-Minnesota State Arts Board - Minnesota North Star

FY 2021 Grantees

Creative Support for Individuals

Creative Support for Individuals is designed to help Minnesota artists and culture bearers adapt to changes in their working environment caused by the global pandemic. Grantees will be able to use funds to sustain their practice and stay relevant and connected to audiences, participants, students, or communities now and in the future. This grant program aims to help Minnesota artists and culture bearers maintain their visibility and financial sustainability by using their creativity and connections to community.

Number of grants awarded:
560
Total dollars awarded:
$ 3,249,227

Grantee, City Grant Amount
Mary K. Aalgaard, Baxter $  5,650
Aalgaard will use the materials she creates to engage students in youth theater workshops (playwriting) and connect with older adults (virtual visit during COVID-19) to do readings and writing workshops.
Boatemaa Agyeman-Mensah, Waseca $  5,840
In 2020, Officer Arik Matson was shot and George Floyd's murder sparked worldwide anger. Waseca's POC uniquely possess tragedy on local and global scales; Boatemaa hopes to provide an artistic space for POC to unite amid seemingly clashing truths.
Kashimana H. Ahua, Saint Paul $  6,000
Ahua will develop and adapt a concert series of performances for online experiences including interactive performances, improvisational writing and more. Ahua will adapt community songwriting and singing workshops for online experiences.
Akiem, Saint Paul $  6,000
Akiem will create a new body of work, securing software and equipment to stay competitive in the field as a teaching artist, composer, and producer. A virtual public showcase will engage Minnesotans with new music and conversation on the work.
Mike Alberti, Minneapolis $  6,000
Alberti will read from his debut short story collection, Some People Let You Down, and teach remote writing workshops at ten senior living facilities in rural Minnesota.
Sara J. Alexander, Virginia $  6,000
Alexander will record an album of instrumental songs on fiddle and piano. Guest musicians will include accordion, banjo, steel and, finger style guitar. Alexander will perform the songs in an outdoor concert and release the songs online.
Agnes N. Alsgaard Lien, Rushmore $  6,000
Lien will prepare at home art kits and art lessons for children in Rushmore, giving students the opportunity to enhance their academic learning through creative projects.
Eric L. Altenberg, Minneapolis $  5,952
Altenberg will continue pushing the limits of photography with Parkinson's disease. He will develop new ways of sharing his work through virtual mediums, as well as creating new work to keep his art alive.
Amy C. Anderson, Minneapolis $  6,000
Anderson will create a new body of portraits for display in public spaces temporarily or permanently closed due to the pandemic.
Justin Anderson, Duluth $  6,000
Anderson and John Finkle will engage Duluth area participants in community wooden boat building projects using hand tools and traditional methods and materials—both in person and online.
Krista J. Anderson-Larson, Saint Paul $  6,000
Anderson-Larson will create and document her largest sculpture to date, sharing the process with the public both online and in person.
A. Andrews, Minneapolis $  5,949
Andrews will explore ways to increase online engagement and accessibility with their graphic narrative work, and create work rooted in community care, health access, and mutual aid for Minnesotans disproportionately affected by COVID-19.
Carissa L. Andrews, Crosslake $  6,000
Andrews will explore new ways of writing and publishing her novels as an independently published author.
Michael T. Asmus, Gaylord $  6,000
Asmus will present three prerecorded/streamed concerts and events in 2021 to continue to provide high quality arts access in Sibley County and continue to build his audience within that community.
Karlyn Atkinson Berg, Bovey $  6,000
Berg will produce video art productions and virtual collage workshops as interactive community art events for northern Minnesota communities in lieu of live events originally scheduled, but no longer possible under Covid restrictions.
Alison J. Aune, Duluth $  6,000
Aune will create new Nordic inspired artworks to preserve ancestral symbolic patterns and designs. Her work will be accessible online with virtual exhibitions and workshops for all to learn about Nordic cultural art traditions in Minnesota.
Kirsten M. Aune, Duluth $  6,000
Aune will create screen printed and hand stenciled textiles, sewing small batch items to large-scale wall hangings. Opening a storefront in West Duluth, Aune wishes to share her work with the community and develop workshops for at-risk and homeless youth.
Tara Austin, Duluth $  5,000
Austin will cultivate her visual communication through painting in her studio and within the communities of fine and folk arts.
Leilawa Awadallah, Minneapolis $  6,000
Awadallah will acquire skills and equipment to explore dance film collaborations as choreographic endeavors where shot composition, movement on-screen, and editing choices carve space for witnessing bodies engaged in diasporic ancestries and activism.
Alyssa E. Baguss, Minneapolis $  6,000
Baguss will create a series of new postcard sized drawings during a yearlong residency at Cedar Creek Environmental Science Research Center shared with residents of greater Minnesota through monthly mailings called Slow Data Transmission.
E.G. Bailey, Minneapolis $  6,000
Bailey will create an online interview show that will feature artists and community members discussing current issues in the arts, particularly filmmaking and the community.
Allison J. Baker, Minneapolis $  6,000
Baker will create new large-scale sculptures and installations to be exhibited locally and regionally in Minnesota. As a longtime teacher, she will work directly with her students to assist in the production of large-scale works.
Joe Baltich, Ely $  6,000
Baltich will mentor rural Ely art students in the art of making a living and art entreprenuership.
Zachary J. Baltich, Minneapolis $  6,000
Baltich will facilitate the collaboration of a remote recording project between himself, Ritika Ganguly, Ilan Blanck, and Mandy Fassett.
Leslie E. Barlow, Minneapolis $  5,000
Barlow will create her first artist book for sale and distribution to connect with audiences and communities outside of physical studio or gallery spaces.
Tom D. Barna, Eagle Lake $  6,000
Noted Minnesota playwright Tom David Barna will produce and record multiple original stage plays in an audio video format, performed by noteworthy Minnesota actors. Plays will be posted on several social network platforms.
Jarrelle Barton, Prior Lake $  6,000
Barton will connect to the Minnesota community by creating new and accessible online guzheng music content.
Alicia V. Bayer, Westbrook $  2,820
Bayer will publish two books of poetry from her past.
Sarah R. Beahan, Center City $  5,785
Beahan will write a draft of a book of essays on creativity inspired by her creativity workshop, The Deep Dive. She will concurrently explore and develop ways to host the workshop virtually to reach older adults and rural Minnesotans.
Amy R. Beaulieu, Ponsford $  6,000
Beaulieu will teach beading to the youth and community.
MIchael J. Becker, Cloquet $  6,000
Becker will explore ways to publish and share his original music online through traditional recording methods and live performances.
Lina F. Belar, Perham $  6,000
Belar will explore ways to expand access to Poems of Hope and Reassurance, a project featuring the work of regional poets who have created poems to uplift the spirits of those affected by the pandemic.
Cate Belleveau, Puposky $  6,000
Belleveau presents a one-person show based on The Year of Magical Thinking exploring loss and grieving. The audience will be invited to submit visual art with themes of loss, and poets will create poetry to display in tandem at Fleur de Lis Gallery.
Elizabeth J. Belz, Grand Marais $  5,992
Belz will explore ways of engaging the northern Minnesota communities in the metal arts through the production and distribution of live streams, prerecorded classes, tutorials, and the documentation of student and personal work.
Bebe Zahara Benet, Minneapolis $  6,000
Benet will establish the House of Zahara: a cross-disciplinary support network that gathers artists, develops community, and creates arts opportunities for the public.
Carla M. Benjamin, Pillager $  6,000
Benjamin will create twelve encaustic and experimental works and share inspiration and showcase the artworks through brief video artist chats, fostering a sense of appreciation and connection with local arts of greater Minnesota.
Daniel J. Benoit, Duluth $  6,000
Benoit will continue to explore how to create live, interactive experiences in virtual formats. Through the integration of emerging interactive technology, he will create unique virtual experiences with a focus on sustaining community.
Colleen M. Bertsch, Minneapolis $  6,000
Bertsch will record Ciprian Porumbescu Choir's warm ups and repertoire from the last three years in a video series and publish them on an online streaming platform to be used as a practice tool for choir members during the pandemic.
Tiffany L. Besonen, Menahga $  6,000
Besonen will use her sculpture stories to collaborate with local dancers, and to engage rural residents.
Nikki Bettcher Erickson, Willmar $  6,000
Erickson's project will put forth a set of or original theater performances that will create space for artistic growth in our community and build multigenerational bridges among our community members.
Martha Bird, Minneapolis $  6,000
Bird will purchase high power studio lights to ensure strong photographic images of her work that are shown in the best light possible as well as set up an online shop to sell her artwork through her website.
Craig J. Blacklock, Moose Lake $  6,000
COVID-19 requires art that helps people cope, which can be accessed safely and affordably. Blacklock will expand the image selection of his desktop nature photographs and the number of locations in greater Minnesota to carry them.
Victoria A. Blanco, Minneapolis $  5,799
Blanco will facilitate the sharing of Latinx place based storytelling in Minnesota through a native pollinator writing and drawing workshop.
Alice Blessing, Bemidji $  5,773
Blessing will present a free painting workshop, relaunch a website, and develop a social media presence.
Little Bobby, Mcintosh $  6,000
Little Bobby will record new music to be shared with Minnesota listeners.
Vie Boheme, Minneapolis $  6,000
Boheme will create a short dance film adaptation of her one woman dance theater show CENTERPLAY and host digital and live film screenings and panel discussions.
Archie Bongiovanni, Minneapolis $  6,000
Bongiovanni works in graphic narrative and is creating Doing The Work: a queer coloring book exploring the idea of work being necessary for us to help others (and ourselves) thrive in an anti-capitalistic and community focused world.
Essence Bonitaz, Maplewood $  6,000
Contemporary novelist, Bonitaz, will hire a web developer to design a site for communities to experience her stories beyond borders, access exclusive content, interact with characters, and more!
Chip Borkenhagen, Aitkin $  6,000
Borkenhagen will create and exhibit a series of paintings focusing on diverse interactions between indigenous and white cultures. His one-person show will encourage viewers to think differently about our history, our future, and our cultural dynamics.
Cece Boyle, Duluth $  3,737
Boyle will explore the landscape of the Superior Hiking Trail through her lens. Telling the stories of the people and places she meets along the way. Her images will be shared through an online medium.
Kassie Bradshaw Kmitch, Saint Paul $  5,100
Bradshaw Kmitch will 3D scan the plywood murals and anti-racist street art in the Twin Cities as a way to preserve the ephemera from the civil unrest in 2020.
Aisha Branch, Brooklyn Park $  6,000
Branch will showcase new illustration and design products that will support her initiative in creating financial literacy books for kids and schools in her community.
Kimberly Braun, North Mankato $  6,000
Mankato artist Braun will perform and lead workshops for community.
Shanda R. Brekke, Owatonna $  4,000
Brekke will create artwork inspired by the recent year and the impacts of COVID-19 on her life, and show her artwork in a gallery experience (vitural or in person).
Priscilla Briggs, Minneapolis $  6,000
Briggs will create a quarterly zine series and accompanying online platform that explores issues related to capitalism and economic inequity in the United States.
Kimberly J. Brown, Minneapolis $  6,000
Brown will write new work that expands her MFA thesis, AFTER THE BRIDGE FELL: PTSD ESSAYS, to book length and will hold a public reading.
Mark R. Brown, Minneapolis $  6,000
Brown will continue developing and producing short and long-form documentaries about the Hamline Midway neighborhood and restorative justice with the help of an artistic collaborator. He will screen these works at the DocuClub filmmaking group.
Kehayr M. Brown-Ransaw, Minneapolis $  6,000
Brown-Ransaw will explore ways of connecting with Black, queer, and male craft persons to expand local discourse and create a new subjectivity into the canon American quilt making.
Neegonee B. Brunner, Ponsford $  6,000
Brunner will explore ways to teach surrounding communities about her Native American culture with her artwork. She will set up online and in person classes.
Julie A. Buffalohead, Saint Paul $  6,000
Buffalohead is creating work that addresses social, historical, political, and personal themes to participate in several arts projects across the region.
Bullet Bob, Askov $  6,000
Carman will work with students of all ages, focusing on children at risk, to enrich their lives through online and safe in person teaching using distancing guidelines.
D.A. Bullock, Minneapolis $  5,615
Bullock will explore media arts as healing from trauma, community and personal; how we absorb it, how we deflect it, how we redirect trauma. Bullock also will examine how we deal with absence/presence in the Black community.
Michael Burgraff, Fergus Falls $  5,993
Burgraff will produce an online presence through a website giving Minnesotans' an opportunity to explore his craft and product while providing a virtual educational component.
Blayze J. Buseth, Fergus Falls $  6,000
Buseth will provide direct and virtual access to three-dimensional art education through a central Fergus Falls ceramic and sculpture workshop.
Shá Cage, Minneapolis $  6,000
Cage will use funding to develop and grow her brand as an artist, and launch a workshop and training platform to her community.
Shelley T. Caldwell, Delavan $  6,000
Caldwell will create a website to increase audience accessibility to and participation in her work. She will collect images of botanical silhouettes volunteered by fellow plant enthusiasts to incorporate into a new series of works on paper.
