Community Arts

Project Details by Fiscal Year
2016 Fiscal Year Funding Amount
$5,000
Fund Source
Arts & Cultural Heritage Fund
Recipient
Swandive Theatre
Recipient Type
Non-Profit Business/Entity
Status
Completed
Start Date
December 2015
End Date
May 2016
Activity Type
Grants/Contracts
Counties Affected
Hennepin
Hennepin
Project Overview
Community Arts
Project Details
Funding to produce Kid-Simple: a radio play in the flesh, by Jordan Harrison. Performances will take place at The Southern Theater in April 2016.
Competitive Grant Making Body
Board Members and Qualifications
Julie Andersen: Eagan Art House Executive Director; Jill Anfang: Roseville Parks and Recreation Program Director; Bethany Brunsell: Music teacher and performer; Shelly Chamberlain: Minnesota Council of Nonprofits Operations Director; Marisol Chiclana-Ayla: Artist, Board Chair El Arco Iris; Anthony Galloway: Actor, storyteller, West Metro Education Program; Jamil Jude: Theatre artist; Tricia Khutoretsky: Public Functionary Curator and Co-Director; Peter Leggett: Walker West Music Academy Executive Director; Dayna Martinez: Ordway Center for the Performing Arts; Coleen McLaughlin: Arts Midwest Director of External Relations; Tom Moffatt: Silverwood Park Supervisor; Kathy Mouacheupao: Twin Cities Local Initiatives Support Corporation Cultural Corridor Coordinator; Adam Napoli-Rangel: Artist; Heather Rutledge: ArtReach Saint Croix Executive Director; Andrea Sjogren: Hopkins Public Schools Youth Programs Coordinator; Dameun Strange: Composer and performer; Melissa Wright: Twin Cities Public Television.
Advisory Group Members and Qualifications
Erin Wisness: Fundraising, organizational development, Community Education; Kevin Vollmers: Fundraising, audience development, organizational development; Amelia Foster: Audience development, community service, general management; Dana Kassel: General management, artistic, audience development; Ann Erickson: Audience development, fundraising, organizational development; Peter Thompson: Artistic, general management, fundraising.
Conflict of Interest Disclosed
No
Legal Citation / Subdivision
Laws of Minnesota 2015 Special Session, chapter 2, article 4, section 2, subdivision 3
Appropriation Language

ACHF Arts Access

2016 Fiscal Year Funding Amount
$5,000
Other Funds Leveraged
$5,400
Direct expenses
$10,400
Administration costs
$0
Number of full time equivalents funded
0.00
Proposed Measurable Outcome(s)

These funds will allow us to produce Kid Simple: a radio play in the flesh at the Southern Theater in 2016 and will hopefully lead to an increase in attendance of 10% from our 2015 production of Defying Gravity. We will evaluate our outcomes by measuring our actual income and expense costs relative to budget, by reviewing attendance numbers from this production vs. our 2015 production, by a post mortem with our artists to review the process of creating the work, and through audience surveys that provide demographics and anecdotal evidence.

Measurable Outcome(s)

We successfully produced Kid-Simple: a radio play in the flesh by Jordan Harrison in May. We were able to successfully execute the video and sound elements integral to the script. We have a limited working knowledge of video/projection and this proved to be a challenge, but we were able to work with a talented designer and assistant designer for these aspects and overcame that challenge together. Our design team was extremely strong, especially our sound designer/foley artist. He was in the rehearsal process with us from the beginning which proved to be a huge strength to the artistic process. The one aspect we would change is the rehearsal period. We would have liked to have an additional 1-2 weeks of rehearsal before tech. While we saw no decrease we were unsuccessful in our goal of increasing our audience attendance by 10%. We are still trying to determine the cause, however, Swandive had the opening production of the ARTshare program at the Southern Theater in 2015, it is possible that this inflated our numbers. Some other possible reasons include time of year (the run of our show occurred during the first few weeks of nice weather of the summer season), show selection, show title and market saturation. We ran a very successful marketing campaign and saw a slight uptick in community diversity. We will continue in that vein and use feedback from audience surveys to help shape future marketing. We were able to offer a pay what you can night, encouraging people of all economic backgrounds to participate and we still believe the ARTshare model, offered at The Southern Theater, provides some of the best accessibility options to audience members as well. Swandive Theatre produced 11 productions of Jordan Harrison's "Kid-Simple: a radio play in the flesh", these productions were seen by 393 people, an average of 36 people a night, with our largest night hosting 77 people. We were reviewed six times by both media publications (Southside Pride and Twin Cities Daily Planet), as well as independent bloggers for theater community.

Description of Funds
Source of Additional Funds

Other, local or private

Recipient Board Members
Kristine Ditmarson, Jill Traynor, Damon Runnals, Meaghan DiSciorio
Project Manager
First Name
Meaghan
Last Name
DiSciorio
Organization Name
Swandive Theatre
Street Address
2313 35th St E
City
Minneapolis
State
MN
Zip Code
55406
Phone
(612) 205-5345
Email
meg@swandivetheatre.org
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
Location

PO Box 14106
Saint Paul, Minnesota 55114 

Phone
Project Manager: Kathy Mouacheupao
651-645-0402
Email the Agency