Emergency Working Artist Project Grant FY22

This grant will ensure I have sufficient funding to pursue my next creative film project by covering my time in creating the piece - as a full-time artist, I rely heavily on clients for commissioned work, but more specifically on grants for my personal creative artworks. It's important with this particular medium to have complete creative control of the pieces I create, and this specific collaboration is purely artistic - it's not tied to a specific time and site like Maadweyaashkaa was (though Maadweyaashkaa will still travel as a reflection the pandemic experience and relevant in different ways to different spaces). As I expand my animation portfolio, this will be one of my first works that's not for an event or completed as a commissioned piece. As a collaborative effort, working with Tanaya as such an established poet and Indigenous activist will be a meaningful connection in my career and open the door to opportunities for more collaborations. 1.)As a freelancer I already have a studio space complete with all the tools/tech necessary to complete the animations. 2.)I've done work both independently and collaboratively in this medium with a lot of success in just a short time. Making my traditional art come to life through animation has come as a natural transition in my artistic career. 3.) Maadweyaashkaa was animated, directed, and edited by me alone, with mentorship by Red Lake painter-turned-animator Jonathan Thunder (who has agreed to continue offering support through this grant period). It was mapped and projected on a 400'x50' wall in the downtown Minneapolis riverfront, and as a free show, sold out to a crowd of over 2500 people across three 3-hour nights in sub-zero temperatures. 4.) Tanaya Winder is also an incredibly established artist in her own right and it's really exciting to have this chance to partner with her. 5.) I've a demonstrated history of successful collaborative work across mediums. As it pertains to my actual sustainment as an artist with this grant, being able to reduce the number of commissioned design gigs I do at least for 1 month while I work on this project is one measurement of success. I have split my time the last few months to a ratio of about 30% personal creative work, 70% commissioned / client-based work, and during the key months of illustrating this piece, being able to reverse that workload to 70% this project and 30% commissioned work will be a major victory. The other two goals are more longterm but can be measured by views on the film once uploaded to Tanaya's social media platforms, as well as my own, and comments made by viewers. Acceptance into film festivals and the booking of venues for viewing are another long-term measurement. I think at the end of the project in debriefing, qualitative data could be collected on our working relationship together - what worked, what didn't, if we will work together again, etc.