art career by establishing a Web site and researching exhibition opportunities in greater Minnesota. She will also frame and document twenty-five of her finished pieces so they are ready for presentation.
Kym Longhi, Minneapolis $  10,000
Longhi will complete and present "Herocycle," her original, interdisciplinary physical theater piece that crashes Evel Knievel's exploits into Joseph Campbell's meditations on the hero.
Dean Lucker, Saint Paul $  10,000
Lucker will adapt and install one of his mechanical sculptures for temporary exhibition at several public institutions within Minnesota.
Daniel Madsen, Minneapolis $  2,500
Madsen will learn traditional sign painting from Minnesota masters, Mike Meyer and Rod Harvey. He will work as often as possible outside of his studio to network and spread the word about this nearly lost art of hand lettering.
Maggie Majewski, Minneapolis $  2,000
Majewski will work with a published mentor to produce the final draft of a short story to be read at a public reading for youth and families in south Minneapolis.
David Malley, Minneapolis $  8,800
Malley will complete his novel based on the true events surrounding the 1860 capture and execution of Albert Hicks, a man who confessed to killing 93 people. He will also give a public reading of his manuscript at a venue in the Twin Cities.
Anthony Marchetti, Minneapolis $  10,000
Marchetti will print and frame fifteen images for a two-person exhibition of his project, Tijuana, at Casa del Tunel in Tijuana, Mexico. There will be a second exhibition of the work at Concordia University in Saint Paul.
Charles Matson Lume, Saint Paul $  10,000
Lume will participate in an artist residency at the edge of the Arctic Circle to further develop his light-based installations. He will create a book to document his artistic process and capture his ephemeral work. Twenty of the books will be donated to libraries around the state.
Andy Mattern, Minneapolis $  10,000
Mattern will earn a Minnesota Center for Book Arts Core Certification and then create three artist books, followed by a public event at the Minnesota Center for Book Arts. He will attend local and national portfolio reviews to have his work critiqued.
Matthew Mauch, Minneapolis $  10,000
Mauch will increase the audience for his poetry at readings in Minnesota and across the country, while also promoting the Great Twin Cities Poetry Read, a live poetry series that he curates and hosts in the Twin Cities.
Shawn McBurnie, Minneapolis $  9,000
McBurnie will produce a live recording of original songs from Northwood's folklore and tall tales, featuring such beasties as the Squonk, the Hidebehind, and the Splintercat. McBurnie will also host two public workshops, one for children on Northwoods folklore and the other on songwriting for adults.
Paula McCartney, Minneapolis $  10,000
McCartney will produce and frame fifty photographs from her series, A Field Guide to Snow and Ice. Before the end of the grant period, she will give a public lecture to students majoring in photography, about securing venues and producing work for exhibition.
Heather McPherson, Minneapolis $  7,680
McPherson will complete a collection of personal essays titled, "Where Do You Think You're Going?," about how the places we live affect who we are and who we become. She also organize a public reading of her own work, and that of others who grapple with the themes of identity and place.
Kathy McTavish, Duluth $  9,800
McTavish will create, premiere, and document two multimedia shows, "Graffiti Angel" and "Holy Fool." Both pieces will premiere in Duluth, one at Zinema 2 and the other at Sacred Heart Music Center, in the fall of 2012.
Liz Miller, Good Thunder $  10,000
Miller will travel to Italy to study pattern, ornament, and decoration in Italian Baroque and Gothic architecture. She will translate her observations into a large-scale installation and will detail her progress through monthly blog posts where readers can watch as her work develops.
Kiomars Moradi, Saint Paul $  10,000
Moradi will produce his original play, "The Skyless City," about four Middle Eastern women who get caught in a human trafficking network. The play will be presented at Dreamland Arts in Saint Paul, in November 2012.
Tami Morse, Saint Paul $  10,000
Morse will commission four new works for harpsichord from four composers, Kirsten Broberg, Asako Hirabayashi, Nissim Schaul, and David Cutler. She will perform these new works with Carrie Henneman Shaw, Marc Levine, and Tulio Rondon in two Twin Cities venues.
