-Minnesota State Arts Board - Minnesota North Star

FY 2018 Grantees

Artist Initiative

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

Awards grouped below by discipline.


Dance

Number of grants awarded November 1, 2017 11
Total dollars awarded November 1, 2017 $ 105,255

Grantee, City Grant Amount
Olive Bieringa, Minneapolis $  10,000
Bieringa will create "Enfold," a work that will unravel the mystery of our embryological development as it relates to cellular consciousness, movement, mind, and spirit.
Susana M. di Palma, Robbinsdale $  9,500
Di Palma will create a solo flamenco theater performance exploring stories of women experiencing homelessness.
Penelope A. Freeh, Saint Paul $  7,000
Choreographer Freeh will excavate personal archives to write a series of essay blogs about past works, processes, and methodologies. She will develop a new solo based upon themes that emerge.
J-Sun, Saint Paul $  10,000
Hip-hop choreographers will explore identity, power, and community in three public panel discussions. These conversations about different hip-hop dance forms will inform Noer's choreography in a 2018 theater production.
Sharon F. Mansur, Winona $  9,280
Dance artist Mansur will create and perform in "In Between," a new dance film set in Winona. Mansur will increase her skills in this genre, making her work more accessible to a wider and more diverse audience.
Deneane Richburg, Vadnais Heights $  10,000
Choreographer Richburg will work with mentors on and off ice, conduct movement research, and create work off the ice to be translated to ice. Richburg will hold a public informal showing.
Rosy Simas, Minneapolis $  9,875
"Weave" honors the interwoven, interdependent nature of our world in an intersectional Indigenous dance project that envelops the audience in an immersive experience of story, dance, moving image, and quadrophonic sound.
Joanie Smith, Minneapolis $  9,600
Smith will choreograph "Voices" inspired by images of women's strength and power, and perform the work in Twin Cities shelters and centers for victims of physical and sexual abuse.
Deborah Thayer, Saint Paul $  10,000
Thayer will choreograph "All Hail the Queen," using somatic explorations to unearth experiences of the female voice and vagina. The piece will be presented as an evening length dance installation in Minneapolis.
Morgan Thorson, Minneapolis $  10,000
"Public Love" is a dance project investigating the personal and often private creative process. With research across disciplines, it will interrupt conventional modes of power, translation, and embodiment in dance creation.
Taja A. Will, Minneapolis $  10,000
Choreographer Will presents "Gospels of Oblivion," in fall 2018.

Media Arts

Number of grants awarded January 10, 2018 16
Total dollars awarded January 10, 2018 $160,000

Grantee, City Grant Amount
Ayesha Adu, Minneapolis $  10,000
Adu will produce and direct a 35-minute digital short film about two young boys whose relationship changes after they discover a dead body. The film will be shown at Cinema Lounge at Bryant Lake Bowl in the fall and winter of 2018.
John M. Akre, Minneapolis $  10,000
Animator and videomaker Akre will create A Community Media Kit Show, an animated look back at, and look forward to, his work making media with neighborhoods. Akre will screen the film at the MinnAnimate Festival.
Cecilia M. Cornejo, Northfield $  10,000
In collaboration with the Mexican community of Northfield. Cornejo will complete Ways of Being Home, a poetic documentary that addresses issues of marginalization and belonging as experienced by that community.
Jason Coyle, Minneapolis $  10,000
Coyle will complete and distribute the documentary short Charlie, Bella, Cooper, which examines the deaths of three domestic pets whose lives were ended by law enforcement.
Diana M. Fraser, Saint Paul $  10,000
Across the course of the 2017-2018 project year, I will produce a broadcast length documentary about queer women's access to safe medical spaces in the Twin Cities.
Melody S. Gilbert, Minneapolis $  10,000
Filmmaker Gilbert will film Gabby, now 16, who has a rare condition: she feels no pain. We first met Gabby in Gilbert's 2005 documentary A Life Without Pain. Gilbert will film the final footage with Gabby and edit a new film.
Jennifer Glaws, Mound $  10,000
Glaws will exhibit The Collectiveness (Of Ourselves), an interactive, multimedia performance installation investigating acts of belonging. A work in progress presentation will be shown at the Art Attack event in the Northrup King Building.
Sam D. Hoolihan, Minneapolis $  10,000
Hoolihan will create a color 16mm cinematic portrait that archives the sights and sounds of Cedar Lake Park and the Kenilworth Trail in Minneapolis. There will be public screenings of the film in February 2019 at a minimum of four different venues in the Twin Cities.
Bill Kersey, Saint Paul $  10,000
Kersey will complete Koland (working title), a feature documentary follow-up to a prior award winning short with substantial new themes incorporating a trove of previously unavailable archival films and documents.
Naomi E. Ko, Savage $  10,000
Ko will direct and edit a rough cut of Rough, a comedic short film about a teenage girl inheriting an unruly dog after her estranged mother's death.
Jenny Lion, Minneapolis $  10,000
Lion will complete postproduction and distribute Dixie Valley, an experimental video essay exploring land use and history, and how one American landscape is used to simulate farther away, but very real, war zones.
Adam P. Loomis, Minneapolis $  10,000
Loomis will pursue practical knowledge and skill in the art of stop-motion puppet fabrication and animation.
Al Milgrom, Minneapolis $  10,000
Milgrom will produce a feature documentary film centered on a onetime village polka band in the New Prague area, contrasting the old Minnesota Czech Americans with the new post Velvet Revolution arrivals of 1989.
Nancy Rosenbaum, Minneapolis $  10,000
Media artist Rosenbaum will produce an audio documentary featuring first person reflections of people who experienced the July 1967 uprisings in north Minneapolis.
Chamindika K. Wanduragala, Minneapolis $  10,000
Wanduragala will deepen and expand her work in stop-motion animation, experimenting with process. She will also purchase equipment needed to create the work.
Richard Wiebe, Saint Paul $  10,000
Pelster-Wiebe will complete a documentary film that combines original footage with an array of archival materials from WWI to explore the relationship between America's ambitions during the Great War and the present.

