Operating Support
ACHF Arts Access
Grow and stabilize services dedicated to the arts and artists. Artist contact hours include time Minnesota artists spend teaching workshops in American Swedish Institute's studio arts program, engaging with the public through lectures, presentations, and demonstrations at festivals and special events. Admission reports show how many visitors are engaging with Minnesota artists through exhibitions and guided tours. American Swedish Institute also captures visitor demographics, composition and visiting patterns by conducting monthly visitor intercept exit surveys. Results show an increase in overall participation of new and first time visitors to American Swedish Institute (70% non-member base in fiscal year 2013 compared to 30% non-member base in fiscal year 2014), engaging its mission through arts related activities, including exhibitions of contemporary Minnesota artists. Expressed interest in seeing American Swedish Institute use the arts to engage its target audiences is not only collected in these exit interviews, it is supported by qualitative research conducted through select focus groups in fiscal year 2013. 2: Increase arts programming and the number of Minnesota artists involved by utilizing the new gallery and the new crafts studio and workshop in the Nelson Cultural Center. The National Association of Neighborhoods hosted their annual meeting in Minneapolis and American Swedish Institute was identified as a case study for how a cultural and arts organization is co-creating programs to meet needs in the community, acknowledged in a keynote address by our local councilman. Other key neighborhood organizations, such as Children's Hospital (medical industry), Lutheran Social Services (social service industry), and Ebenezer (housing services for seniors) have identified arts programming at American Swedish Institute as an asset to partner with to achieve their goals and missions.
In fiscal year 2013, American Swedish Institute worked with 21% greater overall number of artists from fiscal year 2012. For that same time period, American Swedish Institute experienced a 203% increase in the number of artist contact hours with the public. 80,472 visitors engaged with artwork created by Minnesota artists, an increase of 181% over fiscal year 2012. For each of the major exhibitions hosted in fiscal year 2013, Minnesota artists have been the avenue for American Swedish Institute to grow new audience and connect regional interest in its international exhibitions. By strategically incorporating practicing Minnesota artists, American Swedish Institute is being viewed within its community and across the state as an important arts incubator and facilitator. Fiscal year 2013 saw a major transformation from a member-based heritage organization to a vibrant contemporary arts and cultural organization using a broader portfolio of delivery mechanisms (residencies, musical performances, theatre, and participatory exhibition experiences) to engage its diverse audiences. 2: American Swedish Institute has built a reputation as a cultural and arts anchor for the Phillips West Neighborhood of Minneapolis and continues to build more sustained and new relationships with key organizations in its community. In fiscal year 2013, American Swedish Institute used the visual and literary arts to expand programming at three neighborhood schools, growing its participation by more than 50% over fiscal year 2012 with added classrooms and afterschool programming. American Swedish Institute partnered with a media arts unit at a local high school to grow Story Swap, a cross-cultural educational project for new immigrants. American Swedish Institute is building on a survey of neighborhood cultural and educational organizations conducted in fiscal year 2012, providing an opportunity to clarify needs from these organizations in order to act on those needs in the future.
Other
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