FY 2015 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
Awards grouped below by discipline.
Dance
| Number of grants awarded November 5, 2014 |
9 |
| Total dollars awarded November 5, 2014 |
$ 90,000 |
| Grantee, City |
Grant Amount |
| Olive Bieringa, Minneapolis | $ 10,000 | | In her creation "The Empaths," Bieringa will use movement to reveal the connection between how we feel, how we think, and how we act. It will be constructed in two parts: free one-on-one performances and conversations in public spaces and an evening length work for the theater. |
| Carl L. Flink, Minneapolis | $ 10,000 | | Flink will create a solo for dance artist Nic Lincoln. The solo will examine the intersection of tyrants and pop iconography. Several open rehearsals that the public can attend will be offered throughout the creation of the work. |
| Penelope A. Freeh, Saint Paul | $ 10,000 | | Freeh will create an evening length performance of new works, made on an intimate scale, using writing about dancemaking as the underbelly of the process. Performances are planned for the fall of 2015. |
| Marylee Hardenbergh, Minneapolis | $ 10,000 | | Hardenbergh will create "Confluence," a performance that combines dancers, video, and the internet in a site-specific work at the confluence of two Minnesota rivers. A panel discussion will take place in December at Hamline University to discuss the experience. |
| Nic Lincoln, Saint Paul | $ 10,000 | | Lincoln will perform five dances created for him by male choreographers, Chris Yon, James Sewell, Larry Keigwin, Patrick Corbin, and Carl Flink in a solo evening-length performance that will also include his own choreography. |
| Blake A. Nellis, Minneapolis | $ 10,000 | | Nellis with create "Mad Minute Films," short dance films that capture raw emotion, modern design, and improvised movement to highlight what makes dance so powerful. A public exhibition will be held upon completion to introduce the work to the public. |
| Aparna Ramaswamy, Minneapolis | $ 10,000 | | Ramaswamy will create a film about her development as a dancer/choreographer, looking to her bicultural identity as a metaphor for her creative aesthetic that explores innovation and classicism, the personal and universal. She will host a screening and artist talk in Minneapolis. |
| Patrick E. Scully, Minneapolis | $ 10,000 | | Scully will choreograph the "Mississippi River Boat Ballet." Using live music, the boats will be the dancers, the Mississippi River will be the stage, and a cast of 200 will perform in this August 2015 event. |
| Joanie Smith, Minneapolis | $ 10,000 | | Smith will work with ten female dancers ages 21-79 to create "Tableau Vivant," a work that will explore movement ideas for the older female dancer, integrating those discoveries with movement created for younger dancers. She will hold two work in progress showings that the public can attend. |
Media Arts
| Number of grants awarded January 7, 2015 |
12 |
| Total dollars awarded January 7, 2015 |
$ 117,645 |
| Grantee, City |
Grant Amount |
| Joel N. Barkley, Minneapolis | $ 10,000 | | Barkley will create volume two of the Brunhilda Berkle's Bumpy Brown Barn interactive e-book series. In this animated e-book, Brunhilda seeks out real life inventions that solve real world problems in renewable and sustainable ways. An interactive media event is planned in the amber box office area on the ninth floor of the Guthrie Theater, in Minneapolis. |
| Daniel P. Bergin, Minneapolis | $ 10,000 | | Bergin will explore interesting places, diverse voices, and the hidden histories of his lifelong community through the creation and presentation of an experimental, live documentary titled On This Spot: Southside Stories. He plans to show the shorts at the south Minneapolis locations where they will be filmed. |
| D.A. Bullock, Minneapolis | $ 9,645 | | Bullock will produce The UnCool, an experimental documentary, examination, and discussion of self-identity in the modern African American experience. The film will be screened at the Capri Theatre in north Minneapolis. A discussion with the filmmaker will follow the screening. |
| Denise M. Fick, Revere | $ 10,000 | | Fick will produce The Oracle, a six to eight minute animated film that employs parodies of 1960's and 1970's film and television, Roman myth and talking animals to explore archetypes, and life's absurdity and quiet rewards. Four screenings are planned in locations around the state during the grant period. |
| Allison J. Herrera, Minneapolis | $ 10,000 | | Herrera will produce Rabbit, a short documentary about contemporary Native American painter Jim Denomie. The film will explore the themes in his work, which are based on Native American history in Minnesota, and his process in becoming an artist. The film will be screened at All My Relations Gallery in Minneapolis. |
| Sam D. Hoolihan, Minneapolis | $ 10,000 | | Hoolihan will create a 24-minute, silent, black-and-white 16mm film that is a visual meditation and cinematic portrait of Minneapolis. The film will celebrate the rich diversity of Minneapolis citizens, the transportation system, its architecture, and green spaces. Two public screenings will take place in February 2016. |
| Colin Kloecker, Minneapolis | $ 10,000 | | Kloecker will produce four new videos to complete a documentary series titled Dear River, about our individual and collective relationships to the Mississippi River. He will also create a Web site to share these videos and related content with public audiences across Minnesota. A public screening will be held in Minneapolis. |
| Pa N. Lor, Vadnais Heights | $ 10,000 | | Lor will produce My Grandmother, the Shaman. This animated short will chronicle a spirit calling ceremony through hand drawings, paint on glass animation, and Hmong folk song. It will be shown at the Center for Hmong Arts and Talent (CHAT) and include a panel discussion with the filmmaker and her collaborators. |
| Benjamin J. Moren, Eden Prairie | $ 10,000 | | Moren will develop a new body of technology-based mixed media sculptures and video projections which take a critical look at our often mediated and misguided views of the natural world. The public will be invited to see the resulting work at an open studio event. |
