Art Project Grant

2015 Fiscal Year Funding Amount

$3,375

Fund Source

Arts & Cultural Heritage Fund

Recipient

Magic Smelt Puppet Troupe

Recipient Type

Non-Profit Business/Entity

Status

In Progress

Start Date

December 2015

End Date

July 2016

Activity Type

Grants/Contracts

Counties Affected

St. Louis

Project Overview

Art Project Grant

Project Details

Run Smelt Run Puppet Parade. Magic Smelt Puppet Troupe and Zeitgeist Arts Café are hosting the fifth annual Run Smelt Run Puppet Parade and smelt fry on Sunday, May 15, 2016. Festivities begin at 2:00 pm on the lawn beside the Maritime Visitors’ Center, at the Aerial Lift Bridge in Duluth, Minnesota. Workshops will be offered for 4 weeks prior to prepare the puppets, masks and costumes, and to recruit performers. Accompanying the Smelt Queen’s arrival will be the Brass Messengers, a ten-piece brass band from Minneapolis, King Neptune, and smelt dignitaries from the depths of Lake Superior.

Competitive Grant Making Body

Board Members and Qualifications

Erling Ellison: jewelry designer and creator, speech coach and judge, director of Garrison Art Fair; Ken Bloom: Director of Tweed Museum of Art, University of Minnesota-Duluth; Janeen Carey: vocalist, retired Hibbing Community College librarian and information media specialist; Kate Fitzgerald: Program Director North Shore Music Association, writer; Peter Pestalozzi: furniture maker, wood worker; David Beard: Assistant Professor University of Minnesota-Duluth writing studies; Mark King: actor, theater reviewer, musician; Adam Guggemos: graphic designer, art events promoter; Michelle Ronning: jewelry designer and maker; John Gregor: photographer, art educator, community art advocate; Ann Russ: music performer, community song leader, choir director, workshop leader, past director and founder of North Shore Music Association; Tara Makinen: Executive Director of Itasca Orchestra and Strings, musician; Dana Mattice: Development and Communications Director of The Art Institute Duluth, Shannon Sweeney: stage manager for Duluth Playhouse and former production manager for the Minnesota Ballet; Moira Villiard: visual artist and student of arts and communication at University of Wisconsin-Superior.

Advisory Group Members and Qualifications

Erling Ellison: jewelry designer and creator, speech coach and judge, director of Garrison Art Fair; Ken Bloom: Director of Tweed Museum of Art, University of Minnesota-Duluth; Janeen Carey: vocalist, retired Hibbing Community College librarian and information media specialist; Kate Fitzgerald: Program Director North Shore Music Association, writer; Peter Pestalozzi: furniture maker, wood worker; David Beard: Assistant Professor University of Minnesota-Duluth writing studies; Mark King: actor, theater reviewer, musician; John Gregor: photographer, art educator, community art advocate; Ann Russ: music performer, community song leader, choir director, workshop leader, past director and founder of North Shore Music Association; Dana Mattice: Development and Communications Director of The Art Institute Duluth; Moira Villiard: visual artist and student of arts and communication at University of Wisconsin-Superior.

Project Details: 2015 Fiscal Year

Legal Citation / Subdivision

Laws of Minnesota 2013, Chapter 137, Article 4, Section 2, Subdivision 3

Appropriation Language

ACHF Arts Access ACHF Arts Education ACHF Cultural Heritage

2015 Fiscal Year Funding Amount

$3,375

Other Funds Leveraged

$3,725

Direct expenses

$7,100

Proposed Measurable Outcome(s)

Magic Smelt is building on past success to further establish the Smelt Parade as a proud local tradition. We wish to coordinate a fanciful procession including hundreds of local citizens, to accompany our giant Smelt Queen puppet on the Lakewalk. This will be a visual and musical spectacle, celebrating the extraordinary phenomenon of the smelt run. We will offer free workshops prior to the event, both in a downtown location and in area schools. We wish for the workshops and parade to be creative parties, both lighthearted and humorous. The key to our success will be to engage students, families, and a diverse community of volunteer participants. We intend to recruit perhaps 100 costumed and masked performers and puppeteers. Additionally, we expect to attract another couple of hundred spectators. Our parade is intrinsically a community event. People will come if they enjoy themselves. We make it easy for people to participate at their own level. We have worked with girl scouts making crowns and rod puppets, dads on stilts, and grandmas sewing costumes. We will continue to recruit citizens of all ages.

Description of Funds

Source of Additional Funds

Other, local or private

Recipient Board Members

Kirsten Aune, Barb Baco, Hannah Grunzke, Randel Hanson, Anton Jimenez-Kloeckl

Project Manager

Jim

Ouray

Magic Smelt Puppet Troupe

1014 Lake Ave S

Duluth

(218) 370-8980