Minnesota Festival Support

Project Details by Fiscal Year
2015 Fiscal Year Funding Amount
$30,000
Fund Source
Arts & Cultural Heritage Fund
Recipient
Rain Taxi, Inc. AKA Rain Taxi Review of Books
Recipient Type
Non-Profit Business/Entity
Status
Completed
Start Date
May 2015
End Date
October 2015
Activity Type
Grants/Contracts
Counties Affected
Anoka
Carver
Dakota
Hennepin
Isanti
Ramsey
Washington
Wright
Anoka
Carver
Dakota
Hennepin
Isanti
Ramsey
Washington
Wright
Project Overview
Minnesota Festival Support
Project Details
The 2015 Twin Cities Book Festival will be a day-long celebration of the rich literary community of Minnesota, with featured readings by local and visiting authors, a book fair, children's pavilion, used book sale, and local literary lounge.
Competitive Grant Making Body
Board Members and Qualifications
Ardell Brede: Mayor of Rochester, elected 2002.; Peggy Burnet: Businesswoman, art collector, and community volunteer. Chair of the Nominating Committee, Smithsonian National Board. Trustee, Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden. Vice Chair, Minnesota State Arts Board.; Michael Charron: Dean of the School of the Arts, Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota. Chair, Minnesota State Arts Board.; Wendy Dayton: Arts and community leader and philanthropist.; Sean Dowse: Executive director, Sheldon Theatre. Board member for Minnesota Music Coalition, Minnesota Citizens for the Arts, and Anderson Center for Interdisciplinary Studies; Treasurer, Minnesota State Arts Board.; David Glenn, Executive director of the Minnesota Project, ceramic artist; Ellen McInnis: Director of Twin Cities government relations, Wells Fargo. Member of Bottineau Boulevard Partnership. Vice Chair, Minnesota State Arts Board.; Thomas Moss: Consultant to nonprofits and government agencies; Janice Sivertson: Gallery owner and visual artist
Advisory Group Members and Qualifications
Daniel Adolphson: Former director of United Arts Fund and program director of COMPAS/Travelers Arts and Diversity grant program; Ken Chin-Purcell: Director of the Saint Anthony Park Arts Festival; owner and potter, Bungalow Pottery; Dayna Martinez: Artistic director of world music, dance and the International Children's Festival, Ordway Center; Natalie Nowytski: Vocalist, composer and performer of international folk music; Kathleen Peterson: Arts administrator, playwright, visual artist, freelance writer; active community arts volunteer; Timothy Wollenzien: Director of cultural events, music organizations and program operations at Concordia College, Moorhead
Conflict of Interest Disclosed
No
Legal Citation / Subdivision
Laws of Minnesota 2013, Chapter 137, Article 4, Section 2, Subdivision 3
Appropriation Language

ACHF Cultural Heritage

2015 Fiscal Year Funding Amount
$30,000
Other Funds Leveraged
$33,654
Direct expenses
$63,654
Administration costs
$15,000
Number of full time equivalents funded
0
Proposed Measurable Outcome(s)

Festival programming will feature approximately 200 Minnesota authors and organizations and provide opportunity for engagement with the general public. By inviting Minnesota authors and publishers to participate in readings and the book fair, and sending surveys to all participants to gauge the success of their experience. 2: To provide a venue for over 6000 members of the public to interact with the literary arts. Rain Taxi will increase promotional efforts (advertising, social media, and community partnership), monitor attendance at the entrance and in event spaces, and keep track of programs to compare against previous years and other regional festivals.

Measurable Outcome(s)

The Festival featured a book fair with 130 local organizations and authors. 96 additional authors presented and signed books. Rain Taxi kept a spreadsheet of local authors with new books from which to draw Festival participation, which helped us to reach our goal of promoting Minnesota authors. After the Festival, we posted a survey online for attendees to get feedback on their experience at the Festival. We also sent surveys to our exhibitors to see how their experience went and asked for suggestions on improving the Festival. 2: An estimated 6000 people attended the Festival—a slight decrease from last year, due to our date change—but it attracted many first-time attendees. The Twin Cities Book Festival is a free event, so it can be difficult to get exact numbers. But through door counts, exhibitor surveys, distribution of raffle tickets and programs, and reading audience counts, we can gauge the general attendance. The co-sponsor of the Children’s Pavilion, MELSA, handed out free bags to kids, and estimated they gave out around 420. Two of our official sponsoring booksellers for the Festival experienced increased sales, along with the majority of exhibitors.

Source of Additional Funds

Other, local or private

Recipient Board Members
Kelly Everding, Michael Fallon, Rachel Fulkerson, Mark Gustafson, Kristen Hager, Timothy Hedges, Pamela Klinger-Horn, Kathryn Kysar, Eric Lorberer, Karen Olson, Margaret Telfer, Elisabeth Workman
Project Manager
First Name
Kelly
Last Name
Everding
Organization Name
Rain Taxi, Inc. AKA Rain Taxi Review of Books
Street Address
PO Box 3840
City
Minneapolis
State
MN
Zip Code
55403
Phone
(612) 825-1528
Email
kelly@raintaxi.com
Administered By
Administered by
Location

Griggs Midway Building, Suite 304,
540 Fairview Avenue North,
St. Paul, MN 55104

Phone
(651) 539-2650 or toll-free (800) 866-2787
Email the Agency