Operating Support Grant

Project Details by Fiscal Year
2019 Fiscal Year Funding Amount
$2,796
Fund Source
Arts & Cultural Heritage Fund
Recipient
Ely Winter Festival
Recipient Type
Non-Profit Business/Entity
Status
Completed
Start Date
January 2019
End Date
December 2019
Activity Type
Grants/Contracts
Counties Affected
St. Louis
St. Louis
Project Overview

Operating Support Grant

Project Details

Funds will be used to pay general office expenses, advertising costs, coordinator salary.

Competitive Grant Making Body
Board Members and Qualifications

Tara Makinen: executive director of Itasca Orchestra and Strings, musician; Moira Villiard: visual artist, cultural programming coordinator at American Indian Community Housing Organization; Amber Burns: choreographer, dancer, actor, middle school art teacher; Margaret Holmes: visual artist, poet, and former Children’s Theatre employee; Tammy Mattonen: visual artists, co-founder of Crescendo Youth Orchestra; Kayla Aubid: Native American craft artist, writer, employee at MacRostie Art Center; Ariana Daniel: mixed media artist, arts instructor; Kathy Neff: musician, Director, Fine Arts Academy at the University of Minnesota Duluth; Ron Piercy: jeweler, gallery owner; Emily Swanson: arts administrator at Oldenburg Arts and Cultural Community; Christina Nohre: writer and arts advocate.

Advisory Group Members and Qualifications

Tara Makinen: executive director of Itasca Orchestra and Strings, musician; Margaret Holmes: visual artist, poet, and former Children’s Theatre employee; Kayla Aubid: Native American craft artist, writer, employee at MacRostie Art Center; Ariana Daniel: mixed media artist, arts instructor; Kathy Neff: musician, director, Fine Arts Academy at the University of Minnesota Duluth; Ron Piercy: jeweler, gallery owner.

Conflict of Interest Disclosed
No
Legal Citation / Subdivision
Laws of Minnesota 2017 Regular Session, chapter 91, article 4, section 2, subdivision 3
Appropriation Language

ACHF Arts Access ACHF Arts Education ACHF Cultural Heritage

2019 Fiscal Year Funding Amount
$2,796
Other Funds Leveraged
$28,763
Direct expenses
$31,560
Proposed Measurable Outcome(s)

The artistic mission of the Ely Winter Festival (EWF) is to bring the arts out in full view of the public in the middle of a long winter. The evaluation plan seeks to answer these questions: 1. To what extent does the Ely Winter Festival strengthen the Ely community? A. Does the EWF offer a broad array of well-attended events' B. Are area hotels full during both weekends of the festival? C. Are sponsorships from local businesses steady or increasing, in number and amount? 2. How do the arts components affect the artists' 3. To what extent do the arts components affect the audience? In addition, EWF will track the number of professional sculptures and carvers, the number of carvers from Ely, Minnesota, and outside the state and/or the country. EWF will also track how many carvers are new participants vs. returning participants from prior years. To assess whether the Ely Winter Festival (EWF) offers a broad array of well-attended events, we will create a master list of all festival events and collect attendance information (if available). We will consider the number of events as well as attendance or participation. We will also ask event organizers for comments on how successful the events were, in their view. To assess whether hotels are full for the two weekends of the festival, we will conduct a telephone survey of hotels. To assess whether sponsorships are remaining steady or increasing, we will track sponsorships – both number and dollar amount - from the business community. To answer how the arts components, affect the artists, EWF will survey snow carvers. Among other questions, the survey will ask how the Symposium affects their career in the arts. We will also determine the value of the gifts for artists, including housing and meals. We will ask the Ely ArtWalk and Downtown Arts Market to share their participant survey and sales results, number of participants and participating merchants, and audience size (if known). We will ask other participating arts organizations to share their evaluations with EWF. To answer the question of how the arts, affect our audience, we will allow the public to vote for a People’s Choice award for snow sculptures. We will place paper survey forms in Whiteside Park and area businesses, and place survey collection boxes around town.

Measurable Outcome(s)

"The evaluation plan seeks to answer three questions:
1. To What extent does the Ely Winter Festival strengthen the Ely community?
2. How do the arts components of the Ely Winter Festival affect the artists?
3. To what extent do the arts components of the Ely Winter Festival affect the audiences?

We also collect data to show trends in the number of carvers and sculptures, and gather feedback from our four key constituent groups: artists, the business community, audience members, and the organizations that sponsor events. Our evaluation indicates that the 2019 EWF was successful in achieving its measurable outcomes."

Proposed Outcomes Achieved
Achieved proposed outcomes
Source of Additional Funds

Other,local or private

Recipient Board Members
Chris Kloppenberg, Lynn Evenson, Linda Ganister, Carol Orban, Wade Pharr, Peta Barrett, Jaymie Stocks, David Wigdahl
Project Manager
First Name
Linda
Last Name
Ganister
Organization Name
Ely Winter Festival
Street Address
423 Sheridan St E Ste 2
City
Ely
State
MN
Zip Code
55731
Phone
(218) 365-7669
Email
linda@elywinterfestival.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
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