| Cadence L. Nelson, Minneapolis | $ 10,000 | | Nelson will produce Solar Flares (working title), a short narrative film about the intrusive and alienating designs of society, as experienced by a woman going through airport security. The film will be screened at IFP's Cinema Lounge in July 2015. |
| Peter B. Nelson, Northfield | $ 10,000 | | Nelson's upcoming experimental film will explore dementia and its effects on an intimate relationship. A patient and caregiver will discuss love and loss, humor and sadness, and the struggles and triumphs of each day. A public screening, followed by a discussion with the filmmaker, will take place at a theater in Northfield. |
| Simon-Hoa Phan, Collegeville | $ 8,000 | | In April 2015, Phan will screen a 90-minute documentary film, commemorating the 40th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War. The film's focus will be on the history and culture of the Vietnamese people, the war experience, the immigration journey, and adaptation to living in Minnesota. |
Music
| Number of grants awarded November 5, 2014 |
20 |
| Total dollars awarded November 5, 2014 |
$ 196,292 |
| Grantee, City |
Grant Amount |
| Elizabeth Alexander, Saint Paul | $ 10,000 | | Alexander will compose music and lyrics for Everything Looks Like a Face, a whimsical musical about life's despairs and delights, along with our irrepressible longing for connection. Workshop performances will be open to the public. |
| Gregory H. Brosofske, Minneapolis | $ 9,112 | | Brosofske will produce three performances of Henry. . . Mr. Bones, his chamber opera about Minnesota poet John Berryman. |
| Desdamona, Saint Paul | $ 10,000 | | Desdamona will produce No Man's Land, a full-length album, and develop a corresponding teaching artist curriculum. The project will deepen her work as both a performer and community leader elevating the voices of girls and women through hip-hop. |
| Connie Evingson, Minneapolis | $ 9,000 | | Evingson will collaborate with two musicians to create and perform American Songbook, a concert performance piece tracing the evolution of American popular music. The piece will premier at the Jungle Theater in November 2015. |
| Paul G. Fonfara, Minneapolis | $ 10,000 | | Fonfara will compose seven, five-minute vignettes for small ensemble, entitled The Seven Secrets of Snow, collaborating with film makers to celebrate Minnesota's winter. A live performance will accompany the premiere of the films. |
| Cléa M. Galhano, Saint Paul | $ 10,000 | | Galhano will record a CD of Latin music from her cultural heritage. She will reach out to the Latin community in the Twin Cities and introduce them to a new repertory of music from Brazil, Argentina, and Cuba. A CD release event is planned for Sundin Hall in Saint Paul. |
| Carrie Henneman Shaw, Saint Paul | $ 8,680 | | Shaw will work with marketing and media professionals to restructure her Web site and create new promotional materials geared toward broadening the audience for her work. The project will culminate in four performances at the Baroque Room in Saint Paul. |
| Joe Horton, Minneapolis | $ 10,000 | | Horton will produce A Hill in Natchez, at the Southern Theater, a multidisciplinary work dealing with the psychic impact of American Slavery on the modern mental landscape. A panel discussion will follow the first performance. |
| Chris Koza, Minneapolis | $ 10,000 | | Koza will create new promotional materials to engage radio stations, music venues, festival bookers, educators, and arts organizations with his work. Upon completion he will offer workshops about how to develop a successful media strategy. |
| Adam L. Levy, Minneapolis | $ 10,000 | | Levy will record and release a solo album dealing with his son's struggle with mental illness. In addition to a CD release show, he will plan a public discussion about the issues addressed in the music. |
| Heath A. Mathews, Farmington | $ 9,500 | | Mathews will compose a new work for piano trio (violin, cello, and piano) with an environmentally-based theme. He will produce recordings of the new work, and be present when the work is performed at Grace University Lutheran Church in the fall and winter of 2015. |
| Siama Matuzungidi, Minneapolis | $ 10,000 | | Matuzungidi will release a CD of classic and new soukous songs. Having recorded more than 100 Congolese songs, the singer/guitarist will record new versions of his most popular compositions for the album. A CD release event will take place in Minneapolis. |
| Katrina L. Mundinger, Minneapolis | $ 10,000 | | Mundinger will purchase and learn to play a Taragot, a folk instrument from Hungary resembling a wooden soprano saxophone. She will also organize and perform with a Romanian band comprised of Minnesota musicians. |
| Natalie Nowytski, Minneapolis | $ 10,000 | | Nowytski will compose a collection of Ukrainian folk songs set to Nadia Lan's poetry about community life, art, war, and immigration. The music will be performed by Twin Cities-based Mila Vocal Ensemble. |
| Sara R. Pajunen, Minneapolis | $ 10,000 | | Pajunen will further develop Laatikko/Box, an electro-acoustic musical work about ancestry, family, and immigration. She will present the work at ten venues around the state. |
| Pooja Pavan, Minneapolis | $ 10,000 | | Pavan will create, reimagine, and compose songs of mystical Sufi love, develop a new band of Twin Cities' musicians, and present two public concerts in Minneapolis, blending the traditional with the modern. |
| Sarah N. Porwoll-Lee, Brooklyn Center | $ 10,000 | | Porwoll-Lee will record an album of works for clarinet by Minnesota composers, including three commissioned works by Minnesotans Katherine Bergman, Joshua Clausen, and Daniel Nass. Three performances are planned in the Twin Cities. |
| Gary B. Rue, Northfield | $ 10,000 | | Rue will present his score for the new musical Chopin's Heart. Set in 1939, this piece tells the story of a group of performers attempting to start a new cabaret in the face of Nazi oppression. The work will be performed at the Southern Theater in 2015. |
| Loretta J. Simonet, Minneapolis | $ 10,000 | | Simonet will develop her songwriting skills by interviewing twelve people who have overcome seemingly insurmountable odds, crafting their stories into songs. She will make a CD of the songs and present them at three live concerts in Minneapolis, Owatonna, and Bloomington. |
