Prism Arts

Five COMPAS teaching artists of African, Indigenous, Hispanic, and Asian heritage created new or expanded arts residencies and taught them at partner organizations that serve a community the artist chose to work with. Our goal was to deliver six new residencies. However, the sixth organization was unable to schedule the residency during the grant timeline. To make up for this lost residency, we expanded our work with two partners that had asked for additional programming.

Other than that, we achieved our goals. 361 people worked with artists, and more experienced the art as participants shared their stories and art. Residencies were held in schools, a museum, a theater, and a social service agency. Each artist also created a culturally- relevant lesson plan that is available on the COMPAS website in English, Spanish, and Hmong.

Because this project was about creating new residencies and delivery methods to teach art forms within their cultural context, we worked to integrate cultural practices and traditions throughout the residencies. We found that sharing a meal, snack, or cup of tea, was a cultural practice that most communities shared. This time together created space for rich conversations and connections.

The five residencies:

Shakun Maheshwari teaches Folk Arts of India. She chose to work with older adults at SEWA International (Asian-Indian Family Wellness Center). None of the participants had experienced Indian folk art even though all of them are of Asian descent. Shakun taught the traditions and cultural significance of the art forms and shared pictures from her travels of the art forms in situ. The group learned Rangoli (a temporary decorative art form from the northern part of India), Kolam (from southern India), Gond (a tribal art form), and others. Many participants started to create artwork at home and were proud to share their work at the next session. The group now wants to work with Shakun to create a mural at SEWA that celebrates their Indian heritage.

Amy Wilderson taught jewelry making-Revving Forgotten Treasures/Reviving Memories-to adults at Minnesota African American Heritage Museum & Gallery (MAAHMG). Amy asked participants to bring broken, no-longer-used, or other items from home that have meaning. These pieces were integrated into the wirework jewelry they made. Creating jewelry became the basis for talking about African American history & culture as participants learned the origins of different wire patterns, traditional items worn in jewelry and their symbolism, and then discussed the meaning and importance of the items they brought from home. Participants consistently remarked about how much they were learning about jewelry making as well as jewelry artists, and other local Black artists. They also expressed appreciation for the opportunity to create a new community/network.

Terrell X partnered with Stillwater schools to reach the BIPOC students within this community. He felt those students were not connecting enough with artists and artforms of color and their cultures were being overlooked. The district brought him to two schools to develop a residency on African American culture, hip hop, and beat boxing. This residency, now called Making Something Out of Nothing, introduced students to Hip-Hop culture by giving a historical breakdown of how it all started & who was responsible. They learned about The Fat Boysand Grand Master Flash,their signature sounds, approaches, etc. They then did exercises on how rappers write songs & artists performed their creations. Students learned beat boxing basics and applied their learning to revising songs from their own lives or making new ones.

Ad'n Gabriel Rangel, aka See More Perspective, a Latinx artist, chose to work with Latinx theater group, Teatro Del Pueblo. He worked with multiple groups of actors, from youth to adults, to take a deep dive into Hip-Hop and theater making. They followed the roots of Hip Hop and spoken word and had accompanying a/v to exemplify what See More was talking about. To accommodate Teatro Del Pueblo's culture and needs, this residency took place over a variety of sites: El Colegio High School, Centro Tyrone Guzman, and Teatro Del Pueblo. All programming centered around inserting Hip-Hop and Latinx perspectives into theater. Each project used a theater work in progress titled Love in the Time of Hate as an example of how to do that. Participants discussed writing techniques and practiced through theater games and writing. They then worked on pieces where they inserted their lives, cultures, and narratives into something that they feel they have been erased from or ignored by. Each phase of the residency ended with participants sharing their writings through stage readings and discussions.

Tiana LaPointe, a documentary artist, chose to partner with a school on her block, Washington Technology Magnet School, as she feels that is as much her community as the group of Native American people 10 miles across the Metro as she is a Native American artist, but not from a Minnesota tribe. The school's students are about 92% BIPOC, including 1% Native American students. Tiana used examples of her own film work and other Native American artists as a jumping off point for the students. They discussed themes of what is said and not said; looked at filming techniques; and more. Students then wrote their own monologues or bios focusing on their identities and life stories, created video footage and took pictures, and knitted them together into digital storytelling pieces for presentation.

Very sadly, the person selected to evaluate this project, Beverly Cottman, passed away unexpectedly in March. Staff took over those responsibilities and conducted program site visits, talked with site contacts & participants, and analyzed written evaluation completed by sites and teaching artists.