Congrats Grant Recipients June-August 2022

Below are ARAC grant recipients from June -August 2022. Congratulations to these wonderful creators!

Artist Access Grant Award Winners - August 2022

$1,000 - Henry Kneiszel, Duluth, St. Louis, funding will support three regional poetry readings and gallery shows.

$1,000 - Jessica Morgan, Duluth, St. Louis, grant award will support the writing and publishing of a poetry chapbook that focuses on the people, places and topography of the Duluth, MN area.

$1,000 - Kelly Florence, Duluth, St. Louis, funding will support an interactive presentation at The Nordic Center in Duluth, MN, to teach the public about the legends and history of Nordic witches to celebrate the release of a new book, The Science of Witchcraft. A local filmmaker will film the evening and edit the footage so that it can be available online for those who were not able to attend in person.

$497 - Laila Davis, Duluth, St. Louis, funding will support participating in video editing classes at the North by North Film School.

$1,000 - Lin Elkins, Grand Marais, Cook, funds will support the creation of a series of hybridized wood and fiber containers intended to stimulate your senses.

$1,000 - Lynn Evenson, Ely, St. Louis, funding would support the participation in the Woodland Chamber Music Workshop.

$1,000 - Maggie Royce, Duluth, St. Louis, funding would assist with costs associated with preparing for a sculptural and projection installation.

Individual Artist Project Grant Award Winners - August 2022

$4,000 - Wendy Durrwachter, Duluth, St. Louis, funds will support the composing of a set of songs for soprano, Jennifer Lien, and pianist, Durrwachter, based on the latest collection of poems soon to be released by Sheila Packa, yielding two performances, one of which will be recorded.

$4,000 - Samsoche Sampson, Grand Rapids, Itasca, award will fund the creation of a touring exhibit of paintings and prints inspired by traditional Native American dance styles.

$4,000 - Sam Zimmerman, Duluth, St. Louis, funding will support the creation ofGiiwedino-Manidoog / Spirits of the Northanew collection of work that will celebrate and provide resources for larger community to learn about the Ojibwe star constellations and teachings. Works will be shown at the Johnson Heritage Post Art Gallery, Grand Marais, MN for the 2023 Dark Skies Festival, November 2023-December 2023

$3,375 - Marybeth Garmoe, Grand Marais, Cook, grant will provide resources to explore unique artistic broom handles through the use of various textures and materials. The brooms will be presented in a show titled “Tactile” to be featured at Johnson Heritage Post Art Gallery in Grand Marais, MN.

$4,000 - Maryam Khaleghiyazdi, Duluth, St. Louis, funding will cover the expenses of creating two interactive textile illustration projects that will narrate the stories of immigrants in the United States.

$4,000 - Mary Plaster, Duluth, St. Louis, grant award will support the filming of the artist’s first marionette show, The Forgotten Forest, for online viewing. A public performance is scheduled in Duluth at Zeitgeist Arts during DASN on the afternoon of Nov. 5th, 2022.

$4,000 - Deborah Marcero, Duluth, St. Louis, funding will support the writing and illustrating of a new children’s book featuring a modern fairy tale style story.

$4,000 - Christine Marcotte, Deer River, Itasca, grant award will support the Everyone Has a Story project in which the artist will work closely with eight older adults in the rural community of Deer River who want to share their stories and/or personal history but are unable to document it themselves. These stories will be collected into individual manuscripts to be shared.

$4,000 - Augustin Ganley, Cloquet, Carlton, grant award will support an evening of walking cinema: seven original short films, each about walking as survival in Cloquet. The audience will walk from story to story, screen to screen, indoors and outdoors, down Avenue C in Cloquet's old West End. The screenings will be followed by a live Q&A with the subjects of the stories in Common Ground Coffee. Afterward, the films will be gifted to the Fond du Lac and Carleton County Historical Societies.

$4,000 - Ashley Hise, Duluth, St. Louis, funding will support the creation of a body of work that explores the combination of stoneware/porcelain sculptural vessels with ones made of wild clay. Since these clay bodies require different firing styles, these pieces would be made of multiple, separate components that would be assembled as one to create several installation pieces. This work will be shown in a solo exhibition at the Edge Center for the Arts in Bigfork, MN in June 2023.

$4,000 - Ann Klefstad, Duluth, St. Louis, funding will support the creation of a sculptural bench made of concrete and bronze components featuring life-sized animal. This will find a public home somewhere in Duluth.

