Organization Grants Awarded
Organizational Grants Awarded FY 2022
ART PROJECT GRANT
ARAC GRANTED ART PROJECT FUNDING TO THE FOLLOWING ORGANIZATIONS ON November 18, 2021:
$5,000 AP11021T - Animal Allies Humane Society, Duluth, St. Louis, funding will support a production of "Go, Dog, Go!", the musical based on the book by P.D. Eastman with the help of Duluth artists.
$4,900 AP21021M - Itasca Orchestra and Strings Program, Grand Rapids, Itasca, funding will support an orchestra concert titled Highlights of 30 Years with Keith Swanson on Saturday, May 21st at the Reif Performing Arts Center in Grand Rapids, MN.
$5,000 AP31021M - Mesabi Symphony Orchestra, Virginia, St. Louis, funding will support A Musical Jubilee, which will conclude the 2021-2022 season with two performances in Virginia and Moose Lake.
$5,000 AP41021A - Oldenburg Arts and Cultural Community, Carlton, Carlton, grant funding will support the Honey Bee Festival, a two day music, art, dance, poetry, food, gardening, and beekeeping festival which will be held in Carlton on the grounds of the Historic Oldenburg House on August 5-6, 2022.
ARTS LEARNING GRANT
ARAC GRANTED ARTS LEARNING FUNDING TO THE FOLLOWING ORGANIZATIONS ON November 18, 2021:
$3,750 ALO11021A -The College of St. Scholastica, Duluth, St. Louis, funding will be used to support a workshop and lecture series with digital media artist Daniel Benoit.
$4,700 ALI21021C - Serenity Schoonover, Duluth, St. Louis, funding will support Kid’s Clay Camp for youth ages 10-13 years old, held at the Lincoln Park Duluth Art institute location.
$5,000 ALO31021C - Oldenburg Arts and Cultural Community, Carlton, Carlton, funding will support a “Bee Friendly Arts Camp” wherein students will learn through arts creation.
$5,000 ALI51021C - Melissa Wickwire, Grand Marais, Cook, funding will support a community afterschool clay club for youth to learn about ceramic arts.
$5,000 ALI61021M - Julian Kitto, Cloquet, Carlton, grant funding will support a youth drum circle group with teachings of music, tradition, and language.
$5,000 ALI71021C - Emily Derke, Grand Marais, Cook, funding will support a traditional basketry mentorship program.
RURAL AND COMMUNITY ART PROJECT GRANT
ARAC GRANTED RURAL AND COMMUNITY ART PROJECT FUNDING TO THE FOLLOWING ORGANIZATIONS ON November 18, 2021:
$1,500 RC11021F - Ely Area Television, Ely, St. Louis, funding will support the production of, and showing, of a holiday variety show. This will be shown on both television and at Ely’s Historic State Theater.
$5,000 RC21021M - Faith United Church of Christ, International Falls, Koochiching, funding will support two acoustic folk music concerts organized by Open Range Concerts which will include national and local artists.
$5,000 RC31021T - Good Harbor Hill Players, Grand Marais, Cook, grant will support the 2022 Summer Solstice Pageant, a series of public workshops culminating in a public performance, with live music and puppetry, of relevance and significance to the Grand Marais community.
$2,460 RC51021T - Lake Superior Community Theatre, Silver Bay, Lake, funding will support the production of The Diary of Anne Frank, March 24-April 3, 2022, on the William M. Kelley High School stage in Silver Bay, Minnesota.
$5,000 RC61021M - Minnesota State Old Time Fiddle Championships, Virginia, St. Louis, funding will support the 40th annual Minnesota State Old Time Fiddle Championships held in early August, 2022, at the Merritt School Auditorium in Mountain Iron, MN.
OPERATING SUPPORT GRANT
ARAC GRANTED OPERATING SUPPORT FUNDING TO THE FOLLOWING ORGANIZATIONS ON October 21, 2021:
OS11021A - Downtown Duluth Arts Collective, Duluth, St. Louis
OS21021M - Homegrown Music Festival, Duluth, St. Louis
OS31021T - Icebox Radio Theater, International Falls, Koochiching
OS41021M - Itasca Orchestra and Strings, Grand Rapids, Itasca
OS51021F - Northern Film Alliance, Duluth, St. Louis
OS61021M - Rainy Lake Community Orchestra, International Falls, Koochiching
OSR61021A - Lyric Center for the Arts, Virginia, St. Louis
OSR71021M - Mesabi Symphony Orchestra, Virginia, St. Louis
OSR21021T - County Seat Theater, Cloquet, Carlton
OSR111021A - Tofte Lake Center, Ely, St. Louis
OSR31021A - Edge Center for the Arts, Bigfork, Itasca
OSR11021A - Armory Arts and Music, Center, Duluth, St. Louis
OSR91021A - Oldenburg Arts and Cultural Community, Carlton, Carlton
OS101020T - Lyric Opera of the North, Duluth, St. Louis
OSR101021A - Prøve Collective, Duluth, St. Louis
OSR51021T - Grand Marais Playhouse, Grand Marais, Cook
OSR81021M - North Shore Music Association, Grand Marais, Cook
OSR121021M - Twin Ports Wind Ensemble, Duluth, St. Louis
OSR41021A - Ely Winter Festival, Ely, St. Louis
Organizational Grants Awarded FY 2021
RURAL AND COMMUNITY ART PROJECT GRANT
ARAC GRANTED RURAL AND COMMUNITY ART PROJECT FUNDING TO THE FOLLOWING ORGANIZATIONS ON May 20, 2021:
The Creativity Tank, Grand Rapids, Itasca, funding will support the “I Can See Myself” mural project in collaboration with Creativity Tank artists and at-risk youth residents of North Homes.
Good Harbor Hill Players, Grand Marais, Cook, funding will support the 2021 Winter Solstice shadow puppet performance with live music. 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.
City of Grand Marais, Grand Marais, Cook, grant will support DETOURS which invites people to share stories of detours in their lives that brought unexpected gifts. Snippets from stories will be printed onto street signs and installed on city signposts.
Boys and Girls Clubs of Grand Rapids and Greenway, Grand Rapids, Itasca, funding will support live musical performances as a part of the Day for Kids event.
ART PROJECT GRANT
ARAC GRANTED ART PROJECT FUNDING TO THE FOLLOWING ORGANIZATIONS ON May 20, 2021:
AP1421F - Northern Film Alliance, Duluth, St. Louis, $5,000
AP2421A - Duluth All Souls Night, Duluth, St. Louis, $5,000
AP3421T - Wise Fool Shakespeare, Duluth, St. Louis, $5,000
AP4421V - Life House, Inc., Duluth, St. Louis, $5,000
AP7421A - Oldenburg Arts and Cultural Community, Carlton, Carlton, $5,000
AP8421T - Lyric Opera of the North, Duluth, St. Louis, $5,000
AP10421A - Magic Smelt Puppet Troupe, Duluth, St. Louis, $5,000
AP11421T - Grand Rapids Players, Grand Rapids, Itasca, $5,000
ARTS LEARNING GRANT
ARAC GRANTED ARTS LEARNING FUNDING TO THE FOLLOWING ORGANIZATIONS ON May 20, 2021:
Amy Lucas-Peroceski, Chisholm, St. Louis, funding will support an environmental awareness summer art camp to be hosted for 3-5 days each in Calumet, Marble, Biwabik, and Coleraine public parks.
Itasca Orchestra and Strings Program, Grand Rapids, Itasca, funding will support an inclusive music camp by Third Coast Chamber Collective (TCCC) for the Itasca Orchestra and Strings Program (IOSP) in partnership with the MacRostie Art Center, Reif Theater Ed and Reif Dance. The camp will take place at the Reif Center in Grand Rapids August 22nd-27th. A chamber music festival by TCCC and guest performers will be held concurrently to provide context and inspiration.
Kiesler Wellness Center, Grand Rapids, Itasca, grant funding will be used to expand art programming with a series of monthly classes with local artists.
Lyric Center for the Arts, Virginia, St. Louis, funding will support the Lyric Center Youth Arts program an ongoing after school arts education and outlet option for youth in grades K-12
Nelia Harper, Grand Rapids, Itasca, grant funds will support a summer art camp for youth and families residing at the Steve O'Neil Apartments in Duluth, with support from the Damiano Center. This summer camp will take place over nine weeks, starting mid-June and ending late August. One afternoon each week will be devoted to art, art education, and developing artistic skills with youth and families ages 5 to 17.
Oldenburg Arts and Cultural Community, Carlton, Carlton, funding will support the Bringing Joy Poetry Project’s community poetry e-book created in collaboration with the Minnesota Author Project: Communities Create program.
Serenity Schoonover, Duluth, St. Louis, grant funding will support the Clay Kismet Workshop which will consist of 6 hand-built pottery and paint workshops for 12 youth, age 10-13, at the Duluth Art Institute (DAI), in Lincoln Park.
ARTS AND CULTURAL HERITAGE GRANT
ARAC GRANTED ARTS AND CULTURAL HERITAGE FUNDING TO THE FOLLOWING ORGANIZATIONS ON March 18, 2021:
Briand Morrison, Grand Portage, Cook, grant will find the telling of the Anishinaabe story of the Seven Grandfathers and the Little Boy visually through imagery presented on the web in a new digital art medium that the artist has developed. This way it will be readily accessible to the community at large.
Jeremy Gardner, Cloquet, Carlton, grant funding will support the creation of fourteen musical tracks each with seven local BIPOC artists. At a community level this project will elevate the voices of the participating BIPOC artists in the region, building a professional body of work that will be available on individual streaming platforms, and promoted by DanSan Creatives LLC. This is an opportunity to expand the professional body of work by BIPOC musicians and poets in our region using the region’s main network of explicitly BIPOC creatives.
American Indian Community Housing Organization, Duluth, St. Louis, funding will support moving the third year of the American Indian Community Housing Organizations Indigenous Film Series to a virtual platform due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The series will showcase five feature films and two film shorts created by Anishinaabe artists. These films will be shown one per month beginning in April via the Zeitgeist virtual platform with the help of the Duluth Superior Film Festival. In addition to the films, applicants will host Q & A sessions with some of the filmmakers with a focus on local Anishinaabe filmmakers Khayman Goodsky and Jonathan Thunder. Khayman Goodsky will host the entire series.
Northern Lights Music Festival, Aurora, St. Louis, grant award will support a multipronged project that will include a music camp for musically gifted children from nearby Bois Forte, Fond du lac, Red Lake and Leech Lake Reserviations; a 3-lecture series at B'nai Abraham Cultural Center about Iron Range history beginning with Dr. Anton Treuer discussing Ojibwe settlement in northern Minnesota; a lecture by Dr. Marilyn Chiat to discuss the Jewish Community on the Iron Range; and Pamela Brunfelt discussing how the various immigrant ethnicities shaped the Range; and two art exhibits with Ojibwe themes.
OPERATING SUPPORT GRANT
ARAC GRANTED OPERATING SUPPORT FUNDING TO THE FOLLOWING ORGANIZATIONS ON October 15, 2020:
OS11020A - Lyric Center for the Arts, Virginia, St. Louis
OS21020M - Mesabi Symphony Orchestra, Virginia, St. Louis
OS31020T - County Seat Theater, Cloquet, Carlton
OS41020A - Tofte Lake Center, Ely, St. Louis
OS51020A - Edge Center for the Arts, Bigfork, Itasca
OS61020M - Armory Arts and Music, Center, Duluth, St. Louis
OS81020A - Oldenburg Arts and Cultural Community, Carlton, Carlton
OS101020T - Lyric Opera of the North, Duluth, St. Louis
OS121020A - Prøve Collective, Duluth, St. Louis
OS131020T - Grand Marais Playhouse, Grand Marais, Cook
OS141020M - North Shore Music Association, Grand Marais, Cook
OS151020M - Twin Ports Wind Ensemble, Duluth, St. Louis
OS161020A - Ely Winter Festival, Ely, St. Louis
OSR11020M - Itasca Orchestra and Strings Program, Grand Rapids, Itasca
OSR21020A - Duluth Downtown Arts Collaborative, Duluth, St. Louis
Organizational Grants Awarded FY 2020
ORGANIZATIONAL STABILITY GRANT
ARAC GRANTED ORGANIZATIONAL STABILITY FUNDING TO THE FOLLOWING ORGANIZATIONS ON May 21, 2020:
Armory Arts and Music Center, Duluth, St. Louis, funding will be used to assist in paying for upgrades to out-of-date computer systems by purchasing new Digital Audio Workstations.
