Artist Initiative

Project Details by Fiscal Year
2015 Fiscal Year Funding Amount
$10,000
Fund Source
Arts & Cultural Heritage Fund
Recipient
Megan E. Vossler
Recipient Type
Individual
Status
Completed
Start Date
March 2015
End Date
June 2016
Activity Type
Grants/Contracts
Counties Affected
Blue Earth
Hennepin
Blue Earth
Hennepin
Project Overview
Artist Initiative
Project Details
Vossler will create new work based on the description of landscape and natural phenomena in Dante’s “Inferno.” She will present a public talk at Soo Visual Arts Center and for the art department at Mankato State University about her new work, and the connections between art and literature.
Competitive Grant Making Body
Board Members and Qualifications
Ardell Brede: Mayor of Rochester, elected 2002.; Peggy Burnet: Businesswoman, art collector, and community volunteer. Chair of the Nominating Committee, Smithsonian National Board. Trustee, Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden. Vice Chair, Minnesota State Arts Board.; Michael Charron: Dean of the School of the Arts, Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota. Chair, Minnesota State Arts Board.; Rebecca Davis-Lee: Touring pianist, piano and music theory teacher; Wendy Dayton: Arts and community leader and philanthropist.; Sean Dowse, Executive director, Sheldon Theatre. Board member for Minnesota Music Coalition, Minnesota Citizens for the Arts, and Anderson Center for Interdisciplinary Studies, Treasurer, Minnesota State Arts Board.; David Glenn: Executive director of the Minnesota Project, ceramic artist; Ellen McInnis: Director of Twin Cities government relations, Wells Fargo. Member of Bottineau Boulevard Partnership. Vice Chair, Minnesota State Arts Board.; Thomas Moss: Consultant to nonprofits and government agencies; Janice Sivertson: Gallery owner and visual artist
Advisory Group Members and Qualifications
Brenda Brousseau: Visual artist, app developer and software company owner; Laddavanh Insixiengmay: Lao weaving artist and designer, cofounder of Lao Cultural Center, founder of SihnNaChampa Dance Theatre; Leann Johnson: Graphic designer, illustrator and ceramic tile artist; Stephen Klassen: Twin Cities sculptor and painter working primarily with wood; Kristin Makholm: Executive director, Minnesota Museum of American Art; Edie Overturf: Cofounder, LegUp Studio, visiting assistant professor of printmaking, University of Minnesota Twin Cities; Emily Stover: Visual artist and designer, adjunct instructor in design at University of Minnesota; Delina White: Folk and traditional artist from Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe
Conflict of Interest Disclosed
Yes
Conflict of Interest Contact
Executive director Sue Gens (651) 215-1600
Legal Citation / Subdivision
Laws of Minnesota 2013, Chapter 137, Article 4, Section 2, Subdivision 3
Appropriation Language

ACHF Arts Access

2015 Fiscal Year Funding Amount
$10,000
Other Funds Leveraged
$5,000
Direct expenses
$15,000
Proposed Measurable Outcome(s)

The artist will create a new body of work loosely based on Dante’s Inferno. She will solicit feedback from arts professionals through studio visits. Completion (or near completion) of a new body of work. Documented studio visits throughout the grant year. 2: The artist will create a new presentation about the process of working with a specific literary text, and will present this talk to a public audience. Documented public presentation of artists talk during the grant year.

Measurable Outcome(s)

Vossler created a new body of work based loosely on the narrative of Dante's Inferno, and had several studio visits with artists and curators. The body of work that Vossler proposed to work on during the grant year is now nearly completed, as anticipated in the grant proposal. There is a wide range of tangible outcomes: small and medium scale drawings, one monumental drawing, collage work, digital work, and sculpture. Scheduled studio visits were completed, and many impromptu visits occurred, all of which contributed to the artist's learning, and one of which opened up a future opportunity for exhibition. 2: Vossler gave an artist talk at Minnesota State University-Mankato, and coordinated a collaborative drawing exhibition of twenty-eight artists at Soo Visual Art Center in Minneapolis. The numbers of artists and public audience members impacted by this project are significantly higher than anticipated. In addition to the traditional artist talk at Minnesota State University-Mankato, Vossler created, with Ekphrastic, an opportunity for ongoing dialogue between artists, writers, and the public which resulted in the creation of new work by twenty-five Minnesota artists and three Minnesota poets, and an audience of 1,400 people.

Description of Funds
Source of Additional Funds

Other, local or private

Project Manager
First Name
Megan
Last Name
Vossler
Organization Name
Megan E. Vossler
State
MN
Phone
(612) 232-3631
Email
mail@meganvossler.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