Music

Number of grants awarded November 1, 2017 23
Total dollars awarded November 1, 2017 $ 229,835

Grantee, City Grant Amount
Linda N. Chatterton, Minneapolis $  10,000
Chatterton will produce a CD of works for solo flute with an emphasis on contemporary composers. She will give a public CD release concert and talk in the Twin Cities.
Mary Ellen Childs, Minneapolis $  10,000
Childs, a composer, will research and create a new multimovement musical work, "Boreal Quiet," inspired by a cold stark winter landscape.
Catherine G. Dalton, Mahtomedi $  10,000
Dalton will compose and stage "Bluets," a large scale, interdisciplinary work for dancer, projection, singers, and small chamber ensemble exploring loss, love, and friendship.
James G. Everest, Minneapolis $  10,000
Composer Everest will compose, record, and present four outdoor "sound garden" sound and performance installations inspired by the four seasons.
Helen C. Haertzen, Hopkins $  10,000
Haertzen will record a CD of American classics for violin. The recording will breathe new life into these pieces and include her transcriptions. She will enhance her artistry and share the music live with a widespread audience.
Noah C. Hoehn, Minnetonka $  10,000
Hoehn will write, record, and produce an album of new works in order to develop his music production skills and expand the business of his touring show.
Gao Hong, Northfield $  10,000
Hong will compose six new works for solo pipa altered by a looper and sound effects machine. Hong will perform them live and record them on a CD.
Linda M. Kachelmeier, Saint Paul $  10,000
Kachelmeier will collaborate through a series of workshops with Voices of Hope, a women's choir from the Minnesota Correctional Facility in Shakopee to create a new, multimovement work based on poetry submitted by choir members.
Emily J. Kastrul, Minneapolis $  10,000
Kastrul will collaborate with other musicians, filmmakers, and dancers to create and release three music videos in support her new full length album.
Christopher M. Keller, Minneapolis $  10,000
Emcee Kristoff Krane (Keller) will perform with producer and drummer Graham O'Brien and Anishinaabe singer/drummer Alvin Baker in two Minnesota parks.
Ivan Konev, Saint Paul $  9,885
Konev will professionally record and release a piano CD. He will host a concert featuring CD music at the Sundin Hall in Saint Paul.
Sarah Larsson, Minneapolis $  10,000
Larsson will research and compose new arrangements of Eastern European folk songs, gaining skills through mentorship with experienced composers and artists representing Twin Cities European immigrant communities.
Michael Maiorana, Minneapolis $  10,000
Maiorana will compose new music for four different types of ensembles across Minnesota.
Tami Morse, Saint Paul $  10,000
Morse will prepare for recording a CD of J.S. Bach's three viola da gamba sonatas and "French Overture," through lessons, rehearsals, and personal practice. Morse will market the CD through a series of eight concerts throughout Minnesota.
A Pavan, Minneapolis $  10,000
Tabla artist, composer, and teacher Pavan will create a new ensemble, Global Conversations in Minneapolis, conduct workshops and rehearsals, and hold two public performances of new compositions in an innovative format.
Peter M. Pisano, Minneapolis $  10,000
Pisano will create a folk album inspired by Saint Croix State Park and release it as a smartphone app that allows listeners to stream songs on mobile devices at locations in the park.
Karen E. Quiroz, Minneapolis $  10,000
Quiroz's project will increase the artist's audience, musical knowledge, and promotional skills through a series of highly interactive performances of Brazilian Forró ('fo-hó').
Nirmala Rajasekar, Plymouth $  10,000
Rajasekar will release her first collaborative album Maithree the Music of Friendship. She and her coartists Michelle Kinney, Pat O'Keefe, Muruga Boopathi, and Tim O'Keefe will perform a concert at the release event.
Gabriel B. Rodreick, Minneapolis $  10,000
Rodreick will compose pieces of music that express his desire to move and dance. The music will be accompanied by dance and performed live in the metro area.
Joko Sutrisno, Saint Paul $  10,000
Sutrisno will create three gamelan compositions reflecting the journey of an Indonesian immigrant to Minnesota. Three public workshops will engage community members in better understanding Indonesian music and culture.
Kelly M. Turpin, Minneapolis $  10,000
Turpin will produce a new production of Menotti's Pulitzer prize winning opera The Consul. The production will merge opera and dance to tell this politically poignant story.
Kirsten L. Whitson, Saint Paul $  9,950
Whitson will create and perform cello concerts reflecting global racial injustice and genocide with video program notes, history, personal stories about cultural loss, and audience feedback sessions.
Aby Wolf, Minneapolis $  10,000
Wolf will complete a new contemporary music work for fifteen-person chamber ensemble, integrating vocal harmonies and electronic elements with strings and mallet percussion to be shared in a public performance.