| Joseph J. Tougas, North Mankato | $ 10,000 | | Tougas's will present That's All It Took a two-person musical that tells the story of a fictional pop country duo whose partnership in songwriting and performance is reaching a crisis. Performances will take place in Blue Earth, Nicollet, Faribault, Waseca, and Brown counties. |
Photography
| Number of grants awarded January 7, 2015 |
19 |
| Total dollars awarded January 7, 2015 |
$ 187,165 |
| Grantee, City |
Grant Amount |
| Jenn Ackerman, Minneapolis | $ 10,000 | | Ackerman will photograph the second portion of her project, Frozen, from the air, documenting the people and places in Minnesota in ten locations. The images will be presented in February 2016 in an outdoor popup gallery at a Twin Cities winter festival. |
| Hillary A. Berg, Minneapolis | $ 10,000 | | Berg will produce County Lines, to document the individuals and scenes that represent the heart of small town Minnesota, creating a vivid survey of rural life. The work will be shown at Color Space Art and Imaging in Minneapolis and at a venue in Isanti. |
| Elizabeth M. Blair, Minneapolis | $ 8,065 | | Blair will create The Bog Tapestry, a photographic series that offers macro views of a northern cedar bog. She will print the work and learn to make custom frames through a workshop at Milan Village Arts School. She will show the finished work at venues in the Twin Cities, Marshall, Roseau, and Grand Rapids. |
| Linda Brooks, Saint Paul | $ 10,000 | | Brooks will complete Lifecycles, a cumulative body of photographic work of 20-30 pieces of family archived materials and historical data from the first half of the twentieth century. The work will be shown at the Tychman Shapiro Gallery in Saint Louis Park. |
| Eric W. Carroll, Minneapolis | $ 10,000 | | Carroll will explore Minnesota's scientific community by photographing some of the tools, spaces, and people who identify as scientists in different parts of the state. He will present his project G.U.T. Feeling, through an exhibition in the Twin Cities and in public lectures around the state. |
| Lacey M. Criswell, Minneapolis | $ 10,000 | | Criswell will investigate individuals who form communities around common experiences, such as hunting. The Hunters' Widows is a portrait series featuring women left behind during a Minnesota hunting season. There will be two exhibitions, one in the Twin Cities and one in rural Minnesota. |
| Luke G. Erickson, Minneapolis | $ 10,000 | | Erickson will produce photographs of the Mississippi River for two exhibitions at community college art galleries in Anoka and Inver Hills that will examine the intersection of nature and culture and explore water quality and environmental issues. Lectures and gallery talks will accompany the exhibitions. |
| Selma Fernandez Richter, Minneapolis | $ 10,000 | | Fernandez Richter will continue her project of photographing refugee communities of the Twin Cities. As the witness to the building of new lives, she will photograph individuals and families who are recent immigrants from Burma, Bhutan, Eritrea, and Somalia. She will exhibit the work at a gallery in Minneapolis. |
| Teri Fullerton, Minneapolis | $ 10,000 | | Fullerton will complete a series of photographic portraits and videos of veterans who have served during wartime. The portraits will be made in natural landscapes and the videos will conceptually examine what it is like to return from war. A Twin Cities exhibition is planned. |
| Linda K. Gammell, Saint Paul | $ 10,000 | | Gammell will complete her boreal forest photography project, learn digital printing skills, and produce an artist book with viewer participants at the Bloomington Theatre and Art Center. An exhibition of the finished work is scheduled for the Bloomington Theatre and Art Center gallery. |
| Peter M. Happel Christian, Saint Cloud | $ 10,000 | | Happel Christian will create Infinite Field, a series of photographic works that draw on the themes of landscape, time, and perception through the use of a Saint Cloud studio space as a study center, production space, and exhibition venue. |
| Jenny Jenkins, Minneapolis | $ 10,000 | | Jenkins will produce a series of color photos taken at three urban farms in south Minneapolis. The project will culminate in four public presentations of the work at various locations, one of which will occur during the Parade of Community Gardens in Minneapolis. |
| GraceMarie Keaton, Minneapolis | $ 10,000 | | Keaton-Stasi will create a series of images that explore the idea of representation, meaning making, and image culture. Working through digital and physical manipulation she will bring together visual elements from a variety of sources to combine multiple perspectives into one image. The project will be shown at a Twin Cities venue. |
| Ariana Lindquist, Minneapolis | $ 10,000 | | Lindquist will produce What Once Was Is Now, to remind us of the legacy of historic immigration by illuminating a slowly vanishing web of ethnic relations that continue to connect Minnesota with communities abroad. This multimedia video will be presented along with an artist talk at Malung Community Center in Roseau. |
| Alison G. Malone, Minneapolis | $ 10,000 | | Malone will finish documenting the remaining participants and Bethels in Minnesota that are affiliated with Jobs Daughters. In addition she will create a book that serves as the first published public document in the history of the order. She will provide two day-long workshops that address issues faced by working artists; obstacles that are faced when working on long-term projects and editing large bodies of work. |
| Paula M. McCartney, Minneapolis | $ 9,100 | | McCartney will finish photographing a new body of work and create a printed portfolio of the project Hide the Sun. She will participate in the fall LoLa Art Crawl in Minneapolis and speak to a class of photography students at the University of Minnesota about the project and her life as a working artist. |
| Linda K. Rossi, Northfield | $ 10,000 | | Rossi will create a complex sculptural and photographic installation at the historic Valley Grove Chapel in Nerstrand which will illuminate the natural and cultural history of Rice County, Minnesota. The installation will be open to the public in September 2015. |
| Carrie E. Thompson, Minneapolis | $ 10,000 | | Thompson's work explores roots, rootlessness, and restlessness, generally in the context of her own upbringing. She will continue work on Notes from My Therapist, a project that begins with a weekly note from her therapist which serves as the basis for image making. The project will be exhibited at a Twin Cities venue. |
