Arts Learning Grant
Arts Learning Grant
Traditional Crafts Community Workshop Series in Downtown Duluth.
Tara Makinen: Executive Director of Itasca Orchestra and Strings, musician; Moira Villiard: visual artist, Cultural Programming Coordinator at American Indian Community Housing Organization; Amber Burns: choreographer, dancer, actor, middle school art teacher; Margaret Holmes: visual artist, poet, and former Children’s Theatre employee; Tammy Mattonen: visual artists, co-founder of Crescendo Youth Orchestra; Kayla Aubid: Native American craft artist, writer, employee at MacRostie Art Center; Ariana Daniel: mixed media artist, arts instructor; Kathy Neff: musician, Director, Fine Arts Academy at the University of Minnesota-Duluth; Ron Piercy: jeweler, gallery owner; Emily Swanson: arts administrator at Oldenburg Arts and Cultural Community; Christina Nohre: writer and arts advocate.
Amber Burns: choreographer, dancer, actor, middle school art teacher; Tammy Mattonen: visual artist, co-founder of Crescendo Youth Orchestra; Ariana Daniel: mixed media artist, arts instructor; Kathy Neff: musician, Director, Fine Arts Academy at the University of Minnesota Duluth; Amy Varsek: Education Director, Duluth Art Institute; Kendra Carlson: writing and theater instructor, University of Minnesota Duluth; David Marty: former director of the Reif Performing Arts Center, Grand Rapids.
ACHF Arts Access ACHF Arts Education ACHF Cultural Heritage
My goal is for community members to be introduced to traditional ways of working, and to learn about how different skills and crafts interrelate and come together. I want to invite workshop participants to an open and collaborative environment where they are guaranteed to be introduced to something new, build relationships with other community members, and leave with the inspiration and confidence to make something with their hands. Several assessment strategies will be employed to evaluate the success of this project. Observational, oral, and written evaluations will determine if participants are enjoying themselves, learning new skills, and becoming more confident in their educational activity. If these questions are largely answered with “yes” then I will consider the workshops successful. Using this information I will be able to determine if the workshops have indeed achieved my desired goals of introducing learners to new skills and inspiring them to continue making creative work with confidence.
We successfully held educational workshops at no cost to participants centered around traditional handicraft and the many activities involved in wooden boat building. Participants effectively learned many new skills. We built up a new network of creative friends and volunteers. We were able to create welcoming space for a diverse group. We successfully engaged community members lacking financial means to pay for similar opportunities offered elsewhere. We increased our own skills, particularly in teaching and developing educational programing.