County Seat Theater Company, Cloquet, Carlton, funding will be used to explore new revenue streams such as virtual performances, outdoor performances, and any other format seen as viable during this time. These funds will also pay general operating expenses during this time.
Downtown Duluth Arts Collective, Duluth, St. Louis, funding will support virtual programming such as Virtual Happy Hours hosted by local artists/gallerists about how artists/arts groups can survive and thrive in this challenging economy; Virtual Arts Walk with live-streamed artist interviews/Q&A, demonstrations, and local musician’s accompaniments; and “live” events during the June 26 Arts Walk that will be stored online and through social media platforms. Funds will cover staff hours to facilitate programmatic changes.
Ely Folk School, Ely, St. Louis, funding will be used to support free online demos and paid classes as well as technological upgrades for these and for staff time.
Ely Winter Festival, Ely, St. Louis, funding will support operating expenses.
Grand Marais Playhouse, Grand Marais, Cook, grant funds would assist with the transition to a virtual method of fundraising, educational classes, and possible live stream events for immediate income producing activities. Purchases would include a camera with stand, lighting and sound equipment for video performance, software for recording and editing, and iPad for editing and educational use and the remaining for rent, royalties and scripts.
Lake Superior Community Theater, Silver Bay, Lake, funds will be used to pay for four artist stipends in play direction, music direction and choreography plus out-of-pocket expenses for two leaders.
Lyric Opera of the North, Duluth, St. Louis, funding will be used to support artistic staff during the shutdown, including efforts to develop online offerings.
Mesabi Symphony Orchestra, Virginia, St. Louis, funding will be used to retain the organization’s artistic director and conductor.
North Shore Music Association, Grand Marais, Cook, funding will be used to support staffing costs during the shutdown.
Oldenburg Arts and Cultural Community, Carlton, Carlton, funding will be used to move programming to a virtual format and promote the new virtual offerings.
RURAL AND COMMUNITY ART PROJECT GRANT
ARAC GRANTED RURAL AND COMMUNITY ART PROJECT FUNDING TO THE FOLLOWING ORGANIZATIONS ON May 21, 2020:
Ely Winter Festival, Ely, St. Louis, funding will support the 2021 Ely Winter Festival which will take place February 4-14, 2021. Over the initial three days of the Festival, teams of 2-3 artists will work together to carve each of these blocks into a giant work of art to delight and inspire residents and visitors of all ages.
Schroeder Area Historical Society, Schroeder, Cook, funding will support the 2021 exhibit for the Cross River Heritage Center (CRHC) museum art gallery, which will be on display beginning May 21, 2021, through October 23, 2021. The exhibit will showcase the Canadian Mountie paintings created by artist Arnold Friberg, available from the University of Minnesota-Duluth's Tweed Museum of Art (Tweed), and a complementary exhibit on Ojibwe-Anishinaabe art and culture that is to be developed in collaboration with the Grand Portage Band of Lake Superior Chippewa and others.
Icebox Radio Theater, International Falls, Koochiching, funding will support the Fall 2020 Icebox Radio Theater Series. This series will be, for the first time, be in a serial format.
Chisholm Downtown Revitalization Project, Chisholm, St. Louis, the Chisholm Downtown Revitalization Group in partnership with the Chisholm Public Library, will lead a community driven art process to develop artistic wraps for 2 streetlight utility boxes along Lake Street. The designs will be submitted by local artists with direct ties to the local community via a call for artists. Final designs will be chosen by a committee of downtown stakeholders. The chosen designs will be transformed into artistic utility wraps (similar to car wraps) to encase the utilities.
USDA Forest Service, Bovey, Itasca, funding will support an effort by the Marcell Research Center (MRC) to invite three artists to spend a residency in the onsite dorms during the fall 2020 – summer of 2021.
Rainy Lake Community Orchestra, International Falls, Koochiching, grant award will support a string camp for all ages and abilities beginning Sunday, August 16 and culminating in a double concert on Friday evening, August 21 at the Ranier Hall. The camp will take place at Camp Idlewood located on beautiful Rainy Lake, with most rehearsals held at the Municipal Hall in Ranier, and also the Dungeon in Backus Community Center and Zion Lutheran Church.
Lyric Center for the Arts, Virginia, St. Louis, funding will support Northern Stage Works, working with U of M theater professor Luverne Seifert to expand the script of 'The Last Train to Winnipeg' into a full length play to be performed at the Lyric in the spring of 2021. Northern Stage Works, the community theatre company at the Lyric Center for the Arts, owns the rights to this play, which has an original running time of about 30 to 45 minutes in length.
ART PROJECT GRANT
ARAC GRANTED ART PROJECT FUNDING TO THE FOLLOWING ORGANIZATIONS ON May 21, 2020:
Matinee Musicale, Duluth, St. Louis,
Lyric Opera of the North, Duluth, St. Louis,
Magic Smelt Puppet Troupe, Duluth, St. Louis,
AICHO, Duluth, St. Louis,
Itasca Orchestra and Strings, Grand Rapids, Itasca,
Edge Center for the Arts, Bigfork, Itasca,
North Shore Music Association, Grand Marais, Cook,
Citizens for Backus/AB, International Falls, Koochiching,
ARTS LEARNING GRANT
ARAC GRANTED ARTS LEARNING FUNDING TO THE FOLLOWING ORGANIZATIONS ON May 21, 2020:
Ely Folk School, Ely, St. Louis, funding will support a series of stained glass classes with scholarships made available to participants 12 to 22 years of age, lower income individuals, and members of the Northern Lights Clubhouse, which serves individuals with chronic mental illness.
Emily Derke, Northome, Itasca, funds will support a series of two basketry workshops using locally harvested birch bark. The workshops will be open to the public, advertised widely across the northland and will take place at Rail River Folk School in Bemidji, MN. Each workshop will use different techniques and traditions, and will emphasize the process and material preparation side of working with bark. These will be open to the general public at the cost of $30 per workshop. Sliding scale or full “scholarship” options will also be made available.
