Artist Initiative

Project Details by Fiscal Year
2012 Fiscal Year Funding Amount
$9,400
Fund Source
Arts & Cultural Heritage Fund
Recipient
Natalie Nowytski
Recipient Type
Individual
Status
Completed
Start Date
May 2012
End Date
April 2013
Activity Type
Grants/Contracts
Counties Affected
Anoka
Benton
Blue Earth
Brown
Carver
Dakota
Hennepin
Le Sueur
Mower
Nicollet
Olmsted
Pine
Ramsey
Scott
Sherburne
Stearns
Washington
Wright
Anoka
Benton
Blue Earth
Brown
Carver
Dakota
Hennepin
Le Sueur
Mower
Nicollet
Olmsted
Pine
Ramsey
Scott
Sherburne
Stearns
Washington
Wright
Project Overview
Artist Initiative
Project Details
Nowytski will produce a recording that fuses traditional vocals from Czech, Slovak, and Carpatho-Rusyn folk songs with American folk playing styles that feature the Prague-based Amistar resophonic guitar.
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
Jason Allen: Electronic performance artist and Producer, Ballet Mech.; Jill Dawe: Associate professor of music, Augsburg College.; Paula Gudmundson: Founder, Seven Suns ensemble. Artist and arts educator.; Daniel Kallman: Composer; Janis Lane-Ewart: Executive director, KFAI, Fresh Air, Inc. Volunteer programmer, "The Collective Eye" (KFAI). Treasurer, Association of Minnesota Public Educational Radio Stations, and National Federation of Community Broadcasters.; Martha Lindberg: Handbell director, Centenary
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
$9,400
Other Funds Leveraged
$3,997
Direct expenses
$13,397
Proposed Measurable Outcome(s)

Minnesota artists are able to expand or further develop their artistic abilities through varied learning opportunities. Minnesota artists are able to develop business skills needed to support their professional art work. More Minnesotans are able to engage in or with the work of Minnesota artists.

Measurable Outcome(s)

Though I didn't mark this as an expected project outcome in my grant, it became an outcome for all the artists who played on my album and at the CD release: Each of the 7 players, who are at the top of their fields, told me this was some of the most challenging music they've had to learn and play. Without intending it, I had exposed them to an unfamiliar idiom (Czech, Slovak, and Rusyn folk music) that became a learning experience for each of them on their instruments, with the added challenge of successfully melding that folk music with the American folk styles they are more familiar with. I also learned a great deal about American bluegrass, country, and Americana with the added challenge of arranging Eastern European songs in an American folk idiom. The evaluation is in the musicians' comments to me and in what I hear on the recording—a seamless confluence of styles. 2: For the first time, I self-produced both a solo album and an accompanying CD release party, both of which required tremendous planning, promotion, networking, researching, budgeting, and negotiating. Without working diligently on each of those skills, I could neither have completed the album, nor could the performance have been scheduled in time (the album was released 2 weeks before the grant period ended, with the show shortly thereafter on April 20). The most obvious achievement was in the promotion of both: I had interviews on KFAI's Womenfolk and Fubar Omniverse and on Minnesota Public Radio's Radio Heartland; I had radio play beyond those programs; I included Quick Response codes on my posters to track traffic to my site; at least 2 venues (Cesko-Slovanský Podporující Spolek Hall and Black Dog Café) promoted my work on my behalf; and I used Facebook and social media nearly every day to gain exposure. Attendance at the CD release, my website traffic, and Facebook statistics all prove my achievement.

Description of Funds
Source of Additional Funds

Other, local or private

Project Manager
First Name
Natalie
Last Name
Nowytski
Organization Name
Natalie Nowytski
State
MN
Phone
(612) 384-6760
Email
natalie.nowytski@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