Art Legacy Project
Art Legacy Project
Small Stages Artist Residency
Cheryl Avenel-Navara: education, Worthington Public Arts Commission chair, SW MN Opportunity council; Judy Beckman: vocal music, Big Stone Arts Council, Big Stone County Historical Society, Big Stone Lake Area Chamber of Commerce CEO; Cheri Buzzeo: theater, music, The Barn Theatre administration, Willmar Main St participant; Jessica Welu: writing, music, SW Regional Development Commission; Anna Johannsen: fiber artist, art teacher, Remick Gallery board, president of Windom Women's Investment group, treasurer of Cottonwood County Animal Rescue, officer of Cotton Quilters; Georgette Jones: literature teacher, theatre actor/director/teacher; David KelseyBassett: visual artist, musician, Hinterland Art Crawl board; Shawn Kinsinger: theater director, actor, musician, Palace Theatre executive director, Green Earth Players vice president, Luverne Street Music board member, Luverne High School Theater artistic director; Darlene Kotelnicki: theater, city council, library board. Cheryl Avenel Navara: education, Worthington Public Arts Commission chair, SW MN Opportunity Council volunteer; Alison Nelson: art, music, and dance teacher, KMS Community Ed director, Kerkhoven Fire Department Auxiliary fundraiser; Anne O'Keefe-Jackson: human resources director, bead and quill work; Michele Huggins: Granite Area Arts Council treasurer and volunteer, member of the Artisan Grain Collaborative, founding member of ACHALA; Betsy Pardick: musician, actor, Dept. of Public Transformation committees; Kristine Shelstad: visual arts, Madison Mercantile art gallery, Madison Arts Council, Lac qui Parle Players; VFW; Michele Knife Sterner: theater (actor), SMSU Associate director for Access Opportunity Success program; Erica Volkir: performing arts, Pipestone Performing Arts Center board, Pipestone Area Chamber of Commerce and CVB director; Mark Wilmes: Lake Benton Opera House board president, actor/director, musician, reporter;
Cay Gjertson, education, arts admin; Shawn Kinsinger, theater, SMAC board; Tammy Makram, arts admin; Sirrina Martinez, theater/digital art; Mark Thode, visual art/arts admin
ACHF Arts Access
A guest residency for practicing performance artists coming from outside the community is a chance for an exchange of ideas to take place in new and elevating ways. We want to change the perception that rural places lack the resources or the will to attract, support and produce diverse world-class performance art. In the process we hope we are helping to build a means of support for other local artist studios to open their spaces to guest artists. This project would help us reinforce and establish the new relationships we initiated last summer with local artists, performers, musicians and arts advocates. It is our goal to continue to make sure we fulfill the need in our community for an alternate art space dedicated to inclusive and equitable programming. Overall, we hope our efforts will result in increased diversity in applicants, participants and audience members. We are also building a track record of memorable moments and in the process a larger, wider audience base of support.
We made an ongoing commitment to feature a majority of women and BIPOC artists. We can see this impacting the demographics of our audiences, with more people of different ages, genders, races, and backgrounds (etc.) feeling welcome to attend events and becoming returning attendees. We've also built sustainability through the creation of the Community Engagement and Event Coordinator staff position, enabling our staff to focus better, distribute labor more equitably, consistently and effectively listen to community input and feedback, and build plans for the future. The greatest outcome of this project has been an incredible increase in community confidence at The YES! House. The new position, consistent events and programming, and better communication strategies have alleviated confusion and strengthened relationships.
Other,local or private