Nelia Harper, Duluth,St. Louis, grant award will support a Summer Art Program in collaboration with Damiano Center in Duluth, MN. The core of the program is to provide art education and art activities in conjunction with and in addition to the “Kids' Kitchen” program at Damiano Center.
North Shore Music Association, Grand Marais, Cook, funding will support The North Shore Music Association's 30th Annual Bluegrass Masters Weekend, featuring workshops and a concert by master mandolinist Joe K. Walsh and friends. The weekend will take place at Lutsen Resort in Lutsen, MN, from November 6-8, 2020.
Oldenburg Arts and Cultural Community, Carlton, Carlton, funding will support the collaboration creation of a Bee Friendly Arts curriculum by Reach Mentoring, County Seat Theater, and the Oldenburg Arts and Cultural Community, to be piloted during a summer arts camp.
Prove Collective, Duluth, St. Louis, funding will support the development of a new series of community life drawing classes that will be offered monthly to area artists. Life Drawing/Drawing for Life will celebrate body diversity and inclusivity through its employment of body-diverse models, while offering artists the opportunity to improve their skills in a series of free and accessible life drawing open sessions starting in September of 2020.A public lecture on the representation of bodies and the nude in Western art and popular culture will also be held, highlighting contemporary artists who are focusing on diversity, inclusion, acceptance and empathy in their works as well.
The College of St. Scholastica, Duluth, St. Louis, funding will support St. Scholastica bringing Wing Young Huie to campus in the fall to teach a masterclass for art/photography students from local colleges, titled “Chalk Talk,” which is supported in part by the Duluth Superior Area Community Foundation. They will also host an exhibit/reception on campus, which will be free and open to the public. The exhibit will feature Huie’s works alongside the student-produced “Chalk Talk” portraits, in which the students will compose a personal statement that addresses the divide between individual reality and public perception.
ARTS AND CULTURAL HERITAGE GRANT
ARAC GRANTED ARTS AND CULTURAL HERITAGE FUNDING TO THE FOLLOWING ORGANIZATIONS ON March 26, 2020:
AICHO, Duluth, St. Louis, organization will use funding to plan and host the Beadwork Art Exhibition that will feature the work of up to 30 American Indian beadwork artists in the region, Canada and nation-wide in an exhibition entitled, “Manidoomenins: Still Beading After 10,000 Years." The majority of the beaders will be Anishinaabe and this exhibition will be curated by Fond du Lac Ojibwe artist Wendy Savage.
Daniel Oyinloye, Duluth, St. Louis, funding will support the Mixtape Vol. 6.0 project, which aims to engage and connect creatives exploring storytelling, reading, literacy discussions, music and music production. All of which will be done at the Lincoln Park Resource Center. This series was created to foster safe spaces using music as a technique for self reflection, cultural practice and education. The project will take place October through November for seven weeks with creatives. On November 28th the creatives will be featured in a live event at Zeitgeist Center for The Arts.
Moira Villiard, Duluth, St. Louis, funding will support the collaborative design of an immersive series of murals that will outline the contemporary and past history of Indigenous people in Duluth, MN. The murals will exist in a large maze of walls near the Lakewalk that connect the newly renamed Gitchi Ode Akiing Park and Downtown Duluth with the lower Canal Park tourism peninsula through a series of ramps and staircases. The lead artist will recruit other emerging Indigenous artists to assist in designing the various walls and then host public events where everyone is welcome to help fill in the designs.
Nina Holz, Duluth, St. Louis, funding will support a series of six to eight workshops held at a local community center where the applicant will demonstrate and teach participants how to create Native American Art. Some of the activities of the workshop are: dream catchers, medicine bags, shields, and rattles/music makers.
ARTS ECOSYSTEM GRANT
ARAC GRANTED ARTS ECOSYSTEM FUNDING TO THE FOLLOWING ORGANIZATIONS ON November 21, 2019:
Downtown Duluth Arts Collaborative, Duluth, St. Louis, funding will be used to support collaborative efforts to host four downtown Duluth art walks with combined planning, marketing, and promotion by artists and organizations involved.
Keiko Williams (Donald G. Gardner Humanities Trust), Ely, St. Louis, grant award will support meetings of the collaborative group ARTS in Ely to meet, brainstorm ideas, build bridges and reconnect with common goals that better support each other.
RURAL AND COMMUNITY ART PROJECT GRANT
ARAC GRANTED RURAL AND COMMUNITY ART PROJECT FUNDING TO THE FOLLOWING ORGANIZATIONS ON November 21, 2019:
Minnesota State Old Time Fiddle Championships, Virginia, St. Louis, funding will support the 39th Minnesota State Old Time Fiddle Championships Saturday, August 1, 2020 at the Merritt School in Mountain Iron.
Itasca Orchestra and Strings Program, Grand Rapids, Itasca, funding will support a public concert of the Itasca Symphony Orchestra featuring piano soloist Alexander Sandor performing Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No 2. in the Wilcox Theater of the Reif Performing Art Center in Grand Rapids on Saturday May 16th, 2020. The concert will also include Georg Enesco’s Romanian Rhapsody No. 1 and The Rob Roy Overture by Hector Berlioz.
Icebox Radio Theater, International Falls, Koochiching, funding will support the 2020 season of Icebox Radio Theater, which will produce six original audio plays. Each play will be an original story and script, and will be recorded and released monthly through the medium of podcasting, and added to the playlist of the IBRT’s streaming radio station.
Grand Rapids and Itasca Mountain Bicycling Association, Grand Rapids, Itasca, funding will a community-driven effort to install a key piece of public art at the Tioga Recreation Area. The sculpture will be a dynamic piece that pays tribute to outdoor recreation and will be inspired by the site. Students from the Itasca Community College Engineering Program will work with artist Aaron Squadroni to design and create the piece.
Good Harbor Hill Players, Grand Marais, Cook, funding will support the Good Harbor Hill Players 2019 Winter Solstice Shadow Puppet Show an original shadow puppet performance with live music for the occasion of the winter solstice, December 21st, 2019. 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.
