Art & Culture Live!: Vetted Performers
The Art & Culture Live!: Vetted Programs were created by request of the SELCO public library directors and intended to involve less staff time dedicated to individual programming plans. Library staff expressed a desire for a simpler, “turnkey” program approach that they could easily implement and manage for their communities. Vetted Performers were pre-selected by the SELCO Legacy Program Vetting Committee. The committee includes representatives from large, medium and small public libraries in the SELCO region, each a practitioner is responsible for local programming. The Committee recommendations were presented to and endorsed by the SELCO Advisory Committee and approved by the Legacy Review Committee in February 2010. The Legacy Program Vetting Committee’s approved recommendations for FY 2010 and FY 2011 are:
- Great River Shakespeare (http://grsf.org/)
- Hans Mayer Music for Kids (http://www.hansmayer.com/)
- In the Heart of the Beast Puppet and Mask Theatre (http://www.hobt.org/)
- Pint Size Polkas (www.pintsizepolkas.com)
- Rose Ensemble (www.roseensemble.org)
- Schiffelly Puppets (www.schiffellypuppets.com)
- A Touch of Magic (www.aaatouchofmagic.com/services.html)
- Underwater Adventures (www.underwaterworld.com)
The Ollin Ayacaxtly Dance Group was also recommended and approved, but was later removed from the list due to limited access to communication.
Once SELCO staff negotiated contract pricing with the selected performers, appropriate outcomes and outcome evaluation methods for each Vetted Program were created, along with press releases and other publicity materials for the libraries to use and/or modify. A printable catalog was created, highlighting each of the eight available programs. Information is also available on the SELCO website. http://www.selco.info/pages/viewpage.action?pageId=28115105 The eight programs are geared towards children and adults. An application was created and libraries will book the performer/group/author to allow the greatest level of local flexibility.
In a cooperative effort to identify a diverse selection of quality performers and speakers for library programs and community events, such as Arts & Culture Live!, SELCO created and maintained for the Council of Regional Library System Administrators (CRPLSA) a Library Legacy Artist, Performer and Partner Database. This online resource includes a wealth of information gathered by library staff from across the state, as well as self-submissions by artists willing to go on-the-road to share their art, song or dance, enriching Minnesota's Arts and Cultural Heritage. This is an ongoing effort and will be supported by SELCO and all regional systems. The statewide database is at: http://www.mnlegacygrant.org.
Event Dates and Locations:
The SELCO Vetted Program Catalog was launched and distributed in February 2010 and continues to be available for library booking. Programs were held at libraries and other community sites from February-June 2010 and continue to be approved during FY2011.
Four of the eight offered Vetted programs were selected by libraries in FY2010:
- Rose Ensemble (four programs)
- Underwater Adventures (six programs)
- A Touch of Magic (two programs)
- Hans Mayer Music for Kids (one program)
Summaries of each Vetted program and separate events in the SELCO region follow in separate activity listings.
Partner Organization(s):
As a subset of the over-arching Art & Culture Live! Program, partners includes SEMAC (South East Minnesota Arts Council)
Partner Organization(s) Contribution/Role in the Program:
Robin Pearson, Executive Director of SEMAC, serves on the Legacy Review Committee in an ex officio role.
Program Outputs: Outputs are things you can count such as attendance, number of new participants, and the number of attendees who had never been at a similar event, and so on.
13 Vetted programs were booked at 11 different communities, representing eight counties in the SELCO region. A summary of each Vetted program is included in separate Vetted Performers Activity listings.
Measurable Outcomes may be collected by survey, anecdotal responses, post-test; End user change in Behavior, Attitude, Skills, Knowledge, Condition and/or Status
Numerous SELCO member library directors, library staff, and trustees in the SELCO region have expressed their gratitude for the opportunity to provide programming for their public. Sometimes it was expressed as a simple “Thank you” inserted in the final report, or the bolder “It was a GREAT time and we appreciate very much the opportunities that the grant provide.” SELCO staff report similar feelings of gratitude while visiting member libraries.