Operating Support

Project Details by Fiscal Year
2022 Fiscal Year Funding Amount
$59,276
Fund Source
Arts & Cultural Heritage Fund
Recipient
Cantus
Recipient Type
Non-Profit Business/Entity
Status
Completed
Start Date
July 2021
End Date
June 2022
Activity Type
Grants/Contracts
Counties Affected
Anoka
Becker
Beltrami
Benton
Blue Earth
Brown
Carlton
Carver
Cass
Chippewa
Chisago
Clay
Clearwater
Cook
Crow Wing
Dakota
Dodge
Douglas
Faribault
Fillmore
Freeborn
Goodhue
Grant
Hennepin
Houston
Hubbard
Isanti
Itasca
Jackson
Kanabec
Kandiyohi
Koochiching
Lac qui Parle
Lake
Lake of the Woods
Le Sueur
Lyon
Martin
McLeod
Meeker
Mille Lacs
Morrison
Mower
Nicollet
Nobles
Olmsted
Otter Tail
Pennington
Pine
Polk
Pope
Ramsey
Redwood
Renville
Rice
Rock
Scott
Sherburne
Sibley
Steele
Stevens
St. Louis
Todd
Traverse
Wabasha
Wadena
Waseca
Washington
Watonwan
Winona
Wright
Yellow Medicine
Anoka
Becker
Beltrami
Benton
Blue Earth
Brown
Carlton
Carver
Cass
Chippewa
Chisago
Clay
Clearwater
Cook
Crow Wing
Dakota
Dodge
Douglas
Faribault
Fillmore
Freeborn
Goodhue
Grant
Hennepin
Houston
Hubbard
Isanti
Itasca
Jackson
Kanabec
Kandiyohi
Koochiching
Lac qui Parle
Lake
Lake of the Woods
Le Sueur
Lyon
Martin
McLeod
Meeker
Mille Lacs
Morrison
Mower
Nicollet
Nobles
Olmsted
Otter Tail
Pennington
Pine
Polk
Pope
Ramsey
Redwood
Renville
Rice
Rock
Scott
Sherburne
Sibley
Steele
Stevens
St. Louis
Todd
Traverse
Wabasha
Wadena
Waseca
Washington
Watonwan
Winona
Wright
Yellow Medicine
Project Overview

Operating Support

Project Details

Cantus engages audiences in a meaningful music experience and ensures the future of ensemble singing by mentoring young singers and educators.

Competitive Grant Making Body
Board Members and Qualifications

Peggy Burnet: entrepreneur, art collector, and community volunteer; Uri Camarena: director of business consulting with Metroplitan Economic Development Association (MEDA); Michael Charron: arts educator and an arts and civic leader; Richard Cohen: attorney in private practice and a former state legislator; Sean Dowse: arts advocate, arts practitioner, and civic leader; Anthony Gardner, vice president, marketing and communications at CentraCare; Philip McKenzie: team lead with Boutique Air, founder and owner of Bluedoor 74, adjunct college faculty; Mary McReynolds-Pellinen: executive director, Lyric Center for the Arts; Dobson West: retired attorney; Christina Widdess: nonprofit consultant; former managing director, Penumbra Theatre

