Arts Access
Arts Access
The Loft will provide free access to creative writing programs for underserved low-income youth of color in St Paul and low-income seniors and caregivers in St Paul, in collaboration with Jackson Street Village and Wilder Community Center for Aging.
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 Marys 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: Board member, Minnesota State Arts Board. 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.
Melanie Davis: Volunteer Services and Corporate Engagement Director, Lyngblomsten, St. Paul; Alice De Yonge: Program director, Project G.E.M., nonprofit that serves special needs youth; Anna Deschampe: School Director, Oshki Ogimaag Community School, Grand Portage; Sharon Fischlowitz: Executive Director, Black Label Movement, Minneapolis; David Machacek: Executive director, ArtOrg, Visual artist; MaryLynn Pulscher: Environmental Education Coordinator, Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board; Toni Quirk: Vice president of development PAI (provides services to adults with developmental disabilities), White Bear Lake.; Kristine Wyant: Director of Corporate and Foundation Relations., Minneapolis College of Art and Design
ACHF Arts Access
The Loft will engage underserved low-income populations by collaborating with Wilder Community Center for Aging and Jackson Street Village. Quantify participation; track participant demographics; project evaluation forms completed by participants; reports completed by teaching artists and project partners. 2: The Loft will address economic, geographic, and other barriers to participation for the project's target service populations. Collect feedback via project evaluation forms completed by participants on value of experience and its accessibility (free, on-site); collect feedback from project partners via written reports.
The Loft engaged marginalized and primarily low-income populations through collaborations with Jackson Street Village, Wilder Community Center for Aging, People Serving People, and Vets in the Arts. Evaluation surveys were completed by participants, teaching artists, and partnering organization staff. In post-class evaluation surveys, 98% of participants report feeling supported as writers and 91% report an enhanced appreciation of literature. When asked if anything about the experience was disappointing, students overwhelmingly responded with comments such as Just that it ended! One student from Jackson Street Village said, I got better grades in writing class. 2: The Loft addressed barriers to participation by offering creative writing classes at partnering organization sites. We also worked closely with partnering organization staff to curate programming specific to the needs of constituents. The effectiveness of these relationships was evaluated through surveys completed by partnering organization staff and participants. In partnering organization surveys, 100% of responses agreed or strongly agreed that the constituency learned more about the craft of writing and found the experience of taking the class a positive one. In addition, 95% would rate the experience of partnering with the Loft as very positive.
Other, local or private