Arts Learning Grant
Arts Learning Grant
Support to fund a basketry apprenticeship series of classes working with willow, ash and birch bark.
Tara Makinen: executive director of Itasca Orchestra and Strings, musician; Moira Villiard: visual artist, cultural programming coordinator at American Indian Community Housing Organization; Amber Burns: choreographer, dancer, actor, middle school art teacher; Margaret Holmes: visual artist, poet, and former Children’s Theatre employee; Tammy Mattonen: visual artists, co-founder of Crescendo Youth Orchestra; Kayla Aubid: Native American craft artist, writer, employee at MacRostie Art Center; Ariana Daniel: mixed media artist, arts instructor; Kathy Neff: musician, Director, Fine Arts Academy at the University of Minnesota Duluth; Ron Piercy: jeweler, gallery owner; Emily Swanson: arts administrator at Oldenburg Arts and Cultural Community; Christina Nohre: writer and arts advocate.
Amber Burns: choreographer, dancer, actor, middle school art teacher; Tammy Mattonen: visual artist, co-founder of Crescendo Youth Orchestra; Ariana Daniel: mixed media artist, arts instructor; Kathy Neff: musician, director, Fine Arts Academy at the University of Minnesota Duluth; Amy Varsek: education director, Duluth Art Institute; Kendra Carlson: writing and theater instructor, University of Minnesota Duluth; David Marty: former director of the Reif Performing Arts Center, Grand Rapids.
ACHF Arts Access ACHF Arts Education ACHF Cultural Heritage
I will host a series of basketry workshops where participants will learn the full process of harvesting, preparing material, and using various weaving techniques to create structurally sound, aesthetically pleasing baskets. Learners will have the opportunity to work with birch bark, black ash, cedar bark and willow in five different workshops. Classes will be low cost, ensuring accessibility but still promising commitment from students. Students will be able to successfully create pieces on their own following the completion of these workshops. Attendance will mark that the small fee has been a successful way to ensure participation. I will create a survey for students to complete asking questions about their ability to repeat what they have learned in the future, and how they will use what they have created. The survey will also ask for suggestions for future workshops, as I hope to build upon this series.
Attendance of classes was a huge success. I was left with long waitlists of people that I could not accommodate in the classes I had offered. This is a major sign of success and leads me to believe that more of this type of thing is desired. I also surveyed participants following each class session. Participants were asked about their experience in class, their desire to continue this, and what kinds of things they'd like to see offered in the future. The answers revealed a strong desire to continue learning, as well as new interests in materials harvest and processing being discovered.
Other,local or private