LouAnn Shepard Muhm, Park Rapids $  9,900
Muhm will write twenty incantation poems that will be recorded as mp3s and inscribed on handmade paper bowls to be created by visual artist Tiffany Besonen for an exhibition in Park Rapids, Moorhead, and other venues around the state.
Satoko Muratake, Minneapolis $  10,000
Muratake will create a sculpture for a community garden operated by Kwanzaa Community Church, using a participatory process that includes local teens on the north side of Minneapolis.
Margie Newman, Saint Paul $  5,610
Newman will complete the first draft of her creative nonfiction book, "The Thing Is to Always Be Ready," about growing up as the daughter of a Holocaust survivor. She will give public readings of the new work in Minneapolis, Saint Paul, and other locations in the state.
Jila Nikpay, Minneapolis $  10,000
Nikpay will complete a script for a 20-30 minute experimental narrative video that takes place on the White Earth reservation and in Minneapolis. She will have a public reading of the script and create a short video excerpt (4-6 min) that she will use to raise funds to create the full-length work.
Moe Lionel, Minneapolis $  9,700
Norton-Westbrook will research and write a collection of short stories, drawing on the economic, political, and social history of Duluth in the 1920s, and his family's history. In spring 2013, he will host readings in Minneapolis and Duluth.
Natalie Nowytski, Minneapolis $  9,400
Nowytski will produce a recording that fuses traditional vocals from Czech, Slovak, and Carpatho-Rusyn folk songs with American folk playing styles that feature the Prague-based Amistar resophonic guitar.
Jude Nutter, Saint Paul $  7,000
Nutter will spend three months in Germany researching her connections and relationship to Bergen-Belsen Concentration Camp, for a new poetry collection. She will do readings of the new work, to demonstrate how poetry can have far-reaching effects when bearing witness to actual events.
Pat O'Keefe, Saint Paul $  10,000
O'Keefe will commission three Minnesota composers, Scott Miller, Ann Millikan, and Brett Warchow, to create new works for the clarinet which he will premiere and record in spring 2013.
Michael Opperman, Saint Paul $  6,000
Opperman will complete a collection of poems informed by his upbringing, conduct three to five writing workshops with adults in recovery, and create an online workshop module.
Dominic Orlando, Minneapolis $  10,000
Orlando will develop a new five character play titled "Reparations." The new piece will be presented to the public free of charge in a series of open developmental readings.
Stephen Ozone, Minneapolis $  10,000
Ozone will create twenty to thirty photographs of Nisei (second generation Japanese Americans) living in both the Twin Cities and greater Minnesota, telling their individual stories through photography. An exhibition and artist lecture will follow at various locations around the state.
Joseph Papke, New Brighton $  10,000
Papke, a local voice and dialect coach, will complete a workshop with master speech teachers in New York, then offer three, free introductory workshops on voice and dialect skills to the Twin Cities public.
Kristin Pavelka, Maplewood $  10,000
Pavelka will develop a new body of work experimenting with form, surfaces, mid-range firing techniques and materials to produce a more durable functional pot. Her new work will be on display at exhibitions at the Northern Clay Center as well as the Upper Saint Croix Pottery Tour.
Natasha Pestich, Columbia Heights $  7,900
Pestich will create stage-like tableaus from large-scale screen-printed work she creates in the studio. A solo exhibition and artist lecture will be held atthe Schaeffer Gallery, Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter during the winter of 2012.
Lois Peterson, Saint Peter $  10,000
Peterson will expand upon her understanding of minimalist expression by traveling to sites of well known minimalist work. She will also produce 30-40 new drawings and seek exhibition opportunities for her work in nongallery spaces in rural Minnesota.
Andrew Peterson, Minneapolis $  9,900
Peterson will travel to Maine and Nova Scotia to complete research on a screenplay about artist Marsden Hartley, write the first draft, and present a staged reading of the work-in-progress.
Bao Phi, Minneapolis $  10,000
Phi will tour and promote his first collection of poetry, "Song I Sing," in at least five major cities around the country. He will present at least one performance in the Twin Cities.
