Artist Access Grants
Artist Access Grants
Canvas Construction: The funding requested will be used to purchase materials for building canvases.
Tara Makinen: Executive Director of Itasca Orchestra and Strings, musician; Amber Burns: choreographer, dancer, actor, middle school art teacher; Tammy Mattonen: visual artists, co-founder of Crescendo Youth Orchestra; Kayla Aubid: Native American craft artist, writer, employee at MacRostie Art Center; Ariana Daniel: mixed media artist, arts instructor; Kathy Neff: musician, Director, Fine Arts Academy at the University of Minnesota-Duluth; Ron Piercy: jeweler, gallery owner; Emily Swanson: arts administrator at Oldenburg Arts and Cultural Community; Christina Nohre: writer and arts advocate.
Tara Makinen: Executive Director of Itasca Orchestra and Strings, musician; Amber Burns: choreographer, dancer, actor, middle school art teacher; Tammy Mattonen: visual artist, co-founder of Crescendo Youth Orchestra; Kayla Aubid: Native American craft artist, writer, employee at MacRostie Art Center. Ron Piercy: jeweler, gallery owner.
ACHF Arts Access ACHF Arts Education ACHF Cultural Heritage
I hope to address my need for large canvases due to the style of painting I enjoy – large scale, yet detailed – as well as build customized shapes for unique spaces my paintings may hang in. Having the ability to build my own canvases is beneficial to my career and does not limit me to the sizes and shapes available at craft stores, nor limit me due to the expensive nature of larger canvases. I will know I’ve been successful once I have completed the rest of my winter-themed collection on canvases that I have made myself and have stocked additional canvases in my inventory for future collections. Engaging in this project will also allow me to develop adequate experience to teach a canvas building class at that Duluth Folk School in December 2020 or January 2021. With the intrinsic learning opportunities provided through this project, I know I will have been successful when I am able to continue building canvases as I need them, as well as be able to effectively convey how to construct a canvas to students in workshops that I teach. Looking to the future, I will know that I have been successful when one recognizable mark of my work is the quality craftsmanship of the canvases. Someday, I aim create unconventionally shaped canvases to paint on, and have that be an additional mark of my work. This project will be a stepping stone on the path that leads me to this goal.
I was able to address the artistic goal of learning and refining my canvas building skills by building not 11, but 12 canvases out of materials purchased with this grant. Additionally, I was able to purchase materials specifically for painting with the savings from purchasing canvas materials on Black Friday. I have also gained a greater appreciation for the craft of canvas building.