Legacy for Individual Artists
The Traveling Museum
The Laramie Project: Willmar - Contemporary Theatre in a non-tradional setting to gain new audience members
Jane Link: visual artist, board member of Milan Village Arts School, and Milan Community Education, and Greater Milan Initiative; Marilee Strom: musician, former art teacher, business owner; Kathy Fransen: musician, certified clinical musician, founder and coordinator of Rhythm of the River music/art festival; Janet Olney: artist, coordinator for Willmar Area Arts Council, founding member of Kaleidoscope Gallery; Randy Meyer: visual artist and farmer, former art teacher; Kate Aydin: retired educator, multidisciplinary curriculum developer, board member of Lincoln County Pioneer Museum; Paula Nemes: musician, librarian, former coordinator of the Marshall Area Fine Arts Council, Vice President of Marshall Area Stage Company; Tom Wirt: artist, owner of Clay Coyote Gallery, founding member and president of Hutchinson Center for the Arts, past member of Hutchinson Public Arts Commission; Susan Marco: writer, High School English and creative writing teacher; Kelly Muldoon: graphic artist, board member of Prairie Music Association and Prairie Oasis Players, former clogger; Ellen Copperud: retired language arts teacher, theatre director; Dan Wahl: visual artist, musician, participant in community theater productions, adjunct English instructor at Southwest Minnesota State University; Emily Olson: musician, writing instructor; Tamara Isfeld: visual artist, art teacher for Renville County West Schools, Arts Meander planning committee, board member at Granite Arts Council and Renville Friends of the Arts; Cindy Reverts: visual artist, treasurer of Rock County Fine Arts Association, board member for Council for Arts in Humanities in Rock County, Art Rocks planning committee; Sydney Massee: visual artist, quilter, behind the scenes assistant in theatre productions, board member of Lac qui Parle Valley School District; Audrey Fuller: writer, arts advocate, tribal planner, grant writer.
Bob Dorlac: visual artist, professor at Southwest Minnesota State University, artist in residence in Upernavik, Greenland, and Painted Desert National Park, Arizona, and Isle Royale National Park, Michigan; Agnes Alsgaard-Lien: visual artist, retired art professor, Minnesota West Community and Technical College; Bill Gossman: artist, potter, musician, Mayor of New London; Janet Olney: artist, coordinator at Willmar Area Arts Council, founding member Kaleidoscope Gallery; Jessee White: visual artist, graduate Minneapolis College of Art and Design; Sheila Tabaka: costume designer, theatre artist, theatre faculty at Southwest Minnesota State University, Marshall.
ACHF Arts Access
The goal of the project is to gain new audience members by giving them something in a non-traditional setting to view in a new way that hasn’t been done in our community that will make them excited about live theatre. I will be measuring what percentage of audience members that attend have not viewed a live theatre production in the Willmar area. I will be measuring what percentage of audience members have not viewed a live theatre production ever. The goal is to get at least 150 people through the doors to view this project during its run time at Becker Market and that at least 20% of the audience members have not seen a live theatre performance and 20% of the audience members have not seen a live theatre performance in the Willmar area. I will also be measuring what percentage of the audience members felt viewing The Laramie Project at Becker Market in Willmar was WORTH THEIR TIME, if they will TELL OTHERS TO GO VIEW IT, if they FELT EMOTIONALLY MOVED AND FOUND IT THOUGHT PROVOKING, if they WILL ATTEND FUTURE THEATRE PROJECTS AT BECKER MARKET IN THE FUTURE, if seeing this project makes them WANT TO ATTEND PLAYS AT OTHER VENUES, if they felt THIS IS SOMETHING NEW THAT I WOULD NOT NORMALLY SEE IN THIS COMMUNITY, if they felt THE STAGING WAS INTRIGUING AND KEPT THEIR INTEREST, if they enjoyed the SOCIAL HOUR/QUESTION AND ANSWER SESSION, and lastly HOW THEY FOUND OUT ABOUT THE PERFORMANCE. There will be one question at the end of the evaluation that is on the form so that future project ideas can be given by audience members and will read as What other types of live theatre, or plays specifically, would you like to see in the Willmar Community?There will be a head count taken at each performance of The Laramie Project so as to get a grand total of audience members that attend over the course of the three performances. After all the performances of The Laramie Project at Becker Market there will be a social hour with a question and answer session with the artistic team. This will be not just a Q and A but also time to visit once the Q and A is over and there will be refreshments provided as well. At the beginning of the social hour an evaluation form will be handed out to all audience members. It will be a simple and straight forward evaluation so it can be filled out quickly and people can choose to fill it in and leave before the Q and A and social hour begin. After the last performance of The Laramie Project all the forms will be tallied and percentages will be figured for final statistics and to see how closely goals were met.
I utilized a survey for the audience at the Q and A and also did a show of hands to see what type/style of theatre the audience had participated in before. At our 414 Becker performances (5 performances) by show of hands 100% of the audience members had been to a play at some time in their life but 43% had never been to an experimental performance before that was performed in this style. The evaluation tool asked (THIS IS THE PERCENTAGE OF PEOPLE THAT ANSWERED "STRONGLY AGREE": I FEEL THAT VIEWING THE LARAMIE PROJECT WAS WORTH MY TIME: 100%. I WILL TELL OTHERS ABOUT THE UPCOMING PERFORMANCES: 98%. I FELT EMOTIONALLY MOVED AND FOUND IT THOUGHT ROVOKING: 98%. IF I HEAR OF OTHER THEATRE PROJECT THAT ARE HELD AT BECKER MARKET I WOULD LIKE TO ATTEND: 98%. SEEING THIS PLAY TODAY MAKES ME WANT TO ATTEND PLAYS IN THE FUTURE AT OTHER VENUES: 9%. I FELT THAT THIS IS NOT SOMETHING I WOULD HAVE SEEN AT TRADTIONAL THEATRE VENUES IN THE WILLMAR AREA: 100%. THE STAGING OF THIS PERFORMANCE WAS INTERESTING AND KEPT MY INTEREST: 92%.