Timothy S. Cameron, Minneapolis $  6,000
Cameron's project will utilize a storefront as a performance space. With the glass window as the theater's fourth wall, activity inside is an invitation to access the sound picture through an app. It is a COVID ready, new form of theater/performance.
Emil Campbell, II, Plymouth $  6,000
Campbell is an artist who creates and contributes to the cultural landscape by presenting music and productions that display our rich musical heritage with an emphasis on African American history.
Mary J. Casanova, International Falls $  5,997
Casanova will invest in training and technology to better connect online with audiences of all ages; launch her historical novel, WATERFALL, online in spring 2021; and finish writing her latest novel in progress.
Marina Castillo, Saint Paul $  6,000
Castillo will work with Latina women and women of color, including youth and children, creating art that promotes community.
Chantel Sings, Burnsville $  6,000
Sings will create an inspirational, short length R & B music of hope project that will reflect on the unfortunate events of 2020 in Minnesota with the intent of uplifting and spreading hope for the future of our communities.
Karen L. Charles, Golden Valley $  6,000
Charles will reimagine a new work based on the events of September 11th as a dance film. Charles will use film to maintain a connection to her audience.
Linda N. Chatterton, Minneapolis $  6,000
Chatterton will video record her music performances and distribute these to greater Minnesota residents and communities in order to maintain and grow previous connections.
Mary Ellen Childs, Minneapolis $  6,000
Childs will create new work for Apple Valley based duo OboeBass!, based on issues around climate change, to premiere at the Lakeville Area Arts Center, tour communities throughout Minnesota, and present online.
Shirl Chouinard, Cambridge $  6,000
Chouinard will develop an art felting vlog that will be easily accessible via social media venues targeting east Central rural communities. The production will consist of ten to twelve episodes culminating in a completed collection of ten to twelve pieces.
Linda Christianson, Lindstrom $  6,000
Christianson will be afforded time and materials to work in the studio. Her work will be exhibited and available to the public online.
Adrean E. Clark, Saint Paul $  5,325
The skyway system of downtown Saint Paul is a unique structure that is built for human connection. Clark's work magnifies the hidden stories of American Sign Language speaking deaf people and brings them into the skyways.
MaryAnn Cleary, Cambridge $  6,000
Cleary will explore ways to engage rural Minnesotans with her artwork by incorporating new art products, tutorials, or workshops online.
Kacie Clement, Aitkin $  4,349
Clement's parents instilled a passion inside of her for reading. She began storytelling in writing grants. Upon retirement, Clement now takes her art of storytelling and writes fictional mysteries.
Vernita Clinton, Minneapolis $  3,600
We have a disparity problem on so many levels. Clinton will teach community members to make beautiful art and furniture with materials that they may recognize as useless at first.
Carl L. Clomon, Saint Paul $  6,000
Clomon will present two original compositions that will inspire and bridge community through gospel music.
Elizabeth M. Coleman, Minneapolis $  6,000
Coleman will create and exhibit windows, lights, and sculptures made of porcelain and glass at Potek Glass Gallery in Northeast Minneapolis. An opening reception and series of workshops will also be held there.
Catherine L. Colsrud, Sandstone $  5,981
Colsrud will explore ways of presenting her painting sessions of folk art in an online medium. Her work will engage indigenous and other marginalized community members in the Sandstone/Hinckley area.
Nancy L. Cook, Maplewood $  5,995
Cook will collect poems, messages, and writing prompts to send to congregate living residents, provide poetry postcards and cards for residents' use, organize five poetry serenades, and curate an anthology of works by residents and local poets.
Amy C. Coppersmith, Otsego $  6,000
Coppersmith will be modifying her marketing to be more accessible and found.
Matthew A. Coppersmith, Otsego $  6,000
Coppersmith will implement an online store for clients to view and purchase art pieces, and also view content on how to create their own art.
Cecilia M. Cornejo, Northfield $  5,400
Expanding on The Wandering House project, Cornejo will invite Lanesboro and Northfield residents to explore how notions of home have transformed in light of the global pandemic and the uprising that followed the killing of George Floyd.
Tawnee G. Corning, Bagley $  6,000
Corning will explore ways of livestreaming to present the painting process to the public, as well as presenting her completed paintings in an online exhibit.
Amy Cousin, Stacy $  6,000
Cousin creates energetically connected jewelry using ethically sourced gemstones and reclaimed precious metals. Her Upcycled Collection focuses on reviving surplus and discarded items, turning them into stunning, eco-conscious jewelry.
Teresa M. Cox, Eagan $  6,000
Cox will continue the development of her painting by purchasing materials and equipment, and broaden her connection with audiences in Minnesota through online studio talks and arts learning workshops.
Martin L. Cozza, Minneapolis $  6,000
Cozza will draft a synopsis and new chapters of a middle grade novel and engage a sensitivity reader to discuss the representation of children with chronic illness through the lens of a fantasy world.
Susanne M. Crane, Albert Lea $  5,980
Crane will present Solitude, a series exploring aloneness, at the Freeborn County Arts Initiative, 2021. Crane is a painter. Her work is dreamlike and storytelling. She uses vibrant color to express emotional and subconscious archetypes.
Dee Croaker, Bemidji $  6,000
Croaker will work toward building online access to her artwork through social media. She will provide a close-up look at her process, knowledge, and experiences.
Kirstin J. Cronn-Mills, North Mankato $  6,000
Cronn-Mills will create writing/art workshops for neurodivergent teens and adults. She also will edit her YA novel O IS FOR OUTSIDER and work with Erik T. Johnson to add an illustrated "backword" to the book.
Tony Cuchetti, Red Wing $  6,000
Cuchetti finalized an album just before COVID-19. A tour was planned with in person promotional performances, but due to circumstances, work will be shared virtually. He will share his music with his followers in a virtual environment.
Guillermo Cuellar, Shafer $  6,000
Cuellar will maintain a robust online gallery and adapt his studio showroom to accommodate Minnesota pottery lovers safely during COVID-19.
Cortland Davis, Coon Rapids $  6,000
Music producer Cortland Davis will explore the music production and stories behind his newest album Amor Universal during an in person studio lecture that will be released online.
Susana M. di Palma, Robbinsdale $  5,470
di Palma will extend her educational and artistic communication reach through new technologies during a pandemic.
Mamadou C. Diallo, Saint Paul $  6,000
Diallo will use funds to be able to continue working with local creatives to create authentic narratives and produce podcast content as well as jewelry.
Anthony R. Diaz, Crookston $  5,999
Diaz will educate and entertain the community with production gear vis-a-vis social media. He'll stream guitar lessons free to public and perform live sets bimonthly for the duration of the pandemic.
Teresita E. Diaz, Ponsofrd $  6,000
Diaz will explore ways to help youth with different forms of art and help them express themselves in a positive way.
Paul K. Dice, Northfield $  6,000
Dice will create a website and YouTube channel to stay connected with Minnesotans interested in his music despite the lack of live performance opportunities.
Joy Dolo, Saint Paul $  6,000
Dolo will create a piece that will initiate conversations about race in rural cities in Minnesota.
Emily Donovan, Saint Paul $  6,000
Donovan will explore video as a new medium, produce three educational videos about her natural dye process, and share the content and finished work with an online exhibition.
Adrienne V. Doyle, Minneapolis $  6,000
Doyle will produce the first draft of a Black queer femme road movie and host a COVID safe, outdoor reading and talk back.
Sarah J. Drake, Sauk Rapids $  2,000
Drake will work with students from four schools, using art to connect similarities and differences, increase comfort and understanding of immigration, and enhance cross-cultural experiences.
Annette Drewes, Bemidji $  5,100
Drewes will develop an online presence for her nature writing and for her upcoming book on wild rice. Woven into our state's history, natural wild rice, an aquatic grass that fills our bellies and feeds our souls, is threatened by anonymity.
Pete Driessen, Minneapolis $  6,000
Driessen will engage rural Minnesotans by installing a permanent, abstract, site specific Wing Dam sculpture in Red Wing, created with Minnesota dolomite limestone reflecting the Cannon and Mississippi River confluence.
Debra B. Dsouza, Austin $  6,000
DSouza will craft an exhibit of fifty glass mosaic mandalas, created with older adults. The project will start with a mandala design class, followed by a mosaic workshop, capping with a show at 125 Live, Rochester Arts Center, and Austin Artworks.
Bonnie DuFresne, Virginia $  4,387
DuFresne will utilize a new website to engage with the public and art venues online.
Ann M. DuHamel, Morris $  6,000
DuHamel will create videos of new solo piano works written for her by Minnesotan composers Jocelyn Hagen and Edie Hill.
Antonio Duke, Minneapolis $  6,000
Duke will collaborate with a playwriting mentor to rewrite his solo performance piece MISSING MISSISSIPPI MOONS. The culmination will be performing a virtual in-home, ten-minute excerpt of the new draft which will be posted on Facebook via Zoom.
Shanaya J. Dungey, Brooklyn Park $  5,800
Dungey (The Foolish Know It All) will explore ways of exhibiting her wearables pieces and showing her work process on an online platform to connect with broader audiences.
Mara Duvra, Minneapolis $  6,000
Duvra will create an artist's book on Black interiority that serves as a meditative resource and considers poetic possibilities for Black life to center rest and collective care as tools for liberation.
Kevin J. Edwards, Brainerd $  6,000
Edwards will share his fantasy story with greater Minnesotans middle grade readers through interactive video technology.
Sophea Ek, Minneapolis $  6,000
Ek will update camera equipment to meet the needs of a broader array of photographic projects, for both personal artistic and community projects.
Carl H. Elsaesser, Northfield $  5,830
Elsaesser will finish a short film he started last April but had to put on hold because of COVID-19, and will explore different ways to distribute the film in an online manner.
Karen J. Engevik, Roseau $  6,000
Engevik will continue to create her pottery. She will explore and expand new ways of connecting with past and new customers through online resources.
Anne-Marie Erickson, Grand Rapids $  6,000
Erickson will establish a website for her memoir in essays, record excerpts for Stay Human Radio (KAXE/KBXE), and work toward the goal of publication.
Dawn Z. Erickson, Red Wing $  6,000
Erickson will exhibit Archive of Observations: Looking Local, a completely new and original collection inspired by Red Wing's historic and natural surroundings. These works will be on exhibit in the windows of the Red Wing Public Library.
Shannon L. Estlund, Fridley $  6,000
Estlund will make and distribute a book examining her studio practice.
James G. Everest, Minneapolis $  6,000
Composer Everest will present two free, outdoor public "Sound Garden" installation events combining music, dance, poetry, and visual art into immersive self-guided experiences.
Dominic B. Facio, Fergus Falls $  6,000
Facio will produce a COVID-19 safe, Catwalk Party performance for the residents of rural Minnesota. This performance will uplift and celebrate LGBTQIA+ culture. All public health and safety precautions will be in place.
Alisha F. Fagan, Brooklyn Park $  6,000
Each child will be able to obtain the appropriate skills to help build their confidence, their self-esteem and courage. They will have the ability to explore opportunities on the entire aspect of different dance cultures.
Julie M. Fakler, Faribault $  6,000
Fakler will create both virtual art classes and an online gallery where people can purchase her artwork.
Carson D. Faust, Hopkins $  6,000
Faust, an Edisto Natchez-Kusso writer, will work with a writing mentor and a language activist to develop his novel about surviving trauma. He will run remote youth workshops, a reading, and panel discussion about indigenous language revitalization.
Drue A. Fergison, Lanesboro $  6,000
Fergison will complete a instrument study and prepare for post COVID live interactive performances of hardanger and regular fiddle music from Sogn, Norway, for seniors, youth, and veterans in rural Fillmore and Houston Counties.
Selma Fernández Richter, Minneapolis $  6,000
Fernández Richter will develop her ongoing project about recurrent pregnancy loss and will create a book dummy in collaboration with a designer.
Joelle M. Fernandez, Fridley $  6,000
Amidst racialized trauma and the scare of the pandemic, Fernandez is offering a path towards mending the hearts and bodies through hip-hop dance.
Kristi L. Fernholz, Appleton $  6,000
Fernholz will create and enhance online methods to present and sell her work to audiences.
Malcolm Fields, Duluth $  4,942
Fields will help the underrepresented share their stories, explore creative outlets, and gain skills that will show their vision through film.
Chad A. Filley, Cambridge $  5,250
Filley will create stories about Minnesota's Scandinavian immigrants and their descendants to be told at storytelling performances.
Joan M. Finnegan, Lanesboro $  6,000
Finnegan will explore new ways of presenting her art online and in her studio within a COVID safe environment.
Nula Fisher, Duluth $  6,000
Fisher will build an online store, create paper goods and jewelry to sell, and educate herself in graphic design and Scandinavian culture.
Sarah M. Flicek, Delano $  5,946
Flicek will explore creating an intimate artist connection to Minnesota residents and communities through a professional, engaging, interactive online experience via her website and social media.
Allen Flowers, Minneapolis $  6,000
Flowers will facilitate a workshop for local musicians over age 50 with disabilities from diverse communities in which participants create original music that reflects their culture and hope for the future. Music will be performed online and live.
Paul G. Fonfara, Minneapolis $  6,000
Fonfara will compose and record an album of new works for the Brass Messengers using cell phones in a distanced manner, reflecting life in the times of COVID-19. The record will be available as a mixed album, notated score, and individual tracks.