Photography

Number of grants awarded January 10, 2018 16
Total dollars awarded January 10, 2018 $ 160,000

Grantee, City Grant Amount
Amy C. Anderson, Minneapolis $  10,000
Anderson will create a new body of medium format, color portraits focusing on a variety of communities throughout Minnesota. The work will be exhibited locally as well as online.
Priscilla Briggs, Minneapolis $  10,000
Briggs will prepare a new photographic series that will explore the intersection of identity and globalization in India, for presentation at portfolio reviews and for exhibition. Exhibitions and gallery talks will take place at Augsburg's Christensen Gallery and Rosalux Gallery in Minneapolis.
Linda Brooks, Saint Paul $  10,000
Brooks will produce and exhibit images for the life cycles objects series of family archived materials from the second half of the twentieth century.
Nancy Bundy, Edina $  10,000
Bundy will complete and exhibit a series of photographs based on the Minnesota Iron Range that honors and transforms the architecture, landscape, and artifacts of the region. Along with a venue on the Iron Range, the final body of work has been selected for a solo exhibition at the Homewood Studios Gallery in Minneapolis in October of 2018.
Anna Eveslage, Minneapolis $  10,000
Eveslage will create a printed edition of her work, Eating Alone, a collection of fictional vignettes and staged portraits. She will hold a book launch event where she will give an artist/author talk framing the work.
Vance Gellert, Minneapolis $  10,000
Gellert will photograph the visual elements that provide nonspecific but important emotional context to the healing encounter between doctor and patient. These will help our understanding of healing and provide new directions. Artist talks and and exhibitions will take place at Boynton Health Service at the University of Minnesota and the Minneapolis Photo Center.
Pao H. Her, Blaine $  10,000
Her will complete her photographic project, Desire. Upon completion of the project, she will exhibit and hold an artist talk of her work.
RJ Kern, Minneapolis $  10,000
Kern will create a community exhibition that will travel to six to eight Minnesota county fairs where the work was created. The exhibit will showcase portraits and text from his projects, The Unchosen Ones and Out to Pasture.
Vince Leo, Minneapolis $  10,000
Leo's Remembered As A Blessing, depicts stones left on Jewish graves by loved ones. Examining the transformation of common rocks into sacred stones, Leo's images lie on the intersection of the physical and spiritual. Leo will hold a discussion at Minneapolis College of Art and Design.
Alison G. Malone, Minneapolis $  10,000
Malone will finalize her ten-year project The Daughters of Job by creating a series of handmade artists' books to accompany the exhibition that is planned for the Twin Cities.
Anthony P. Marchetti, Minneapolis $  10,000
Marchetti will complete his photographic project, Paul, and will collaborate with the International Institute of Minnesota to exhibit the finished work.
Lisa A. Nebenzahl, Richfield $  10,000
Nebenzahl will continue researching and investigating alternative photographic processes with a printing mentor to develop a new body of work. Nebenzahl will exhibit the work at the Marsden/Gustafson Gallery at FilmNorth and host a public discussion.
Erika G. Ritzel, Bloomington $  10,000
Ritzel will complete her project, It's Hard to Find Home Again. The series was created while thinking about the connection between her parents and their evolving relationships while being geographically separated. Lectures will be given at Minneapolis Community and Technical College and Hamline University. The book release launch will take place at Soo Visual Arts Center in Minneapolis.
Carla A. Rodriguez, Saint Paul $  10,000
Rodriguez will create a body of work using the tintype process, pushing its physical nature and how it exists in a modern day context, as well as exploring photography's ability to be a unique object in the digital age.
Paul D. Shambroom, Minneapolis $  10,000
Shambroom will photograph, and prepare for exhibition and publication, his project, Past Time, which contrasts notions of the "Good Old Days" with contemporary America through original photographs and found images. Shambroom's work in progress will be shown and discussed in a public program at the Weisman Art Museum in Minneapolis.
Lex Thompson, Minneapolis $  10,000
Thompson will complete a series of photographic works cataloging the remaining animal specimens of nineteenth century naturalist Martha Maxwell, produce a book of these photographs, and exhibit the work at Saint Mary's University in Winona.

