Art Project Grant

Project Details by Fiscal Year
2019 Fiscal Year Funding Amount
$3,125
Fund Source
Arts & Cultural Heritage Fund
Recipient
Mesabi Community Orchestra AKA Mesabi Symphony Orchestra
Recipient Type
Non-Profit Business/Entity
Status
Completed
Start Date
February 2019
End Date
June 2019
Activity Type
Grants/Contracts
Counties Affected
St. Louis
St. Louis
Project Overview

Art Project Grant

Project Details

Fables and Folklore featuring Impossible Salt! A performance of Suite No. One from Grieg's "Peer Gynt", and original story played by actors from Impossible Salt.

Competitive Grant Making Body
Board Members and Qualifications

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.

Advisory Group Members and Qualifications

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; 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.

Conflict of Interest Disclosed
No
Legal Citation / Subdivision
Laws of Minnesota 2017 Regular Session, chapter 91, article 4, section 2, subdivision 3
Appropriation Language

ACHF Arts Access ACHF Arts Education ACHF Cultural Heritage

2019 Fiscal Year Funding Amount
$3,125
Other Funds Leveraged
$9,733
Direct expenses
$12,858
Administration costs
$360
Number of full time equivalents funded
0.00
Proposed Measurable Outcome(s)

The goal of this project is to maximize audience reach and potential participation by the local community. Mesabi Symphony Orchestra will present a themed concert, Fables and Folklore, featuring a selection of music from various composers who have used traditional folk stories to inform their music. Specifically, Mesabi Symphony Orchestra will play Suite No. one from Grieg's "Peer Gynt', and following that actors from the Minneapolis storytelling troupe Impossible Salt will act out an original tale based loosely on Ibsen's story of Peer Gynt. The concert will take place on April 27, 2019 in Goodman Auditorium in Virginia, Minnesota. There will be a single performance. The measure of success in this project will be a visible increase in ticket sales and audience size. In addition Mesabi Community Orchestra will administer a large audience survey at the end of the performance in order to track interest and desire to return for more Mesabi Community Orchestra entertainment. Special attention will be paid to demographics so as to better gauge how to serve our potential audience members in future. Finally, Mesabi Community Orchestra will conduct a full survey of the orchestra members and participating actors to assess whether the performance was engaging, challenging, and fun for them. This will allow us to program more suitable material in future, and will ensure that our players are dedicated to continuing to perform with us.

Measurable Outcome(s)

The goal of this project was to maximize audience reach and potential participation by the local community. Evaluation was to include comparison of audience size to past performances, and surveys of audience members, musicians, and actors. Actual audience size for the performance was 157, including 55 students. This is up slightly from the prior year average attendance in Virginia of 152. However, the audience was younger than the prior year average. Thirty-five percent of audience members for this performance were students, compared to an average of 21% over the prior year. The surveys were not conducted.

Proposed Outcomes Achieved
achieved most of the proposed outcomes
Source of Additional Funds

Other,local or private

Recipient Board Members
Lynn Evenson, Janeen Carey, Hannah Sipola, Emily Ekstrand-Brummer, Benjamin Nilles, Sheila Wilcox, Jim Wachter, Angela Byram
Project Manager
First Name
Rena
Last Name
Hartman
Organization Name
Mesabi Community Orchestra AKA Mesabi Symphony Orchestra
Street Address
PO Box 600
City
Virginia
State
MN
Zip Code
55792
Phone
(646) 267-6934
Email
karjack@frontiernet.net
Administered By
Administered by
Location

Griggs Midway Building, Suite 304,
540 Fairview Avenue North,
St. Paul, MN 55104

Phone
(651) 539-2650 or toll-free (800) 866-2787
Email the Agency
Location

Griggs Midway Building, Suite 304,
540 Fairview Avenue North,
St. Paul, MN 55104

Phone
(651) 539-2650 or toll-free (800) 866-2787
Email the Agency