Artist Initiative

Project Details by Fiscal Year
2012 Fiscal Year Funding Amount
$10,000
Fund Source
Arts & Cultural Heritage Fund
Recipient
Vance F. Gellert AKA Vance Gellert
Recipient Type
Individual
Status
Completed
Start Date
May 2012
End Date
April 2013
Activity Type
Grants/Contracts
Counties Affected
Dakota
Ramsey
Washington
Scott
Goodhue
Itasca
Stearns
Otter Tail
Blue Earth
Winona
Dakota
Ramsey
Washington
Scott
Goodhue
Itasca
Stearns
Otter Tail
Blue Earth
Winona
Project Overview
Artist Initiative
Project Details
Gellert will produce a photographic exhibition about the 35W bridge collapse and develop a related book of photographs. An exhibition of his photos will take place at the Minnesota History Center and in other Minnesota locations as part of the fifth anni
Competitive Grant Making Body
Board Members and Qualifications
Judson Bemis Jr., Actor, arts administrator, founder and principal of Clere Consulting. Secretary, Minnesota State Arts Board., Ardell Brede, Mayor of Rochester, elected 2002., Peggy Burnet, Businesswoman, art collector, and community volunteer. Chair of the Nominating Committee, Smithsonian National Board. Trustee, Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden. Vice Chair, Minnesota State Arts Board., Michael Charron, Dean of the School of the Arts, Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota. Vice Chair, Minnesota State Arts Board., Sean Dowse, Executive director, Sheldon Theatre. Board member for Minnesota Music Coalition, Minnesota Citizens for the Arts, and Anderson Center for Interdisciplinary Studies., John Gunyou, City manager, Minnetonka., Benjamin Klipfel, Executive Director, Alexandria Area Arts Association, Inc. Director and arts educator.,Ellen McInnis, Director of Twin Cities government relations, Wells Fargo. Member of Bottineau Boulevard Partnership. Chair, Minnesota State Arts Board., Pamela Perri, Executive vice president, Builders Association of Minnesota., Margaret Rapp, Former educator, Saint Paul Academy and Summit School. Officer at-large, Minnesota State Arts Board., Anton Treuer, Professor of Ojibwe, Bemidji State University.
Advisory Group Members and Qualifications
Donald Clark: Professor of art and photography, Minnesota State University Moorhead.; Peter Eide: Photographer; Peter Johnson: Visual artist, founder of Seeing the Big Riveràthru art and service.; Vivienne Morgan: Photographer, adjunct professor at Bemidji State University; Karen Stout-Heller: Visual artist; Kimberlee Whaley: Senior photographer, Goldstein Museum of Design, and co-founder of The MVA Studio.
Conflict of Interest Disclosed
No
Legal Citation / Subdivision
Laws of Minnesota 2011, First Special Session, chapter 6, article 4, section 2, subdivision 3
Appropriation Language

ACHF Arts Access

2012 Fiscal Year Funding Amount
$10,000
Other Funds Leveraged
$29,500
Direct expenses
$39,500
Proposed Measurable Outcome(s)

More Minnesotans are able to engage in or with the work of Minnesota artists.

Measurable Outcome(s)

Because of its initial location at the Mill City Museum and subsequent touring of the state, thousands of Minnesotans have experienced this presentation. More will be impacted by the installation. it is now touring the state. The project also goes home with the audience through a brochure and an expanded one that I’m preparing for tour venues. A book has been drafted and presently in revision. The aesthetics of the work notwithstanding, the audience was able to identify with a selection of the small group of people that experienced this tragic and totally preventable event. The rest of us had a sense of survivor’s guilt, as many had been on the 35W Bridge that day or week, it could have easily been us. The portraits of the first responders and the twisted remnants of the bridge gave further sense of the wrenching emotional experience, ranging from tragic to heroic, that it was. The project became a BRIDGE between those who lived it and the rest of us.

Description of Funds
Source of Additional Funds

Other, local or private

Project Manager
First Name
Vance
Last Name
Gellert
Organization Name
Vance F. Gellert AKA Vance Gellert
State
MN
Phone
(612) 618-0526
Email
vancegellert@gmail.com
Administered By
Administered by
Location

Griggs Midway Building, Suite 304,
540 Fairview Avenue North,
St. Paul, MN 55104

Phone
(651) 539-2650 or toll-free (800) 866-2787
Email the Agency