Poetry

Number of grants awarded November 1, 2017 10
Total dollars awarded November 1, 2017 $ 98,893

Grantee, City Grant Amount
D. Allen, Minneapolis $  10,000
D. Allen will research and draft Articulations, a poetry manuscript about Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS). D. Allen will also present four public showcases of hybrid poetry by local writers.
Naomi Cohn, Saint Paul $  10,000
Cohn will work with a writing mentor to complete a collection of linked prose poems about learning braille. Public reading and poetry workshops will display new skills and build teaching and artistic reputation.
Su Hwang, Minneapolis $  10,000
Hwang will spend six months researching and writing a first rough draft of her second poetry collection, Cerigo, which explores issues of nonmotherhood. Hwang will also conduct poetry workshops and host a public reading.
Athena O. Kildegaard, Morris $  9,995
Kildegaard will commission Linda Kachelmeier to compose a song cycle using poems from her new book. Readings and performances of the book and the music will be held in Saint Paul, Bemidji, and Duluth.
Michael Kleber-Diggs, Saint Paul $  10,000
Kleber-Diggs will work with a mentor on his first book length collection of poems.
Thomas F. LaBlanc, Saint Paul $  9,700
Dakota poet LaBlanc will develop and perform a site specific poetry play at various sites around Minneapolis, revealing forgotten stories and places from an indigenous perspective.
Kate Lucas, Minneapolis $  9,498
Lucas will work with two mentor editors to finish her first book of poetry, Notes from Orbit, and improve her ability to share her work with new audiences.
Chris Martin, Minneapolis $  10,000
Martin will work with individuals on the autism spectrum to create three chapbooks of new poems, and then undertake an essay collection exploring the resonances between poetry and neurodiversity.
David Mura, Minneapolis $  10,000
Mura will research and write a multigenre book of poetry exploring race in contemporary America, including the legacy of the internment. This is a book of intersections of communities, histories, and types of writing.
Mary Austin Speaker, Minneapolis $  9,700
Speaker will work toward completing her third book of poetry, Necropastorals, and hold public readings and conversations to connect with other artists and create an audience for the book.

Prose

Number of grants awarded November 1, 2017 24
Total dollars awarded November 1, 2017 $ 229,596

