2008 Grant Recipients
Artist Initiative
Artist Initiative grants support and assist artists at various stages in their careers by encouraging artistic development,
nurturing artistic creativity, and recognizing the contribution individual artists make to the creative environment of the state
of Minnesota.
The Arts Board alternates disciplines eligible to apply each year; grants were awarded to dance, theater, and visual artists in 2007.
Media arts | Music | Photography | Poetry | Prose
Media arts
Number of grants: 12
Total dollars granted: $59,000
Mauricio Arango, Saint Paul
$5,000 — to produce a video essay dealing with the lives of the inhabitants of the town of San Jose de Apartado in northern Colombia
Peter B. Becker Nelson, Minneapolis
$6,000 — to purchase video equipment and create a new video work that explores themes of relationships, empathy, sexuality, and gender
Paul R. Danhauser, Minneapolis
$5,200 — for a two-dimensional animated short film called “Bitter and Crabby” that deals with cute cartoon characters
who are confronted by real-world morality
Amber Ellison Walker, Minneapolis
$2,000 — to increase the post-production quality of her video work and the overall quality of her publicity materials, and to have
her work seen by a broader audience
Timothy A. Fort, Inver Grove Heights
$6,000 — for the creation of a professional broadcast-quality video of his kinetic art for Internet and television distribution
Nathaniel H. Freeman, Minneapolis
$6,000 — for a sixteen-stage video installation that shows the opening scene of sixteen imagined narratives, all informed by the
people and events of his northeast Minneapolis neighborhood
Heather R. Johnson, Minneapolis
$5,000 — for a documentary film, titled, “No Ugly Trees,” that explores women's body and self-esteem issues
Daniel J. Lundquist, Bloomington
$5,000 — for creative time to finish hand coloring “Boris,” an animation about overcoming difficult circumstances to
live a happy life
Kevin S. McKeever, Saint Paul
$800 — to produce duplicates of his documentary that examines one man's success in helping inner-city youths rise above crime and
violence, prepare and produce related publicity packets, and submit the film to festivals
Pamela Nice, Saint Paul
$6,000 — for funds to help film interviews in Twin Cities coffeehouses for her next documentary, “Desert in the Coffeehouse,” a
film that asks what Minnesotans know about Arab and Muslim lives
James M. Vogel, Minneapolis
$6,000 — for funds to film an observational documentary about drug abuse
Rosemary T. Williams, Saint Paul
$6,000 — to film the documentary "Futures," which will document open call trading at the last few North American exchanges
that have not switched to digital trading
Music
Number of grants: 13
Total dollars granted: $73,100
Craig B. Carnahan, Saint Louis Park
$6,000 — to compose and market a string quartet and a woodwind quintet
Linda N. Chatterton, Minneapolis
$1,400 — to complete and promote a CD of contemporary American flute music
Edie Hill, Minneapolis
$6,000 — to expand her network by collaborating with musicians in the New York City area and to expand her music vocabulary by working
in the instrumental and electro-acoustic genres
Maud N. Hixson, Mendota Heights
$6,000 — to seek national experience as a vocalist by creating a cabaret show to be performed in New York City, aided by many of
the top cabaret professionals who have offered their services in direction, coaching, arrangements, booking, and publicity
Julie A. Johnson, Minneapolis
$6,000 — to record her first full-length CD, which will showcase a diverse range of musical styles and be used to help promote and
book concerts in diverse venues, including locations in greater Minnesota
Prudence Johnson, Minneapolis
$6,000 — to complete “A Girl Named Vincent,” a CD of musical settings of poetry by Edna St. Vincent Millay, with compositions
by Laura Caviani, Michelle Kinney, Gary Rue, and Joan Griffith
Harriet C. Morrow, Burnsville
$6,000 — for funds to complete her first album, to produce an associated college concert tour, and to begin distribution of the album
Paddy O'Brien, Saint Paul
$6,000 — to help preserve important traditional Irish repertoire, O’Brien will interview and learn rare tunes from three elderly
musicians in Ireland and Chicago, and add these tunes to the second volume of the “Paddy O'Brien Tune Collection”
Nirmala Rajasekar, Plymouth
$6,000 — to learn and perform concerts of rare compositions of Indian classical music from the eighteenth century
Joko Sutrisno, Saint Paul
$6,000 — to study the latest developments in Gamelan drumming styles for six weeks at the Indonesian Institute of Arts in Surakarta,
and to begin development of a notation system for teaching this drumming tradition
Andrew A. Turpening, Minneapolis
$6,000 — for funds to support a five-month plan to develop two new styles of music: Latin breakbeat and popumentary
Dessa Darling, Minneapolis
$5,700 — to complete her first full-length album and release it nationally in an effort to capitalize on recent regional success
Jennifer M. Weir, Columbia Heights
$6,000 — to focus on small taiko ensemble compositions which reflect explorations on spirit, melody, and identity
Photography
Number of grants: 21
Total dollars awarded: $117,900
Donald S. Clark, Lake Park