$4,000 - Alexa Carson, Duluth, St. Louis, funding will support the creation ofworksthat will expand a collection of paintings that exhibit a journey of reclaiming the power and beauty of life in a female body from the grip of the patriarchal, dominant culture. This project will culminate in a show, “Reclaiming” at the DAI.

Established Regional Artist Grant Award Winners - July 2022

The Established Regional Artist Grant Review Panel recommends that $8,000 in
McKnight funding be awarded to the following artists:

Adam Swanson, Cloquet, Carlton, funding will support Importance Of Pollinators, ten research informed paintings about pollinators, audio descriptions for the visually impaired, and an exhibit at the Duluth Art Institute.

Diona Johnson, Duluth, St. Louis, award will be used to coordinate and put on a night of performances and entertainment that celebrate the LGBTQIA2S+ population in a safe and supportive space.

Greg Mueller, Lutsen, Cook, funds will support the creation of a large scale public sculpture integrating re-claimed bike elements along the Gitchi Gami State Bike Trail.

Leah Yellowbird, Grand Rapids, Itasca, funding will support the creation of a collection of pieces that incorporate beadwork, painting, and quilling with the introduction of leather work and combines these materials and mediums in new ways. This collection will be on display in the Giinawind Creative Space at MacRostie Art Center and the artist will host an 8-week class on decorating a hat using the artist’s techniques making the art more accessible to a diverse audience.

Matthew Baxley, Grand Marais, Cook, award will be used to support the creation of a short documentary film documenting how members of the LGBTQ2+ community are creating safe spaces in the outdoors and to inspire others to do the same.

Samuel Miltich, Grand Rapids, Itasca, funding will support transforming “TheImprovised Life,” a journey of mental illness and recovery for a 4-piece band, into a solo presentation which will be premiered at a free community concert at Kiesler Wellness Center, which hosted the original "The Improvised Life" program in 2016.

NEA-ARP Operating Support Grant Award Winners - June 2022

$7,500 - Aitkin County Friends of the Arts, Aitkin, Aitkin

$7,500 - Armory Arts and Music Center,Duluth, St. Louis

$7,500 - Citizens for Backus/AB, International Falls, Koochiching

$7,500 - County Seat Theater Company, Cloquet, Carlton

$7,500 - Ely Folk School, Ely, St. Louis

$7,500 - Ely's Historic State Theater, Ely, St. Louis

$7,500 - Grand Rapids Players, Grand Rapids, Itasca

$7,500 - Itasca Orchestra and Strings Program, Grand Rapids, Itasca

$7,500 - Lyric Center for the Arts, Virginia, St. Louis

$7,500 - Mesabi Symphony Orchestra, Virginia, St. Louis

$7,500 - Nordic Center, Duluth, St. Louis

$7,500 - Northern Lakes Arts Association, Ely, St. Louis

$7,500 - Oldenburg Arts and Cultural Community, Carlton, Carlton

$7,500 - PrøveCollective, Duluth, St. Louis

$7,500 - Tofte Lake Center, Ely, St. Louis

$7,500 - Twin Ports Choral Project, Duluth, St. Louis

NEA-ARP Working Artist Grant Award Winners - June 2022

$2,500 - Serenity Crego, Hibbing, St. Louis

$2,500 - Sarah Krueger, Duluth, St. Louis

$2,500 - SamuelMiltich, Grand Rapids, Itasca

$2,500 - Rachel Klesser, Grand Marais, Cook

$2,500 - Nelia Harper, Duluth, St. Louis

$2,500 - Leah Yellowbird, Grand Rapids, Itasca

$2,500 - Keith Hopkins, Duluth, St. Louis

$2,500 - Jordan Sundberg, Duluth, St. Louis

$2,500 - Jayne Richards, Grand Marais, Cook

$2,500 - Donovan Dahmen, GrandPortage, Cook

$2,500 - Dawn LaPointe, Hermantown, St. Louis

$2,500 - Cory Coffman, Duluth, St. Louis

$2,500 - Christopher Crego, Hibbing, St. Louis

$2,500 - Charles Wagner, Hibbing, St. Louis

$2,500 - Brooke Anderson, Barnum, Carlton

$2,500 - Bodhi Werner, Duluth, St. Louis

$2,000 - Barbara Hall, Ely, St. Louis

$2,500 - Adam McCauley, Duluth, St. Louis