Grantee, City Grant Amount
Mike Alberti, Minneapolis $  10,000
Alberti will conduct research at several sites and complete his first book, El Dorado, a historical novel set in rural Minnesota. The project will culminate with readings in the Twin Cities and three rural communities.
Ruth G. Berger, Minneapolis $  4,590
Berger will work with a mentor to finish her first memoir and submit it to literary contests and agents. She will give a reading and facilitate a memoir workshop for adults with mental illness.
Erica J. Berry, Minneapolis $  10,000
Berry will revise her essay collection, a personal and cultural exploration of fear through the lens of the wolf, and prepare a book proposal for agents. She will also organize a reading in a Minneapolis bookstore.
Eric Braun, Minneapolis $  10,000
Braun will complete a draft of a book length collection of short stories.
Emily Brisse, Chanhassen $  9,645
Brisse will complete her manuscript, Some Things Lost, an essay collection that examines the complexities and permutations of loss. She will lead a writing workshop through Minnetonka Community Education on this theme.
CJ Byrne, Minneapolis $  10,000
Byrne will complete a draft of her first novel, Great and Dangerous Substances. She will conduct a public reading, and offer a free community workshop on writing researched fiction.
Martin L. Cozza, Minneapolis $  10,000
Cozza will complete a final draft of his fantasy novel for children, Vincent's Lens, which explores a child's grappling with the meaning of mortality after his father's death.
Anika Fajardo, Minneapolis $  10,000
Fajardo will complete, edit, and polish her middle-grade novel, What If a Fish.
Lorissa Gottschalk, Minneapolis $  10,000
Gottschalk will complete her first memoir and conduct a writing workshop for people wanting to explore shame, grief, and addiction in their writing. She will also host a night of readings and remembrances.
Anne D. Guidry, Minneapolis $  10,000
Guidry will prepare her first collection of short stories for publication and offer a series of writing workshops exploring the role of place in fiction.
Jennifer K. Hildebrandt, Saint Paul $  10,000
Widow (W)rites is a grief memoir by Hildebrandt, based on two years blogging as caregiver, then widow, after losing her husband to cancer. She will host a public reading, followed by audience discussion.
Mara F. Hvistendahl, Saint Louis Park $  10,000
Hvistendahl will work on a memoir combining her personal experience with an exploration of medical decision making in the era of abundant data and genetic information. She will hold two public readings in Minnesota.
Anessa M. Ibrahim, Minneapolis $  10,000
Ibrahim will complete revisions of her first novel, Ray Charles Never Lost Anything Important, and will lead an open workshop on writing family stories in fiction.
John S. Jodzio, Minneapolis $  10,000
Jodzio will complete his novel and host four literary events for emerging writers in greater Minnesota.
Gayla S. Marty, Minneapolis $  10,000
Marty will develop a manuscript of lyric essays, Cooking in Paradise, about a year in Tunisia and its lasting impact on her life and relationship with cooking and food ways.
Harmony H. Neal, Northfield $  10,000
Neal will develop new models for storytelling that illustrate societies grounded in human flourishing, cooperation, and environmental sustainability. She will lead a Writers Resist: Women's March on Literature event.
Yvonne E. Pearson, Saint Paul $  7,994
Pearson will work with a mentor to revise her young adult verse novel and attend a literature conference to network with writers, agents, and editors in preparation for submitting the novel.
Junauda J. Petrus, Minneapolis $  8,125
Petrus will research and write her first young adult novel, Death Sentence.
Amy Rea, Eden Prairie $  9,595
Rea will complete a full draft of her novel, Epitaphs, then work on revising the novel with a professional mentor. She will give at least two readings of the work in progress to small communities in greater Minnesota.
John S. Reimringer, Saint Paul $  10,000
Reimringer will complete a draft of Cathedral Hill, a novel about a German American family in 1920s Saint Paul, and will host a public reading and discussion with other writers whose work deals with the immigrant experience.
Vincent Reusch, Moorhead $  10,000
Reusch will complete his novel, Circumnavigation, which chronicles the death of a young man to AIDS, and the impact of both his life and death on his family.
Emma Törzs, Minneapolis $  10,000
Törzs will complete her first story collection by writing two new stories, and will edit the full manuscript towards publication. She'll host a reading and workshop on walls/boundaries, a central theme of her collection.
Sarah E. Warren, Minneapolis $  9,690
Children's author Warren will write two nonfiction children's books. She will offer workshops and engage the public in practicing this exciting art form.
Stephanie E. Watson, Minneapolis $  9,957
Watson will use grant funds to promote her fifth published children's book, Best Friends in the Universe, and write three to five new picture book manuscripts.

Theater

Number of grants awarded November 1, 2017 6
Total dollars awarded November 1, 2017 $ 60,000

Grantee, City Grant Amount
Seth M. Eberle, Minneapolis $  10,000
Eberle will create formal mentorships with established puppet artists to improve his current repertoire of puppet shows, finishing by staging them at Dreamland Arts and obtaining more professional documentation.
Dylan Fresco, Minneapolis $  10,000
Fresco will develop a repertoire of ten Sephardic Jewish folk songs by studying the Judeo-Spanish language with a scholar, and training in guitar and vocal performance with two expert musicians.
Paul D. Herwig, Minneapolis $  10,000
Herwig will incorporate Tagtool, a new digital design tool that creates projected animation, into his set design and performance work.
William Nour, Minneapolis $  10,000
Nour will develop his play Turbulence and present it to an audience over three weekends. He will work with community members to tell a story of anti-Arab racism in the airline industry and homophobia in the Arab community.
Aamera Siddiqui, Saint Paul $  10,000
Siddiqui will write Sharam aur Izzat, a play about a South Asian American woman struggling with depression, family secrecy, stigma, and a mental health system with limited cultural understanding.
Ricardo A. Vázquez, Minneapolis $  10,000
Vázquez will expand and perform Escuchame, which combines traditional folktales with commedia dell'arte techniques to present the history of Puerto Rico's debt crisis as a humorous and heartbreaking solo performance.

