Creative Individuals

Project Details by Fiscal Year
2025 Fiscal Year Funding Amount
$10,000
Recipient
Megan B. Thompson
Recipient Type
Individual
Status
In Progress
Start Date
February 2025
End Date
January 2026
Activity Type
Grants/Contracts
Counties Affected
Hennepin
Hennepin
Project Overview

Creative Individuals

Project Details

Thompson will collaborate with Minnesota filmmakers, musicians, and experts on aging to continue work on her documentary film, The Lois Club, about a national network of social groups that started in Minnesota in the late 1970s.

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

Karlyn Berg: Berg graduated from the Rhode Island School of Design (Providence, RI). She works primarily in acrylic, oil, collage, and printmaking. Berg exhibits throughout Minnesota and the United States and has received many grant awards to sustain her painting. Berg worked as the administrative assistant at the Edge Center for the Arts in Bigfork and regularly works with the MacRostie Art Center, Lyric Center for the Arts, the Duluth Art Institute, Watermark Art Center, and Ripple River Gallery, presenting workshops and exhibiting work.; Robert Dante: Dante is a bullwhip artist and teacher, four time Guinness World Record holder, Bullwhip Hall of Fame executive director, published author (nonfiction and poetry), and journalist.; David Hull: Hull is an acclaimed acoustic guitarist, producer, and composer, with well more than 20 recordings to his credit. He's made the Twin Cities his home since 1969, performing with Sean Blackburn, Peter Ostroushko, Butch Thompson, Doc Watson, Dave Van Ronk, and many others. He was an early regular on A Prairie Home Companion. More recently, his playing has taken him all over the world, with tours to Europe and Japan. He continues to compose and record new music.; Charles Libra: Libra is an arts administrator in White Bear Lake. With a background in performance, Libra has worked as a producer, designer, and actor in the Twin Cities metro area since 2016. Libra has served as an advisor for two grant cycles of the Minnesota States Arts Board; Mary Magyar: Maygar has lived across the country and worked in both the arts and public education. In 2014, she moved to Rochester, where she restarted her solo practice and continued her community work. In 2021, she started her nonprofit smallart gallery and mini-art galleries to make showing and viewing art more accessible to all. Magyar completed graduate school with a master's degree in education in 2022 and received the Beulah Benton Tatum Award for her capstone project, which is a diverse list of living Minnesota artists, to help art educators teach a more diverse and inclusive curriculum.; Brian Malloy: Malloy is a novelist published by St. Martin's Press, Scholastic, and Kensington, and a creative writing teaching artist. He has taught at the University of Minnesota, The Loft, Ely Folk School, MacRostie Art Center, Grand Marais Library, and the Minnesota Department of Corrections-Lino Lakes. Honors include the Minnesota Book Award, Loft Excellence in Teaching Fellowship, and Irish Network's Bloomsday Award, among others. He lives in Cook County.; Sara Weiner: Weiner, a New York transplant, has called Minneapolis home over the past 25 years. She is an award winning architect, thought leader, neighborhood activist, and educator. Her professional life working for leading architectural firms has been grounded in advocacy and public sector projects, notably libraries, academic campuses, and spaces for both corporate and nonprofits. She works for Rothholz Design, a women owned company that she founded more than 20 years ago. She studied film at La Sorbonne Nouvelle and Centre Universitaire du Cinema and has won awards for documentary video work in collaboration with Ken Feingold. Her art experience includes serving as commissioner at the Minneapolis Arts Commission and interim director of Franconia Sculpture Park. She is the recipient of the American Institute of Architects' Louis Lundgren Award for Community Service.

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)

I will continue work on my documentary film, which will educate Minnesota audiences about the importance of social connections in old age. Audience numbers will be collected from all public screenings of the film, online streaming and broadcasts. Viewers' reactions, reviews and social media comments will be used to evaluate public response.

Project Manager
First Name
Megan
Last Name
Thompson
Organization Name
Megan B. Thompson
State
MN
Phone
(646) 373-4233
Email
meganbthompson@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