Region 2 Arts Council Season/Series Arts Support Grants Awarded
Region 2 Arts Council Awards $198,000 in Season/Series Arts Support Grants
The Region 2 Arts Council Board of Directors awarded $162,000.00 in Arts and Cultural Heritage Funds to 10 organizations following a community panel review of 16 Season/Series Arts Support Grant applications. Each awarded organization will offer two or more activities that benefit the people of Beltrami, Clearwater, Hubbard, Lake of the Woods, and/or Mahnomen counties. The funded arts activities must either be designed to remove barriers that audiences may have to accessing arts activities; develop knowledge, skills, and understanding of the arts for all ages; represent the diverse ethnic and cultural arts traditions in our state; or specifically be designed to build bridges between Minnesotans through arts and culture.
The Miikanan Gallery, an arts affiliate of Watermark Art Center in Bemidji, was awarded $18,000 to host weekly intercultural creative circles and offer workshops in woodland pottery, traditional hide tanning, quill boxes, leather mitten making and pine needle baskets.
The White Earth 4-H in Mahnomen, an arts affiliate of Regents of the University of Minnesota, was awarded $18,000 to provide youth and their families the opportunity to learn cultural arts with community experts in canoe building, basketry, and creation of artist portfolios using Ojibwe language, traditions, and nature as tools for creativity, pride, and cultural strength.
The Loon Country Arts Collective in Bemidji was awarded $18,000 to offer two series of arts classes, a monthly Make-and-Take activity titled Creative Cafe, and a mentorship opportunity geared towards young people titled Pathways to Art.
The Heartland Concert Association in Park Rapids was awarded $18,000 to expand its concert offerings with a multi-generational outreach to students and their parents and to place-bound seniors offering transportation opportunities.
The Bemidji Symphony Orchestra in Bemidji was awarded $18,000 to present three different styles of “pops” concerts, one focusing on holiday music, another on Irish music, and another exploring the music of soundtrack composer John Williams.
The Bagley Area Arts Collaborative in Bagley was awarded $18,000 to provide arts activities including art classes at Cornerstone assisted living facility, and classes open to the public in Batik, Colored Pencil, Mosaics, Moccasin Making, and Painting.
The Bemidji Community Theater in Bemidji was awarded $18,000 to pay stipends to support staff for 1 full length musical production, 3 nonmusical shows, one Christmas specialty show, and to pay for 4 interns and their mentors.
The Nemeth Art Center in Park Rapids was awarded $18,000 in funds to provide resources including studio space, materials, stipends, display, and promotions for a series of exhibitions of work by an artist in residence, a local artist, and visiting artists.
The City of Bemidji Recreation was awarded $12,150 to provide Kids in Theatre, Kids in Art (Visual Arts), Kids in Art (Fiber Arts), and After School Arts Programming in a mix of formats working with local artists and culture bearers.
The Lake of the Woods Art Guild in Baudette was awarded $5,850 to provide arts workshops in their rural community including a book Illustration and mixed media Workshop with Bemidji Illustrator Nicholas Jackson, and mixed media portrait on black watercolor paper workshop with Bagley artist Pam Edevold.
Region 2 Arts Council Season/Series Arts Support Grants are made possible by the voters of Minnesota thanks to a legislative appropriation from the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund.