Individual Artist Project

The benefits are multifold: Facilitating a mechanism and space for community mourning and personal grieving of the loss of Diona Johnson. Creating a permanent in-memoriam artwork that encapsulates Diona's gifted musical and creative talents. Publishing music that is uplifting, affirming and loving to BIPOC, Queer, Non-binary and Trans (LGBTQIA2+) people of Duluth and the greater community of Duluth Holding space for a dialogue about the struggles that BIPOC, Queer, Non-binary and Trans (LGBTQIA2+) people face every day in our community. Being an important published work for the members of the Gemstones, which will continue to be a potential revenue source and proof of work that is essential for growth, career development and networking in the music industry. ; I am striving to accomplish what my partner, Diona, truly aspired to do - grace the community and world with her expression, art and activism. Her music reflects her identity as a healer, an empath, and a person recovering from many traumas and oppressive forces. Measurable outcomes: the accessibility of the AfroGeode and the Gemstones album to the general public, with a goal of having the album as accessible to as many people as possible, for free to little cost. The hosting of a public event, the AfroGeode and the Gemstones album release party, featuring supporting artists, with a goal to sell 80 tickets. The promotion and successful distribution of the AfroGeode and the Gemstones album. Sales and revenue of the album, with goals being sales of 160 vinyl records and 40 cassettes. I've gained a lot of experience in the do's and don'ts of DIY album production, over the past five albums that I've been involved in creating. There are many nuanced industry standards, best practices and production ?tricks' that one can only learn through many trial and error experiences. This experience is a foundation for successfully and efficiently performing production tasks, to a high level of standard. Every album that I have ever started out on creating has come to fruition, been published, and released to the public. Most of all, my life is intrinsically tied to this album - this is a love letter from my partner Diona, to the world - and sharing this with everyone, in the most caring way possible, is currently a deep passion in my life, that I find myself very focused on. Whether or not I receive funding support for this project, I intend to share this beautiful in-memoriam art that Diona created with the greater community, in the best way that I can. ; Surveying the availability of the album's music in digital and physical forms: - Analyzing and documenting how many digital platforms the music accessible on, and how many are free or pay/what you can (for example, Bandcamp). - Analyzing and documenting how accessible is the music is in its physical form, tracking at what price points people have been purchasing the albums. Ticket sales for the AfroGeode and the Gemstones album release party - with a goal to sell 80 tickets. This would be documented from data collected from Eventbrite pre-sales tracking and day-of door sales tracking at the event. The promotion and successful distribution of the AfroGeode and the Gemstones album, with goals being sales of 160 vinyl records and 40 cassettes. Sales will be tracked through online sales data and in-person sales tracking.