Friends of Gail, Ely, St. Louis, grant award will support the performance of the play, The Quiltmaker’s Gift, in Ely’s Historic State Theater on January 24-26, 2020. 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.
Ely Winter Festival, Ely, St. Louis, grant funding will support the Snow Sculpture Symposium as a part of the 2020 Ely Winter Festival.
ART PROJECT GRANT
ARAC GRANTED ART PROJECT FUNDING TO THE FOLLOWING ORGANIZATIONS ON November 21, 2019:
Clayton Jackson McGhie Memorial Inc., Duluth, St. Louis, funding will support centennial year events of Duluth lynching tragedy. Events will open with a concert presenting rare performances of works by William Grant Still and the world premiere of a trio CJMM has commissioned from composer/conductor Jean Perrault. The concert takes place on Sunday, March 8, 2020 in Mitchell Auditorium as part of the College of St. Scholastica’s Cambiata Concert Series.
Grand Marais Playhouse, Grand Marais, Cook, funding will support the opening of the Grand Marais Playhouse’s 49th season with Cinderella Stories, a community youth production of featuring students grades 3-8 who live in Cook County.
Lake Superior Chamber Orchestra, Duluth, St. Louis, grant award will support Lake Superior Chamber Orchestra’s concert on July 18, 2020, which will spotlight the talents of four present or former Duluthians: composer Bradley Bombardier, poet Marion Thompson Van Steenwyk, composer Mina Kaiser, and mezzo Sarah Knot.
Matinee Musicale, Duluth, St. Louis, grant funding will support events with the highly acclaimed ensemble The Dallas Brass in a concert performance at Weber Music Hall and three free outreach events for students and the community throughout the region on March 2-3, 2020.
Mesabi Community Orchestra, Virginia, St. Louis, grant funding will support the 2020 concert season, “A Season of Masterworks” with performances around the Iron Range in February and April.
North Shore Music Association, Grand Marais, Cook, funding will be used to host the Lake Wobegon Brass Band, a 30-member brass ensemble, that will hold a concert at the Arrowhead Center for the Arts in Grand Marais, MN.
Oldenburg Arts and Cultural Community, Carlton, Carlton, grant funding will support the 2020 Cookin’ at the O jazz events.
Spirit Lake Poetry Series, Duluth, St. Louis, funding will support the 23rd Spirit Lake Poetry Series, high quality poetry readings in Duluth featuring both nationally known and regional poets with new books on the market.
ARTS LEARNING GRANT
ARAC GRANTED ARTS LEARNING FUNDING TO THE FOLLOWING ORGANIZATIONS ON November 21, 2019:
The College of St. Scholastica, Duluth, St. Louis, grant will provide funding for Proctor High School (PHS) and The College of St. Scholastica (CSS) to work together to create a community mural at PHS under the tutelage of nationally known Indigenous Artist Gregg Deal and CSS Art Professor Paul LaJeunesse.
Tamarack Dance Association, Duluth, St. Louis, funding will support the creation of additional activities by the Tamarack Dance Association. Hosted at the Duluth Folk School, new activities will include: monthly folk dance workshops; quarterly Saturday afternoon family dances; monthly slow jams; and monthly old-time jam after the slow jam.
Duluth Children’s Museum, Duluth, St. Louis, funding will support hosting an artist in residence as part of the Arts in STEAM Program. This year’s artist is graphic design artist and UMD professor, David Short. The residency will take place for the entire month of February, providing several opportunities for children to interact with him. He will be in residency most weekends as well as some weekdays. David will also be featured during workshops and camps hosted by the museum.
Lake Superior Youth Chorus, Duluth, St. Louis, funding will support the 2019 Lake Superior Youth Chorus Honor Choir. The honor choir brings together approximately 120 students in grades four through six from around the region along with LSYC singers and directors for a memorable day of choral music-making. After an intensive day of combined rehearsal and music learning activities, the day concludes with a concert.
-Mesabi Community Orchestra, Virginia, St. Louis, funding will support a string quartet of musicians from Mesabi Symphony Orchestra, accompanied by the conductor and an experienced teacher, to visit fourth grade classrooms on the Iron Range to present a lesson plan titled “Beethoven’s Musical Miracles.” Visits will take place shortly before MSO’s April concert, which students will receive free tickets to.
North Shore Music Association, Grand Marais, Cook, award will support three days in February with musician and theater artist Dylan Fresco who will present performances and youth workshops in Grand Marais, MN. His two-day residency at Great Expectations School will begin on Feb. 20, with a morning performance of his one-person musical play “Welcoming the Stranger,” a tapestry of true stories about refugees, family, and identity. On the third day Dylan will perform for the public, at the Arrowhead Center for the Arts, his one-man musical play “The Holocaust and Me,” the story of how he came to realize the impact of the Holocaust on his family and his own life, despite his being born decades after it happened.
OPERATING SUPPORT GRANT
ARAC GRANTED OPERATING SUPPORT FUNDING TO THE FOLLOWING ORGANIZATIONS ON October 17, 2019:
OS11019M - Duluth Superior Symphony Orchestra, Duluth, St. Louis
OS21019M - Itasca Orchestra and Strings Program, Grand Rapids, Itasca
OS31019M - Lake Superior Youth Chorus, Duluth, St. Louis
OS41019A - Duluth Downtown Arts Collaborative, Duluth, St. Louis
Organizational Grants Awarded FY 2019
Art Project Grant Recipients
ARAC GRANTED ART PROJECT FUNDING TO THE FOLLOWING ORGANIZATIONS ON MARCH 21, 2019:
Citizens for Backus, International Falls, Koochiching, $4,230:
Funding will support the production of “The Little Prince” by the Borealis Bards, the community theatre troupe of Backus Community Center located in International Falls, Minnesota.
Duluth Superior Film Festival, Duluth, St. Louis, $5,000:
Award will support the 2019 Duluth Superior Film Festival, the 10th annual festival of music, film and art. DSFF is to take place across the Arrowhead Region on May 29-June 2, 2019. The festival presents upwards of 70 films that will include international feature films, American independents, documentaries, and premieres from regional filmmakers.