Ashawnti S. Ford, Coon Rapids $  5,500
Ford will write and produce an improv sketch podcast that discusses current events while exploring authentic reactions and providing comedic relief for herself and other Black Minnesotan artists.
Susan A. Foss, Sandstone $  6,000
Foss will produce mosaics depicting flora native to Minnesota, entwined with flora introduced from European origin.
Silent Fox, Minneapolis $  5,750
Silent Fox will present B.E.B.A, a series that shows the struggles and challenges POC may or may not overcome, from the perspective of the artist. The series brings awareness to Minnesota and discusses racism, connecting the information to create an understanding of change.
Penelope A. Freeh, Saint Paul $  6,000
Freeh will deepen creative relationships through micro commissions coupled with facilitated community conversations oriented toward racial and social justice inside of artistic practice.
David F. Friddle, Rochester $  6,000
Friddle's textbook about choral music in the 1800s will be enhanced by providing readers with aural recordings.
Catherine R. Friend, Red Wing $  6,000
Friend will draft a memoir with three threads running through it: the end of her farm, her father's Alzheimer's, and how reading nonfiction saved her. She will also explore ways to use social media to reengage Minnesotans in her work.
Britton M. Fuglseth, Fertile $  5,513
Fuglseth will learn skills in photography and videography to capture and create edited video projects.
M E Fuller, Montevideo $  6,000
Fuller will participate in a yearlong mentee/mentor writing relationship and bring this experience to her community in workshops to help other writers build confidence around sharing their process and work.
Christi Furnas, Minneapolis $  5,950
Furnas will create an accessible website and online store with weekly updates about art and mental health.
Aaron Gabriel, Minneapolis $  6,000
Gabriel will curate and produce an EP of five new pieces created by Twin Cities BIPOC artists/activists responding to the racial injustice and police brutality that sparked international protests in the wake of George Floyd's murder.
Cléa Galhano, Saint Paul $  6,000
Galhano will take courses with a professional of technology, social media, recording, and marketing to keep engaged her my career.
Ritika Ganguly, Minneapolis $  6,000
Ganguly will create an artist website that catalogues her work and her collaborating community's work. It will be a transcribed repertoire of Baul (Sufi Bengali) music, hosting compositions from musicians in Minnesota and South Asia in this genre.
Marybeth Garmoe, Grand Marais $  6,000
Garmoe will create classes in traditional craft areas that can easily transition between in person and online formats to ensure class content remains available to Minnesota communities.
AK Garski, Minneapolis $  6,000
Garski will continue a series of drawings and paintings on the topic of consent from a trans inclusive lens and develop a "gender nonconforming survival pack" for trans youth. They will also produce anti-racist curriculum on their website.
Emily Gastineau, Minneapolis $  6,000
Gastineau and collaborators will develop the project "If everything is [an object] then I am too", a contemporary dance work investigating generic objects and affective economies.
Vance Gellert, Minneapolis $  6,000
Through portraits and conversations, Street Corner Talking will tell the stories of people who find themselves in dire circumstances and come to street corners with signs asking for donations.
Anne George, Winona $  6,000
George will complete a new body of work that will be exhibited at the Rochester Art Center in 2021. These works will explore ideas of connection, disruption, fragility, and tension.
Kalvin George, Saint Cloud $  2,000
George will continue exploring new ways to raise the profile of Minnesota through film and photography.
Jennifer Glaws, Mound $  6,000
Glaws will remount and reimagine Touch Code, which was affected by the closing of theaters due to COVID-19. Touch Code exhibits a raw and exposed view of the tensions and power, or lack of power, in proximity.
Catherine Glynn, Lanesboro $  6,000
Glynn will create a series of short films featuring monologues based in the Driftless Region of southeastern Minnesota. This visual exploration will serve as the springboard for developing her new play, The Root River Anthology: Still Flowing.
Regan Golden, Saint Paul $  6,000
The River Constructs, a series of digital photographs of plants along the Mississippi River, will be exhibited online on my website and distributed as an artist book with a book launch event at Hidden Falls Regional Park.
David S. Goldes, Minneapolis $  6,000
Goldes will make new work in photography and drawing that forms a bridge between the precision of science and the expansiveness of art. He also will offer an online bookmaking workshop as a method to engage participants.
Miguel E. Gonzalez, Apple Valley $  6,000
Gonzalez will complete and release his Latin-infused progressive rock album Matteria and broaden his listenership to outstate Minnesota by working with a management consultant.
Leslea Gooden, Kiester $  5,500
Gooden will continue to find ways to share her art with the public through gallery shows, county fairs, and online.
Duane L. Goodwin, Bemidji $  6,000
Goodwin will provide apprentices an in person arts learning experience from his home studio and gallery. Presentation and work shows will also be scheduled.
Karen E. Goulet, Bemidji $  6,000
Goulet will explore experiences with culture, land, and history through New Tributaries on My Misiziibi Detour―visual arts and written word.
Jessica Grams, Saint Paul $  6,000
Grams will create a series of work that examines intersections within the experiences of Minnesotans of urban, tribal, and rural communities leading up to and during 2020.
DeVon dVRG Gray, Saint Paul $  6,000
Gray (dVRG) will continue to live an artful life making many offerings to the greater landscape of the Minnesota cultural community.
Margo Gray, Side Lake $  6,000
Gray will explore methods for delivering on demand interactive audio narratives.
Christopher E. Griffith, Minneapolis $  6,000
Minneapolis theater artist Griffith will create a family friendly virtual performance about Cherokee language for the Native American Community Development Institute and the Montessori American Indian Childcare Center.
Guillermo Guardia, Saint Paul $  5,990
Guardia will design and create a new series of sculptures influenced by COVID-19 and social justice events in 2020.
Paula Gudmundson, Duluth $  6,000
Flutist, Gudmundson, will create ten video performances of works by Black composers.
Cynthia A. Guernsey, Brainerd $  5,429
Guernsey will show others how to bead and utilize that talent to keep the culture alive and, with that talent, other artists will also have a means to generate an income.
Alison Guessou, Golden Valley $  6,000
Guessou will continue to develop a film, based on the mystery of the brain and its ability to protect the body from harm, that plays out in children of a fictional town in Minnesota.
Bridget G. Guiza, Detroit Lakes $  5,000
Guiza will engage youth in music making through movement and dance while learning about a different native culture, and make electronic music with the local native community using influences from around the world.
Robert G. Gurrola, Woodbury $  6,000
Gurrola will create a Web portal that serves as both an artistic skills development tool and showcase for Minnesota Hispanic and other Minnesota underserved artists.
Alexander P. Gutterman, Duluth $  6,000
Gutterman will complete his second full-length narrative art film called The Hunter and establish an alternative distribution model where the film is shown at local theaters and other virtual screenings throughout Minnesota.
Kathryn J. Haddad, Minneapolis $  6,000
Haddad will write a script about planting "magical" Lebanese zucchini seeds during COVID-19. This will eventually be turned into an animated short film with input from the local Arab American community.
Ayub A. HajiOmar, Rochester $  6,000
HajiOmar's work explores contemporary matters via the Quran, promoting peace and tolerance while giving the viewer an opportunity to learn more. HajiOmar will use funds to create, hang, research, and promote new work including expanding to online.
Andy Hall, Climax $  6,000
Hall will continue to share his photographic artwork and hold photography classes in Crookston and the northwest Minnesota region.
Bradley D. Hall, Granite Falls $  6,000
Hall will continue to grow as an artist and remain connected to audiences through online platforms.
Lindsy Halleckson, Robbinsdale $  6,000
Halleckson will create a series of paintings based on atmosphere, wildfires, and ecological intersectionality. Through an online exhibition and virtual public events, she will engage viewers in discussions about art and environment.
Joanna Hallstrom, Minneapolis $  6,000
Hallstrom will work with a creative marketing professional to strengthen her online engagement strategy. She will also develop a window gallery at Tin Top Studios to share her portrait paintings face to face.
Carla D. Hamilton, Duluth $  6,000
Hamilton will expand upon her Minnesota Nice exhibition with new work, development of an online presence and portfolio, and the printing of a small booklet of her work.
David Hamlow, Good Thunder $  6,000
Hamlow will develop and expand his social media based group artwork #coronatessellations where participants create upcycled object collages, photograph, and submit them to Instagram to create a vast online collective pattern.
Kate Hammer, Roseau $  6,000
Hammer will explore ways of presenting and selling her pottery at rural northern Minnesota events and offer classes to educate people about the ceramic arts creation process.
Blongsha Hang, Minneapolis $  6,000
Hang will write, direct, edit, produce, and provide two screenings of a short film titled First Dance.
Bryan Hansel, Grand Marais $  5,988
Hansel will develop two online photography courses and a webinar.
Holly Hansen, Sebeka $  6,000
Hansen will offer a series of introductory audio workshops and videos for women, non cis and LGBTQ+ individuals, and people of color to build self-confidence and skills related to live sound engineering and audio production.
Nathan Hanson, Saint Paul $  6,000
Hanson will document and present improvised music in an online medium.
Ursula Hargens, Minneapolis $  6,000
Hargens will develop resources for Minnesota K-12 educators, adapted for online learning, highlighting BIPOC and female ceramic artists. She will create a new body of functional ceramics and develop an online store linked to her redesigned website.
Jacob A. Harlin, Minneapolis $  3,840
Harlin will explore ways to present music and visuals through online mediums and through music outlets across Minnesota.
Nelia Harper, Grand Rapids $  5,954
Harper will use the grant to engage youth of greater Minnesota in a public art project.
Christopher E. Harrison, Brooklyn Park $  3,600
Harrison will be creating an exhibition of paintings and sculpture based on the theme of Black trauma through physical restraint.
Naomi T. Hart, Saint Cloud $  6,000
Hart will complete the research and production of two new bodies of work, in a mixed media encaustic process, which are scheduled for exhibition in 2021.
Sahar Hassan, Saint Paul $  5,000
Hassan will explore ways of presenting her audio/visual recordings in a virtual setting.
Nicole A. Havekost, Rochester $  6,000
Havekost will continue to explore figurative soft sculpture presented in her exhibition 'Chthonic' and create an online workshop demonstrating her techniques that can be offered instead of in person programming related to the exhibition.
Chandra Hawkins, Minneapolis $  2,000
Hawkins will empower women to promote their business, art, and brands by providing free photography and tools they need to succeed.
Mike Hazard, Minneapolis $  4,995
For the Pandemic Picture Postcard Project, Hazard will write and mail 365 unique postcards to individuals and create a web blog of a year in our life. A ritual of gratitude, the art will praise good people for good works.
Scott J. Hebert, Duluth $  5,999
Hebert will utilize professional equipment to capture performances remotely for later production into improvisational storytelling and podcasting.
Shaunna Heckman, Duluth $  5,451
Heckman will participate in an advanced music production workshop, gaining the skills and knowledge to independently create a more refined, polished, and professional sound.
Rebecca Heidenberg, Minneapolis $  6,000
Rebecca Heidenberg will produce film and video programs online and at socially distant in person screenings. Additionally, she will facilitate the production of short videos by kids in foster families and screen them in virtual programs.
Andrew C. Hellmund, Saint Peter $  6,000
Hellmund's "Southern Minnesota Sculpture" project will seek to brighten local communities with sculpture in public spaces that are colorful and vibrant and allow the viewer to ponder, away from the turbulence of the world.
Stephanie E. Henry, Burnsville $  5,228
Henry will explore ways of teaching, performing, and composing music through in an online medium.
Pao H. Her, Blaine $  6,000
Her will revamp her website to include three interactive zines that she will print physically and distribute around the Twin Cities.
Paul D. Herwig, Minneapolis $  6,000
Herwig will create a projection bike to enable him to bring his animation/projection art out from the theaters and into the public space, making unique community connections in the safety of the outdoors.
Justin Hicks, New Ulm $  4,500
Hicks will continue to support local podcasters and musicians through teaching and production to help them meet their creative goals.
Jill Hildebrandt, Saint Peter $  5,869
Hildebrant will present in(her)ited, a one woman performance that critically explores what she has inherited from her mother and her maternal ancestors, what she passes on to her children, what cycles she breaks, and which ones she continues to perpetuate.
Alison Hiltner, Minneapolis $  6,000
Hiltner will create an interactive installation at the M; a three-dimensional interpretation of brain activity based on research by the director of NeuralNetoff Lab, sharing the internal workings of audiences' brains in real time.
Carolyn L. Holbrook, Saint Paul $  6,000
Holbrook with work with consultant Vickie Benson to coalesce her body of knowledge and experience and plan for a continuing future connecting BIPOC artists with communities.
Sarah J. Holden, Minneapolis $  5,050
Holden will increase her visibility as a Minnesota artist by creating additional picture book storyboards, and sharing her work and illustration knowledge with underserved children in a workshop.
Jena T. Holliday, Brooklyn Park $  6,000
Holliday will create a new collection of illustrations and develop ways to present the work in an online video series.
Lin Holliday, Pillager $  5,500
Holliday will explore ways to display and market her artwork through digital platforms, and lead in the creation of a central Minnesota ceramic artist network.
Joseph Holt, Bemidji $  5,900
Holt will complete the transition from reaching his audience live to reaching them through video and permanently add video to his artistic delivery.
