FY 2016 Grantees

Folk and Traditional Arts

Project grants to support the artistic traditions and customs practiced within community and/or cultural groups by identifying, documenting, preserving, presenting, and honoring Minnesota's folk arts and traditions

Number of grants awarded on November 4, 2015	17
Total dollars awarded on November 4, 2015	$ 445,109

Grantee, City	Grant Amount
Dakota Wicohan, Morton	$ 74,186
Tawokaga, a Dakota community apprenticeship project, will engage three tiers of artists (master, assistant, and apprentice) with one hundred community members to transmit three traditional yet endangered Dakota art forms: braintanning, quilling, and quilting.
The Ethnic Dance Theatre, Minneapolis	$ 20,400
The Ethnic Dance Theatre will present Celebrate Carpathian Culture Day with interactive workshops, performances, and storytellers, showcasing Hungarian, Romanian, Serbian, Czech, Slovak, Polish, Russyn, and Ukrainian folk traditions.
Jess Hirsch, Minneapolis	$ 18,288
Hirsch will study Sloyd, the Scandanavian tradition of handicraft, with artist Jim Sannerud. Using hand tools and the lathe, she will make traditional ale bowls, kuksas, spoons, and shrink boxes, and present her work through a community demonstration.
Hmong Museum, Saint Paul	$ 5,000
The Hmong Museum will collaborate with Hmong American writers and Hmong elders to host four storytelling sessions that will perpetuate the Hmong oral tradition.
Ka Joog, Minneapolis	$ 48,439
Ka Joog and the Somali Museum of Minnesota will create a video documentary on the origins and importance of Somali poetry and storytelling traditions for public television broadcast, public workshops, and classrooms in Minnesota.
Karen Organization of Minnesota, Saint Paul	$ 32,650
The Karen Organization of Minnesota will implement the Karen Weaving Project to support artists that revive the traditional art of Karen weaving in their new home, through workshops for Karen residents and exhibitions to introduce this folk art to wider audiences.
MaryPat Kleven, Cannon Falls	$ 5,990
Kleven will research early twentieth-century fiddle tunes notated by central Minnesota fiddler Elmo Wick, create a tune book, and hold three workshops to discuss and teach some of Wick's heirloom tunes.
Douglas K. Limón, White Bear Lake	$ 25,000
Limón will implement the Cradle Board Project to revitalize a cultural tradition that is threatened to become a lost art form, by providing workshops that teach the traditional art of making cradleboards.
Laura A. MacKenzie, Northfield	$ 13,211
MacKenzie will research and teach Scottish music and song in two series of classes and will produce two events for informal music, song, dance, stories, and performances (Cèilidhs) for students and the public.
Brian T. Miller, Saint Paul	$ 24,961
Miller's Lost 40 Project will celebrate recently discovered 1924 field recordings of traditional folksongs from Minnesota via a digital archive, new arrangements of songs, a public song forum, concerts, and workshops.
Nordic Center, Duluth	$ 5,000
The Nordic Center will engage three master artists in the folk and traditional arts to teach workshops in Scandinavian woodcarving, Norwegian heritage clothing construction, and Sami traditional jewelry making.
Saint Olaf College, Northfield	$ 14,574
Saint Olaf College will host a folk school camp, as well as adult classes in spoon carving, Sami inspired bracelet making, and Scandinavian flat-plane carving, to teach traditional Nordic handcrafts in the folk school philosophy.
Kevin L. Strauss, Rochester	$ 18,749
Strauss, through the Minnesota Story Traditions Project, will identify traditional folk arts storytellers in Minnesota, video record their story performances, and post seventy storytelling videos on the StoryLibrary.org Web site.
Sumunar, Saint Paul	$ 21,848
Sumunar will collaborate with Dhalang puppeteer Midiyanto and Gendèr musician Harjito to present an all-night performance of Wayang Kulit (Indonesian puppetry, gamelan music, and dance) during Northern Spark 2016.
White Earth Reservation Tribal Council, White Earth	$ 69,300
The White Earth Reservation Tribal Council will present Gizhiigin Arts, a six month fellowship opportunity for artists, youth, and adults. Chosen artists will receive a stipend, studio space, entrepreneurship training, and a chance to teach art forms to community members.
Nate White, Minneapolis	$ 8,193
White will study Scandinavian wooden ware, Sloyd carving, and educational techniques under the tutelage of master artist Jim Sannerud, and present his work to the public at a number of galleries and demonstrations.
Dalmar Yare, Waite Park	$ 39,320
Somali composer and singer Dalmar Yare will collaborate with Somali and nonSomali musicians to create, record, and perform a full-length album that tells stories of Somali Minnesotan immigrants with traditional Somali music.