Art Project

The goal of this project is to support local rural artists by providing dedicated space and time to focus on their artwork and to strengthen the SWMN arts ecosystem. The residency program will increase artists' confidence and audience of supporters, as well as carve out time/space for the artist to develop and progress their body of work, providing work samples and experience to utilize while applying for other residency programs and artistic opportunities. The public "artist salons" will provide opportunities for community members to learn new creative skills, as well as meet, support, and connect with local artists in the region. These salons will also give artists a chance to refine their skills for exhibiting, documenting, and talking about their work. In an effort to better understand the impact of our work, our team is utilizing Animating Democracy's tool "Aesthetic Perspectives Framework," which allows us to measure ongoing ripple effects of the more "nebulous" impacts of our creative work and artistic events. We continue to track audience data using traditional methods, as well, through the following avenues: participatory evaluation and informal conversations at salons for the audience; and feedback interviews and surveys with the selected artists and selection committee.