Edge Center for the Arts, Bigfork, Itasca, $2,780:
Funding will support an exhibit and demonstration call Horizons: Glass by Jon Offutt. The project will include an exhibit of Offutt’s glasswork and two days of exterior glassblowing demonstrations open to the public.
Grand Rapids Players, Grand Rapids, Itasca, $5,000
Award will support the 13th annual Summer Kids Camp hosted by the Grand Rapids Players. This camp offers youth opportunities to become skillful in theatrical performance as well as taking on roles backstage, behind-the-scenes, and in the tech booth along with set construction and costume organizing. Camp ends with public performances of Mary Poppins, Jr. and The Legend of Sleepy Hollow on July 12th and 13th.
Lyric Opera of the North, Duluth, St. Louis, $5,000
Funding will support the Lyric Opera of the North presentation of Donizetti’s comic opera, L’elisir d’amore (The Elixir of Love), June 14 and 16., at the Marshall Performing Arts Center. Sung in Italian with English supertitles the performance will have a full chorus and orchestra, conducted by Dirk Meyer.
Matinee Musicale, Duluth, St. Louis, $5,000
Award will support the presentation of cellist Lynn Harrell along with the pianist Zlata Chochieva in a concert at Mitchell Auditorium on October 8, 2019. The artists will also present separate masterclasses for area music students. Prior to the concert, on October 6, 2019, Matinee Musicale will present a free public outreach event at the Burns Wellness Center Auditorium at the College of St. Scholastica. This event will feature a screening of the film “Cello” starring Mr. Harrell and will be followed by a Q&A session with Mr. Harrell.
North Shore Music Association, Grand Marais, Cook, $5,000
Funding will support a series of events featuring Samite, a world-renowned flutist, singer, and kalimba, marimba, and litungu player. He will perform his one-man play “Resilience,” which combines Samite’s music, storytelling, film, and photo images on October 10th. On October 11th, Samite will talk and perform for middle school students studying global geography and history at Great Expectations School in Grand Marais. That evening, he will offer a talk on the theme of healing through music at the Cook County Community Center or Sawtooth Mountain Clinic.
Prøve Collective, Duluth, St. Louis, $4,490
Funding will support an exhibition (tentatively entitled X Factors) centered on the visual, linguistic, and cultural currency of the “X” as a potent symbol of intersectionality and social change. It will consist of work by local/regional artists as well as artists from throughout the United States. Curated by Prøve board member Jamie Ratliff, this exhibition will take place from Oct. 4-Nov. 8, 2019, with an opening reception on Friday, Oct. 4. During the month that the exhibition is on view, Prøve will hold a roundtable discussion and an artist-led workshop related to the exhibit’s topic.
Wise Fool Shakespeare, Duluth, St. Louis, $5,000
Award will support the performance of William Shakespeare’s “Hamlet” at Lincoln Park Middle School in October of 2019. This production will be set in the traditional Renaissance time period.
Duluth All Souls Night, Duluth, St. Louis, $3,500
Funding will support the 2019 Duluth All Souls Night event. This is an annual, intergenerational, multicultural, fall arts festival at the Historic Depot: lamenting death, celebrating life, and nurturing creativity from all.
Arts Learning Grant Recipients
ARAC GRANTED ARTS LEARNING FUNDING TO THE FOLLOWING INDIVIDUALS AND ORGANIZATIONS ON MARCH 21, 2019:
Amy Lucas-Peroceski, Chisholm, St. Louis, $2,500:
Funding will support a series of twelve high-quality arts education workshops for students in the Chisholm, Hibbing, and Buhl area as a part of the summer recreation program supported by the City of Chisholm, Chisholm Community Education and Balkan Township.
Minnesota Museum of Mining, Chisholm, St. Louis, $5,000:
Funding will support the 2019 Iron Pour at the MN Museum of Mining. The project will take place outdoors Chisholm on Friday – Saturday, June 7-8, 2019. Igneous Metal Arts, a group dedicated to demonstrating and teaching the art of metal casting, will lead youth and adult participants through the experience of designing and carving a sand mold, observe the pouring process and the cooling and cleaning that takes place before they can take their finished piece home.
Emily Derke, Dora Lake, Itasca, $5,000:
Award will support a series of five basketry workshop. The series will include cedar bark, willow, black ash, and two different birch bark workshops. Students will learn to fully prepare their material and will learn a variety of weaving techniques while working in each medium. The weaving portion of the classes will be held at Rail River Folk School in Bemidji Minnesota, a great space that has a large room and outdoor space available to rent. The harvest portions of the classes will take place throughout Itasca County.
Oldenburg Arts and Cultural Community, Carlton, Carlton, $5,000
Funding will support the planning and presentation a series of educational workshops that explore the weaving of Native and African American musical traditions in the evolution of jazz to high school and post-secondary music educators and students in the region.
Greg Mueller, Lutsen, Cook, $2,440
Grant funding will support the North Shore Community Pour, an interactive, learning experience in cast metal sculpture for 2019 Grand Marais Arts Festival attendees. Participants will create sand molds and watch as they are filled with molten aluminum which, when cooled will create a piece that they can take home.
Prove Collective, Duluth, St. Louis, $3,640
Funding will support artist-led workshops with youth in local mentoring programs. We provide our gallery space, art materials, instruction, and dinner for mentors and mentees to come and create individual paintings, drawings, collages, etc. that will be gathered and published in a Zine at the end of the year. Artwork will be displayed in an art exhibition in the gallery in January 2019.
Karen McTavish, Duluth, St. Louis, $5,000
Funding will support weekly quilting workshops and open sewing sessions at the artist’s studio April 4, 2019 through December 19, 2019. Sessions will cover basic sewing, design, piecing, quilting and binding.
Duluth Community School Collaborative, Duluth, St. Louis, $5,000
Funding will support the 2019 Hillside Youth Theatre program “The Oddest Sea.” The 6-week program will take place at Myers-Wilkins Elementary School and Lincoln Park Middle School and youth will have the opportunity to experience high-quality arts instruction in acting, singing, dance, set and costume construction, and performance. The program will be led by a team of experienced artistic directors and technicians.
