Individual Artist Project Grant

The benefits of my film project to my community are numerous. First of all, I will be exposing this area of the country to an amazing tradition of European marionettes. Many diverse folks have never experienced this rare form of art, whether live or filmed. This ages-old discipline incorporates so many varied skillsets with sculpture, painting, movement technology, stagecraft and storytelling. It incites the creative imagination and continues to evolve possibilities with current innovative and experimental techniques. Secondly, this proposal helps build a local arts ecosystem of artists, which is an ARAC goal for "innovative ideas that support building bridges and connections between artists or provide support for artists in ways that don't already exist." Thirdly, my doctor of ministry degree is centered in an evolutionary cosmology which seeks to find "A New Story" for context of humankind. Because of this I have "big picture thinking" that looks towards a sustainable and mindful future using art, science, and soul. My scripts and performances reflect this. Finally, our work will potentially join a worldwide network of puppeteers and their audiences. I am a member of two guilds, Puppeteers of America and UNIMA (Union Internationale de la Marionnette), these global puppetry fans will be very interested to see what continues to happen in this field in Duluth, Minnesota.I am trying to help my new impressive art reach a worldwide audience with this documentation work. I have an existing extensive worldwide network of puppetry experts/fans that I can share the images with. I recently completed a competitive fellowship Puppet Lab program in Minneapolis during which I performed my first marionette show. I finished six gorgeous wooden marionettes during isolation from COVID-19 with my own resources. I have had many past successes using public arts funding, my detailed resume and website show a proven record, planning and carrying out of a variety of fabulous events, personal and communal, including twenty plus years of problem-solving skills implementing the complicated needs of my large, unique, individual art pieces. I have coordinated other performance and visual artists in fourteen years of the popular annual public arts event, Duluth All Souls Night (DASN). I have degrees with honors in art, theatre and world spirituality and have worked with diverse underrepresented groups and ethnicities throughout my career, using compelling storytelling. My global network of expert contacts, historic founders of theaters in my field, will continue to advise me. I will know the work is a success by testing first audiences' reception of it. I will upload photos/film clips of the film's progress on my own web site, as well as other art and tourism sites, to increase visibility to myself and this city beyond this region. By numbers we can count those physically present as observers (and potential critics) and I will be able to actually measure by tracking the number of "hits" and review subsequent comments on various social media. I will make a written survey available for anonymous feedback and position myself as available for those who would like to chat in person or on Zoom. I can then additionally use the inevitably spectacular photos and film in applications for impending grants and show opportunities.