Congratulations Grant Recipients!
May 2022
Arts Learning Grant
$5,000 - Alyssa Swanson, Cloquet, Carlton, grant funding will support a series of art classes for all ages to be held at the Great Lakes Aquarium. The classes will uniquely pair art and science, artistically challenging the concepts of abstraction and realism and scientifically revealing the mysteries found within water. The participants will leave with artwork inspired by their observations at the Aquarium.
$5,000 - Angela Hoffman, Duluth, St. Louis, funding will be used to host an Art Camp with a focus on ceramics for youth who utilize the Neighborhood Youth Services Program through Lifehouse. A variety of art mediums, including, but not limited to, ceramics, painting, drawing, and multi-media will be taught, including giving each medium historical context.
$5,000 - Camp Atsokan for Young Writers, International Falls, Koochiching, funding will support the third annual Camp Atsokan retreat for teen girl writers. This summer we plan to include International Falls students and surrounding areas for a total of up to 40 girls. Two five-day sessions will be hosted keeping student/leader ratios under 8 for small group activities.
$5,000 - Denfeld Drama, Duluth, St. Louis, funding will support a weeklong summer stagecraft intensive in collaboration with the Lyric Opera of the North technical team and other local professional organizations. Students will participate in a week full of hands-on learning in each of the five areas of stagecraft. Students will learn about the tools of the trade from community experts and then use those skills in our upcoming Denfeld Productions.
$5,000 - Duluth Community School Collaborative. Duluth, St. Louis, grant award will support "Amplifying Youth Voice” this year’s Duluth Community School Collaborative summer program. The program will be offered for 6 weeks at Myers- Wilkins Elementary School. 30-40 youth will participate in daily rotations led by teaching artists, exploring self-expression using a variety of visual arts mediums, and theatrical games and practices building to create a unique performance, written and performed by the students themselves. The students will also participate in making sets and costumes for the performances, and get hands-on tours behind the scenes at two local performing arts venues to learn about theater tech & production.
$3,125 - Ely Folk School, Ely, St. Louis, grant funding will support weekly Kids Makers Mornings during the summer months of 2022 at the Ely Folk School. These sessions will be held weekly on Fridays starting the first week of June and running through the end of August for a total of 13 classes. Each week we will offer a unique creative project. These will be accessible to a wide range of youth attendees and will range from gelli plate printing, poetry, quilted bookmarks, foraging, making corn husk dolls, creating model canoes out of birchbark, and birchbark weaving.
$5,000 - Grand Rapids Players, Grand Rapids, Itasca, award will support Grand Rapids Players Summer Theatre Camp. This year the camp will be presenting Beauty and the Beast, JR. and Aliens VS. Cheerleaders with invitation going out to all kids finishing 1st grade and up. This three-week summer theatre intensive presents many elements of theatre, including performing. The team of directors coaches the participants from script-to-stage in approximately 40 hours culminating with 2 public performances on the mainstage of the Reif Performing Arts Center.
$5,000 - Itasca Orchestra and Strings Program, Grand Rapids, Itasca, grant funding will support an inclusive music camp for the Itasca Orchestra and Strings Program led by Third Coast Chamber Collective in partnership with MacRostie Art Center and the Reif Arts Center. The camp will take place at the Reif Center in Grand Rapids August 7-13th.
$5,000 - Sara Pajunen, Duluth, St. Louis, funding will support a workshop series titled The Nordic Music Workshop Series which will share the history, tunes, and cultural traditions of Nordic Europe with the Northland. The Series is open to both musicians and listeners with a curiosity about Finland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Iceland and Sapmi. Consisting of six 3-hour sessions, each workshop will focus on a different tune and history every installment. All events are held at the Nordic Center. In addition to the workshops, a tune book will be created with the Nordic Center, which will be available to all participants present and future - as well as community members.
Applications Recommended for Funding With Additional Funds
$5,000 - Darin Bergsven, Duluth, St. Louis, funding will support Northwoods Blues Licks, a series of ten 2-3 minute long guitar instructional videos made freely and publicly available online. Each video will feature a blues lick (melodic phrase used in blues improvisation) played by a past guest on Coffee & Guitar, a weekly livestream which hosts a guest guitar player from across the region each month. The video series and associated resources (printable downloads of notation and tablature, a blues in F play-along track/video for viewers to practice with) will be made freely and publicly available online.
$2,282 - Derek Bromme, Duluth, St. Louis, funding will be used to purchase materials and a new composition for the Lake Superior Low Brass Ensemble, a group of local students.