| Paul A. Wegner, Minneapolis | $ 10,000 | | Wegner will complete photographs for his project, Easy Street, and assemble them in a limited edition handmade artist book after taking classes at the Minnesota Center for Book Arts to acquire bookmaking skills. He will present the project and book at a public artist talk at Korab Image in Minneapolis. |
Poetry
| Number of grants awarded November 5, 2014 |
7 |
| Total dollars awarded November 5, 2014 |
$ 56,423 |
| Grantee, City |
Grant Amount |
| Dore Kiesselbach, Minneapolis | $ $10,000 | | Kiesselbach will complete a second collection of poems and give a series of work in progress readings in the Twin Cities and beyond. |
| Jennifer Kwon Dobbs, Saint Paul | $ $10,000 | | Kwon Dobbs will prepare a second book of poetry titled Three-Legged Bird for publication, revise the manuscript with a consultant, and perform readings in four Minnesota cities. Her work focuses on the Korean diaspora. |
| Travis J. Lusk, Minneapolis | $ $2,335 |
| Lusk will take classes at the Minnesota Center for Book Arts and create five separate handmade books, in editions of 100 each. Completed books will be placed in public places and experiences related to the books will be shared during poetry readings. |
| David A. Mura, Minneapolis | $ $10,000 | | Mura will write poems for his next book of poetry and will give a reading of his new work. He will hold four performance/conversations with other artists on the issues of race in the arts. |
| Bao Phi, Minneapolis | $ $7,450 | | Phi will write and edit a new body of poems culminating in two performances in Minnesota as well as two online poetry videos. |
| Katrina M. Vandenberg, Saint Paul | $ $7,038 | | Vandenberg will research, write, and publish sections of her book-length poem Conservatory, inspired by the Marjorie McNeely Conservatory of Como Park in Saint Paul. |
| Ryan W. Vine, Duluth | $ $9,600 | | Vine will complete work on a manuscript of poems and submit it to first book competitions. He will hold a public reading at the Teatro Zuccone in Duluth, in October of 2015. |
Prose
| Number of grants awarded November 5, 2014 |
21 |
| Total dollars awarded November 5, 2014 |
$ 197,966 |
| Grantee, City |
Grant Amount |
| Elizabeth M. Abbott, Minneapolis | $ 6,750 | | Abbott will work from her late stepfather's handwritten notes to create a memoir of his life and their relationship. Collaborating with the Minnesota chapter of the ALS Association she will facilitate a writing workshop and discussion for caregivers of terminally ill individuals. |
| Romelle M. Adkins, Stillwater | $ 10,000 | | Adkins will work with mentor Susan Power to complete a draft of her coming-of-age novel, Icarus, and present a public reading of the new work at the Loft Literary Center in Minneapolis. |
| Eric Braun, Minneapolis | $ 9,866 | | Braun will complete a draft of a novel about an individual with obsessive-compulsive disorder. He will give a public reading of the manuscript, visit a middle school language arts class to discuss writing and editing, and speak to a graduate class at Minnesota State University, Mankato about the professional side of being a writer. |
| Susan Carol Hauser, Puposky | $ 9,785 | | Hauser will write eight to ten connected essays that contemplate arcs of her life, including her early years in Richfield, Minnesota. She will offer a day-long workshop at the Richfield Public Library or at the Bemidji Community Arts Center on how to research and write an essay about a period of time in one's life. |
| Scott D. Carpenter, Northfield | $ 6,000 | | Carpenter will complete a novel dealing with a father's struggle to connect with his estranged son. Set in Minnesota, the story draws on various aspects of Midwestern history. There will be a reading from the manuscript, and a panel discussion featuring two other Minnesota writers, about blending history and fiction. |
| Martin L. Cozza, Minneapolis | $ 7,500 | | Cozza will revise his children's novel, Vincent's Lens, to bring his manuscript into final, publishable form. He will read excerpts at Seward Montessori in Minneapolis and host a forum for local children's writers about the editorial process. |
| Amy L. Fladeboe, Minneapolis | $ 10,000 | | Fladeboe will revise her novel I Have Taken Many Mountains, about an Albanian immigrant. She will offer four public readings of the manuscript in Minnesota cities where she has lived, Duluth, Mankato, Minneapolis, and Willmar. |
| Nicole L. Helget, Saint Peter | $ 10,000 | | Helget will complete Songs from the Wintry Prairie, a collection of personal essays inspired by the state's environment, history, and culture. She will give a reading at the Aster Café in Minneapolis, near the Saint Anthony Falls. |
| Nathan P. Hill, Saint Paul | $ 8,600 | | Hill will complete revisions to his novel and submit it for publication. He will give a reading and host a panel discussion that features other Minnesota writers about the unique challenges of the revision process. |
| Carolyn L. Holbrook, Minneapolis | $ 10,000 | | Holbrook will work with a writing consultant to complete her collection of linked personal essays and prepare the manuscript to send out to prospective publishers. She will also hold two literary events in Minneapolis and Saint Paul. |
| Kristin F. Johnson, Bloomington | $ 10,000 | | Johnson will revise her middle-grade novel, The Orphan of Highland Park. She will also present a writing workshop for children near where the events from the novel took place and read from her work at a public event. |
| Sophia E. Kim, Minneapolis | $ 10,000 | | Kim will complete the first draft of a novel about a young Korean American woman who returns to Seoul, Korea and discovers a community of young kyopos, ethnically Koreans raised abroad. She will offer two readings in Minneapolis, one at Ancestry Books and one at the University of Minnesota. |
| Lynne M. Kuechle, White Bear Lake | $ 10,000 | | Kuechle will work with a mentor, Patricia Francisco, to revise the first draft of her memoir about figure skating, with the goal of submitting it to five agents or publishers. She will give a reading of her work in Minneapolis and teach two workshops, one for youth and one for adults, about writing creative nonfiction. |