Gao Hong, Northfield $  6,000
Gao Hong will compose a pipa concerto that she will premiere in her debut performance with the Minnesota Orchestra and present lecture demonstrations remotely for Minnesotans.
Keith Hopkins, Duluth $  6,000
Hopkins will juxtapose spooky stories from the greater Minnesota area with spooky stories from around the world to create a feature film that will premiere in Duluth in 2021.
Kayleen A. Horsma, Menahga $  6,000
After launching her online gallery, artist Horsma will invite Minnesota residents periodically to a virtual artist meet and greet featuring new originals and affordable reproductions.
Syed Hosain, Minneapolis $  6,000
Hosain will create a suite of five portrait and six narrative paintings, based on community members' collective storytelling, for a solo exhibition.
Kalia S. Hotchkiss, Chisholm $  5,500
Hotchkiss will continue to showcase her portfolios in an online medium and connect with community through art.
Daryl Hrdlicka, Westbrook $  4,050
Hrdlicka is planning to adapt a short play, Sicily Street, to a screenplay and then make a finished movie.
Kelly Huang, Brooklyn Park $  6,000
Huang will direct and produce My Borrowed Name, a documentary about how her family's name changed from Chinese to Lao to come to America. A public screening and discussion will conclude the grant period. She will submit the documentary to film festivals.
Debra L. Huberty, Mora $  6,000
Huberty will teach art and ceramic classes in her community, continue to produce online content and videos, and build connections and opportunity with other artists in her community.
Simon Huelsbeck, Rochester $  6,000
Huelsbeck will make three new sculptures and expand what he is able to do with sculpture so that he can exhibit his work outdoors and engage a wider public.
Jennifer J. Ilse, Minneapolis $  6,000
Ilse will be revising a dance project collaboration with See Change treble choir so it can be created and performed during the pandemic.
Benji Inniger, North Mankato $  6,000
Inniger will create a professionally recorded musical album titled "The Transtheoretical Model" for violin, viola, cello, piano, and electronics.
Janel N. Jacobson, Harris $  6,000
Jacobson will replace an aging computer and subscribe to photo editing software in order to continue maintaining the Minnesota pottery web sites for which she is responsible.
Yonci P. Jameson, Minneapolis $  6,000
Jameson will produce The Twin Cities Black Queer Creative Directory, an online tool to discover and support Black queer creatives in the Twin Cities, connecting artists to opportunities and to each other while encouraging artistic and cultural collaboration.
Jeffrey M. Jarvis, Morristown $  5,885
Visual artist Jarvis will design and paint a unique outdoor mural that matches the vibe coming from the building that hosts hundreds of "ip and paint" parties each year in Faribault's National Register Historic Downtown District.
Sarah M. Jaszczak, Shafer $  5,500
Jaszczak will purchase equipment to teach classes and workshops in her studio and update her website to include a web registration process and online store.
Thomas Jaszczak, Shafer $  6,000
Jaszczak will build a new website for students to take virtual topical pottery classes.
Heidi A. Jeub, Saint Joseph $  6,000
Jeub will create a new body of abstract paintings inspired by conversations with community members that often go unheard. Each painting will have a written essay that will accompany the work in a final book and online format.
Deborah K. Jiang-Stein, Minneapolis $  6,000
Jiang-Stein will complete the stage adaptation of her memoir, Prison Baby, and produce it for prison audiences via virtual delivery. Live performances will occur when possible.
Tahiel Jimenez Medina, Minneapolis $  6,000
Medina will create a short film series based on Colombian proverbs titled Dichos and distribute the series through various channels.
Angela Jimenez, Minneapolis $  6,000
Jimenez will engage the community thorugh The Racing Age project—photographs and oral histories of elders and their caretakers in group care facilities, documenting the important, untold stories of the seniors and the essential workers disproportionately impacted by the pandemic.
Rock Johnsen, Brooklyn Park $  6,000
Johnsen will create a gallery show and online presentation of wheel thrown pottery highlighting each element on the periodic table and their effects on crystal growth on ceramics.
Diona D. Johnson, Duluth $  5,840
Johnson will seek to provide online opportunities for listening, interpretation, dialogue, and other forms of engagement through a creative music project AfroGeode, and make opportunities accessible to the greater Minnesota population.
Julie A. Johnson, Minneapolis $  6,000
Johnson will present a series of online video performances of her original work.
Christopher M. Juhn, Burnsville $  6,000
Juhn will use funds to maintain access to equipment needed to continue to create new journalistic photography for the communities he serves.
Kristen L. Kaas, Duluth $  6,000
Kaas will create engaging digital online content documenting her work as she designs, weaves, and sews a collection of one of a kind apparel pieces establishing a deeper more intimate and personal connection to the work, process, and maker.
Linda M. Kachelmeier, Saint Paul $  6,000
Kachelmeier will upgrade her digital presence through new professional recordings and videos and share them widely through an updated website and social media.
Dory C. Kahale, Richfield $  5,925
Kahale will produce a livestreaming platform for musicians, venues, DJs, and fans, creating new revenue streams through fan support, artist collaborations, and tickets and merchandise sales while performing and interacting live.
Abdirizak M. Kahiye, Minneapolis $  6,000
Kahiye ('Harbi') will create videos to document the style of Somali music he learned in Mogadishu before the war. The videos will educate future generations and replace some of many records lost in the war.
Mina Kaiser, Duluth $  6,000
Kaiser would use funds to create a new composition, ideally for symphony orchestra but may also be suitable for a smaller ensemble if there are prolonged effects of COVID-19.
Patti Kameya, Saint Paul $  6,000
Kameya will explore ways of engaging readers through an artist website as she writes and researches The Kimono Shop Off Nicollet, creative nonfiction about Japanese Americans in Minnesota.
Rebecca Kanner, Saint Paul $  6,000
Kanner will use her writing to explore how Minnesotans suffering from addiction and mental illness are navigating these difficult times.
Lee R. Kanten, Ortonville $  4,732
Kanten will acquire the equipment necessary to become a nexus for local musicians to collaborate in a virtual band and grow as musicians and songwriters.
Lance T. Karasti, Duluth $  6,000
Lance Karasti will vlog or live stream the making of his next two Duluth based feature films during a pandemic and their drive-in theater releases.
Lissa Karpeh, Coon Rapids $  6,000
Karpeh will provide creative programs to youth of color that stimulate personal and social development skills during COVID-19 restrictions and social distancing.
N. M. Kelby, Saint Paul $  4,800
Kelby will work with underserved communities to create designs and a prototype for a new installation for Landmark Center plaza, Breathing Room.
John D. Kellen, Willmar $  6,000
Kellen will archive over 40 years of photographic work spanning the globe. He intends to produce a solo exhibition and create live and online presentations showcasing our shared humanity in spite of real and perceived differences.
Crayon Kelly, Lakeville $  6,000
Anderson will engage and educate the community on how art connects, heals, and tells stories through community engagement and the use of augmented reality technology.
R. J. Kern, Minneapolis $  6,000
Kern will edit and share a series of documentary vignettes, highlighting life skills learned by youth raising animals for county fair contests in Minnesota. Videos will be released monthly, promoted on social media and the project website.
Sophia E. Kim, Minneapolis $  6,000
Kim will engage with readers and writers online in close readings and discussion of The Source of Self-Regard by Toni Morrison, rewrite a manuscript about her early immigrant childhood, and hold a reading.
Ann Klefstad, Duluth $  6,000
Exploring the relationship between human beings and our place on the planet, creating spaces where animals and humans live together, are key to Klefstad's embedded practice. Klefstad will enable people to both view and make art.
Janna Knittel, Minneapolis $  6,000
Knittel will record and post a series of solo readings online and will plan and present an online, public reading at Saint Cloud State University with a diverse lineup of poets.
Naomi E. Ko, Savage $  6,000
Ko will create two to three comedic short films and find ways to enhance virtual engagement with the Asian Pacific Islander Desi American community.
Emily G. Koehler, Minneapolis $  6,000
Koehler will develop and host virtual workshops and demonstration videos so that all Minnesotans will have the opportunity to learn basic printmaking techniques regardless of geographic location within the state.
Teresa L. Konechne, Henderson $  6,000
Konechne will continue learning storytelling for gaming, investigate how stories written from a social change lens can be transformative, and create/present game story workshops in rural Minnesota.
Jerry Kosak, Saint Paul $  5,370
Kosak will record new guitar music influenced by his observations on the pandemic, the death of George Floyd, and resulting protests and riots. In connecting to his Minnesota audience through streaming and CDs, he offers joy and hope for healing.
Matthew Koshmrl, Chisholm $  6,000
Koshmrl will provide documentary film education to a diverse, rural population on the Iron Range in northeastern Minnesota.
Chris Koza, Minneapolis $  6,000
Koza will improve his online streaming capabilities to more effectively engage in workshops and collaboration with students, community members, and senior communities throughout Minnesota.
Chanda Kraft, Alexandria $  6,000
Kraft will develop visual arts classes to teach school-age children in Alexandria in safe and engaging ways. Outdoor and online art classes will introduce the community to new visual art learning experiences.
Jennifer A. Kramer, Minneapolis $  6,000
Kramer will host a series of virtual screenings of her films that include discussion forums and create a strong social media presence of her films.
Nyssa J. Krause, Duluth $  4,950
Krause will debut her solo musical project River Widow using various virtual platforms during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Mariénne E. Kreitlow, Howard Lake $  4,000
Working with additional musicians and a sound engineer, Kreitlow will produce a demo of five to seven songs to potently represent original musical, Excelsius, enabling her to promote the show for future production.
Jesse R. Kretsinger, Little Falls $  4,782
Kretsinger will assemble a documentary about a rural theater company's struggle to safely produce a musical during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Keren Kroul, Plymouth $  6,000
Kroul will create new works of art and a series of videos and tutorials documenting the studio process. At the end of the grant year, a virtual event will be livestreamed with a display of the finished works, an artist talk, and a Q and A session.
Amoke Kubat, Minneapolis $  6,000
Write. Move. Frame: Aging in the times of COVID-19, Protest, and Global UNREST. Kubat presents three new works that explores aging (mind, body, and spirit) in the significant year of 2020 in the genres of writing, dance and movement, and frameable art.
Camila A. Kuntz, Champlin $  6,000
Kuntz will create a podcast and/or Zoom town hall to connect with Minnesota witnesses and survivors of gun violence to discuss the long-term impact on personal lives. The content will serve as research for a chapter in her memoir, Unimaginable.
Ashley A. Kunz, Moorhead $  6,000
Kunz will explore ways to connect with her community through art installations, classes, and online platforms.
Jennifer Kwon Dobbs, Saint Paul $  6,000
Kwon Dobbs will research the Ku Klux Klan in 1920s Minnesota and write new poems for a book on transracial adoptive kinship and white supremacy. She will organize an online reading and life writing workshop based on her research and writing.
Bethany Lacktorin, Brooten $  6,000
Lacktorin will develop site specific, immersive arts experiences for audiences of one or two. These will be open to the public by appointment on an ongoing basis.
Brook LaFloe, Saint Paul $  6,000
LaFloe will create two statement fancy shawl outfits incorporating family and tribal heritage; a teenage regalia honoring missing and murdered indigenous women and adult regalia sharing the origin story of the fancy shawl and relations among Ojibwa people.
Jessica Lamphere, Saint Cloud $  5,800
During uncertain times it's hard to figure out a way to connect with the community as an artist in a safe way. I would love to light up the Twin Cities with color and bring art to the community in an open space.
Christopher A. Lange, White Bear Lake $  6,000
Lange will hold classes at a Minneapolis arts studio, teaching local artists to make their own analog 16 millimeter films. He will teach about technology and storytelling. Each filmmaker will screen and discuss the films they make.
Kate Langlais, Faribault $  6,000
Langlais will teach online painting and drawing classes from January to May through the Paradise Center for the Arts.
John G. Larson, Milan $  6,000
Larson will create and share video content about the creation of new ceramic works through live streaming events and short videos. He will purchase a computer to facilitate the growth of his webpage and the creation of content.
Kim A. Larson, Moorhead $  5,770
Larson will learn to digitally illustrate the picture books she writes, creating opportunities for her to read to children in her community and give them exposure to the art of creating a picture book.
Sydney V. Latimer, Woodbury $  6,000
Divinewords (she/they) is a creepy, queer interdisciplinary artist whose macabre art playfully explores death, grief, consumerism, and gender politics. Her postapocalyptic surrealism embraces dark beauty and questions our collective reality.
Kimberly A. Laudert, Minneapolis $  5,930
Laudert will collaborate with people living with mental illness to explore and uncover layers of mental health stigma through discussion and culminating in a group felted wall hanging.
Ashley Lauren, Minneapolis $  5,500
Artist and photographer from Minneapolis, Lauren's goal is to develop an online publication in an effort to support artists and businesses whose livelihood has been negatively impacted by COVID-19 and the George Floyd tragedy.
Andrea Leap, Saint Paul $  6,000
Leap will record new piano and vocal transcriptions of works by Marianna Martines and Maria Teresa Agnesi Pinottini, and present a livestreamed performance/release party with an educational video presentation exploring these works.