Art Project Grant
$3,500 - The College of St. Scholastica, Duluth, St. Louis, funding will support Joyann Parker’s musical tribute to Patsy Cline. In addition to performing a tribute, Joyann also speaks about Patsy’s life as one of the most influential vocalists of the 20th century. After the show, Joyann will provide a Q&A session with film, music, and theatre students in regards to the performing arts.
$5,000 - Northern Film Alliance, Duluth, St. Louis, grant funding will support the 12th annual Duluth Superior Film Festival. DSFF is to take place across the Arrowhead Region on Sept. 22-25 with a renewed focus on fostering regional filmmaking talent. The festival will present 60+ films focusing on subjects such as environmental issues, social justice, indigenous POV, family histories, and more. The festival will invite industry professionals (writers, producers, industry professionals) to travel to Duluth, participating as speakers and panelists on a variety of film and education topics.
$5,000 - Mesabi Symphony Orchestra, Virginia, St. Louis, funds will be used to offer two free concerts in a series titled "Voyage to Italy" These will take place on October 29 in Hibbing and October 30 in Virginia. Vocal soloists of professional stature, singing solos, duets and quartets, will perform opera excerpts with the MSO.
$5,000 - Matinee Musicale, Duluth, St. Louis, funding will support part of Matinee Musicale’s 2022-23 season including Jack Swanson, live in concert at Mitchell Auditorium on the campus of the College of St. Scholastica, Duluth, MN, on January 31, 2023. Matinee Musicale will also present virtually an emerging artist, pianist Kate Liu, in her debut recital in the Duluth area. Ms. Liu’s recital performance will be available to the public via the Matinee Musicale website and YouTube channel at the beginning of the 2022-23 season in October.
$5,000 - Grand Rapids Players, Grand Rapids, Itasca, grant funding will be used for the fall 2022 production of “Clue, On Stage!” at The Reif Performing Arts Center from September 30 through October 9.
$5,000 - Grand Marais Playhouse, Grand Marais, Cook, grant funding will be used to produce Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer Jr. as a community youth production in the fall of 2022 with two school matinees and six public performances including one Pay-what -you can performance.
$5,000 - Freshwater Dance Collective, Duluth, St. Louis, funding will support Dances on the Lakewalk 2022 which will feature local choreographers and dancers. The event will be held on July 8 and 9, 2022 at 7pm at Gichi-Ode'Akiing Park in Duluth.
$5,000 - Duluth Street Art Initiative, Duluth, St. Louis, grant award will support the creation of a multi-faceted mural on the outside wall of Lifehouse's new Imaginarium building in Downtown Duluth. This project will take place during Duluth's annual Sidewalk Days, in order to increase community participation and harness the vibrant energy that surrounds this annual event. DSA will hire fou professional local artists to paint the building and lead workshops with Lifehouse youth and Harbor City School art students. Students will be involved in the painting process and will have the opportunity to work alongside professional artists. The project will culminate in a community celebration with live music and food to celebrate the unveiling of the new mural.
$5,000 - Duluth All Souls Night, Duluth, St. Louis, grant funds will support the annual Duluth All Souls Night event on Saturday, November 5 with a traditional 6:30 ceremony, 7:00 procession, and 7:30 fire. Activities gather in the Historic Arts and Theater (HART) district downtown and proceed west on Superior St. to the public library pavilion. We animate our unique, inspiring, 17' tall marionette mascot, Max Skeleton, with other imaginative creations in a mock "funeral march for rotten ideas." ALL citizens are invited to safely/respectfully accompany us with Sara Sha bagpipes and Boys Back Home brass, then marvel at fiery Spin Collective with closing symbolic burning ceremony of model Guatemalan kite by Renan Cruz.
$5,000 - Crescendo Youth Orchestra, Hibbing, St. Louis, grant award will support the String Camp for grades 4-12 (or just graduated seniors). The camp will be at Camp Chicagami in Eveleth this year with overnight accommodations. The finalé concert will be at the Minnesota Discovery Center on June 16th at 6:30 pm in the amphitheater and will be Free and Open to the public.
$5,000 - Citizens for Backus/AB, International Falls, Koochiching, grant funding will support the Borealis Junior Bards community theater group as they present a full-length theatrical performance of J.M. Barrie’s Peter Pan for the historic Backus stage during the last weekend of October 2022. There will be three performances in total, with one occurring each day from October 28-October 30. Rehearsals and preparation for Peter Pan will begin two months prior to our performance date and we expect rehearsals to begin in August 2022.
Rural and Community Art Project
$1,340 - Art 'Round Town, Grand Marais, Cook, grant funding will be used to repair and preserve murals created throughout Grand Marais by Lyle Saethre.