| Jess Lourey, Saint Cloud | $ 10,000 | | Lourey will complete a first draft of Ghost, a novel that explores what a Minnesota man leaves behind when he commits suicide on 9/11. She will lead five workshops, three of which will take place in greater Minnesota. |
| Brian J. Malloy, Minneapolis | $ 10,000 | | Malloy will research and draft a collection of short fiction inspired by major events in Minnesota history, including the United States-Dakota War, the grasshopper plagues of 1873-77, and the Washburn A Mill explosion. He will give a presentation about the mill explosion and read from his work in progress at the Mill City Museum in Minneapolis. |
| Cristina Pippa, Minneapolis | $ 10,000 | | Pippa will work with an editor to revise and complete a draft of her novel, The Translator's War. She will give readings from the manuscript in Minneapolis and at three Minnesota Veterans Homes. |
| Jessica A. Roeder, Duluth | $ 10,000 | | Roeder will complete a new draft of a novel in progress, Crow In Another Tree, that integrates handwritten lines and passages that represent alternative voices. She will teach a writing workshop and do a reading from her manuscript in northeast Minnesota. |
| Kurtis Scaletta, Minneapolis | $ 9,866 | | Scaletta will complete a middle-grade novel about aspiring baseball players in the Dominican Republic, and follow the rise of one player, Rafael Reyes, from street ball to spring training in Florida. He will read from the manuscript at several Minneapolis locations as part of a youth reading initiative. |
| Danielle Sosin, Duluth | $ 10,000 | | Sosin will revise her work in progress novel and research literary agents to find representation for her work. She will engage Minnesotans through the Duluth Public Library's Winter Reading Series and through a workshop to be held for library patrons. |
| Charlotte E. Sullivan, Minneapolis | $ 10,000 | | Sullivan will complete one picture book and develop two additional manuscripts on topics related to social and environmental justice by working with mentor Jackie Briggs Martin. She will read from her work and discuss the creation of picture books at the Loft Literary Center in Minneapolis and at a public library in Dakota County. |
| Stephanie E. Watson, Minneapolis | $ 9,599 | | Watson will write 28 first draft picture books, develop and refine three to five of the drafts, while promoting her newest book, Behold! A Baby at five readings in and around the Twin Cities. |
Theater
| Number of grants awarded November 5, 2014 |
11 |
| Total dollars awarded November 5, 2014 |
$ 109,050 |
| Grantee, City |
Grant Amount |
| Alan M. Berks, Minneapolis | $ 9,050 | | Berks will explore the interplay between digital media and live theater in order to increase interest in his work and to develop better ways to use technology in live theater. He will host a live taping and also present two discussions with other theater makers about building an audience using digital media. |
| Carlyle J. Brown, Minneapolis | $ 10,000 | | Brown will present Acting Black, part spoken word, part stand-up comedy, part Ted Talk, part rant, that examines and riffs on the roots of American racism and its effect on our personal and national behavior. Performances will take place at Dreamland Arts in Saint Paul. |
| Hayley Finn, Minneapolis | $ 10,000 | | Finn will develop and present three works in progress showings of Broadcast, a live broadcast performance piece that explores audience engagement and narrative. |
| Taous C. Khazem, Minneapolis | $ 10,000 | | Khazem will write and perform a one-woman show about living and working in Algeria. The play will be performed at Mixed Blood Theatre in June 2015, as a part of New Arab Theatre Works and Mixed Blood's 55454 performance series. |
| May Moua G. Lee-Yang, Saint Paul | $ 10,000 | | Lee-Yang will build relationships with local organizations to create a new work on how domestic violence and abusive international marriages impact Hmong families today. Participating in community dialogues and attendance at performances are two ways in which the public will intersect with this project. |
| Perrin L. Post, Minneapolis | $ 10,000 | | Post will continue development of Sweet Land the Musical, an original work based on the movie Sweet Land and the short story A Gravestone Made of Wheat by Minnesota writer Will Weaver. An open reading of the script will take place at the end of the workshop. |
| Liz Schachterle, Minneapolis | $ 10,000 | | Schachterle will create an artist Web site and increase her promotion skills to launch her career an an independent artist. She will partner with three metro area libraries to perform a new work for children and families. |
| Luverne G. Seifert, Saint Anthony | $ 10,000 | | Seifert will research historic vaudeville performances that took place in Luverne, Virginia, and Minneapolis. He will develop a presentation based on the acts that performed in these communities, recreating a vaudeville-style performance using local actors from the community. |
| Brian Sostek, Minneapolis | $ 10,000 | | Sostek will rework his show Pieces of Eight using the unorthodox combinations of live theater, dance, and puppetry in a completely original work that brings a cinematic aesthetic to the stage. Performances will take place at the Southern Theater in Minneapolis. |
| Saymoukda D. Vongsay, Saint Paul | $ 10,000 | | Vongsay will write and present a public reading of Kung Fu Zombies vs Shaman Warrior, a post-apocalyptic play about demonic possessions (mental illness) within Lao culture. |
| Emily A. Zimmer, Minneapolis | $ 10,000 | | Zimmer will create and perform a new theatrical piece in response to the story Daughters of the Moon. The project period will include time to develop new material and continue aerial training followed by a short performance run open to the public. |
Visual Arts
| Number of grants awarded January 7, 2015 |
58 |
| Total dollars awarded January 7, 2015 |
$ 561,866
|
| Grantee, City |
Grant Amount |
| Luke Aleckson, Minneapolis | $ 9,800 | | Aleckson will create solar power generating "quilts" produced from solar cells broken during manufacturing. The quilts serve as both aesthetic and functional objects and result in the production of sculptural objects to be exhibited publicly in design charettes in the Twin Cities, Saint Cloud, and other locations. |
