Congrats Grant Recipients!
Artist Access Grant
Robert Earl Wildwood, Duluth, St. Louis, funding will support the creation of and sharing of new poetry.
Rachel Poynter, Grand Marais, Cook, funding will support the writing of “I am the North,” a fantasy fiction novel inspired by northern Minnesota.
Paul Lawrence, Virginia, St. Louis, funding will support recording and production of an album of original folk music titled "Taiwan Winter."
Patrick DeGeest, Duluth, St. Louis, funding will support a series of stand-up comedy shows, one in each county of the Arrowhead Region.
Elizabeth Chatelain, Hibbing, St. Louis, funding will support the creation of LØVSET’S MANOEUVRE, a feature-length fiction film that explores codependency through the lens of a middle-aged home healthcare nurse living in Minnesota.
Eleanor P Tillmans, Bigfork, Itasca, funding will support time to explore three mediums (clay, fiber, watercolor) to present a new perspective symbolic of our reliance on these resources.
Diane Levar, Grand Rapids, Itasca, funding will support the preparation for the artist’s first solo exhibition at the MacRostie Art Center in Grand Rapids.
Chuck Olsen, Tofte, Cook, funding will support the artist as they capture and share photographs from three specific locations in Superior National Forest over the course of four seasons, all informed by phenology.
Amanda McElray Hunter, Duluth, St. Louis, funding will allow the artist to develop and offer accessible arts instructional videos on their new website.
NEA-ARP Working Artist Project Grant
Patrick DeGeest, Duluth, St. Louis
Cassandra Quinn, Duluth, St. Louis
Darin Bergsven, Duluth, St. Louis
Jesse Switters, Duluth, St. Louis
Andy Frye, Duluth. St. Louis
Natalija Walbridge, Duluth, St. Louis
Mary Plaster, Duluth, St. Louis
Alexandra Blust, Grand Marais, Cook
Robert Hinkel, Duluth, St. Louis
Lindsay Swan, Cloquet, Carlton
Craig Blacklock, Moose Lake, Carlton
Robert Earl Wildwood, Duluth, St. Louis
Elizabeth Chatelain, Hibbing, St. Louis
Alison Aune, Duluth, St. Louis
Anna Marie Friesen, Duluth, St. Louis
Corey McCauley, Duluth, St. Louis
Candace LaCosse, Duluth, St. Louis
Nikki Shull, Mizpah, Koochiching
Ellen Sandbeck, Duluth, St. Louis
Mary Casanova, International Falls, Koochiching
Kristen Kaas, Duluth, St. Louis
Individual Artist Project Grant
Annmarie Geniusz, Duluth, St. Louis, funding will support the creation of four separate chalk murals at four different Duluth parks. Murals topics will reflect each park using information gathered from local historians.
Blake Thomas, Duluth, St. Louis, grant award will be used to support "Take It With You - Season 7: A Fairy Tale" an all original live radio theater production; performed as 4 separate 60-minute episodes in the Teatro Zuccone (Zeitgeist), and released as audio podcasts.
Darin Bergsven, Duluth, St. Louis, funding will support the 2023-2024 Coffee and Guitar series featuring 11 guest episodes of Coffee & Guitar. Each season features 11 featured guest guitar players from across the Minnesota Northwoods
Ellen Sandbeck, Duluth, St. Louis, funding will support research and work time to develop “As Long As The Rivers Shall Flow," an exploration of major rivers, featuring some of their endemic species, including endangered and recently extinct ones through large, multi-layered, multicolor papercuts (27 x 39) about each of the following rivers: Yangtze, Mekong, Nile, Ganges, and Amazon.
Emily Koch, Orr, St. Louis, grant award will be used to create a series of portraits after starting with an open call asking folks to answer this prompt: “Have you ever felt unsafe in public space on account of visible queerness?” Anyone who has experienced this feeling will be considered as a portrait model.
Jordan Sundberg, Duluth, St. Louis, funding will support the creation of cover illustration and nine, fully illustrated, two-page spreads, telling the story of how we can play outside no matter what the weather is for a new picture book.
Leah Yellowbird, Grand Rapids, Itasca, funding will support interactive studio time in MacRostie Art Center’s new Giinawind Creative Space, which is a community gathering space, gallery, and venue that is highlighting Native art and artists. The artist will work on projects, show work, and interact with the daily visitors to the space.
Lucas Anderson, Duluth, St. Louis, grant funding will support the planning and execution of the “Craft Connections” event highlighting the artist’s recent works and those of other creators along the Craft Connector bike trail in Duluth.
Magali Johnston-Viens, Duluth, St. Louis, funding will support the non-traditional ballet Renters Insurance. Performed outdoors, the show expresses a day fraught with anticipation, which does not go as expected, and ends in disappointment. Then through dance, the disappointment is resolved.
Marc Gartman, Duluth, St. Louis, funding will support “Eulogy” a musical tribute to Mimi Parker, ten original songs to be recorded, released, and then performed live at Sacred Heart Music Center November 7th, 2023.
Nan Onkka, Grand Marais, Cook, funding will support “Above and Below the Horizon” a series of eight woodcut prints inspired by the sky and water of Lake Superior.
Natalija Walbridge, Duluth, St. Louis, funding will support “Celebrating Nature through Fabric Collage,” the creation of a series of 5-6 fabric collages, inspired by the biodiversity of our local environment. Then the artist will develop 3 video demonstrations to teach people how to create fabric art journals.
Arts & Cultural Heritage Grant
Jesse Switters, Duluth, St. Louis, funding will be used to develop a 24 page comic book about a hero that recovers stolen indigenous artifacts and cultural items. This comic will highlight some key issues surrounding cultural appropriation, preservation of language, and the importance of returning cultural items back to the communities that they were taken from. This will give me the opportunity to share the process of making a comic. I look forward to participating in events organized by AICHO in Duluth as well as organizing educational events for aspiring artists and illustrators.
Maija Stillday, Duluth, St. Louis, funding will support regalia making classes with youth. The artist will take small classes of 3-4 youth at a time, provide their materials, and help them form a vision and create. If they don’t know how to dance, participants will have the opportunity to learn from the artist and teachers along the way, elders, singers, and especially dancers.
Nate Johnson, Northome, Itasca, funds will support classes teaching the art of traditionally brain tanning hides with a focus on educating local indigenous community members in the practice of tanning a buffalo and elk skin. We will use traditional tools, brains, and smoke to tan hides from beginning to end with a dedicated group of 12 learners over the course of two extended weekends (6 days). This class will be free for participants, and will focus on training selected, motivated individuals so that they can carry forward the tradition in the future. Participants will be selected through personal invitation, drawing on people who have requested this workshop, as well as recruitment through various indigenous organizations, including Indigenous Environmental Network, Leech Lake Education, and regional tribal colleges. Classes will be held at the Rail River Folk School in Bemidji, MN.
Thomas Woytko, Duluth, St. Louis, funding will support activities for Jazz Appreciation Month every Tuesday at local venues. The Jazz Combo (Andy Peterson Quartet, Analise Levesque Trio, Randy Lee Quartet, Pink Marlena) will play a set and host an open jam session. The following Friday a Local Venue will host the Concert night. The concert night will consist of three bands which includes a local school big band.
Northwoods Young Writers (formally Camp Atsokan), Ely, St. Louis, funding will support writing retreat sessions for teen girls. There will be up to 12 campers at each session and two local authors will be hired to facilitate smaller group and individual meetings. The goal of this project is to create a future in which young women from rural Minnesota know how to express their thoughts in writing and support each other in the creative process and become articulate adults.
