The 20-Year Curse
The 20-Year Curseis a multi-media live performance and documentary film project created, written, and performed by Naomi Ko. It explores the stories surrounding Naomi and the Ko Family curse, and the Korean American community in Minnesota. This grant will support the staging of the live performances and the making of the documentary.
2022-2023 Cultural Heritage and Community Identity Grants - Spring 2022
Outcomes include:
1. Engage around 1,200 live audience members, around 600 for the performance at the Ordway, and around 200 live audience members for 3 additional performances
2. Hire at least 10 APIDA contractors
3. Engage 2,000 people through social media
4. Audience members will have learned more about the Korean Minnesotan experience
The project has had a few delays. First, we were not able to receive all of the funding that we applied for and have been trying to apply for additional funds to fulfill the scope of the project. In addition, the director I proposed in the application is no longer able to work on the project so I had to interview and hire a new director.
Updated 08/31/2023: We have so far hired 7 APIDA contractors as artists. We are in the process of creating the show, working on drafts and deliverables. We are booked with Red Eye Theater to do our presentation on October 5-7, 2023 at 7:30 pm. We are currently in the process taping the video/documentary bits. Because we are no longer performing at the Ordway and due to the audience cap at Red Eye Theater, our goal is to have around 150 live audience members total. ; Outcomes from application:
1. Engage around 1,200 live audience members, around 600 for the performance at the Ordway, and around 200 live audience members for 3 additional performances
2. Hire at least 10 APIDA contractors
3. Engage 2,000 people through social media
4. Audience members will have learned more about the Korean Minnesotan experience
Finalized Outcomes:
1. While we were unable to perform at the Ordway for this project, we were able to still engage over 6,000 Minnesotans on social media with our short-form content. We had a total of 192 audience members who attended our show at Red Eye Theater. We were able to track this through ticket sales and audience count.
2. We surpassed this outcome, we hired 19 APIDA artists as contractors.
3. We surpassed this goal. We engaged over 6,000 Minnesotans on social media and a total of 10,298 nationally. We were able to track this metrics and reports on Instagram and Facebook.
4. During an informal survey after the shows, 100% of audience members indicated that they learned more the Korean Minnesotan experience.
MSAB - $10,000 (no funds expended) . Minnesota State Arts Board: $10,000 --> paid additional artists
Ticket Sales: $2,635.96 --> paid additional artists