| Christopher C. Allen, Minneapolis | $ 10,000 | | Allen will create a new series of twelve to sixteen large papercuts that focus on the history of immigration in Minnesota. The work will be exhibited in November at the Minnesota History Center and will be Allen's first solo exhibition. An opening and artist talk will be part of the exhibition. |
| Katayoun Amjadi, Minneapolis | $ 10,000 | | Amjadi will produce Exileware: Persian Diaspora & Pottery in Minnesota creating dinnerware that focuses on the impact of transnational migration on individual and collective experiences of everyday life. She will host nine open studio events and participate in the Persian Student Organization of Minnesota's winter solstice celebration. |
| Alyssa E. Baguss, Anoka | $ 10,000 | | Baguss will create six new drawings and one large site specific work centered on the theme of landscape. She will work closely with a Geological Information Systems (GIS) analyst to create custom landscape imagery. An exhibition is planned for the Soo Visual Arts Center. A panel discussion about the relationship people have with their natural environment is also scheduled. |
| Scott Bean, Minneapolis | $ 7,500 | | Bean will create 45 oil paintings and 20 watercolors that celebrate the natural beauty of Minnesota's Whiteface reservoir on the border of the Superior National Forest in northeast Minnesota. The work will be shown in Aurora, Hibbing, or Eveleth towards the end of the grant period. |
| Sarah Brokke, Duluth | $ 8,530 | | Brokke will complete a series called Portrait of an Artist, which documents the lives of 35 Duluth-based artists. An exhibition is slated for October 2015 at the Duluth Art Institute, with a concurrent exhibition of the featured artists' work and an exhibition catalogue. |
| Bronze by Power, Winona | $ 10,000 | | Power will develop and execute an expanded marketing plan to promote her environmental and nature oriented, interactive sculptures to public oriented sites such as zoos, aquariums, nature centers, and parks. She will show her work at the Minnesota Renaissance Festival in Shakopee and at the Frozen River Film Festival in Winona. |
| Joshua D. Bindewald, Robbinsdale |
$ 10,000 |
| Bindewald will create a body of new prints and collages that he will frame using repurposed wood, document, and exhibit in Minnesota. He will also lead a free workshop on framing and the presentation of two-dimensional art at the Hack Factory in Minneapolis. |
| Nate Burbeck, Robbinsdale | $ 10,000 | | Burbeck will create a new body of work that consists of six to ten paintings sited in greater Minnesota, depicting isolated moments of the surreal within the context of contemporary culture. An exhibition of the new work is being planned for a Minneapolis or Collegeville gallery. |
| Betsy R. Byers, Minneapolis | $ 10,000 | | Byers will create ten abstract paintings that explore the surface of water. The series will be exhibited in February 2016 at the Hillstrom Museum of Art in Saint Peter and will be her first solo museum exhibition. A public opening and artist talk will take place during the exhibition. |
| Patricia Canelake, Knife River | $ 10,000 | | Canelake will create twelve large oil paintings which represent themes of freedom and restriction through animal and figurative subjects. Unleashed/Leashed will be exhibited at the Grand Hand Gallery in Saint Paul. An artist talk will accompany the exhibition. |
| Shirl Chouinard, Cambridge | $ 10,000 | | Chouinard will create six mixed media sculptures that investigate the techniques used in forensic examinations to establish legal evidence of a sexually violated subject. Working with a mentor, she will push her work to explore how the forensic examination affects the healing process. She will present the work at a location where law enforcement personnel are being trained to work with crime victims. |
| Emma C. Cook, Minneapolis | $ 9,400 | | Cook will create a new body of work to promote the use of classical realism while facilitating a contemporary narrative, resulting in a new body of paintings and drawings. The new work will be exhibited at two Minneapolis galleries: Detroit and SooLocal. |
| JM Culver, Minneapolis | $ 10,000 | | Culver will create eight life-size narrative figure paintings for exhibition at a Twin Cities gallery. A preview of the in progress paintings will be presented during Art-A-Whirl 2015. She will also work with a video producer to document and promote her work. |
| Emily Donovan, Saint Paul | $ 10,000 | | Using plant-based dyes, Donovan will create work based on regional flora, in her batik style painting. The Minnesota growing season will be explored with the assistance of community gardeners and the work will be shown at a Twin Cities gallery or nature center. |
| Sandra R. Dowd, Minneapolis | $ 10,000 | | Dowd will create a series of self-portraits that will focus on the deteriorating effect of aging on her body. Her goal includes stretching her color palette by purposefully trying new colors and color schemes to express herself. She will exhibit the work in her Northrup King studio during Art-A-Whirl 2015. |
| Aaron J. Dysart, Minneapolis | $ 10,000 | | Dysart will create Watershed, a 25-foot long ice casting of the Mississippi River. Using bathometric data (underwater topography) and made by sculpting foam to mimic the river's main Twin Cities channel, the resulting ice sculptures will be installed in two Minneapolis storefront locations and left to melt in up to five public events. |
| Gregory L. Euclide, Le Sueur | $ 10,000 | | Euclide will purchase a 3-D printer to aid in the creation of a series of functional sculptures based on the mineral mines of Minnesota. The new work will be exhibited at a local gallery where he will give a lecture/demonstration on how information from Google, vector software and the 3-D printer were used to create the forms that lead to the production of limited edition objects. |
| Alan M. Gerlach, Minneapolis | $ 10,000 | | Gerlach will expand his practice, creating new visual narratives from fragments of histories of Minnesota industry. Working in sculpture, photography, and film, he will mount his first local solo exhibition at a Minneapolis gallery. As part of this project, he plans to build at least one room-sized pinhole camera to make exposures of four by eight feet, or wider. |