Reflections Dance Company, Ely, St. Louis, $5,000
Award will support the Reflections Dance Company as they host three workshops bringing guest instructors to Ely to work with dancers along with community members who are interested. The workshops will be held at the Vermilion Fine Arts Theater and Tofte Lake Center in the spring and early summer. The evening showcase will be recorded for later use by the Reflections Dance Company as part of their summer production.
Citizens for Backus, International Falls, Koochiching, $5,000
Funding will support Summer Arts Week, a collection of 10 multi-disciplinary art classes taught by artists and school district teachers from the local community and Minneapolis. The project offers opportunity to area youth aged 5 and older to experience affordable, high-quality art-centered learning experiences not otherwise offered in this remote location. The week of classes will conclude with an art exhibition to allow students to display their creations and demonstrate their newly acquired artistic skills.
Rural and Community Art Project
ARAC GRANTED ARTS LEARNING FUNDING TO THE FOLLOWING ORGANIZATIONS ON MARCH 21, 2019:
VFW Post 1720, Grand Rapids, Itasca, $5,000:
Funding will support Jazz at the VFW, a 2019-2020 series of high-quality jazz music at Grand Rapids VFW Post 1720 hosted by Sam Miltich and Friends and featuring special guest artists.
Reflections Dance Company, Ely, St. Louis, $5,000:
Grant will support “Looking Skyward,” a dance production from the Reflections Dance Company centered around the theme of “sky” it will feature live music, original dances, video, photography, and poetry along with an art exhibit during the week of the show.
Overburden/Overlook Project, Virginia, St. Louis, $4,850:
Funding will support six Felt Here workshops at existing cultural venues, farmer’s markets, and public events across the Iron Range from spring to fall of 2019, roughly one per month. The core impact of the proposed project is the creation of a storytelling space and art-making experience where people can have conversations about complex social and economic issues, without pressure to choose sides or take a political position.
MN State Old Time Fiddle Championships, Virginia, St. Louis, $5,000
Award will support the 2019 Minnesota State Old Time Fiddle Championships, August 3, 2019 in Mt. Iron, MN. The event will be open to fiddlers, their accompanists and other stringed instruments from all US states and all Canadian provinces. There are 5 age-specific categories and a non-age specific category for non-fiddle string instrumentalists.
Itasca County Television/Two Rivers Video, Grand Rapids, Itasca, $4,410
Funding will support the production of 47 North, a video series of original songwriters and performers for local public access television, on YouTube and as a video resumes for performers.
Icebox Radio Theater, International Falls, Koochiching, $1,900
Funding will support Icebox Radio Theater’s travel to Minneapolis in April of 2019 to perform ‘The Fall of the House of Usher & Other Stories’ before a live audience at the Bryant Lake Bowl.
Good Harbor Hill Players, Grand Marais, Cook, $5,000
Grant award will support the community development, planning, creation, and staging of the Summer Solstice Pageant in Grand Marias.
Cloquet Middle School, Cloquet, Carlton, $5,000
Funding will support a program for 6th graders at Cloquet Middle School that will explore traditional and contemporary Ojibwe design with local artist, Sarah Agaton Howes. Students will develop digital floral designs to be integrated into collaborative, laser engraved birch bilingual signage for the school.
Rainy Lake Community Orchestra, International Falls, Koochiching, $5,000
Grant funding will support a week-long string orchestra workshop, August 11-16 2019 at the Community Hall in Ranier, MN. The Rainy Lake Orchestra will perform in concert with the workshop attendees. Approximately 40 musicians, including 10 children and 15 mentors and guest artists will attend. The camp has been running over 35 years
Rural and Community Art Project Grant Recipients
ARAC GRANTED $23,930 IN RURAL AND COMMUNITY ART PROJECT FUNDING TO THE FOLLOWING ORGANIZATIONS ON SEPTEMBER 20, 2018:
Ely ArtWalk, Ely, St. Louis, $5,000
Support to fund the 2019 Ely ArtWalk, to be held February 7-17, 2019. The EAW is designed to reach out to an underserved group, the artists who make their homes in the Ely area, by bringing their work to a wide audience and giving them an opportunity to sell their work.
Good Harbor Hill Players, Grand Marais, Cook, $5,000
Support to fund the Good Harbor Hills Players 2018 Winter Solstice Shadow Puppet performance, an original shadow puppet performance with live music for the occasion of the winter solstice, December 21st, 2018.
Itasca Choral Society/Itasca Community Chorus, Grand Rapids, Itasca, $3,930
Support to fund The Wonder of Christmas, a concert of Choral music, performed by the Itasca Community Chorus along with a local handbell choir and a choir consisting of youth from the Grand Rapids Boys and Girls Club.
VFW Post 1720, Grand Rapids, Itasca, $5,000
Support to fund Barnabas 22, a project to raise awareness about veteran suicide and the role of canine companions in supporting veteran well-being. VFW Post 1720 will work with Grand Rapids artist Mary Corwin to create an exhibit of paintings that are portraits of canine companions to Minnesota veterans.
Steger Wilderness Center, Ely, St. Louis,$5,000
Support to fund “Preserving the Artistic Legacy of the Steger Wilderness Center,” an effort to produce a website that will publicly host more than 50 years of archival media documenting and empowering the folk-trade community of the Iron Range.
Arts Learning Grant Recipients
ARAC GRANTED ARTS LEARNING FUNDING TO THE FOLLOWING ORGANIZATIONS ON SEPTEMBER 20, 2018:
Duluth Children’s Museum, Duluth, St. Louis, $5,000
Support to fund hosting an artist in residence for the fourth year in a row. This year’s artist Dr. Paula Gudmundson a professional flutist. She will both demonstrate her musicianship and teach children different musical techniques alongside an interactive exhibit for children.
Justin Anderson, Duluth, St. Louis, $5,000
Support to fund a series of workshops that will explore artistic expression and understanding through learning traditional craft skills with community participants.
Lake Superior Chamber Orchestra, Duluth, St. Louis, $1,500
Support to fund the Quartet Project, an intensive summer chamber music program for approximately 20 to 24 middle and high school string students.