Jane Powers, Minneapolis $  10,000
Powers will gain proficiency with slip cast porcelain technique and electronics to create a new body of work titled, "Amorous Beauty Skins," for exhibitions that will establish her as a mid-career artist.
Aaron Preusse, Minneapolis $  9,600
Preusse will take advanced stage combat training and purchase equipment that will give him a broader skill set and enable him to pass those skills on to other Minnesotans through acting, choreography, and teaching.
Molly Quinn, Minneapolis $  10,000
Quinn will write a collection of short stories set in a locked psychiatric facility in Minneapolis, and will give a reading of the new work at Open Book in Minneapolis.
Justin Quinn, Saint Cloud $  10,000
Quinn will develop a body of letterpress prints. He plans to display his finished work during one of Saint Cloud's regular art crawls.
Karen Quiroz, Minneapolis $  10,000
Quiroz, a vocalist specializing in Brazilian music, will produce a CD-length recording and 500 download cards of contemporary and roots Brazilian music. She will also organize a series of twelve community performances.
Aparna Ramaswamy, Minneapolis $  10,000
Ramaswamy will present solo performances in the United Kingdom, Italy, and Switzerland, as part of the internationally known Soorya Festival. Upon her return to Minnesota, Ramaswamy will present an informal performance and talk that will be free and open to the public.
John Ratzloff, Maple Plain $  9,700
Ratzloff has been invited to photograph at Will Steger's homestead in Ely, Minnesota, for one week of each month, for a year. The work will reveal the private life and work of polar explorer and environmental activist Will Steger.
Monica Reede, Minneapolis $  8,000
Reede will produce and document new work for an upcoming exhibition at the Bloomington Art Center in Bloomington, in January 2013.
Ingrid Restemayer, Minneapolis $  10,000
Restemayer will produce ten to fifteen new pieces of work that incorporate embroidery, dyed papers, and hand-pulled print collages. She plans to exhibit this work at a college or university gallery within the state of Minnesota.
Areca Roe, Minneapolis $  9,000
Roe will create and ready for exhibition twelve to fifteen photographic works that explore our culture's complicated relationship with animals. She will exhibit some, or all, of these photos in Minnesota during the coming year.
Robin Schwartzman, Minneapolis $  10,000
Schwartzman will create a large temporary public sculpture on the outer walls of the Stone Arch Bridge in Minneapolis for the Northern Spark Festival in the summer of 2012.
Kaethe Schwehn, Northfield $  9,300
Schwehn will revise her memoir, "Remediation: A Year in the Village," and prepare it for publication. She will offer two weekend writing workshops, in Northfield and Faribault, about the connection between memoir and landscape, and will read from her new work followed by an opportunity for workshop participants to share their writing.
Trisha Speed Shaskan, Minneapolis $  10,000
Shaskan will complete her middle-grade novel, "Sass," about a young girl's struggle to find her place in a home, neighborhood, and community. She will visit two public elementary schools and two afterschool programs to make a presentation about writing and what it means to be an author.
Elena Shurkina, Minneapolis $  5,000
Shurkina will learn new weaving and pattern-making techniques that will enhance her Russian folk costumes and improve the instruction that she provides to others.
Joanie Smith, Minneapolis $  9,400
Smith will work with two female Minnesota dancers/choreographers over the age of 50, to develop her ability to create full movement dance for the older female body.
David Sollie, Minneapolis $  7,250
Sollie will create and document a body of new work about his trip around the Black Sea. The work will be exhibited at a Twin Cities gallery in the spring of 2013.
Peter Sowinski, Minneapolis $  7,750
Sowinski will learn leather working to unite disparate elements of his artistic career into a more relevant and stronger whole. This will be reflected in a new body of work that will be exhibited during the grant period.
Melissa Stang, Saint Paul $  10,000
Stang will develop and exhibit new ceramic work that addresses the economic impact that over-fishing has on small, independent fishermen.
