Creative Individuals

Project Details by Fiscal Year
2025 Fiscal Year Funding Amount
$10,000
Recipient
Willow G. Becher AKA Willow Gentile
Recipient Type
Individual
Status
In Progress
Start Date
February 2025
End Date
January 2026
Activity Type
Grants/Contracts
Counties Affected
Olmsted
Olmsted
Project Overview

Creative Individuals

Project Details

Gentile will embark on a journey to create ten plein air pop-up style paintings at ten small town or rural communities in Minnesota. She will provide a community easel available for anyone to plein air paint and take their creation home.

Competitive Grant Making Body
Board Members and Qualifications

Carol Bruess: author, speaker, relationship social scientist, and creator; Uri Camarena: business consultant; Michael Charron: arts educator, arts and civic leader; Richard Cohen: attorney in private practice, former state legislator; Emily Galusha: arts and civic leader, former arts administrator; Anthony Gardner, healthcare consultant; Ken Martin: political strategist, campaign manager; Philip McKenzie: adjunct college faculty; Michele Sterner: higher education administrator; Dobson West: retired attorney; Christina Woods: executive director, arts organization

Advisory Group Members and Qualifications

Carly Caputa: A semirecent Minneapolis transplant from Wisconsin, Caputa joined Jungle Theater as marketing manager in September 2019. She has a background in theater administration as well as 2D art mediums.; Elizabeth Hammel: Hammel is a freelance video artist who has worked on documentaries, narrative films, and dance films. Her primary interest is in following the artist's creative process and amplifying both the completed work and all that goes into creating it. Her documentary and dance film work has been screened at numerous film festivals, including the Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Film Festival. She is a company member of Nimbus Theater, an educator at the Bakken Museum, and a mother.; Mindy Johnson: Johnson is currently enrolled in the studio art program at St. Catherine University. Primarily a self-taught digital collage artist, she recently showed work in the White Bear Center for the Arts' 50th Annual Northern Lights exhibit. Johnson is a volunteer graphic designer and social media manager for Ramsey County Master Gardeners.; Scott Roberts: Roberts is the sole designer of SER Bobble Head Master Designs and a former professional artist and owner of Hoss Studios. They graduated from Concordia University with a BA in internet marketing and have served as a volunteer board member for the Southeastern Minnesota Arts Council, received an apprenticeship in animation at Walt Disney World MGM Studios, and were executive director for art centers in Owatonna and Waseca.; Lila Westreich: Westreich is a glass artist focusing on three-dimensional sculpture, freestanding neon sculpture, and flameworked glass. Growing up in the studio of her father, a self-taught fused glass artist in southeastern Minnesota, she went on to pursue a degree in plant breeding and genetics from the University of Minnesota. Westreich was awarded the John and Mary Shirley Scholarship in Glass from Pratt Fine Arts in 2022. She has studied at Western Neon, Pratt Fine Arts, and Pilchuck Glass School. She has exhibited her work in local galleries and was juried into the Pilchuck Annual Auction in 2023.

Conflict of Interest Disclosed
No
Legal Citation / Subdivision
Laws of Minnesota, 2023 regular session, chapter 40, article 4, section 2, subdivision 3; Minnesota Session Laws, 2024 regular session, chapter 106, article 4, section 2, subdivision 3
Appropriation Language

ACHF Arts Access

2025 Fiscal Year Funding Amount
$10,000
Other Funds Leveraged
$0
Direct expenses
$10,000
Proposed Measurable Outcome(s)

To create ten 20x20' Pop-up Plein air paintings.I will have a station (100 panels on hand) set up for anyone to paint and take home their piece. By completing the ten paintings and by documenting the creation of the community painting sessions. Plus, recordings the amount of panels remaining to see how many folks participated at the 2nd easel which I will call the, 'community easel'.

Project Manager
First Name
Willow
Last Name
Becher
Organization Name
Willow G. Becher AKA Willow Gentile
State
MN
Phone
(507) 884-9166
Email
willowgentile@gmail.com
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