Artist Initiative

The five consultation sessions I had through Springboard's Artist's Field Guide were very effective in developing business skills needed to support my work. We talked about analyzing past successes and building on them. We also broke up potential venues/audiences into categories and strategized ways of connecting with each category. One strategy we discussed was using my knowledge and interest in local history to build relationships with historical societies and then to use those relationships to promote shows. I employed this approach in Moose Lake and Hinckley with success. In Hinckley, I also leveraged my relationship with East Central Regional Libraries for extra support. In Silver Bay, Kelliher and Red Wing, I worked with multiple organizations to set up double-headers where we did an additional performance or workshop on the same day to reach more people. I counted the number of people at each show and I was able to reach larger audiences than I have in the past. 2: I counted the number of people at each show and found I was able to reach larger audiences than I have in the past. I was disappointed that the situation with the high school football game in Kelliher took away from the number of youth I was able to perform for but I feel satisfied with the number of adults I was able to reach through the five performances (in three cases the day was broken into two events which helped even more in reaching a larger audience). In addition, the CD I produced and promoted with grant funds has been very well received and is being distributed nationally by the University of Wisconsin Press. It is also now carried by the stores at the Split Rock Lighthouse, the Hinckley Fire Museum and the Minnesota History Center where my work is reaching more Minnesotans.