Artist Initiative
Artist Initiative
Cook will revise his short story collection, A Hug for My Amygdala, and will create three public events themed around mental health, which will be a collaboration between musicians and writers.
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.; Uri Camarena: Business consultant, Metropolitan Economic Development Association. Board chair, Minneapolis College of Art and Design. Officer at-large, Minnesota State Arts Board; Michael Charron: Dean of the School of the Arts, Saint Mary's University of Minnesota. Secretary/Treasurer, Minnesota State Arts Board.; Sean Dowse: Mayor of Red Wing, elected 2016. Former executive director, Sheldon Theatre. Board member for Minnesota Citizens for the Arts. Chair, Minnesota State Arts Board.; Philip McKenzie, Oboe and English horn player; adjunct oboe faculty, NDSU; Mary McReynolds-Pellinen: Executive director, Lyric Center for the Arts; coordinator, First Stage Gallery; Thomas Moss: Consultant to nonprofits and government agencies.; Dobson West: Senior advisor, Spell Capital Partners Fund.; Christina Widdess: Arts organization consultant; former managing director, Penumbra Theatre. Vice Chair, Minnesota State Arts Board.
Rebecca Brooks: Writer and teacher; Arts Board grantee; Scott Carpenter: Fiction writer; teacher at Carleton; Martin Cozza: Fiction writer; Arts Board grantee; Margaret Newman: Writer and teacher; Arts Board grantee; Cole Perry: Northern Minnesota novelist; Robin Rozanski: Writer; teaching artist at The Loft; Molly Sutton Kiefer: Poet, essayist, editor and publisher of Tinderbox Editions in Red Wing
ACHF Arts Access
To revise my short story manuscript, A Hug for My Amygdala. Manuscript will be read by an editor and, after revision, by my writers' group members for final review. Thereafter, the manuscript will be sent to a literary agent. 2: I will create and facilitate three readings/performances that will address themes of mental health. Outcome will be measured by performing a head count of attendees. Artists involved will evaluate the performances and the audience reception after each event. Audience and venue enthusiasm will determine possibilities for an ongoing reading series.
My editor read the manuscript and then evaluated my revisions. I have sent my manuscript to members of my writers' group for further evaluation. 2: I created an event called Work in Progress at the Southern Theater that involved a reading, musical performance, and discussion about mental health. 51 people attended the event. The participants all had positive feedback and said they'd do it again. The audience feedback was all positive, and the director of the theater, who was in attendance, said the night was a success.