Rita R. LeDuc, Fountain $  6,000
Using her southeast Minnesota scenic artworks, LeDuc will encourage people to create their own artworks identifying regional environmental jewels and publicize why such jewels matter and how they can be preserved.
Annette S. Lee, Maple Grove $  6,000
Lee will create indigenous based mixed media night sky paintings that weave together mind, body, heart, spirit and will come alive through narrative digital art animation. Four seasonal virtual presentations will be designed and delivered.
Paula J. Littlewolf, Mahnomen $  6,000
Littlewolf will create a series of twelve large paintings depicting the twelve months using the Ojibwe names and symbols for each month.
Lydia Liza, Saint Paul $  6,000
Hoglund will upgrade her personal recording set up in order to allow for relevancy, collaboration, and adaptability within the current climate of the music industry.
Michael J. Loeffler, Grand Marais $  6,000
Loeffler will create craft educational resources available in an online format.
Dodie Logue, Delano $  6,000
Logue will complete a body of thirty paintings, and research and apply to exhibition opportunities in greater Minnesota, with a focus on healing arts opportunities and rural art centers and museums.
Jimmy Longoria, Oak Park Heights $  6,000
Longoria will produce murals for loan to public spaces where people of color wait to receive services. A digital template will be created for ease in informing the recipients of the art, and legal contracts for the loan will be created.
Longshot, Minneapolis $  5,901
Longshot will produce a new hip-hop album plus four distinct live performances in historic venues across Minnesota, while giving unique public access to the creation process via online streaming.
A.P. Looze, Minneapolis $  6,000
Looze will explore dynamic ways of adapting live performances into film to be showcased online.
Krystl Louwagie, Marshall $  5,988
Louwagie will create thirty-five gallery ready pieces, documenting mask wearing, for physical exhibits in Minnesota, as well as an online show space to professionally present the finished project. The space will also serve for her portfolio as a whole.
Shannon J. Lucas Westrum, Bemidji $  5,996
Westrum will combine video and live feed social media to create a four-month long virtual basketry and fiber arts exhibition titled All in a Day's Work.
Oskar Ly, Saint Paul $  6,000
Ly will develop Hmong indigo batik online workshop content paired with home kits where community members will have the rare opportunity to explore and practice the traditional art form.
Tom Maakestad, Marine On Saint Croix $  6,000
Maakestad will present an exhibition of his new work and a curated collection of works from his father John Maakestad's archives. Maakestad's exploration will include abstract concepts in his father's work and the period from which it evolved.
Andrew J. MacGuffie, Lindstrom $  6,000
MacGuffie will create Joy Gardens, a living sculpture installation in the Rondo neighborhood of Saint Paul.
Annie M. Mack, Rochester $  6,000
Mack will continue to deliver her brand of original music with honesty, encouragement, and a genuine desire to connect with her audience.
Laura A. MacKenzie, Saint Paul $  5,985
MacKenzie will develop and produce programs of traditional music and song for greater Minnesota communities through live and virtual programming.
Dan W. Mackerman, Lauderdale $  6,000
Mackerman will produce painting and drawing demonstration videos, create a Web platform that hosts videos along with other educational materials, and use those resources for online painting classes with seniors.
Marie K. MacPherson, Mankato $  5,910
MacPherson, a photographer, will modernize to connect with her current audience, reach new demographics, explore digital techniques, and integrate skills to solicit audience and community feedback through her art.
Mary B. Magyar, Rochester $  6,000
Magyar will produce and place Smallärt Galleries-mini solar lit, freestanding art galleries-throughout the Rochester area. She will include an equity plan and website to engage neighbors and provide a way for Smallärt facilitators to communicate with one another.
Shakun Maheshwari, Orono $  6,000
Maheshwar will create and share her folk art, using video to connect with her students and community and learn, create, and share her art.
Michael Maiorana, Minneapolis $  6,000
Maiorana will compose new music for the 10th Wave Chamber Collective to perform live over the Internet from their own homes.
Brian J. Malloy, Minneapolis $  5,890
Malloy will read from his new novel, AFTER FRANCESCO, including a discussion of the early years of HIV/AIDS and a craft session on incorporating real events into fiction, at a diverse range of Minnesota arts and service organizations.
April L. Malphurs, Saint Peter $  6,000
Malphurs will create glass sculptures and mixed media art. Exploring film, photography, and online platforms she will present her process and art on social media and through virtual artist workshops for students and at risk youth and women.
Militant Mani, Minneapolis $  4,500
Mims will teach all ages of people in underprivileged communities to use their words effectively to influence social change.
Paula L. Mann, Northfield $  6,000
Contemporary choreographer Mann, will create the first half of Toward Utopia, a new evening length work in collaboration with six cross-cultural dancers, composer Asuka Kakitani and a jazz trio, and visual/media artist Steve Paul.
Avigail Manneberg, Minneapolis $  6,000
Manneberg will continue to research, create, and exhibit work with themes of home and identity that asks whether ideology and political shifts change meaning for what is called home.
Roosevelt Mansfield, Minneapolis $  5,101
Mansfield of DigieMade LLC will ensure high quality and affordable services. He will use his art to continue to teach and reach the youth in his community with special attention to the community members with the least access to funds.
Sharon F. Mansur, Winona $  5,950
Winona/Keoxa artist Sharon Mansur will continue curating SHIFT~ performance salons, reimagining artist, audience relationships and event contexts, and offering a creative platform for local artists.
Anthony P. Marchetti, Minneapolis $  6,000
Marchetti will complete his photographic project focusing on Morrison County and share the work through physical and virtual exhibitions in Little Falls and Minneapolis.
Eva Margaret, Willmar $  6,000
Margaret will create new works that she will exhibit in the rural community of Willmar.
Elisha A. Marin, Albert Lea $  6,000
Marin will perform his new folk Americana album, Shining Out, in a digitally broadcast concert at the Paramount in Austin, with notable recording artists including Matt Patrick of Library Studio, Zach Miller, and Aaron Fabbrini.
Bobby Marines, Rochester $  5,505
Marines will create several interdisciplinary works exploring Latinx cultural identity and crises, followed by a week-long online exhibition, capstone artist talk, and discussion open to all Minnesota residents.
Natalie R. Martell, Mankato $  5,150
Martell will teach online creative writing courses for diverse communities. She also will work on an LGBTQIA+ young adult novel set in southern Minnesota, where she currently lives.
John M. Matsunaga, Minneapolis $  6,000
Matsunaga will create a website that will present and address the experiences of Asian American Minnesotans during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Canaan H. Mattson, Minneapolis $  4,100
Mattson will continue to document the stories and lives of Minneapolis community members in the wake of brother George Floyd's murder. He plans to continue to partner with small BIPOC businesses to increase their digital presence.
Claudia R. May, Arden Hills $  6,000
May will complete her poetry book Birthing Butterflies which examines Black mothers' experiences of love, pregnancy, labor, traumatic surgery, parenting, and nature. May will teach online poetry workshops and perform poems on these subjects.
Andrea Mazzariello, Northfield $  5,535
"War Footing", a set of elaborately orchestrated song-poems, adopts a cocreative, collaborative response to crisis times. This project creates space for communication, exploration, and play, and shares that sense of possibility with a wider community.
Demetrius McClendon, Minneapolis $  6,000
McClendon will organize and collaborate with others to facilitate heART healing and empowerment sessions focused on BIPOC participants.
Chris McCormick, Mankato $  6,000
McCormick will work toward the completion of his third book, a novel set in southern Minnesota.
Angela M. McDowell, Minneapolis $  5,050
McDowell will present Matter is Black, a virtual album that allows community to record a two-minute dubplate using the music and lyrics.
Joshua D. McGarvey, Minneapolis $  6,000
McGarvey will develop more animation and digital environments into his video work to conceptually enhance online or distant engagement with an audience.
Phillip M. McGraw, Saint Paul $  6,000
The purpose of this project is to replace the acceptance of unhealthy living in communities of color. This project will promote the definition of what healthy living means and how to remove toxicity that plagues the health of communities of color.
Shirley A. McGregor, Callaway $  5,967
McGregor will rent space for studio and classroom for art classes. She will create a Facebook and Instagram following. She will utilize Pinterest, Etsy, eBay, online marketplaces, local art shows and pow-wows to sell her art.
Cody M. McKinney, Minneapolis $  5,855
McKinney will finish production on his latest composition, no. 7, to then be pressed on vinyl and distributed to stay connected to audiences and presenting organizations during COVID.
Kelley Meister, Minneapolis $  6,000
Meister will adapt ongoing and current participatory art projects to virtual, distant, and at-home versions.
Benjamin T. Merritt, Minneapolis $  5,700
Merritt will handprint an edition of poetry books featuring braille translations and audio transcription. These books will be given to adults with disabilities who express interest in the book.
Andy Messerschmidt, Ely $  6,000
Messerschmidt will exhibit forty paintings from his "Agroccult" landscape series at the Minneapolis Saint Paul International Airport.
Jeremy Messersmith, Minneapolis $  6,000
Messersmith will livestream songwriting workshops in six communities in greater Minnesota.
Frank J. Meuschke, Minnetrista $  5,993
Meuschke will create high quality content for a multi session seminar deliverable online, add depth and capability to his professional website, and develop the infrastructure for ongoing online educational and artistic content delivery.
Jessica Miller, Braham $  5,599
Miller will purchase a pugmill to experiment with new clay bodies and create a new series of altered work, engaging the public with this new series through shows and social media.
Scott L. Miller, Otsego $  6,000
Miller will create SonAR: Fergus Falls, a soundwalk that emphasizes appreciation for a community's sonic environment, along with an augmented reality smartphone app, delivering an artwork uniquely connected to a location and the listener's place in it.
Samuel P. Miltich, Grand Rapids $  5,600
Miltich, a jazz guitarist, will collaborate with vocalist Charmin Michelle on a remote recording project and virtual album release featuring the tradition of protest music.
Stephanie Mirocha, Aitkin $  4,400
Mirocha will complete a group of art works and prepare for both online and in person presentation to the public beginning in 2021.
Michael Monroe, Grand Marais $  6,000
Monroe will perform four winter live, online streams of his Log Cabin Concerts featuring original music from his log home in Grand Marais.
Samantha Moon, Saint Cloud $  5,449
Moon's goal is to keep motivating and staying engaged with my Minnesota audience.
Briand M. Morrison, Grand Portage $  6,000
Morrison will write, arrange, produce, and perform original jazz music.
Alanna Morris-Van Tassel, Saint Paul $  6,000
Morris-Van Tassel will conduct research for a new piece of choreography; share their dance work virtually; and engage in conversations about the creative process with live and virtual audiences.
Tami Morse, Saint Paul $  6,000
Morse will create a personal website designed for community engagement and reach out to communities through creation of videos exploring the harpsichord and solo repertoire.
Ger Moua, Saint Paul $  5,900
Moua will write, direct, and edit his short film project called, Sun and Moon to be released in 2021. Moua will explore ways to bring communities together and create a new kind of film worth preserving as a part of Hmong cinema and culture.
Yeej Moua, Maplewood $  5,950
Moua will direct and act in a visual album that connects four original songs into one cohesive narrative about depression: the battle of coexistence between culture and the stigma of mental health within the Hmong community.
Greg Mueller, Lutsen $  5,700
Mueller will create a sculptural bike rack for the biking community of the new Gitchi-Gami State Trail.
Patrick M. Mulcahy, Duluth $  6,000
Mulcahy will share his knowledge of architecture and cultural heritage through the art of building and decorating gingerbread in an online format. He will also explore options of creating a digital version of Pepperkakebyen (Gingerbread City).
John S. Munson, Lino Lakes $  6,000
Munson will develop and perform in a streamed version of The New Standards holiday show for ticketed audiences in greater Minnesota and marketed to communities where The New Standards have previously toured.
Desi Murphy, Saint Cloud $  5,834
Murphy will create an independent and fully operational ceramics studio by purchasing a kiln, achieving studio independence and financial sustainability, which will allow for continued community engagement.
Gorinka Music, Blaine $  5,990
Gorinka will plan, create, and record a collection of six original compositions of ghazals (Urdu poetry) transformed into Hindustani classical raag based romantic songs which she will perform for the Minnesota community.
Nancy M. Musinguzi, Minneapolis $  6,000
Visual artist Musinguzi will publish an art book of curated portraits and interviews gathered from local residents originally from Cameroon, India, Mexico, Puerto Rico, and Kenya for their second installment of The Letter Formally Known As Q.
Rita M. Mustaphi, Crystal $  6,000
Mustaphi will choreograph, create, and produce an original Kathak dance work on a theme of social justice, MASK, that is designed to stream via the Internet to diverse audiences throughout the state of Minnesota.
Wil Natzel, Owatonna $  6,000
Natzel will develop a 360 virtual reality exhibition of architectural space exploration devices and incorporate specialized pixel control LED lights and control systems.
Blake A. Nellis, Minneapolis $  6,000
Nellis will provide opportunities for artists and strangers to gather, experiment, and commune. Through dance, photography, and guided experiences in nature, people will be invited into his creative process and their own somatic experience.
Karen Nelson, Onamia $  4,593
Photographer, Nelson will explore ways to continue to engage persons in greater Minnesota during the pandemic and beyond.
Kimberly Nelson, Marshall $  5,500
Nelson will continue working on her project, Backyard Photos, a photography project focused on the beauty of things in southwest Minnesota that are overlooked in our everyday life.