Andrea Stanislav, Minneapolis $  10,000
Stanislav will bring concepts and imagery from her sculpture into her video work with the purchase of hardware and software. She will then exhibit the new work at a Twin Cities gallery.
Lora Madjar, Minneapolis $  10,000
Stoyanova will complete a short, stop-motion animation film, "Finding Away," about the fictional immigration experiences of a young woman. She will also visit a university class where she will preview the film and make herself available for feedback and discussion.
Jacob Swanson, Duluth $  5,000
Swanson will complete postproduction work on his feature film, "Walk Amongst the Living." An initial screening, with live music, will take place at Zinema 2 in Duluth. Swanson will also submit the film for consideration to numerous festivals.
Suzanne Szucs, Rochester $  5,200
Szucs will expand her digital montage series, Sketch 4 I.D. which will include an abstract installation about the natural landscape found in Minnesota. She plans to exhibit the work in both traditional and nontraditional venues.
Xavier Tavera, Minneapolis $  9,950
Tavera will offer a glimpse of contemporary Mexico through photographs of the people who visit and work for Alameda Park, in Mexico City, Mexico. An exhibition at El Colegio, a charter school in Minneapolis, will follow.
Stephanie Thompson, Shoreview $  6,000
Thompson will research her Scandinavian heritage to gain direct experience with the culture and landscape of Norway. She intends to create 20-25 new paintings for an exhibit in Minneapolis.
Tara Tieso, Saint Paul $  10,000
Tieso will research, create, document, and exhibit new encaustic work inspired by, and presented in, the LynLake community of Minneapolis.
Guante, Minneapolis $  2,500
Tran Myhre will hire professional videographers to record a spoken word poetry performance and put together a professional electronic press kit (EPK) to be used in booking negotiations. He will organize and promote at least one spoken word event to complete this project.
Luke Tromiczak, Minneapolis $  8,400
Tromiczak will create large scale paintings, inspired by the narratives of several families who immigrated at different times to Minnesota. The work will be exhibited in Minneapolis and in other cities around the state.
F.A.I.T.H., Bloomington $  10,000
F.A.I.T.H. will record her first full length hip-hop/rock CD of original music, with a special emphasis on reaching a female audience. A community CD release event will be held in spring 2013.
Andrea Uptmor, Minneapolis $  6,800
Uptmor will complete a collection of linked novellas based in a fictional Upper Midwestern community and solicit a literary agent. She will also offer a public reading of her new work and two, free, one-day writing workshops at one of the Hennepin County libraries.
Holly Vanderhaar, Saint Paul $  8,200
Vanderhaar will complete a draft of a novel about her ancestor, Susanna Martin, who was one of twenty people executed for witchcraft during the Salem witch trials of 1692. She will also present a public reading of her new work to interfaith groups in the Twin Cities and discuss the issues around religious intolerance.
Jantje Visscher, Saint Paul $  10,000
Visscher will create a large-scale "light sculpture" using glass and LED lighting, and find a Minnesota site for it that is accessible to the public.
Asia Ward, Minneapolis $  10,000
Ward will research requirements and develop a sculpture that represents a section of the Saint Croix River for installation in a public space.
Jerrod Wendland, Minneapolis $  5,000
Wendland will learn fifteen different hour-long lecture recitals intended to introduce people to classical music; he will bring the work to a variety of venues.
Sarah Whiting, Minneapolis $  10,000
Whiting will create photographic portraits of northeast Minneapolis artists, accentuating the character and distinctiveness of this unseen population. The images will be displayed during Art Attack, in November 2012.
Thomas Willis, Northfield $  10,000
Willis will develop a Web site and marketing materials to promote his ceramic work. He will exhibit his work at the Owatonna Art Center, in the spring of 2013.
Bob Yang, North Saint Paul $  10,000
Yang will produce a contemporary musical to educate a new generation of youth about the culture and history of the Hmong people.
Christopher Zerendow, Saint Paul $  10,000
Zerendow will purchase painting supplies, rent a studio, travel to see works of art and conduct a community painting workshop for youth in the Frogtown neighborhood of Saint Paul.

 

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