Visual Arts

Number of grants awarded January 10, 2018 58
Total dollars awarded January 10, 2018 $ 554,948

Grantee, City Grant Amount
Michael J. Banning, Minneapolis $  10,000
Banning will create a series of large-scale paintings of interiors derived from scale models created by the artist. This process of invention will facilitate expanded possibilities of space, light, and color.
Leslie E. Barlow, Minneapolis $  9,885
Barlow will create a new body of work combining oil painting and textiles to explore race, family, history, and storytelling through the relationship of her grandmothers. This work will culminate in an exhibition in early 2019.
Kathryn Nobbe, Stillwater $  10,000
Nobbe will create a mixed media installation including new two- and three-dimensional artwork based in man-made and natural human protective strategies. This work will culminate in a solo exhibition at Form+Content Gallery in Minneapolis.
Sarah Brokke, Duluth $  10,000
Brokke will complete four large-scale works and apply to exhibit those works within a broader series in the state of Minnesota. A weekend workshop exploring the sacred feminine will be offered through the Duluth Art Institute.
Karen R. Brown, Minneapolis $  10,000
Brown will visit three ecological biomes in Minnesota: eastern deciduous forests, northern coniferous forests, and prairie. Brown will research local flora and fauna for new work that creates more immersive environments for her figures. She will teach two children's workshops at local parks and at her studio in the Northrup King Building.
Julie A. Buffalohead, Saint Paul $  10,000
Buffalohead will develop new work to exhibit at Nemeth Art Center in Park Rapids.
Eileen D. Cohen, Columbia Heights $  10,000
Cohen will create a large-scale ceramic installation for long-term or permanent display. This work will be displayed in a public venue. Cohen will host a public reception and artist talk at the host site. In addition, the artist will participate in Art-A-Whirl and Art Attack in the Northrup King Building.
Laura A. Corcoran, Saint Paul $  5,847
Corcoran will research, create, and exhibit a series of prints based on the birds and their habitat at Adams Park, Fergus Falls. Work will be exhibited in Fergus Falls and Roseville.
Teresa M. Cox, Eagan $  10,000
Cox will complete a new body of paintings using acrylic media that incorporates regional plant shapes and textures. She will engage the broader community through an exhibition and talk at Artistry in Bloomington.
Jim Denomie, Shafer $  10,000
Denomie will create a series of large paintings in response to Standing Rock and other contemporary events from a Native American perspective.
Nicholas M. DeVries, Brainerd $  9,500
After a move from Minneapolis to central Minnesota in 2016, DeVries will explore his new rural environment via new materials and finishing methods that will contrast with his current functional porcelain vessels.
Preston Y. Drum, Minneapolis $  10,000
Drum will produce an interactive site specific installation titled, Long Scene. The project will explore the creative process by inviting members of the community to collaborate.
Kristina Estell, Duluth $  9,970
Estell will create a series of molds from stone facades in Duluth and use them to produce new sculpture. Estell will conduct a casting workshop at the Duluth Art Institute for the community to use the stone molds to create replicated natural forms.
Marjorie A. Fedyszyn, Minneapolis $  10,000
Fedyszyn will create new work around the shrouded secret of childhood sexual abuse for a solo exhibition at the Hopkins Art Center and teach fiber skills as a means of healing to at risk teens over a seven-month period.
John J. Fleischer, Minneapolis $  10,000
Fleischer will create a sculptural work inspired by the tensions emanating from our culture's discourse on borders and accessibility. The work will be exhibited in Minneapolis in late 2018.
Kyle L. Fokken, Minneapolis $  10,000
Fokken will be exploring mold making, bronze casting, and fabrication techniques to make a new body of works based on animals. He will purchase a TIG welder and hire a professional bronze sculptor as a mentor.
Brian L. Frink, Mankato $  10,000
Frink will create a series of large-scale oil paintings and watercolors that considers the magical qualities in the landscape of rural Minnesota. An exhibition will be held at the Carnegie Art Center in Mankato.
Lindsy Halleckson, Minneapolis $  10,000
Halleckson will create a series of paintings based on collaborations with scientists and research about the atmosphere. Through a series of public events, she will engage viewers in discussions about art and environment. Halleckson will exhibit eight to ten paintings in her studio and offer a series of public events during Art Attack, November 2-4, 2018.
Joanna S. Hallstrom, Minneapolis $  10,000
Hallstrom will paint fifteen small oil portraits of Minnesota students that celebrate our changing demographics. Paintings will be presented as a visual whole in an interactive exhibit that includes student "I am" statements. Exhibitions and talks will be held at Alexandria Area High School, Alexandria Public Schools Community Education, and Minneapolis Community and Technical College.