Nathaniel L. Nelson, Winona $  6,000
Nelson will continue to use filmmaking to help young artists reach new audiences and communities.
Peter B. Nelson, Northfield $  6,000
An animated film about whiteness will engage and challenge white viewers throughout greater Minnesota, both online and in person, when safe to do so.
Andy Ness, Grand Marais $  6,000
Ness will create a series of paintings and drawings inspired by Ojibwe objects and patterns found in the Heritage Visitors Center Museum in Grand Portage. An exhibition of works will be shown complete with discussion and demonstration.
Rico L. Nevotion Woodard, Rogers $  6,000
Nevotion will produce live virtual shows and will produce a music video that will uplift, educate, and heal the community as a whole as they work on dealing with and healing from the social injustices they are facing.
Thomas P. Newman, Minneapolis $  6,000
Newman will direct and produce a short film working with other creatives of color in the Twin Cities.
Ruby I. Nightingale, Duluth $  4,085
Nightingale will work with a harp teacher to further her skills and share work with others online and in person.
Aliza Novacek-Olson, Roseau $  6,000
Novacek-Olson will investigate ways to promote and make accessible the traditional fiber arts in the rural communities of northwest Minnesota and surrounding areas.
Kevin G. Obsatz, Minneapolis $  5,700
Cellular Cinema Conversations is an online forum for a Minnesota based dialogue between experimental filmmakers and moving image artists, connecting them to the larger community of this art form.
Greta L. Oglesby, Brooklyn Park $  6,000
Handprints is a one-woman show written and performed by Oglesby, one of the Twin Cities most renowned theater artists. The humorous and poignant play draws on Oglesby's life and family adventures, featuring music and puppetry.
Geno Okok, Brooklyn Park $  6,000
Okok will explore creative ways of teaching standard techniques of visual art creation to the youths of his local community via an online medium.
Valerie Oliveiro, Minneapolis $  6,000
Southeast Asian choreographer Oliveiro will develop a new work exploring live and virtual performance.
Kyle D. Ollah, Duluth $  6,000
Ollah will produce high quality instructional videos for students seeking virtual opportunities in the Arrowhead Region which will double as online content available to the greater public.
Carolyn S. Olson, Duluth $  3,500
Olson's pastel drawing series began during the COVID-19 pandemic Stay at Home order. Inspired by family members working as essential workers, Olson tells their stories through pastel narrative portraits.
Eric Olson, Welch $  5,788
Olson will make more and better artwork for show, sale, or donation, and in the process of those creations learn many more techniques and skills to be able to pass on to others.
Jennifer L. Olson, Bemidji $  3,000
Olson and Ana MarĂ­a Otamendi will connect the greater Minnesota community with classical art song by publishing a recorded album of Latin American composers in CD and digital platforms.
Daniel O. Oyinloye, Duluth $  6,000
See Me Project empowers photography as a tool for socioeconomic power. This project will photograph professional portraits of BIPOC Duluthians for free to advance our community's access to opportunities.
Dougie Padilla, Minneapolis $  6,000
Padilla will upgrade his websites and create a monthly arts newsletter, make visual and literary art, and coproduce a Grupo Soap del Corazon museum tour. He will also publish a new book of poetry and will do readings, if possible to do so safely.
Frank Palmer, Duluth $  6,000
Palmer will explore ways to further present his work, including online access, and will create ways to educate and share techniques with other artists (and aspiring artists) in more accessible methods in this new reality.
Lara Palmqvist, Faribault $  6,000
Palmqvist will stay connected to Minnesota communities and sustain her arts practice by creating a monthly newsletter with craft talks and prompts designed to guide participants in a regular writing practice, and completing and sharing new work.
Maggie Panetta, Winona $  6,000
Panetta will continue to pursue her printmaking practice and incorporate additional mural work into southeastern Minnesota.
Yan Pang, Saint Paul $  6,000
Pang will produce a video performance blending opera with street dance, creating opportunities for Minnesota performers to work remotely.
Charlie Parr, Duluth $  6,000
Parr would like to create a new full-length album that centers around the initial impressions of the places through which he traveling. Much of this would be written on the road when traveling.
John C. Paulson, Winona $  5,900
Paulson will collaborate online and in person with other artists to compose music for a new jazz CD. He will also produce and record a livestreamed version of his "What Is Jazz?" lecture demonstration.
A Pavan, Minneapolis $  6,000
Pavan will work with an experienced video editor to produce new instructional videos and a show reel on the art of tabla playing. With this, Pavan will gain a strong promotional tool allowing him to reach new audiences, students, and collaborators.
Pooja G. Pavan, Minneapolis $  6,000
Pavan will work with an experienced video editor to produce new show reels and edited videos from raw footage of her earlier live performances. Through this, she will gain a strong promotional tool allowing her to reach new audiences.
Brook D. Pederson, Montevideo $  6,000
Pederson will engage western Minnesota through his woodworking and wood butchery, turning waste wood into usable lumber and art. Creating both a product and a resource, he will strive to make a true wood recycling business.
Roseanne G. Pereira, Minneapolis $  6,000
Pereira will gain technological and social media skills in order to build an audience for her creative and teaching practices.
Antoine Perkins, Brooklyn Park $  4,400
Perkins has a history of bringing high level art to the creative community in Minnesota with events that have supported black creatives and provided stakeholders with a quality platform to display their modes of expression. Perkins will continue this effort through the recording and releasing of new music.
Cole B. Perry, Bovey $  5,880
Perry will create a Web based exhibition of new work exploring the impact of the pandemic on rural northern Minnesota communities.
Rosetta M. Peters, Marine On Saint Croix $  6,000
Peters will record a collection of her original poetry with original musical accompaniment and release it online with an outdoor, distanced release performance event in 2021.
Lois K. Peterson, Dakota $  6,000
Peterson will deliver and install rescheduled exhibitions, keeping connected to a community in a rural area and developing new ways to network with opportunities, audiences, artists, and the community.
Miirah Petrus-Raaum, Minneapolis $  3,690
Raaum will use fabrication to create space for black healing.
Kevin J. Phillips, Bloomington $  6,000
Phillips will educate others on the effects of profiling through his book Driving While Black; A Memoir of Profiling.
Niphone Phommaras, Saint Paul Park $  6,000
Phommaras will engage learners in Laotian traditional dance.
Nell Pierce, Minneapolis $  6,000
Pierce will interview people in their queer community about how they are taking care of themselves and each other during COVID-19 and the uprising, codevelop a virtual workshop, and create a collage on themes of resilience that arise.
Viviana Pintado, Minneapolis $  6,000
Pintado will engage and connect with her audience via frequent online posts of current and past creative content.
Wendy S. Placko, Northfield $  5,800
Placko will continue to create original scripts and films locally. She will share her artistic process through stories and virtual discussions with an expanded online audience to build her community of art appreciators and collaborators.
Mary Plaster, Duluth $  6,000
Transdisciplinary artist Plaster will explore ways of presenting her creative projects in an online medium and purchase necessary equipment and training in order to continue connecting with Minnesotans.
Zachary S. Ploeger, Pipestone $  6,000
Ploeger and Miriam Hickman will present a classical trumpet and piano recital tour while adhering to necessary safety measures during the coronavirus pandemic.
Lynette R. Power, Winona $  6,000
Power will reopen Rivertown Pottery and Sculpture with the help of paid supporting artists.
Mary Prescott, Minneapolis $  6,000
Prescott will connect with Minnesota audiences through virtual community engagement events, work in progress showings, and artist discussions. She shares her own art, art making process, and social influences and their impacts on her work.
Jessica L. Prill, Northfield $  6,000
Prill will create a new body of work that will be displayed at the Paradise Center for the Arts
Nghia Quach, Prior Lake $  6,000
Quach will complete a new body of work, explore new venues of exhibition regionally, and establish an online presence.
Shruthi Rajasekar, Plymouth $  6,000
Rajasekar will create a cross-cultural composition for Maithree and share the process publicly.
Preeti K. Rajpal, Minneapolis $  6,000
Rajpal will present her poetry on an online medium.
Aparna Ramaswamy, Minneapolis $  6,000
Ramaswamy will create a project of word, music, movement, and film that brings to life the immediacy of South Indian Tamil poetry through the performing arts, drawing equally from the musicality of each word and the embodiment of each phrase.
Ashwini Ramaswamy, Minneapolis $  6,000
Ramaswamy will create a dynamic educational series that combines live online classes and prerecorded three hundred and sixty degree video tutorials to bring her thirty-plus years of Bharatanatyam experience to people throughout Minnesota.
Ranee A. Ramaswamy, Minneapolis $  6,000
Ramaswamy will acquire tools needed to maintain her dance practice during the pandemic, as well as work to translate and make her notes available for future use.
Aegor Ray, Minneapolis $  6,000
Ray will complete the manuscript of his trans speculative fiction short story collection and create a series of online workshops for and by queer/trans, BIPOC writers in Minnesota to learn generative skills outside of their genre or medium.
Raymond Rea, Moorhead $  5,120
Rea plans to provide S8 cameras and film to transgender people in rural areas as a way of adapting creative work on rural transgender experiences to the changing environment.
Jodi L. Reeb, Minneapolis $  6,000
Reeb will create, adapt, and offer in person and virtual painting workshops to interact with Minnesota artists by connecting a greater artistic community.
Andrea E. Reed, Minneapolis $  6,000
The Streets Are Talkin' is a multisensory project comprised of audio interviews and portraits of Black Twin Cities residents fighting for the liberation of Black people in the wake of police shooting deaths of unarmed Black men in the Twin Cities.
Randy Reyes, Minneapolis $  6,000
ESSENTIAL is a theatrical experience in a live drive-in space, about two people meeting face to face for the first time during a global pandemic and extreme social unrest, told dynamically through language, movement, and music.
Connor K. Rice, Minneapolis $  6,000
Rice (CRICE) will lead a team of artists of color on a collaborative series of projects exploring intersectionality. The programs will be unique in both subject matter and how they react to the challenges of showing art post COVID.
Donna J. Rice, Delano $  6,000
Rice will upgrade her glass studio photography equipment and some essential glass grinding tool components.
Ashley Richardson, Mankato $  6,000
Richardson will complete new poems and micro essays for an in progress collection. She will host two virtual or in person readings and work with emerging Minnesota artists of color to create broadsides of select poems. Artwork will be shown in local storefronts.
Deneane Richburg, Saint Paul $  6,000
Richburg will deepen her connection with Minnesota Black communities by strengthening her creative practice and her artistic work.
Alexander Richter, Minneapolis $  6,000
Richter will explore ways of presenting his work through music videos. The songs and videos he makes will contain influence from Latin culture aimed at engaging more Latino Minnesotans in music.
Andy Richter, Minneapolis $  6,000
Richter will develop a book of his project, Walking with Julien. He will offer a series of online presentations for high school students on visual storytelling, photography, art making in community through his northeast Minneapoli based work.
Kylie A. Rieke, Fairfax $  6,000
Ceramic artist and muralist, Rieke will hire Lime Valley Advertising Inc. to design a logo and develop a website that will advertise her new pottery studio, market her pottery and murals, and virtually connect her to the community.
Rachel Ries, Minneapolis $  6,000
Ries will adapt to reach audiences through live streamed performances, and will explore ways to modify rehearsals with her sixty-plus member community choir, Kith + Kin using digital tools to serve the choir and their wider community throughout Minnesota.
Richard L. Robbins, Mankato $  6,000
Robbins will connect with greater Minnesota readers through online readings, workshops, and a new audio/visual archive at his website.
Jamie Robertson, Wadena $  6,000
Using landscape photographs called "inscapes" Robertson will build a connection between residents of rural Minnesota and their environment through gallery and online exhibitions, social media, newspapers, and television.
Gabriel B. Rodreick, Minneapolis $  5,900
Rodreick will create and record music that will be performed and filmed live, then posted online.
Carla A. Rodriguez, Saint Paul $  6,000
Rodriguez will make a book collecting all of the portraits she made using the wet plate or tintype technique at the George Floyd memorial site.
Damian Rodriguez, Minneapolis $  6,000
Rodriguez will increase his creative profile by developing an artist website. He will further engage with audiences by creating and posting new content onto social media as well as releasing never before seen concert footage and images.
Maribeth Romslo, Edina $  6,000
Romslo will produce an audio storytelling series about how the pandemic is impacting youth in Minnesota. She will share the stories on a website that is dedicated to the project and available to the public for listening and engagement.
Valerie Rose, Eagan $  6,000
To facilitate healing and understanding, Rose gives an online voice to the community. The art of storytelling is amplified in THE LISTENING SESSION Web series, which invites the community to share their stories and discuss their experiences.
Laura E. Ruprecht, Saint Cloud $  5,950
Ruprecht will create a new body of work to be presented through an artist website, social media platforms, and exhibitions to gain a wider audience.
Patti J. Ruskey, Mankato $  6,000
Ruskey will create small artworks to be printed and distributed for free public access. These works will be about our current conditions and the hope we can share.
Peyton Scott Russell, Minneapolis $  6,000
Russell will develop online lesson plans for three components of his graffiti arts education program, SPRAYFINGER, to foster opportunities for continued engagement with communities, schools, and students throughout Minnesota.
