Emergency Working Artist Project Grant FY21
Emergency Working Artist Project Grant FY21
Minnesota Nice - Building an online presence, documenting work, and creating new pieces addressing the present moment
Tara Makinen: former-Executive Director of Itasca Orchestra and Strings, musician; Tammy Mattonen: Executive Director of Itasca Orchestra and Strings, visual artist, co-founder of Crescendo Youth Orchestra; 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; Kris Nelson: artist, teacher; Roxann Berglund: musician; Bill Payne: Professor of Theater at the University of Minnesota-Duluth
Ron Piercy: jeweler, gallery owner; Laura Sellner: musician; Sarah Brokke Erickson: Associate Professor of Art at the University of Minnesota Duluth, visual artist
ACHF Arts Access
This funding will ensure that I am able to build up my online presence and create new work that's relevant to the current political climate and to the marginalized communities in our region that I belong to. It will help sustain my practice as a working artist and allow me to also document my work for web viewing, which in the long run is going to help maintain the visibility of my work. Simply put, it also fills the void of the opportunities that I would have had to exhibit and engage community normally, if there had been no been a pandemic. My work for years has been unapologetic and direct in addressing racism as the public health crisis that it is and right now there is urgency in sharing my work and making it more accessible. The impact of both the pandemic and the murder of George Floyd on my community is difficult to measure, but I believe part of my role as an artist (and one of only a small handful of black womxn visual artists in the region) is to elevate my voice during this time and the voices of those around me. This is also a time for me to build and explore my own personal artistic voice even further. My art has pushed boundaries to reveal uncomfortable realities living here - as with my Minnesota Nice exhibit, which on the surface might draw many folks who find the term nostalgic, only to reveal the inherent racism present in our ?passive aggressive? culture. - Creation of at least 10 new pieces of work by end of grant period - Acquisition of future funding for the expansion of Minnesota Nice - Launch of my new website in early 2021 - Sale of artwork resulting from website - Outreach from galleries and arts spaces seeking work addressing this present moment from a perspective like mine
I succeeded in my goal of creating at least 10 new pieces of work by end of grant period. I have not yet acquired future funding for the expansion of Minnesota Nice but I am in communication with galleries to exhibit it in the next year. I did succeed in launch of my new website in early 2021, and I have received a lot of outreach from galleries and arts spaces seeking work addressing this present moment from a perspective like mine. There's been a big uptick in opportunities for me to do work that is curatorial and teaching related as well as a result of having an online portfolio to share.