David Hamlow, Good Thunder $  10,000
Hamlow will create new, and refine existing, audience interactive artworks, towards creating a 100 percent audience driven installation environment.
Ursula Hargens, Minneapolis $  10,000
Hargens will create ceramic tiles, prints, and outreach materials based on her collaboration with scientists studying plant physiology and restoration ecology. A presentation will be held at Northern Clay Center and another location, in hopes of reaching a scientific and horticultural audience.
Nicole A. Havekost, Rochester $  9,374
Havekost will create a new body of sculptural work for the exhibition titled 4 Square at the Rochester Community and Technical College Art Gallery.
Jonathan Herrera, Minneapolis $  10,000
Herrera will complete a series of large-scale prints exploring different relationships between the narratives of migrants and historical instances of trauma.
Jim Hittinger, Minneapolis $  6,046
Hittinger will explore materials and processes in the creation of a new body of painting and drawing work. He will have a solo show of the new work at Rosalux Gallery in Minneapolis.
Annika L. Kaplan, Minneapolis $  9,930
Kaplan will research lapidary arts and create a new body of work incorporating hand cut stones collected from several regions of the state into sterling silver and stone inlay jewelry.
Shana R. Kaplow, Saint Paul $  10,000
Kaplow will publish an artist book that functions like a portable studio visit. It will include artwork, studio process, texts, and a behind the scenes look at recent and current projects. A book launch will take place at Soo Visual Arts Center in Minneapolis. An artist talk and exhibition will take place at the Alice R. Rogers Gallery at Saint John's University, in Saint Joseph.
Matthew D. Krousey, Saint Paul $  10,000
Krousey will develop materials suitable for creating ten to twelve large-scale ceramic works drawing awareness to Minnesota's native habitats. The work will be installed at venues throughout Minnesota, including Silverwood Park.
Alexandros Lindsay, Saint Paul $  9,998
Lindsay will create a series of sculptures that explore the subject of home in Minnesota. He will blend old objects and new technologies to create art that invites viewers to bring their own narratives to the work.
Michael J. Loeffler, Minneapolis $  9,965
Loeffler will learn new techniques to create and document a series of ten wooden ale birds (fagelskalar) and share these new works in a public exhibition.
Lee Love, Minneapolis $  10,000
Lee will create a new body of work related to the Asian tea culture in Minnesota and show the new work in a gallery in the Twin Cities. He will also have raku events where people decorate their own work and fire it.
Dan W. Mackerman, Lauderdale $  6,240
Mackerman will make a group of sculptures that highlight community and fellowship through humorously representing the opposite.
Ann E. Magnusson, Mahtomedi $  10,000
Magnusson will paint eight companion pairings to add to her four-year Interior and Portrait series. Her new focus and subjects will be of and from southern Minnesota. The entire series will be exhibited at Owatonna Art Center.
Mary B. Magyar, Rochester $  7,488
Magyar will create a mixed media installation that is inspired by bee colonies and their highly evolved social order. The work and artist talk will be presented at Rochester Community and Technical College Art Gallery.
Julia L. Maiuri, Minneapolis $  10,000
Maiuri will develop a series of paintings on canvas that explore oral storytelling. Her work will have a twenty-page spread in the August 2018 issue of WOPOZI, a Minneapolis based visual arts publication.
Avigail Manneberg, Minneapolis $  8,750
Manneberg's project is a series of twelve large-scale paintings featuring expatriate communities in Minnesota. Each painting will be the result of discussions with individuals about their stories related to their identity and journeys. Talks will take place in the Twin Cities and Northfield.
Rod Massey, Minneapolis $  9,870
Massey will produce a series of paintings depicting industrial scenes along the Hiawatha Avenue corridor in Minneapolis and exhibit them at the East Lake Library in Minneapolis.
Charles V. Matson Lume, Saint Paul $  10,000
Matson Lume will create a site specific light installation at Winona State University. He will make and publish a book collaboratively which will be a catalyst for this installation.
Thomas A. McGregor, Saint Paul $  10,000
McGregor's project is a series of large paintings of the Mississippi River watershed. The paintings and accompanying documentation address environmental issues this fragile ecosystem faces. Along with open studios, the public will be invited to McGregor's solo exhibition and artist talk at Grand Hill Gallery in Saint Paul.
Alex Mitchell, Minneapolis $  5,175
Mitchell will illustrate the first half of a two-part graphic novel, City of Jasmine. With a script by a local Syrian writer, City of Jasmine is a reimagining of Gilgamesh, set in a fantastical modern day Damascus. Monthly open studio hours held at the artist's studio in the Northrup King Building in Minneapolis will allow members of the public to visit and see the artist and the work in progress.