Advisory Group Members and Qualifications

Amy Browender: Browender is a proud graduate of the Saint Paul Public School system and believes that access to the arts is critical to the future of our state and the well-being of our communities. She earned a BA in art history and English from Ripon College in Wisconsin and received honors for academic excellence in both departments. After graduating, she completed two terms of service with College Possible and was named AmeriCorps Member of the Year. Since joining the organization's development team in 2015, she has written grants, deepened relationships with corporate partners, hosted virtual and in person events large and small, and currently stewards and cultivates individual supporters as donor relationship manager.; Jonathan Carter: Carter is director of IT business relationship management for the Harmon business unit of Apogee Enterprises. Previously, Carter had a long career with General Mills, spanning finance, sales, marketing, information systems, and other areas. A former board chair for the Twin Cities Community Gospel Choir, he is an active executive board member of the Monitors Club, supporting the educational, political, economic, and social well-being of the Twin Cities African American community. Carter holds a BS in computer science from Washington University (Saint Louis); an MS in computer science from Stanford University; and an MBA in finance and international business from Carlson School of Management at the University of Minnesota.; Ann Fee: Fee is a writer, vocalist, and arts administrator in southern Minnesota. Fee is also the host of Live from the Arts Center, a weekly music and interview program on KMSU 89.7 FM showcasing local artists, writers, and musicians. Her fiction and nonfiction appear in collections by Cleis Press, The Missouri Review, and Demos Health. She performs with the acoustic duo The Frye, whose 2015 release The Best of Hank and Rita garnered a Star Tribune "top albums of the year" honor. Her performance in the short film The Best of Hank and Rita took best acting recognition at the 2016 Filmstock Film Festival. She is executive director of the Arts Center of Saint Peter, recognized in 2016 by the Minnesota Department of Human Services for a groundbreaking partnership showcasing art by patients at the Minnesota Security Hospital. Fee holds an MFA in creative writing from University of Southern Maine and MA in cultural studies/critical theory and analysis from Illinois State University.; Linda Holliday: Holliday is founder and president of Impact Minnesota, providing an array of consulting services to nonprofit, for-profit, and public organizations; and of Holliday Pottery, creating handcrafted functional ceramic wares. She previously worked with the Initiative Foundation for nearly twenty years, most recently serving as vice president of organizational development. Holliday is a 2010 Bush Foundation Leadership Fellow and holds an MPA from the Humphrey School of Public Affairs. She currently serves on the board of directors for the Crossing Arts Alliance and Advocates for Reproductive Education in central Minnesota.; Yumiko Inomata: Inomata serves as finance manager for Minneapolis based Arts Midwest, one of six regional arts organizations in the United States. She has a BA in theater studies and has taken graduate level courses in educational policy and administration, and teaching English as a foreign language. Outside of work, she has served on numerous panels, including the Sage Awards for Dance (2009-2010), and for several grant programs for the Metropolitan Regional Arts Council. She is an alumna of the 2017/2018 Arts Organizing Institute through Pangea World Theater?s Lake Street Arts!, which was part of a National Endowment for the Arts Our Town grant.; Mary Ellen Landwehr: Landwehr cofounded Ar4Trails in Rochester in 2016. Ar4Trails installs four temporary sculptures annually and has installed nine permanent sculptures along the bike trails near downtown Rochester. This fall, with funding from the MN CARES Act grant, Ar4Trails will install two more permanent sculptures and ten bike racks created by unemployed or under employed artists in Rochester. She served as board chair of Choral Arts Ensemble in Rochester and currently serves as board chair of the Diversity Council-Rochester. She retired from a 25-year career as an administrator at Mayo Clinic.; Manny Munson-Regala: Munson-Regala is the lead regulatory lawyer for the UnitedHealthcare plan of Minnesota, North Dakota, and South Dakota. He has more than 30 years of expertise in solving business issues with regulatory and legislative components for both private and public sector clients including previous stints as deputy commissioner and acting commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Commerce and assistant commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Health. He has previously served on the boards of the Girl Scouts River Valley, Minnesota Justice Foundation, MNxMN, Protect Minnesota, and Steppingstone Theater for Youth. He earned his BA and JD from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.; John Neveaux: After studying theater as an undergraduate, Neveaux worked with The Children?s Theatre Company, Minnesota Opera, and Chanhassen Dinner Theatres. He then moved to the west coast for a master?s degree and served on the theater staff at Cabrillo College and University of California, Santa Cruz. He left theatrical pursuits for law school and has practiced law since 1984. He also teaches business law at local colleges. He returned to theater in 2005, as a director, actor, and designer, in addition to serving as an advisory board member for 4 Community Theatre, Skylark Opera Company, Buffalo Community Theatre, and Chain Reaction Theatre Project.; Serenity Schoonover: A staff writer for Split Rock Review, Schoonover's writing has aired on NPR, and appeared in NewPages, Women's Independent Press, and The Bookends Review, among others. She is also a juried metalsmith, and her work has been featured on the front page of Etsy. Since 2018, she has been the recipient of five Arrowhead Regional Art Council (ARAC) grants, served on multiple ARAC grant panels, as well as serving as a Minnesota State Arts Board grant reviewer in 2020. Schoonover has a BA and MA in history education.

Conflict of Interest Disclosed
No
Legal Citation / Subdivision
Laws of Minnesota 2021, First Special Session, chapter 1, article 4, section 2, subdivision 3
Appropriation Language

ACHF Arts Access

2022 Fiscal Year Funding Amount
$59,276
Other Funds Leveraged
$1,242,626
Direct expenses
$1,242,626
Administration costs
$7,714
Number of full time equivalents funded
0
Proposed Measurable Outcome(s)

Minnesotans will gain knowledge of vocal music and awareness of social issues through compelling, high-quality concerts and outreach activities. Collect and assess results of concert and education surveys, convene focus groups of audience members, monitor press reviews and social media comments, document direct feedback from audience members and participants. 2: Cantus will continue to expand its Minnesota audiences through engaging programming, media projects, and ambitious outreach initiatives. Monitor and analyze sales reports, social media, and web statistics; seek feedback and carriage reports from MPR; gather distribution data from Signum Classics; seek feedback from community partners and educators.

Measurable Outcome(s)

Minnesotans were emotionally moved and reflected on inclusion in the 'American Dream,' prompted by thoughtfully curated vocal chamber music. Cantus relied primarily on audience feedback submitted through post-concert surveys. Comments shared on social media and directed to the organization's general e-mail account also provided helpful context. 2: Cantus' pay-what-you-can online concerts reduced financial and geographic barriers, serving audiences in 73 counties, up from last year's 57. Cantus tracked sales data for its online concerts, as well as feedback shared in post-concert surveys. The ensemble also monitored social media views and gathered in-person feedback.

Source of Additional Funds

Other, local or private

Recipient Board Members
Brian Newhouse, Theresa Gienapp, David Niles, Beth Anne Thompson, Alberto de la Paz, Sandra Davis, PaviElle French, Nancy Gaschott, Jonathan Guyton, Paul Johnson, Laurie Meyers, Jeff Reed, Paul Scholtz, Kevin Stock, Frank Stubbs, Kim Hollingsworth Taylor, Barbara Thomas, Paul Wilson
Project Manager
First Name
Joseph
Last Name
Heitz
Organization Name
Cantus
Street Address
1201 Marquette Ave Ste 100
City
Minneapolis
State
MN
Zip Code
55403
Phone
(612) 435-0046
Email
jheitz@cantussings.org
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