| Miigis Gonzalez, Duluth | $ 10,000 | | Gonzalez will complete new regalia for an old-style jingle outfit using traditional Ojibwe floral patterns that embody traditional knowledge. She will display the completed outfit at the 43rd annual Traditional Powwow in Mankato, in September 2015. She will also facilitate a beading circle during the powwow for young Ojibwe girls. |
| Luke B. Hillestad, Minneapolis | $ 10,000 | | Hillestad will develop a new series of work with the theme of "old and young" by working with local children and seniors. The paintings will be exhibited as a solo show at Flanders Gallery in South Minneapolis, in November 2015. |
| Alison Hiltner, Minneapolis | $ 10,000 | | Hiltner will create an interactive artwork in which algae blooms, set within modular structures, will respond to breathing patterns of participants, fostering a direct and personal connection to the natural world. The work will be shown to the public at Concordia University in Saint Paul. |
| Joan B. Iron Moccasin, Columbus | $ 10,000 | | Iron Moccasin will create a new body of work merging art and science by incorporating stained cell imagery into a series of mixed media prints. This new work will be exhibited at North Hennepin Community College. |
| Jonathan W. Kaiser, Minneapolis | $ 10,000 | | Kaiser will present an exhibition of new artwork that uses experimental photographic and cinematographic processes to produce silhouette images of human and sculptural forms. An exhibition in the Twin Cities is being planned. |
| Caroline R. Kent, Saint Paul | $ 10,000 | | Kent will complete a series of 100 abstract paintings that will be displayed in a public exhibition in the artist's studio during the Saint Paul Art Crawl. A catalog, with an essay about the series, will be produced and available to the public. |
| Emily G. Koehler, White Bear Lake | $ 10,000 | | Koehler will create and exhibit a series of nine color-reduction woodcut relief prints that incorporate collagraphs, at Banfill-Locke Center for the Arts in the fall of 2015. As part of the exhibit she will teach a public workshop that explores the ecology of invasive plants and concerns associated with their introduction into Minnesota's environment. |
| Keren Kroul, Plymouth | $ 10,000 | | Kroul will create Charted Memories, a series of seven large scale watercolor paintings that explore memories as visual territories. The new work will feature dense rhythmic structures made of delicate watercolor lines. It will be exhibited at the Bloomington Theatre and Art Center and also in Fridley at Banfill-Locke Center for the Arts. |
| Brandon J. Kuehn, Anoka | $ 9,175 | | Kuehn will travel to ten to twenty sites in Minnesota to create a new body of work that documents the paranormal. The work will be exhibited in different locations around the state. |
| John G. Larson, Milan | $ 10,000 | | Larson will create a series of large scale ceramic sculptures that use native clay while he also explores a new method of construction. He will present a public lecture that describes the new work at the Carnegie Library in Montevideo. |
| Ricardo M. Levins Morales, Minneapolis | $ 10,000 | | Levins Morales will create a series of five original posters that combine graphics and words. Each will be mounted for a month long exhibition in the interior of up to 100 Metro Transit buses, posing questions meant to provoke curiosity and social connection. The project will culminate in an interactive community event in south Minneapolis. |
| Josie Lewis, Minneapolis | $ 10,000 | | Lewis will develop technical skills related to the use of resin as a medium and work sculpturally to advance her ideas in new work. She will pursue numerous exhibition opportunities and participate in art crawls at her studio in the Northrup King building in Minneapolis. |
| Arnie Lillo, Good Thunder | $ 10,000 | | Lillo will design and fabricate an art fence for the public parklet on the grounds of the Children's Museum of Southern Minnesota in Mankato. The cut out metal panels will make it fun to explore technology, agriculture, and art. An opening event and artist talk will be held when the fence is installed. |
| Shanai H. Matteson, Minneapolis | $ 9,968 | | Matteson will develop the first phase of Dear River, a large public art project that will become a floating love letter to the Mississippi River. In this first phase, Matteson will actively gather river stories from public participants through writing workshops with those who live and work on the river. |
| Anna V. Metcalfe, Minneapolis | $ 10,000 | | Metcalfe will create hexagonal ceramic map plates that highlight the connection between local food systems and honey bees. A pop-up picnic bike trailer for the nimble transport of the plates will be built so the project can go to public parks and community gardens. Two picnics, using the plates, are planned as part of the project for community gardens in Minneapolis. |
| Erin Moren, Minneapolis | $ 10,000 | | Moren will launch a new collection of handmade furniture and document the process of creating the work so the community has a better understanding of the process. An exhibition in the Twin Cities is being planned. |
| Kimber L. Olson, Eden Prairie | $ 8,370 | | Olson will create a site specific textile installation at Owatonna Hospital, artistically interpreting cellular structures and networks of specialized cells and organs that impact the human immune system. The installation will open in November and be on display until February 2016. |
| Jehra Patrick, Minneapolis | $ 10,000 | | Patrick will engage artists and design professionals in monthly programs that will include moderated public conversations and panel discussions to generate new ideologies and produce coauthored objects, presentations, and new distribution models. The intended result is to examine the crossover between the fine arts and commercial sectors. |
| Sonja D. Peterson, Minneapolis | $ 10,000 | | Peterson will create three-dimensional suspended collages for a large installation addressing invasive species of the Upper Mississippi Watershed for the fall 2015 biennial show at the Soap Factory gallery in Minneapolis. |
| Leili T. Pritschet, Minneapolis | $ 10,000 | | Pritschet will create a series of eight new paintings, titled Eye-dentity. As a victim of torture, she will share her experience and healing via exhibitions at Vine Arts Center and at Homewood Studios in Minneapolis. |