$6,000 — to photograph the people, culture, and landscape of the Western Isles (Outer Hebrides) of Scotland
Richard F. Copley, Minneapolis
$6,000 — for the continuation of work photographing life on the streets of big cities, primarily New York City
Stephen M. Dahl, Chanhassen
$6,000 — to develop a marketing plan and present a documentary project on contemporary labor to galleries, museums, and publishers
Beth A. Dow, Minneapolis
$6,000 — to develop a new photographic project that examines how fake ruins evoke nostalgia for inaccurate history
Linda K. Gammell, Saint Paul
$6,000 — to identify, locate, and connect with a more targeted national audience for her cross-disciplinary and place/environment-based
work
George Byron Griffiths, Minneapolis
$6,000 — to mat and frame 64 black and white images, and to spend time researching and contacting appropriate venues for exhibition
Chelsea A. Hammer, Minneapolis
$6,000 — to strengthen her portfolio and expand on a previous project by photographing in small Midwestern communities
E. Katie Holm, Minneapolis
$6,000 — to research and photograph additional portraits for the “Women Warriors” series in order to build a portfolio
to be used to seek exhibition and gallery representation
John C. Johnston, Minneapolis
$6,000 — to continue a series of photographs that addresses man’s role as both spectator and participant in the drama of the
natural world and environment
Karolina Karlic, Saint Paul
$5,000 — to complete her current photographic project with the aid of professional equipment for image production and to produce
a set of twenty promotional, fine art print books for distribution
Jeffrey M. Krueger, Saint Paul
$6,000 — to photograph and research trees that have witnessed important events or have a connection with notable figures in American
history, and to produce a book that pairs his photographs with each tree's historical narrative
Colleen Mullins, Minneapolis
$6,000 — to complete documentation of urban canopy loss at the hands of man in post-Katrina New Orleans, and to create a set of exhibition
prints of the project
Justin R. Newhall, Minneapolis
$6,000 — to create a series of images inspired by musician Glenn Gould’s experimental BBC audio documentary, “The Idea
of North,” following Gould’s path via the Canadian rail to its northernmost terminus at Churchill, Manitoba
Desiree P. Olson, Minneapolis
$1,200 — for a series of large-scale color portraits of a Minneapolis subculture that examines the emotional and physical characteristics
specific to the individual, coupled with the exploration of the social and cultural values of the subculture
Daniel R. Peet, Saint Paul
$5,200 — to continue work on a photographic project and to produce prints to aid in the promotional process
Erika G. Ritzel, Minneapolis
$4,800 — for time to research and complete a photographic project on estate sales around the country
Lex Thompson, Minneapolis
$6,000 — for the final phase of the photographic project, “All Our Pleasant Places,” which concerns manifestations of
hope and failure in the landscape, exploring the American myth of Manifest Destiny
Inna L. Valin, Saint Paul
$5,900 — to have a solo exhibition of her series, "In Lengthening Shadow," and to find a publisher for the related manuscript
Gregor-Alexander von Ehrenfels, Fergus Falls
$6,000 — to photographically document the sister-city relationship of Ottertail county, Minnesota, and Nordhordland, Norway
Kimberlee M. Whaley, Minneapolis
$6,000 — to continue her photographic series of winter landscapes at abandoned summer haunts such as beaches, basketball courts,
baseball fields, campgrounds, and Dairy Queen all closed up for the winter
Petronella J. Ytsma, Saint Paul
$5,800 — for travel to Vietnam to photo-document intergenerational effects of Agent Orange on people and the environment
Poetry
Number of grants: 9
Total dollars awarded: $46,200
Todd R. Boss, Saint Paul
$4,200 — to spend time at a writer’s colony completing a second poetry collection for W. W. Norton
Mark V. Conway, Avon
$6,000 — to finish his second book of poetry with time dedicated to research the places essential to the book, and additional time
in which to write
Heid E. Erdrich, Minneapolis
$6,000 — for public presentation of poetry from a forthcoming book, professional development through attendance at conferences, travel
to share work with American Indian and indigenous communities, and creative growth through work with visual artists
Kate Kysar, Saint Paul
$2,000 — to complete her second poetry manuscript by spending a week in a writing and research retreat and working with two experienced
and respected editors
Teresa Ballard, Minneapolis
$4,200 — to attend the “Under the Volcano” workshop by Carolyn Forche and Rafael Sagovia in
Tepoztlan, Mexico, where she was invited to have a reading of her work and will have the unique experience of studying poetry in
both English and Spanish; and for time to prepare her manuscript for publication after the workshop
Josie Rawson, Northfield
$5,800 — to compose a manuscript for her third poetry collection in which each poem is based on a particular scale found in the sciences,
medicine, or meteorology
Francine Marie Tolf, Minneapolis
$6,000 — for the promotion of her forthcoming collection of poems through the creation of a
Web site, participation in public readings, and attendance at a nationally known writers conference.