$5,000 - Good Harbor Hill Players, Grand Marais, Cook, award will support the Winter Solstice Shadow Puppet Show 2022. Members of the public will be invited to join the core artists in designing and creating the shadow puppets, as well as participating in rehearsals and performing the show. Workshops will take place nightly for 10 days before the show.
$5,000 - Itasca County Agricultural Association, Grand Rapids, Itasca, funding will support arts programs at the 2022 Itasca County Fair.
$4,920 - Itasca County Windows into Watercolor, Grand Rapids, Itasca, funding will support quarterly watercolor groups at the MacRostie Art Center in Grand Rapids, MN. The project will include quarterly group sessions, professional critiques, and a group exhibition and is expected to primarily draw artists from the Itasca area.
$3,000 - Agate Encores Concert Series, Moose Lake, Carlton, funding will support the Agate Encores Community Concerts presentation of The Highland String Quartet in a public concert on Sunday, April 2, 2023, in the Moose Lake Community School auditorium.
$5,000 - Hibbing Farmers Market, Hibbing, St. Louis, grant award will support local musicians at the Hibbing Farmers Market on Saturdays through the summer and into September.
$5,000 - Friends of Gail, Ely, St. Louis, funding will support the production of the play, The Quiltmaker’s Gift, in Ely’s Historic State Theater on July 15-16-17, 2022. The play is based on the award-winning children’s book by the same title, which was written by Jeff Brumbeau and illustrated by Ely’s own Gail deMarcken.
$5,000 - Citizens for Backus/AB, International Falls, Koochiching, funding will support the 2022 Rainy Lake Community Orchestra Strings Camp for all ages and abilities beginning Sunday, August 14, and culminating in a concert on Friday evening, August 19, at the Community Hall in Ranier, Minnesota. There will be daily practices for the Sinfonia group, which is composed of musicians at the entry-level who are mentored by experienced musicians. A second practice session will be held daily for the experienced musicians. Youth and adult musicians are invited to participate.
$3,500 - Boys & Girls Clubs of Grand Rapids and Greenway, Grand Rapids, Itasca, funding will support the Boys & Girls Clubs Day for Kids Free Community Event a free music and arts event for the whole family. Its intent is to provide a high-quality creative experience from professional musicians and local artists.
$5,000 - Aitkin County Friends of the Arts, Aitkin, Aitkin, funding will support a finale concert by Jennifer Grimm called “Jennifer Grimm Sings Judy Garland" a tribute concert taking place in the historic Butler Building in Aitkin, MN. This will be the culmination of the "Ruby Red 100" a celebration of the 100th birthday of singer/actress Judy Garland festival.
$5,000 - Tamarack Art & Practice, Hovland, Cook, funding will support Tamarack Art & Practice as they present Minneapolis’ Fox & Beggar Theater with a free, all ages, public performance of their new show, “The Lonesome Spectacular!” The evening will open with an hour of storytelling, puppetry, and tea leaf reading from local artist Shannon CrossBear. Performed out of her iconic vardo wagon, Shannon’s storytelling combines Ojibwe history with contemporary insight, bringing iconoclastic and irreverent characters to life.
$5,000 - Grand Rapids Arts, Grand Rapids, Itasca, grant will support Grand Rapids Arts as they present a summer concert series during the First Friday Art Walk in downtown Grand Rapids. Four concerts will be held from June - September 2022 on the grounds of Old Central School, which is in the heart of downtown. These events will be free and open to the public and will feature local musicians performing in genres from jazz to folk to classical.
$5,000 - Reflections Dance Company, Ely, St. Louis, funding will support "Math In Motion", August 11-14, 2022, a dance performance featuring live music and math concepts brought to life through the movement of the performers. The show will incorporate projected images of video and photos to enhance the experience.
$3,500 - Finland Minnesota Historical Society, Finland, Lake, funding will support the Tori Music Festival an open marketplace that includes local artists, merchants, and demonstrations such as blacksmithing, fiber arts, basket making, spoon carving, candle making, broom making, and many others. The event takes place at the Finland Historic Site in Finland, MN on August 14th.
$5,000 - Goodman Farewell Concert Project, Mountain Iron, St. Louis, grant funds will support the Goodman Farewell Concert Project. Organizers will commission a multi-movement symphonic tone poem with voices to commemorate the final performance in Virginia High School's Goodman Auditorium.
Applications Recommended for Funding With Additional Funds
$5,000 - Friends of the Silver Bay Public Library, Silver Bay, Lake, funding will support of series of arts events at the Silver Bay Public Library including Thursday arts happy hours and once a month artist showcase events focused on live demonstrations for skills sharing.