Jane E. Ryan, Nisswa $  5,225
Ryan will show her handwritten, illustrated, and bound book that tells of an immigrant Italian family's life and the peculiar death rituals the father practiced after they came to Hibbing, Minnesota's Iron Range at the turn of the century.
Patrick M. Ryan, Mankato $  6,000
Ryan will offer several links to the video production of the show, The Humor of Pat Ryan and Parkinson's.
Megan Rye, Minneapolis $  6,000
Rye will develop the public art project Foundling, an unwavering statement in support of America as a nation of immigrants. Foundling bears witness to immigration history, proves the potential of democracy, and questions our uneven system of granting citizenship.
Zak Sally, Minneapolis $  5,086
Sally will use his Risograph printer and studio on a monthly basis as a free resource for underrepresented voices and creators in the metro community.
Robyn Sand Anderson, Redwood Falls $  6,000
Anderson will create short art videos on how to use paint to heal, vent and express during this pandemic, as well as build a body of original 12 x 12' paintings, to be priced affordably for those with lower incomes or those who have lost income.
Dave Sandersfeld, North Mankato $  5,825
Sandersfeld will utilize music industry professionals to promote his newly released album, gain notoriety in the Minnesota music culture, and connect his art to the community.
JC Sanford, Northfield $  6,000
Trombonist, Sanford will produce a CD and digital jazz recording with his Imminent Standards Trio to take the place of their usual monthly performances at Imminent Brewing in Northfield which has been halted by COVID-19.
Betsy D. Saurdiff, Grygla $  5,794
Saurdiff will launch a website that will provide a single destination where people can engage with her pottery. The website will act as a hub to Facebook, Instagram, and Shopify.
Kathryn D. Savage, Minneapolis $  6,000
Savage will continue meaningful community conversations and sustained research about industrial pollution in Minnesota, remotely and online, in the service of final drafting and building an audience for her first lyric essay collection.
Judith A. Saye-Willis, Northfield $  6,000
Saye-Willis will identify and implement methods to engage with students, clients, and area residents that have interest in learning how to use materials from nature for dyes, paint, and ink colorants.
Fatawu Sayibu, Minneapolis $  6,000
Sayibu will invest in equipment and studio space to ensure affordable, safe, and quality in person and online access to African drum, dance, and culture for K-12 students, community members, and members of Tiyumba African Drum and Dance Company.
Colin S. Scharf, Mankato $  6,000
Scharf will purchase sound recording equipment to produce his first solo album of original songs.
Linda J. Schaumburg, Askov $  6,000
Schaumburg will create access to original music and drum circle instruction/participation in her local area. She will do this online from her studio, widening it to public, in house studio access with the guidelines of distancing, as able.
Cecilia M. Schiller, Saint Paul $  6,000
Schiller will purchase computer and photography equipment, and hire a consultant to help her create promotional videos and coordinate her online presence to maximize artist and audience connection.
Nicholas D. Schleif, Comfrey $  6,000
Schleif will use the grant to create a body of work related to Minnesota, its culture, and its people.
Naomi R. Schliesman, Fergus Falls $  4,656
Schliesman will build a website that will host her portfolio, achievements, videos, collaborations, and exhibitions, along with exploring new mediums to create a new body of work that can be posted on her website for 2021.
Heather L. Schmidtke, Backus $  5,825
Schmidtke will continue to support and enhance painting as an artform to the greater Minnesota community.
Serenity D. Schoonover, Duluth $  6,000
Schoonover will engage marginalized Minnesotans during the grant season in the arts through a weekly ceramics workshop at the Damiano Center in Duluth.
Lucas T. Schultz, Winona $  6,000
Schultz will acquire equipment, software, and training to apply digital 3D technology to the creation of traditional ceramic art and to provide 3D services to other artists such as 3D scanning of their artwork and 3D printing at various scales.
Teresa M. Schumaker, Winona $  5,963
Schumaker will advance her understanding of the micro crystalline formation in sprayed glazes developed in the slow cooling of the kiln on porcelain clay.
Ann M. Schwartz, Aitkin $  2,500
Nokika, a lifestyle blog, highlights the people and places of the northland. Readers will want to explore the tiny towns and buy the products and visit the places that are featured.
Patrick E. Scully, Minneapolis $  6,000
Scully will produce Patrick's Pandemic Cabaret to serve artists and audiences and lay the groundwork for once again touring Leaves of Grass - Illuminated to greater Minnesota.
Luverne G. Seifert, Saint Anthony $  6,000
Seifert will collaborate with two artists to create site specific performances on two female run family farms in greater Minnesota.
Christopher M. Selleck, Robbinsdale $  6,000
Selleck will create a small, full color catalog of his artwork which will include critical essays from regional writers. This will be distributed to libraries, galleries, and nonprofits throughout the state.
April L. Sellers, Minneapolis $  6,000
Funding will support final development, performances, and audience engagement activities of choreographer April Sellers' Rumble Strips, an outdoor performance and video blog premiering in Minnesota at Tofte Lake Center in Ely in June 2021.
Laura M. Sellner, Duluth $  6,000
Sellner will work with Minnesota based artists and businesses to release the third album by Superior Siren; a solo EP featuring Sellner's original songwriting, vocals, and instrumentation. Following the release, she will perform throughout Minnesota.
Andrea R. Shaker, Minneapolis $  6,000
Shaker will connect and engage with Minnesota audiences through aligning her studio's presence on multiple online platforms, including creating and promoting virtual artist talks and interviews.
Meggan D. Shepard, Nisswa $  5,690
Shepard will explore bringing dance and movement to her community and beyond with online dance and meditation classes.
Crown Shepherd, Brooklyn Park $  6,000
Shephard, an emerging Black writer, will finish her second children's book, continue to donate both books, set up free author visits for underserved schools, and expand her book club.
Susan M. Shields, Minneapolis $  6,000
Shields will use virtual technology and art kits to teach those currently living in Minneapolis parks to draw and paint and discuss how art history is changing.
Sun Yung Shin, Minneapolis $  6,000
Shin will complete a new poetry manuscript based on her immigration and citizenship history and documents in the larger context of U. S. nation making.
Mehdi Shokoueinejad Maragheh, New Brighton $  6,000
Maragheh will edit and present a series of videos highlighting natural spaces and lifestyles in the Middle East for the general public to learn about nature and culture beyond negative stereotypes in the media.
Sima Arts, Marshall $  6,000
After Wewetzer completes her project in her studio and gallery, her art will be connected to our community by providing art exhibitions and art classes.
Rosy Simas, Minneapolis $  5,985
yödoishëndahgwa' (a place for rest) is a month-long installation by Native artist Simas at Hair and Nails Contemporary Art Gallery in Minneapolis that includes performance and dialogue for audiences online and in person.
Mairead Small Staid, Mankato $  6,000
Staid will produce a body of poetic work and organize a public reading for the Mankato community in celebration of National Poetry Month.
Jessica Smith, Cloquet $  6,000
Smith will create "Dreamcatchers for Hope and Healing" for families and survivors of missing and murdered indigenous people.
MR. Smith, Eagan $  6,000
Smith will exhibit artwork inspired by the Rondo community and donate a sculpture to the City of Saint Paul that represents the first black community in Minnesota.
Pamela J. Smith, Saint Paul $  6,000
Smith will explore online artistic connection with Minnesota communities by developing her writer's website, creating a monthly blog, and offering virtual readings from her two books in progress titled Edgewalker and Memoir of a Female Academic.
Rose J. Smith, Eagan $  6,000
Smith will create a series of large-scale oil paintings of black men inspired by the men in her life.
Wilhelmina W. Smith, Saint Paul $  6,000
Smith will perform and video record outdoor concerts in greater Minnesota, making them available online, and will distribute to long-term care and assisted living facilities throughout Minnesota.
Sue Smith-Grier, Brainerd $  5,970
Smith-Grier is an emerging children's author, using her experiences as a person of color living in greater Minnesota to inform her stories. With roots in storytelling, she will create entertaining and educational stories for school-age children.
Moheb Soliman, Minneapolis $  6,000
Soliman will take his new book of poems, HOMES, on the road for outdoor readings on the North Shore, engaging communities safely in the COVID-19 era and connecting with them right where his book dwells, in Great Lakes natural and cultural spaces.
Adama Sow, Plymouth $  6,000
Sow will work to bring more communities of color into the ceramic arts as he strives to maintain his studio during this unprecedented time with COVID-19. As an African artist, he wants to see more people of color working with clay.
Jovan Speller, Minneapolis $  6,000
Speller will adapt her studio space and practice to allow for live, virtual streaming of studio activities and implement protocols for safe in studio experiences.
Steffan A. Spencer, Duluth $  6,000
Spencer will produce multimedia projects such as documentaries and photo-essays to share with Minnesotans, allowing him to stay engaged by shifting his work online via Zoom, YouTube, and other online platforms, and eventually share his work in person.
Dylon D. Starr, Rochester $  5,476
Starr will produce a soundtrack for an original musical that he cowrote and musically arranged so that Minnesotans may enjoy a theatrical experience without attending a live event during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.
Michele M. Steffen, Spicer $  6,000
Steffen will create a series of figurative paintings and corresponding narrative for live or virtual public presentation.
Sarah Stonich, Minneapolis $  6,000
Stonich will collaborate with a professional videographer to produce a one-minute video to accompany the virtual launch of her novel, Reeling, in autumn 2021. She'll also improve her home video studio.
Ryan Stopera, Minneapolis $  6,000
Filmmaker Stopera seeks to evolve his practice in the pandemic by developing new skills in livestream, mixed media production to create new collaborative work, and create safe and accessible livestreamed events for community engagement.
Kevin L. Strauss, Rochester $  6,000
Strauss will research, plan, and present writing workshop series and storytelling performances online. Workshop participants will receive online group instruction and individual e-mail or video feedback on their writing.
Sara Suppan, Minneapolis $  6,000
Suppan will complete a series of oil paintings and make the work accessible to a distanced audience by adapting her studio, Web presence, and methods of documentation. She will host a public online artist talk and mid process critique.
Joko Sutrisno, Saint Paul $  6,000
Sutrisno will develop ways to continue gamelan music program through video lessons and reduced capacity rehearsals.
Tri Sutrisno, Saint Paul $  4,000
Sutrisno will continue the creative processes of choreographing, teaching, and leading dancers and will engage Minnesotans in the intricacies of Indonesian dance using online and in person tools.
Adam P. Swanson, Cloquet $  6,000
In the Lake Superior watershed, people are acutely concerned about our relationship with water and the environment. Swanson's mural and corresponding work is based on recent collaborations with scientists in the region.
Will Swanson, Harris $  6,000
Swanson will digitally present useful pottery to a widening, online audience.
Kaysone Syonesa, Brooklyn Park $  6,000
Syonesa will engage and increase theater arts access for the Southeast Asian communities using mobile street theater.
Zahra N. Tafarrodi, Plymouth $  5,500
Tafarrodi will conduct research for a book proposal, collecting the experiences of immigrants to the U. S. who left their country under force, and learn how they coped by making art.
Chholing Taha, Anoka $  6,000
The experiences all of our ancestors long ago witnessed, regardless of geo location, are attached to an arm reaching into our past, present, and future. Global ancestral knowledge and wisdom are contained within each fingertip or tear.
Timothy C. Takach, Big Lake $  5,040
Takach will provide Minnesota schools with music composition distance learning content. He will present online lectures to school-age students throughout Minnesota and will provide materials and post lecture assessments for further engagement.
Ken Takata, Saint Paul $  5,800
Takata will organize a series of workshops which will give participants the opportunity to learn and perform tunes from the Great American Songbook. The goal is to provide a forum to help participants work on their craft during the pandemic.
Yuko Taniguchi, Rochester $  5,900
Taniguchi will document experiences and learning as a writer through deep reflection, share things learned, and provide a creative space for Rochester community members to reflect and write together.
Maria C. Tavera, Minneapolis $  6,000
Tavera will purchase supplies and equipment necessary to sustain her creative practice and to organize a Minnesota Latinx artistic community event.
Keith M. Taylor, Minneapolis $  6,000
Taylor will continue research into a method of making polymer printing plates for intaglio printmaking without the need for a specialized darkroom, develop a workflow that can be taught online, and experiment with three-color printing.
Gino Terrell, Maple Grove $  6,000
Terrell will direct, produce, and edit a thought-provoking short film submitted to local film festivals. The film will touch on social injustice and systemic racism to ignite conversations relevant to issues the local community faces.
Bryan D. Thao Worra, Minneapolis $  6,000
Worra will use funds to explore innovative audience connection and engagement strategies for poets among Minnesotan refugees.
Kao Lee Thao, Minneapolis $  6,000
Lee Thao will explore a new body of work inspired by Hmong folktales and textiles to create the first Hmong themed virtual online gallery space. The gallery will debut a Hmong artist group exhibition, in a social distance free gallery.
Law Thao, Saint Paul $  6,000
Thao will create a cultural multimedia installation presenting the importance of Southeast Asian Hmong identities through personal narratives, revisiting one's own self-discovery process and how to hold on to cultural roots.
Mary Therese, Bemidji $  6,000
Therese will engage members of group homes and nursing facilities in drawing their visions, hopes and dreams. These pieces will be incorporated into a community collage and serve as inspiration to the artist in the painting of a public mural.