Lake Superior Youth Chorus, Duluth, St. Louis, $5,000
Support to fund the Lake Superior Youth Chorus’ Outreach program, Prelude, which invites students in grades 2-5 for a once per week after-school music program for 8 weeks each semester
Melissa Wickwire, Grand Marais, Cook, $5,000
Support to fund Clay Club, a free after-school opportunity for youth to learn, grow, express themselves, and connect with others through the complex and creative process of ceramic arts.
Mesabi Symphony Orchestra, Virginia, St. Louis, $3,370
Funds will be used to send an ensemble of MSO musicians accompanied by retired teacher and MSO board president, Lynn Evenson, and MSO executive director, Rena Hartman, to schools in northern Saint Louis County. During these visits, Lynn and Rena will act out a story derived from Ibsen’s Peer Gynt, while MSO musicians provide sounds from Edvard Greig’s accompanying music to enhance the performance. They will work through the story showing how music can enhance the spoken word
North Shore Music Association, Grand Marais, Cook, $5,000
Support to fund the 28th Annual Bluegrass Masters Weekend at Lutsen Resort. Three days of small-group jamming around the lodge, one full day of vocal workshops with vocalist Valerie Smith, and a concert from Valerie Smith and her band Liberty Pike.
Prøve Collective, Duluth, St. Louis, $4,230
Support to fund an on-going series of educational workshops, led by Duluth-based artists and art instructors in order to better fulfill the organization’s primary mission
The College of St. Scholastica, Duluth, St. Louis, $5,000
Support to fund an artistic and educational collaboration between The College of St.Scholastica and North Shore Community School. Teaching artists, Sarah Brokke Erickson and Adam Swanson will guide NSCS and CSS Art students through the process of creating a collaborative mural.
Art Project Grant Recipients
ARAC GRANTED $38,330 IN ART PROJECT FUNDING TO THE FOLLOWING ORGANIZATIONS ON SEPTEMBER 20, 2018:
Damiano Center, Duluth, St. Louis, $3,900
Support to fund the restoration, framing, and display of a painting by Joe Geshick, titled “The Old People,” as well as the framing and display of numerous photos by Quinn Holte in the Damiano Center Community Kitchen.
Duluth All Souls Night, Duluth, St. Louis, $5,000
Support to fund the tenth annual Duluth All Souls Night, Saturday, November 10, beginning at 5:00 p.m. All Souls Night is an annual Twin Ports fall arts festival held in and around the west side Duluth Depot and Public Library since 2008.
Matinee Musicale, Duluth, St. Louis, $5,000
Funding will be used to invite the Harlem Quartet to participate in two community outreach events and perform a concert.
Mesabi Symphony Orchestra, Virginia, St. Louis, $5,000
Support to fund the Spring performance of Suite No. 1 from Edvard Grieg’s “Peer Gynt,” and an original story written and performed by the Twin Cities storytelling group Impossible Salt.
North Shore Music Association, Grand Marais, Cook, $4,990
Support to fund Kansas City Blues, R&B, and Boogie-Woogie singer and keyboardist Kelley Hunt as she performs in concert with her band at the Arrowhead Center for the Arts in Grand Marais, MN on July 13, 2019.
Spirit Lake Poetry Series, Duluth, St. Louis, $5,000
Support to fund the Spirit Lake Poetry Series as it sponsors five poetry readings during its 2018-19 season.
WDSE-WRPT, Duluth, St. Louis, $4,440
Funding will be used to commission a piece of artwork by Ojibwe artist Carl Gawboy centered around storytelling.
Wise Fool Shakespeare, Duluth, St. Louis, $5,000
Support to fund the production of “Wiley and the Hairy Man,” a children’s play that will be performed March 1-10, 2019 at Lincoln Park Middle School.
Two-Year Operating Support Grant Recipients
ARAC GRANTED $67,910 IN TWO-YEAR OPERATING SUPPORT FUNDING TO THE FOLLOWING ORGANIZATIONS ON JANUARY 18, 2018:
Duluth Art Institute, Duluth, St. Louis, $15,000
Support to help general operating support will be used to continue offering exhibits, classes, residencies, festivals and studio space, providing community connections, exhibition space, and opportunities for art making and art exploration, engagement and learning, nurturing all facets of the visual arts in the Twin Ports.
Grand Marais Playhouse, Grand Marais, Cook: $15,000
Support to fund the creation of a four-year transitional plan that will include clarified board and staff roles, evaluate programming, create a new staffing structure, and develop a succession plan.
Lyric Opera of the North, Duluth, St. Louis, $15,000
Support to be used for administrative capacity building and salary support for the General Artistic Director.
Matinee Musicale, Duluth, St. Louis, $9,320
Support to be utilized as part of a capacity-building effort including increasing visibility, adding on online ticketing option, and obtaining and reviewing real-time financial and marketing information.
Northwoods Friends of the Arts, Cook, St. Louis, $13,590
Support to be used in part to create a fundraising/marketing plan, upgrade computer systems, and subsidize the additional rental cost.
Quick Start Grant Recipients
ARAC GRANTED QUICK START FUNDING TO THE FOLLOWING ORGANIZATIONS IN FY18:
Aitkin Community Education, Aitkin, Aitkin, $800
Support for summer theater camp for teens and young adults.
Borealis Art Guild, Hibbing, St. Louis, $1000
Support to purchase a dedicated computer for its recently acquired large format scanner and printer.
Gary-New Duluth Development Alliance, Duluth, St. Louis, $1000
Support to present “Music from the Alps to the Adriatic” at the new performance pavilion in the Gary-New Duluth Recreation Area.
Mesabi Symphony Orchestra, Virginia, St. Louis, $1000
To work with a web designer to update and upgrade the MSO’s website.
Minnesota Museum of Mining, Chisholm, St. Louis, $1000
Support for upcoming ‘Iron Pour on the Iron Range’ event.
Nordic Center, Duluth, St. Louis, $1000
Support for a concert with Frigg (from Finland) at Sacred Heart Music Center in Duluth.
Oldenburg Arts & Cultural Community, Carlton, Carlton, $1000
Support to work with a web designer to create a website for the organization.
Spirit Lake Poetry Series, Duluth, St. Louis, $1000
Support to host a reading with former US Poet Laureate, Natasha Tretheway.
