Creative Support for Organizations-Round 1

Project Details by Fiscal Year
2022 Fiscal Year Funding Amount
$25,000
Fund Source
Arts & Cultural Heritage Fund
Recipient
Walker West Music Academy AKA Walker|West
Recipient Type
Non-Profit Business/Entity
Status
Completed
Start Date
March 2022
End Date
February 2023
Activity Type
Grants/Contracts
Counties Affected
Dakota
Hennepin
Ramsey
Dakota
Hennepin
Ramsey
Project Overview

Creative Support for Organizations-Round 1

Project Details

Walker West Music Academy will engage thirty students, ages five to twelve, beginners and returnees, in a fun three-week "Grow Through Music" summer camp in which they learn to play simple tunes on several instruments and play in a culminating group performance.

Competitive Grant Making Body
Board Members and Qualifications

Peggy Burnet: entrepreneur, art collector, and community volunteer; Uri Camarena: director of business consulting with Metroplitan Economic Development Association (MEDA); Michael Charron: arts educator and an arts and civic leader; Richard Cohen: attorney in private practice and a former state legislator; Sean Dowse: arts advocate, arts practitioner, and civic leader; Emily Galusha, arts and civic leader, former arts administrator; Anthony Gardner: vice president, marketing and communications at CentraCare; Philip McKenzie: team lead with Boutique Air, founder and owner of Bluedoor 74, adjunct college faculty; Mary McReynolds-Pellinen: executive director, Lyric Center for the Arts; Dobson West: retired attorney; Christina Widdess: nonprofit consultant; former managing director, Penumbra Theatre

Advisory Group Members and Qualifications

Gloria Brush is professor in photography at the University of Minnesota Duluth and earned an MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She has received awards from the National Endowment for the Arts, Arts Board, Bush and McKnight foundations, among others. Her work has appeared in exhibitions nationally and internationally, including at the Photographic Resource Center at Boston University, the Contemporary Arts Center in New Orleans, Lil Street Gallery in Chicago, and D-ART Gallery for the IV2020 International Symposium on Digital Art, and in Rosenblum?s book A History of Women Photographers. Prior to her university tenure, she was the first director of the Arrowhead Regional Arts Council.; Rebecca Colebank is a retired family law attorney with an interest in social justice issues. Colebank graduated from Bemidji State University with a degree in political science and then graduated from the University of North Dakota with a juris doctorate. Colebank has served on the boards of numerous civic organizations.; Elizabeth Heffernan has a BA from University of Texas El Paso in speech,language, and hearing pathology, an MA from University of Minnesota in communication disorders, and a specialist degree in education administration. Heffernan is a certified yoga instructor, has 20 years of classical ballet training, and is a dance teacher specializing in children and adult beginner students. In addition to teaching yoga and dance, Heffernan has spent 35 years as an educator in Saint Paul Public Schools and eighteen years as an elementary school principal. ; Elizabeth Kelly currently serves as the resource development and events director at United Way of Northeastern Minnesota, a nonprofit organization that strives to help children succeed, empower healthy lives, and stabilize families and individuals. In this role, Kelly coordinates workplace giving campaigns, writes grants and grant reports, and coordinates special event fundraisers. Kelly is the former development and special events director for the Twin Cities based nonprofit, BestPrep. She was also an intern with Bardins Communications where she worked closely with WomenVenture and at the Ann Bancroft Foundation, where she reviewed mini grant applications. Kelly volunteers her time as a grocery shopper for AEOA?s Groceries to Go program, delivering groceries to homebound seniors; with Feed My Starving Children; Hibbing Kinship Mentoring Program; and local school functions. Writing is a passion of Kelly?s; a poem of hers was published in the University of St. Thomas literary review and she has written countless articles and columns. Kelly holds a BA with majors in English literature and communication from the University of St. Thomas and a MA degree in nonprofit management from Hamline University. She is also a graduate of the Hibbing Chamber Leadership Program.; Michael Linnemann is a nonprofit development professional by day, raising support for Friends of the Boundary Waters Wilderness, from its advocacy to youth BWCA scholarships. He wears a second hat of art broker and dealer of fantasy and sci-fi art, selling through social media to clients worldwide online and in pop-up art exhibitions. Linnemann has a degree in art history from the University of Minnesota, created the Imaginative Realism Foundation to help BIPOC artists get support for joining the imaginative realism field, was a former gaming art director, and previously worked for the Frederick R. Weisman Art Museum.; Kaitlyn Ortman: In her role as program manager for international initiatives at Arts Midwest, Ortman works to support programs that bring international performing artists and presenters to the Midwest, including Arts Midwest World Fest and Folkefest. Before returning to her hometown of Minneapolis in 2020 to join the Arts Midwest team, she worked in programming at the Des Moines Social Club, a multidisciplinary performance and art education nonprofit, as producer for the Des Moines 48 Hour Film Project, and as a grant writer for the Des Moines Art Center. Ortman earned a BA in English from Drake University.; Steven Palmer graduated from Gustavus Adolphus College in 2010 with a BA in history and is a guitarist and grant writer. Fusing the Americana and folk roots of the music of avant folk guitarist John Fahey with the cosmic experimentalism of 1970s German Krautrock, he has been termed "one to watch" by Aquarium Drunkard and ?a virtuoso player... well on his way to becoming a legend in his own right? by local music publication Reviler. Currently, a grant writer at workforce development agency Summit Academy OIC, he resides in south Minneapolis with his girlfriend and dog.

Conflict of Interest Disclosed
No
Legal Citation / Subdivision
Laws of Minnesota 2021, First Special Session, chapter 1, article 4, section 2, subdivision 3
Appropriation Language

ACHF Arts Education

2022 Fiscal Year Funding Amount
$25,000
Other Funds Leveraged
$0
Direct expenses
$25,000
Administration costs
$1,704
Number of full time equivalents funded
0.00
Proposed Measurable Outcome(s)

30 students in our 'Grow Through Music' Summer Camp 2022 will learn to play simple tunes on several instruments/play in culminating group performance 1.Student progress - assessed by instructors. 2. Student experience - via online survey of students/parents. Program staff/faculty meet post-program to review evaluations, discuss successes/shortfalls, and plan for following year.

Measurable Outcome(s)

Forty (increased from original outcome of 30) students in our camp will learn to play simple tunes on several instruments and perform for an audience. Student progress was assessed by the faculty and staff. Students and parents completed written and/or online surveys. Program staff met before, during and after the camp to discuss student progress, successes and challenges and plan for next year.

Proposed Outcomes Achieved
Achieved proposed outcomes.
Recipient Board Members
Barbara Doyle, Christy Bartlett, David Mohr, Eric Clark, Grant West, Greg Finzell, Jeff Bailey, Lawrence Waddell, Maia Maiden, Margaret Marrinan, Mary Bolkcom, Mary Boyd, Natalie Kennedy, Carl Walker, Russell Knighton, Sharon Garth, Cherise Ayers, Michael Walker
Project Manager
First Name
Braxton
Last Name
Haulcy
Organization Name
Walker West Music Academy AKA Walker|West
Street Address
760 Selby Ave
City
St Paul
State
MN
Zip Code
55104
Phone
(651) 789-1684
Email
braxton@walkerwest.org
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