Carrie Thompson, Minneapolis $  6,000
Thompson will continue her work Postpartum Pandemic. Part of this work will be a monthly online talk, open to all, about raising children during a pandemic.
Lex Thompson, Minneapolis $  6,000
Thompson will collaborate with a young typographer and mentor them in the publication of artist books, creating the first in a series of accessible and affordable artist books based on underrecognized historical texts.
Rene Thompson, Andover $  6,000
Thompson will create 52 videos on Afro-Cuban dance to be shared weekly online. Additionally, he will engage audiences online via an updated website and a new Facebook artist page.
Morgan Thorson, Minneapolis $  6,000
Thorson will research solo dancing with livestreaming technology and end capture, creating a new movement language that reflects our times and offering a public sharing to the community based on her findings.
Yuki Tokuda, Minneapolis $  6,000
Tokuda will create a live performance at Peavey Plaza to celebrate dance, music, and culture in Minnesota.
Simon Tolkan, Grand Marais $  6,000
Tolkan will document the designs and stories of historic boats from around Minnesota. He will publish these designs in an accessible format to educate the public about the history of boatbuilding in the area and inspire builders to recreate history.
Gaelynn Tressler, Duluth $  6,000
Tressler will provide real time captioning for all of her weekly YouTube shows to ensure they are accessible to deaf, hard-of-hearing, and neurodiverse audience members in Minnesota and beyond.
Solomon J. Trimble, Proctor $  6,000
Trimble, in partnership with Minnesota tribal artists will create a 10-episode Ojibwe language show, reminiscent of Sesame Street, for intermediate language learners.
Azania C. Tripp, Minneapolis $  5,350
Tripp will create a virtual exhibition website that addresses the pandemic of racism and lack of representation of BIPOC perspectives in jewelry.
Jeffery A. Truax, Winona $  6,000
Truax will create an interactive, online experience showcasing the sights and sounds of southeastern Minnesota's mostly unseen wildlife.
Lisa S. Truax, Winona $  6,000
Truax will create and exhibit ceramic sculptures based on abstractions of the local environment, incorporating local and recycled materials. She will hold two greater Minnesota exhibitions and at least one online artist talk.
Joshua James Benjamin Truelove, Pequot Lakes $  6,000
Truelove will build a kiln in order to explore and create ceramics.
Kelli Rae Tubbs, Chisago City $  6,000
Tubbs will interact with drummers through public events in rural communities and engage with students and learners of all ages online.
Chitra Vairavan, Minneapolis $  5,500
Vairavan will focus on artistic residencies, research and development, website development, and marketing in the areas of dance and interdisciplinary embodiment.
Mar Valdecantos, Northfield $  6,000
Anti-racist work is also writing. Valdecantos will use her own writing on southern Minnesota prairie farms to work with emerging immigrant and refugee talent. She will mentor and support them with public performances as a goal.
Claudia A. Valentino Cid, Minneapolis $  6,000
Valentino will collaborate with Latinx artists and community leaders to create large-scale, publicly accessible artwork that explores and documents the Latinx community's response to challenges created by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Inna L. Valin, Saint Paul $  6,000
In this series, Valin explores the diverse world of Minnesota girls and women. Focusing on those in the margins of our society, she creates a remarkably honest portrait of the American experience through the eyes of the American daughter.
Mimi Van Ausdall, Minneapolis $  6,000
Iimuro Van Ausdall will revise her essay manuscript and query agents.
Fue Vang, Woodbury $  5,950
Vang will branch into content creation through recording process and tutorial videos.
Kazua M. Vang, Cottage Grove $  6,000
Vang will write and direct a short film about a Hmong American teen who has to chaperone her older sister around men. Vang will host a virtual screening to the public with a Q & A session.
Adan M. Varela, Minneapolis $  5,986
Varela will connect communities via uniting two Minnesota artists who do not know each other to talk about their craft, inspirations, and projects in a monthly webisode.
Pramila Vasudevan, Minneapolis $  6,000
Vasudevan will pursue a community engaged artistic research process by hosting a series of conversations with six Minnesota based Asian American artists/culture bearers, unpacking complex questions around ethical cultural production.
Carrie Vecchione, Apple Valley $  3,186
Vecchione will update her video teaching equipment so she may better communicate online, and continue teaching oboe and reed making lessons.
Mars Vega, Burnsville $  6,000
Eagan will engage the community by hiring and working with people of color in roles of film cast or crew.
Moira I. Villiard, Duluth $  6,000
Villiard will hire apprentices to assist her in a wide range of public art projects in the coming year, including the implementation of the community murals dedicated to Chief Buffalo in Duluth.
Saymoukda D. Vongsay, Saint Paul $  6,000
Vongsay will interview Southeast Asiamericans who identify as "motherland orphans" and work with a dramaturg to develop a new full-length play, culminating in a public online conversation and table reading with Southeast Asian actors.
Chase H. Vreeland, Brainerd $  5,000
Vreeland is a visual artist who has a wild imagination and passion to create and teach.
Oanh Vu, Minneapolis $  5,300
Vu will create a full-length puppet show and perform excerpts of it for a live audience.
Dan Wahl, Walnut Grove $  6,000
Wahl will create a virtual version of a public participatory art exhibit that encourages people to draw horse pictures. Engagement will be made via social media which will also serve as a virtual art gallery.
Rory E. Wakemup, Saint Paul $  6,000
Wakemup will do research for a visual art project through community listening sessions engaging Native American elders from AIM, Old Soul Patrol, and members of Native Lives Matter on the topic of experiences with law enforcement and community led alternatives to policing.
Cortney M. Walbridge, Princeton $  5,992
Walbridge will document her experience learning the art and history of stonecutting. She will share this experience with the residents of greater Minnesota to create access to the instruction and rich cultural history of this art form.
Natalija E. Walbridge, Duluth $  6,000
Walbridge known for her Dock5 canvas bags, has recently pivoted to making masks. She will be collaborating with the clients at Safe Haven to design their own unique mask print. Participants will gain a sense of pride to be able to wear their own art.
Chris Walla, Moorhead $  6,000
Walla will utilize grant funds to purchase material for new work and for the creation of a new website.
Lindsey Waller, Red Wing $  6,000
Waller seeks to make a historically queer archival artifact for the queer community as a queer artist.
Chamindika K. Wanduragala, Minneapolis $  6,000
Wanduragala will share on social media her explorations in modular synthesis as sound design for her shadow puppet stop-motion.
Sarah E. Warren, Minneapolis $  5,982
Warren will host virtual community story times with diverse guest readers. Prerecorded interviews will promote guest events. Interviewees will highlight mentor texts and Minnesota spaces and artists that inspire their work.
Maya Washington, Plymouth $  6,000
Washington will explore avenues for digital and broadcast presentation of her films to continue engagement of Minnesota audiences.
Stephanie E. Watson, Minneapolis $  5,990
Children's book author Watson will volunteer in 826 MSP's virtual writing support programs for kids, create a promotion strategy for the 2021 launch of her book Pencilvania, and revise a 30,000-word middle-grade novel in progress.
Mike Watts, Saint Paul $  5,800
NO EGO Magazine will document the process of creating the cultural soundtrack to the Twin Cities underground. The material will be released as a free print publication and online film.
Miriam E. Webber, Bemidji $  4,000
As part of a larger project aimed at supporting emerging women composers, Webber will perform and record recent and commissioned chamber music by women composers.
Brad Wegscheid, Wadena $  6,000
Wegscheid will research and build a hunt style series of outdoor sculptures that encourage travel and art via an interactive map. The use of technology, travel, art appreciation, and adventure will encourage creative family fun.
Samual D. Weinberg, Saint Paul $  6,000
Weinberg will create a graphic novel about a character he invented, called The Pink Man. He will also create a series of enamel pins based on the graphic novel's imagery that will be released leading up to the book's completion.
John A. Wells, Red Wing $  6,000
Wells will make and exhibit a new series of nine smaller paintings focused on geometric forms, lines, and materials. This exhibition will be presented at Red Wing Arts and online through its website, and through multiple other online sites.
Paul B. Wenell Jr, Minneapolis $  6,000
Wenell Jr will utilize storytelling and hip-hop performance as vehicles for engaging all ages on financial literacy during online events in indigenous communities.
Tony Wentersdorf, Minneapolis $  2,970
Wentersdorf will publish a memoir detailing his two-and-a-half year stay in a residential treatment center for mentally ill adults, which will be made available via mail through virtual events with mental health organizations and bookstores.
Chuck Weygand, Akeley $  6,000
Weygand will make and exhibit wooden bowls that reflect his rural Minnesota roots. He will use sustainable resources and draw on experiences of many generations to engage people of outstate Minnesota in this rustic art via in person and virtual art shows.
Delina L. White, Walker $  6,000
White, Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe, will explore the seven Anishinaabe values through her wearable art designs inspired by the Great Lakes Woodlands culture in a video featuring the breathtaking seasonal landscape of Minnesota.
Kirsten L. Whitson, Saint Paul $  6,000
Whitson will present a multimedia program of music that reflects global racial injustice, developed for solo cello in an online format . There will be live question and answer sessions with the artist and discussion facilitators.
Melissa R. Wickwire, Grand Marais $  6,000
Wickwire will purchase equipment to enable her to continue her community engagement work while adapting to the unknown and unexpected.
Gregory T. Wilkins, Mankato $  6,000
Wilkins will create and exhibit six new mixed media works which will be part of a larger solo exhibition of thirty-plus pieces at the Mankato History Center in Mankato.
BriiNoir Williams, Robbinsdale $  6,000
Williams is a self-taught artist giving back to urban community and low-income youth, continuing to make healing the center of her work, and constantly pushing the boundaries of creativity while placing a lens upon black and brown struggles and ways to be celebrated.
Jody L. Williams, Minneapolis $  6,000
Williams will publish a magazine online and on paper, titled Diminutive Distractions, that will draw attention to the small things in her immediate surroundings.
Mai'a Williams, Winona $  5,888
Williams will explore innovative ways of presenting multimedia installations to a rural Minnesota audience.
Mark A. Wilmes, Tyler $  6,000
Wilmes will work to create a play bringing to light the danger of losing small-town newspapers throughout the state and country.
Bennie Wilson, Saint Paul $  6,000
Wilson will create meaningful video content that celebrates the Twin Cities diversity by highlighting the journey of BIPOC business owners and their significant impact on the community.
Diane E. Wilson, Shafer $  6,000
Wilson will create online companion projects and a compelling presentation to support her new novel, The Seed Keeper.
Amanda M. Wirig, Mankato $  6,000
Wirig will create a large-scale mural on the Mahowald Building in Old Town Mankato.
Aby Wolf, Minneapolis $  6,000
Wolf will explore new ways to share her music to stay connected with audiences during COVID, and develop necessary relationships in the music industry through the promotion of her new record, Champagne Confetti.
D. Helene Woods, Monticello $  6,000
Woods will explore methods for expanding audience engagement in online and digital formats in support of her work documenting the experiences of COVID-19 patients and medical workers.
Andrew P. Wykes, Northfield $  6,000
Wykes will have a solo show of paintings at The Groveland Gallery in Minneapolis. The exhibited work will be made from landscape settings of southern Minnesota's urban parkland.
Randy K. Xiong, Saint Paul $  6,000
Xiong will create and showcase a short film, Hmoob Soul, online. The short film is about Xiong and his family's dwindling food truck business, searching for someone to either revitalize it or to buy out the business altogether during rough times.
Bee X. Yang, Cannon Falls $  6,000
Yang will secure time to compose original Hmong song poetry in the pandemic, record, and post the songs on YouTube so the Hmong community and other Minnesotans can access his songs and learn of the form.
Dan Yang, Saint Paul $  6,000
Yang, a local Twin Cities filmmaker, will develop and finalize a script based on the 2006 case of Fong Lee, followed by a public reading.
Kao Yang, Saint Paul $  6,000
Yang will engage with Minnesotans by focusing on arts and arts access and arts education. She will work on a new book and provide three accessible virtual events to diverse Minnesotans.
Touchaing Yang, Shoreview $  6,000
Yang will engage with community members on experiences with culture and mental health and use that research to develop an experimental short film.
Leah H. Yellowbird, Grand Rapids $  5,966
Yellowbird will strengthen her ability to engage and build relationships with Minnesota audiences through the creation of a custom website.
Janette B. Yiran, Waite Park $  6,000
The Fred Yiran Legacy Project supports African arts, drumming, dance, storytelling, and children's activities through events and festivals.
Stephen J. Zapf, Sauk Rapids $  5,746
Zapf will pass on his knowledge of creating a stand up paddle board for the first time to an individual and his family for future class instruction.
Ehkhudah S. Zar, Saint Paul $  6,000
Zar will write a play based on an ancestry folk tale of the Karen people.
Samuel J. Zimmerman, Duluth $  6,000
In collaboration with a native owned publisher, Zimmerman will publish a bilingual book featuring 60 paintings accompanied with Ojibwe stories in order to preserve and share oral histories of Minnesota north shore communities.
Christopher R. Zlatic, Rice $  5,886
Zlatic will broadcast his and fellow artists' studio practices via live streaming online platforms.

 

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