Katie Vang, Woodbury
$6,000 — to produce a book of poetry and prose by utilizing formal workshops and a mentor
Bryan Thao Worra, Saint Paul
$6,000 — to promote and build new audiences for his first book of poetry and his recent work,
especially among historically underserved audiences, and to complete his second
book of Laotian American speculative poetry
Prose
Number of grants: 17
Total dollars awarded: $83,800
Anya Achtenberg, Saint Paul
$6,000 — to complete her draft novel, History Artist
Arlene Atwater, Duluth
$3,000 — for time to polish two new short stories, record them in her own voice on MP3 files embracing the new literary dimension of voice-only literature,
and submit them to boundoff.com and Write On Radio, KFAI
Dhana-Marie Branton, Minneapolis
$5,000 — to complete a book about the two years she spent as a chaplain's assistant in rural Japan
Rebecca Fjelland Davis, Good Thunder
$4,200 — for travel, research expenses, and time to write a fictionalized account (based on true stories) of intrigue set in small
town North Dakota during the Great Depression for upper- and middle-grade readers
Kara S. Garbe, Minneapolis
$6,000 — to complete a memoir about her two and one-half years in Burkina Faso, West Africa in the Peace Corps
Nick Healy, Mankato
$5,000 — for creative time, a mentorship with Valerie Miner, travel expenses to the Anderson Center, and equipment and supplies to
help support the completion of a short story collection
Kate Hopper, Minneapolis
$5,700 — for time to revise her memoir, Ready for Air, and to develop four to five stand alone essays from chapters in the book
John S. Jodzio, Minneapolis
$5,700 — to finish his short story collection, If You Lived Here, You'd Already Be Home
Jay A. Orff, Minneapolis
$6,000 — to develop his writing voice and continue a series of short stories
Laura C. Owen, Minneapolis
$3,000 — for three months of extensive writing time to complete a book of short stories
Marcia H. Peck, Minnetonka
$6,000 — to visit Milan and nearby Bergavio for present-day setting research and background information on an important school of
Italian violin-making for her novel, The Unattended
Moment, and to work with an editor on the final draft
John S. Reimringer, Saint Paul
$6,000 — for creative time to work on Cathedral Hill, the second novel in a proposed Saint Paul trilogy
Bonnie J. Rough, Minneapolis
$6,000 — to complete a series of four essays on themes of flightlessness, that will comprise the first section and book proposal
for a collection of natural history essays she hopes to pitch
to independent presses
Michael C. Seward, Minneapolis
$2,200 — for time away from teaching to concentrate on his writing
Stephanie E. Watson, Saint Paul
$6,000 — to complete rewrites on her second novel, Elvis & Olive, in order to meet a 2009
publication deadline
Susan Steger Welsh, Saint Paul
$6,000 — to conduct interviews and research to complete a collection of brief, lyrical persona essays that explore each speaker's
passion about his/her work
Jacqueline White, Minneapolis
$2,000 — to prepare a thorough revision of her book-length memoir, My Transgender Husband: A Love Story; prepare a book proposal; and meet with potential agents in New York City
|