Kathy Mommsen, Minneapolis $  10,000
While observing racially diverse models, Mommsen will create five emotional expression clay relief sculptures that evoke specific emotions. The finished pieces will be displayed at Northrup King Building and Owatonna Art Center.
Sarah J. Nassif, Minneapolis $  10,000
Nassif will become a registered SAORI free weaving practitioner through a mentorship with a Minnesota based certified SAORI weaver. She will share her process through public workshops and prototype a new public art project at Water Bar & Public Studios.
Jennifer Newsom, Minneapolis $  10,000
Newsom will develop Barricade, a new work exploring the relationship between black and blue bodies (i.e. African Americans and police) in an immersive installation within a gallery setting in Minneapolis.
Mat Ollig, Minneapolis $  10,000
Ollig will spend thirty days traveling along the Minnesota border to make GPS labeled paintings of border towns and landscapes. The journey will be documented and posted on social media in an e-book and will be publicly exhibited.
Melanie M. Pankau, Minneapolis $  10,000
Pankau will create a new suite of geometric abstract paintings to be exhibited with the archives of the process that include compositional drawings and color studies. A catalogue will be produced with an essay by a Minnesota writer.
Jehra Patrick, Minneapolis $  9,000
Patrick will complete and exhibit eight new "paintings as tapestries" that combine her interests in the museum practice of conservation, studio production, and homemaking.
Drew R. Peterson, Minneapolis $  9,971
Artist and printmaker Peterson will work with four collaborating artists from other disciplines to produce new work in print form. Finished works will be exhibited at Entity Editions studio in south Minneapolis.
Jane E. Powers, Minneapolis $  10,000
Powers will bridge her sculpture practice and her participatory public art by making five to seven social political wearable sculptures. She will make designer stands for sculptures in preparation for solo exhibition proposals.
Chris Rackley, Rochester $  8,589
Rackley will create and exhibit works that integrate live video with sculpture and painting to explore physical and pictorial space through viewer interaction. He will discuss his work in public talks and related workshops at the Rochester Public Library. Work created during the grant year will be exhibited at the Rochester Community and Technical College Art Gallery.
Erica S. Rasmussen, White Bear Lake $  10,000
Paper artist Rasmussen will produce new artwork for a Minnesota gallery and provide free make and take experiences to the public through the PopUp Paper Shop during the summer months.
Jodi L. Reeb, Minneapolis $  10,000
Reeb will complete a series of new encaustic paintings to make visible the effects of bee colony collapse in Minnesota. She will exhibit at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum, host an opening reception, and provide a free public workshop.
Zak Sally, Minneapolis $  10,000
Sally will complete Pink Light, a 250-page graphic biography of the late science fiction and surrealist writer, Philip K. Dick.
Jacob Aaron Schroeder, Minneapolis $  10,000
Schroeder will create sculptural, two-dimensional, and text based works on the emotional and mental state of queer men within greater Minnesota, for his first solo exhibition in the Twin Cities.
Juliane B. Shibata, Northfield $  10,000
Shibata will create three new installations that integrate living flowers with her ceramic ones. After documenting the work, she will approach exhibition venues in Minnesota about displaying unique site specific pieces.
Susan M. Shields, Minneapolis $  10,000
Persistent cultural beliefs regarding women and girls are of great concern to Minnesota artist Shields. Her work illuminates how greatly such beliefs affect the development of young minds.
Brittany L. Trushin, Richfield $  9,350
Trushin will create and exhibit new ceramic installation and sculpture work based on research and documentation of Minnesota's urban, rural, and natural landscapes.
Asia Ward, Minneapolis $  10,000
Ward will build and install Wetland Grass, a public sculpture for Silverwood Park, about Minnesota's lakes and wetlands.
Reed D. White, North Mankato $  10,000
White will paint eighteen portraits of people from his community. He will explore his style of capturing the essence of the model in his quirky, colorful paintings. He will have a public showing and speak about his work. White will show the paintings at the Carnegie Art Center in Mankato, February 1-28, 2019.
Russ White, Minneapolis $  10,000
White will create a series of large-scale colored pencil drawings using the visual metaphor of planets to explore social, political, and theological questions, to be exhibited in the Twin Cities and collected in a book. Works in progress will be shown during open studio events at Casket Arts.

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