Arts Tour Minnesota
Arts Tour Minnesota
Milkweed Editions will conduct an author tour comprised of 10-15 events, featuring botanist Robin Wall Kimmerer (fall 2013) and poet Sean Hill (April 2014). More Minnesotans will be introduced to the diversity of the literary arts.
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.
Christopher Atkins: Coordinator, Minnesota Artists Exhibition Program, Minneapolis Institute of Arts; Eva Barr: Artistic Director, Dreamery Rural Arts Initiative; Steve Heckler: Executive Director, Twin Cities Jazz Festival;. Director, Festival of Nations; Sarah Howell: Events Coordinator, MacPhail Center for Music; Charles Maguire: Songwriter and musician; David Marty: President, Reif Arts Council; Rebecca Petersen: Executive Director, Duluth Superior Symphony Orchestra; Marcie Rendon: Writer, performance artist and theater artist; Jill Underwood: Associate Director of Institutional Giving, Guthrie Theater|Jeanne Zwart, Board member, Elysian Area Library; chair, Elysian Fourth of July Parade
ACHF Arts Access
Milkweed Editions will offer unique community programming (based on each author's work and background) to new and expanded audiences across Minnesota. We will evaluate our programming by assessing (for each author tour): partnering venues, audience rates, book sales, website and social media analytics, and local media coverage. 2: By touring artists who are out-of-state or have recently moved to the state, we can offer programming to communities that may have had limited access to such artists. We will evaluate our programming by assessing (for each author tour): the number of new venues and/or communities partnered with, with a goal of forming 2-3 new long-term relationships.
Milkweed Editions organized 19 events for 720 constituents, featuring Robin Wall Kimmerer and Sean Hill, introducing a broader audience of Minnesotans to the diversity of the literary arts. In Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants (Sept., 2013), Kimmerer, a PhD botanist and Potawatomi Nation member, lyrically explores how the factual, objective approach of science can be enriched by the ancient knowledge of the indigenous people (Jane Goodall). A nationally celebrated author, she received the 2014 Midwest Booksellers Choice Award and the Sigurd F. Olson Nature Writing Award. From the poet whose stunning debut was praised as transcendent (Kevin Young), Hill's daring second collection of poetry, Dangerous Goods (March, 2013), interweaves the historical with the contemporary to explore issues of travel, migration, and alienation, as they relate to home and the African-American experience. 2: Milkweed Editions organized an Author Tour including 19 events for 720 constituents. Robin Wall Kimmerer participated in 15 events reaching 545 constituents, including: Mankato State University, Gustavus Adolphus College, Macalester College, the Minnesota Indian Womens Resource Center (Minneapolis), Mounds Park Academy, the Duluth Public Library, the Tweed Museum (Duluth), Magers and Quinn bookstore, and Vermillion Community College. To date, we have sold-out of our initial print run of the hardcover edition of Braiding Sweetgrass (4,655 copies), sold 365 e-books, and moved up the paperback edition to September 2014. Sean Hill participated in 4 events reaching 175 constituents, including: Beagle Books (Park Rapids), Spirit Lake Reading Festival (Otter Tail), Bemidji Book Festival Poetry Slam, and Prove Gallery (St. Louis Park). To date, we have sold 695 paperback copies and 24 e-books.
Other, local or private