Individual Artist Project Grant

The benefits of my stage project to my community are numerous. First of all, I will be exposing this area to an amazing tradition of European marionettes. Many diverse folks have never experienced this rare form of art, whether live or filmed. This ages-old discipline incorporates so many varied skillsets with sculpture, painting, movement technology, stagecraft and storytelling. It incites the creative imagination and continues to evolve possibilities with current innovative and experimental techniques. Secondly, this proposal helps build a local arts ecosystem of artists, which is an ARAC goal for "innovative ideas that support building bridges and connections between artists or provide support for artists in ways that don't already exist." Thirdly, my doctor of ministry degree is centered in an evolutionary cosmology which seeks to find "A New Story" for context of humankind. Because of this I have "big picture thinking" that looks towards a sustainable and mindful future using art, science, and soul. My scripts and performances will reflect this. Finally, our work will potentially join a worldwide network of puppeteers and their audiences. Kurt Hunter and I are members of two guilds, Puppeteers of America (PofA is the fiscal sponsor of this year's Duluth ALL Souls Night, "Max Skeleton Walks Superior Street") and UNIMA (Union Internationale de la Marionnette), these puppetry fans will be very interested to see what continues to happen in this field in Duluth, Minnesota.I am embarking to build a foundational, needed tool that tangibly expands my ways of reaching audiences as a mature visual and theatrical artist in a time of pandemic. This resulting stage and experimentation with the set will hone my eclectic experience into a new but related art form, marionette theatre, while continuing to actively explore new exciting venues for my public whether live, streamed, projected, or available on YouTube. I am also building unique and strong, supportive collaborations with nearby artists established in complimentary fields, this connection and support will last onwards to future projects. Measurable outcomes include mastery of new skills, new storytelling techniques, and increased audience in person and online. I have completed six gorgeous wooden marionettes during isolation from COVID-19 with my own resources. I have also had many past successes using public arts funding. My detailed resume and website show a proven record, planning and carrying out of a variety of fabulous events, personal and communal, including twenty years of problem-solving skills implementing the complicated needs of my large, unique, individual art pieces. I have also coordinated other performance and visual artists in thirteen years of the popular annual public arts event, Duluth All Souls Night (DASN). I have degrees with honors in art, theatre and world spirituality and have worked with diverse underrepresented groups and ethnicities throughout my career, using compelling storytelling with use of visuals, sound, and movement and participating in many local and countrywide art shows, conferences, and agit prop theatre. My global network of expert contacts, historic founders of theaters in my field will advise me. I will know the work is a success by testing the stage throughout a rigorous primary rehearsal process and by my first audiences' reception of it. I will upload documentation of the stage's progress on my own web site as well as other art and tourism sites to increase visibility to myself and this city beyond this region. By numbers we can count those physically present as observers (and potential critics) and I will be able to actually measure by tracking the number of "hits" and review subsequent comments on various social media. I will make a written survey available for anonymous feedback and position myself as available for those who would like to chat in person or on Zoom. I can use the inevitably spectacular photos and film in applications for impending grants and show opportunities.