Arts and Cultural Heritage
Arts and Cultural Heritage
They will present a concert in their Symphonic Series. The “Handel’s Messiah” concert will feature four vocal soloists and the Minnesota Valley Chorale, May 2019. The funds will be used for musician stipends, guest artists, publicity, and salaries.
Steve Davis: member of the Mankato Symphony Orchestra, member of the Minnesota State University/Community Orchestra, volunteer for Mankato Area Youth Symphony Orchestra, volunteer for New Ulm Suzuki School of Music; Denice Evers: retired teacher, volunteer with the Springfield Community Theater; Kristie Gaalswyk-Pomerenke: Martin County 4-H coordinator, former education coordinator at the Ordway Center for Performing Arts, board member for the Martin County Area Foundation, board member for the Fairmont Community Education; Karen Krause: visual artist, retired school counselor, art teacher, and a member and instructor at the Waseca Art Center; Margie Larson: visual artist, retired coordinator in the International Students Office at Minnesota State University Mankato; Charles Luedtke: retired college Professor of Music, New Ulm and member of the Sioux Trails Chapter, American Guild of Organists; Randy Mediger: retired principal, teacher, charter member of LeSueur Community Theater; Liz Miller: visual artist, college professor of Art at Minnesota State University Mankato; Lauren Shoemaker: music instructor at Saint Peter Public Schools; Dana Sikkila: visual artist, executive director of the 410 Project Gallery Mankato; Carol Soma: retired Language Arts teacher, volunteer with the Kee Civic Theatre; Dennis Van Moorlehem: retired teacher, volunteer on Sibley County Fair Board and community festivals.
Steve Davis: member of the Mankato Symphony Orchestra, member of the Minnesota State University/Community Orchestra, volunteer for Mankato Area Youth Symphony Orchestra, volunteer for New Ulm Suzuki School of Music; Denice Evers: retired teacher, volunteer with the Springfield Community Theater; Kristie Gaalswyk-Pomerenke: Martin County 4-H coordinator, former education coordinator at the Ordway Center for Performing Arts, board member for the Martin County Area Foundation, board member for the Fairmont Community Education; Karen Krause: visual artist, retired school counselor, retired art teacher, member and instructor at the Waseca Art Center; Margie Larson: visual artist, retired coordinator in the International Students Office at Minnesota State University Mankato; Charles Luedtke: retired college professor of Music, New Ulm and member of the Sioux Trails Chapter, American Guild of Organists; Randy Mediger: retired principal, retired teacher, charter member of LeSueur Community Theater; Liz Miller: visual artist, college professor of Art at Minnesota State University Mankato; Lauren Shoemaker: music instructor at Saint Peter Public Schools; Dana Sikkila: visual artist, executive director of the 410 Project Gallery in Mankato; Carol Soma: retired Language Arts teacher, volunteer with the Kee Civic Theatre; Dennis Van Moorlehem: retired teacher, volunteer on Sibley County Fair Board, volunteer for community festivals.
Prairie Lakes Regional Arts Council, Brenda Byron (507) 833-8721
ACHF Arts Access ACHF Arts Education ACHF Cultural Heritage
The number of Minnesotans who are able to participate in the arts increases. The quality, types and number of arts opportunities in our region, and the organizations or venues that offer them increases. Real or perceived barriers to arts participation and arts access are identified and addressed. New relationships with members of groups that have traditionally been underserved by the arts or by the applicant organization are built. The Executive Director will oversee the project evaluation. The plan is to use volunteers to distribute a survey at the performances, along with programs, and collect them at the end of each performance. The surveys will be tabulated to determine any trends or changes in participation. In addition to surveys, we find valuable information through talking to participants. We can talk with participants and ask questions about their experience to determine if goals are being met. We also analyze unsolicited feedback-thank you letters, phone calls, and posts on social media often provide a lot of information about a powerful concert experience. Many people post about their first visit to the Symphony and tag us so that we can see it.
The Director of Operations designed and disseminated the surveys at the performance with the help of two volunteers. They tabulated and shared findings with the board of directors at the following board meeting. This information was highly useful because we learned that, even for a "specialty" program, our core patron base prefers afternoon performances. Moving forward, we know to program in the afternoons, even for special events.
Other,local or private