| Aaron K. Putt, Minneapolis | $ 10,000 | | Putt will create and exhibit a new series of paintings focused on stories of immigration in the Twin Cities, looking at the ways in which surroundings shape personal and cultural identity. The work will be exhibited publicly in the Twin Cities through open studio events and community centers that serve immigrant communities. |
| Erica S. Rasmussen, White Bear Lake | $ 6,300 | | Rasmussen will purchase a portable Oracle Hollander beater, harvest Minnesota plants, and teach six free ecologically friendly papermaking and book binding workshops for children in the northeast suburbs of Saint Paul. |
| Zak Sally, Minneapolis | $ 9,999 | | Sally will complete the third volume of his Sammy the Mouse graphic novel. He also plans to begin work on volume four in the series. He will exhibit the work in a Minneapolis gallery that will include an artist talk about the project. |
| Monica Sheets, Minneapolis | $ 10,000 | | Sheets will create an installation that interprets her long-term public project Das Fundbuero (The Lost and Found Office) for an American audience. During Art-A-Whirl, the public will have an opportunity to view the work during its construction; additional exhibition opportunities for the finished installation are being sought. |
| Elizabeth Simonson, Minneapolis | $ 10,000 | | Simonson will work with new materials and hire a beading assistant to complete large scale installations and sculptures for her show at Bockley Gallery in the fall of 2015. |
| Julie Sirek, Edina | $ 10,000 | | Sirek will address the issue of domestic violence by presenting an exhibition of new work that incorporates community participation and memorializes the victims of domestic homicides in the United States during 2015. |
| Sam Spiczka, Sauk Rapids | $ 10,000 | | Spiczka will create a new series of fabricated steel wall sculptures inspired by the rural Minnesota landscape. He will exhibit the new work in a rural Minnesota gallery or at a college campus in greater Minnesota. |
| Laura L. Stack, Minneapolis | $ 7,320 | | Stack will complete a large body of mixed media work that explores the boundaries between biology and technology and the industrialization of the body. She will show the new work at Rosalux Gallery in Minneapolis. An opening reception, artist talk, and panel discussion in conjunction with this art exhibition are planned. |
| Kenneth A. Steinbach, Shoreview | $ 6,500 | | Steinbach will create an installation of several thousand larger than life marble tears, modeled from images of the weeping Madonna. Cast in polyester resin and infused with Carrara marble dust, the project explores the shifting cultural perspectives about iconic Western artworks. The work will be shown in a Minneapolis gallery. |
| Eun-Kyung Suh, Duluth | $ 9,764 | | Suh will create new work to investigate the experiences of Korean adoptees in Minnesota, focusing on their transracial adoption experiences to examine the complex issues related to race, ethnicity, and culture. Exhibitions and public programs are being scheduled for Metropolitan State University and Saint Catherine University in Saint Paul. |
| Austin P. Swearengin, Minneapolis | $ 9,405 | | Swearengin will expand on his interest in designed environments and the relationship to identity. He will explore the use of poly-resins, polyurethane plastics, aluminum casting, countertop concrete, coal slag, and diamond dust in creating a new body of work for exhibition in Minneapolis. |
| Niccu Z. Tafarrodi, Plymouth | $ 10,000 | | Tafarrodi will create a miniature diorama of Tachara Hall in Persepolis, Iran. She will exhibit this new work along with 30 related works as part of her first solo exhibition in Minneapolis at the Quarter Gallery on the University of Minnesota's campus. |
| Peter H. Thompson, Minneapolis | $ 10,000 | | Thompson will create original flags for fifteen vacant flagpoles in south Minneapolis. He will meet with the owners of the flagpoles to develop the design and will add to his sewing ability by learning from local professional sewers. The flags will be flown for two weeks outside of the Powderhorn Park Neighborhood Association office and then donated to the flagpole owners. |
| Lisa S. Truax, Winona | $ 10,000 | | Truax will create a new body of sculptural and ceramic work for a solo exhibition at Austin's ArtWorks Gallery around the theme of personal and cultural relationship to the local Minnesota environment. She will also conduct at least one workshop open to the public at a Minnesota college on the sourcing and use of local materials in ceramics. |
| Willicey A. Tynes, Waite Park | $ 10,000 | | Tynes will create and exhibit a small body of original oil paintings that depict the similarities between his Afro-Caribbean culture and Western culture. The work will be exhibited at the Paramount Theatre and Visual Arts Center in downtown Saint Cloud in February 2016. |
| Megan E. Vossler, Minneapolis | $ 10,000 | | Vossler will create new work based on the description of landscape and natural phenomena in Dante's Inferno. She will present a public talk at Soo Visual Arts Center and for the art department at Mankato State University about her new work, and the connections between art and literature. |
| Randy Walker, Minneapolis | $ 10,000 | | Walker will create a temporary, large scale public art installation in downtown Minneapolis or Saint Paul. The artist will secure residual or leftover outdoor urban space for a one to two month installation, that engages with the surrounding community at all stages during its on-site creation. |
| Andrew P. Wykes, Northfield | $ 10,000 | | Wykes will create a series of six large scale mixed media paintings, along with smaller supporting works, of landscapes in urban and rural parts of southern Minnesota. The new work will be shown at the Groveland Gallery in Minneapolis, Soeffker Gallery at Hamline University in Saint Paul, and the Paradise Center for the Arts in Faribault. |
| Cameron A. Zebrun, Minneapolis | $ 9,835 | | Zebrun will show sculpture, photographs, and collage work which investigate landscape subjects in surprising and nontraditional ways at Form+ Content Gallery. He will purchase equipment and travel within Minnesota to support the creation of this new work. |
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