Project Grant

Access- geographically we are offering opportunities that are not commonly offered here; folk arts in particular. We also seek to break down cultural barriers, real or perceived, to encourage members of our under represented and marginalized communities at the AHFS to participate. We will measure this by assessing the makeup of our attending students and artists each year. One goal we hope to make progress on this year is including one or more artists from one of our immigrant communities, east African, west African for example. In general, we seek to offer experiences in traditional arts and skills not readily available within our geographic region. Learning- in offering these artistic experiences and opportunities within the natural environment, often very intentionally engaging it, we seek to introduce or strengthen student's appreciation for the natural environment and what happens at The Intersection of Art and Nature. We have been able to measure this by comments in our survey as well as retention of our students year to year. Learning is instrumental to our Mission and by extension our tagline- Discover. Learn. Create. Community- this is exactly what happens, people come together with a common desire to learn an art form or craft that in some cases has very clear connections to specific cultural heritages. And our students/artists make this happen "in community", within nature. We have experienced success in engaging new members of our community at the AHFS, be they transplants from different parts of the United States or even recent immigrants to this country so as to begin including their artistic, cultural traditions within our experiences offered at the AHFS. This will continue to be a priority for us, for the Artists and Makers Camp as well as all aspects of the AHFS activities. Measurable Outcomes: 1- Engage #8 artists from within central MN, continuing to provide them with living and appropriate compensation for their work/expertise/experience; seeking diversity among these individuals. 2- Maintain enrollment of students for the weekend between 30-40, seeking diversity among these individuals. 3- Ability to continue to engage our new and emerging relationships with local communities of color that results in additional students attending Hand Camp from previously under represented members of our community: Higher Ground Collaborative, Higher Works Church, and individuals/leaders within this community. 4- Continue to build awareness within Central MN and beyond of Artists and Makers Camp and the AHFS through continually increasing our brand awareness, specifically through social media efforts and personal connections within the local organizations. ; Engage #8 central MN artists, Maintain enrollment between 30-40, Continue to engage our relationships with local communities of color, Continue to build awareness within Central MN and beyond of Artists and Makers Camp and the AHFS.. Emailed Forms: We send surveys to participants and teaching artists Face-to-Face: We intentionally engage in person to person inquiry about the experience, sometimes we initiate it, sometimes the students or artists do. We intentionally capture these interactions, feedback. Post Event: After the event we intentionally schedule and gather both as an AHFS Team and with key organizers, collaborators, contributors. Examples would be rep from the Art Department at CSB/SJU or key people from other arts or community organizations who were instrumental in contributing to the experience. These separate, conversations, meetings, discussions that include dynamic back and forth have proven to provide the most constructive review and feedback. ; Surveys to participants; teaching artists Face-to-Face: Engage in person to person inquiry about the experience. After the event we gather as an AHFS Team and with key organizers, collaborators, contributors.