Iraqi and American Reconciliation Project
IARP is proposing to form a traditional Iraqi dance troupe to study and perform traditional dances from different regions across Iraq and to perform for the general public of Minnesota. Iraqi Minnesotan youth and young adults will be trained by transitional dance instructor and musician Hisham Shallal.
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Savita Katarya (Rochester, MN) Savita works in cross-cultural leadership development and was connected to the CEO Tour in 2019. She identifies as an immigrant from India. |
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Jose Losada-Montero (Marshall, MN) Jose was a contact of a former MHC staffperson (Kirk MacKinnon Morrow). He is a Spanish professor at SMSU. He identifies as an immigrant from Spain. |
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Juan Fernandez-Iglesias (Winona, MN) Juan Fernandez-Iglesias is a Winona State University Global Studies and Languages professor, and has blogged for MHC previously. He identifies as an immigrant from Spain. |
Laura Benson
Minnesota Humanities Center
laura@mnhum.org
651-772-4244
$850,000 the first year and $850,000 the second year are for a competitive grants program to provide grants to preserve and promote the cultural heritage of Minnesota.
The Minnesota Humanities Center must operate a competitive grants program to provide grants to programs that preserve and honor the cultural heritage of Minnesota or that provide education and student outreach on cultural diversity or to programs that empower communities to build their identity and culture. Priority must be given to grants for individuals and organizations working to create, celebrate, and teach indigenous arts and cultural activities and arts organizations and programs preserving, sharing, and educating on the arts and cultural heritage of immigrant communities in Minnesota.
- A group of at least eight youth and young adults train with dance instructor and musician Hisham Alshallal
- IARP, artists, and Dance Troupe work together to celebrate Iraqi culture and build a positive relationship
- Iraqi Minnesotans engage in dance music they identify with, uplifts their culture, and allows the next generation to actively participate in and preserve their culture.
- Provide career furthering opportunities for Iraqi Minnesotan artists
- Minnesotan general public engages with Iraqi dance and music that broadens their understanding of and appreciation for Iraqi culture and art.
Effectiveness and progress toward project outcomes will be determined through artist, participant, and audience survey and interview results. Audience members will be asked to fill out audience surveys for the exhibition that will include questions around community engagement activities designed by an outside evaluation consultant. The surveys will contain both evaluative and demographic questions. IARP project coordinator will record attendance numbers. Performance will be photo-documented. Local media attention will be recorded. After the performance is complete, we will conduct an evaluation session with the artists and dancers. We will review summaries of data and feedback, discuss the project’s successes and challenges, assess community engagement, and formulate recommendations for ongoing performances, trainings, and the future of the group, etc. Outside evaluation consultant Tricia Heuring, curator and director of Public Functionary will design the evaluation materials. She has an MA in Arts and Cultural Management from St. Mary’s University, where she studied program evaluation. She has worked as the outside evaluator on Iraqi Voices for the past four years and has built the repertoire needed to successfully interview Iraqi Voices participants and is familiar with IARP team and mission. Tricia will analyze the results and compile the evaluation data and the group’s conclusions into a final report that our board will review. We have a strong track record of implementing evaluation results into current and future programming.
In progress