Rural and Community Art Project Grant
Rural and Community Art Project Grant
2019 Ely Winter Festival.
Adam Guggemos: graphic designer, art events promoter; Michelle Ronning: jewelry designer and maker; Tara Makinen: Executive Director of Itasca Orchestra and Strings, musician; Moira Villiard: visual artist, Cultural Programming Coordinator at American Indian Community Housing Organization; Jeanne Doty: Retired Associate Professor UMD Music, pianist; 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; Emily Fasbender: student liaison, visual artist
Tara Makinen: Executive Director of Itasca Orchestra and Strings, musician; Tammy Mattonen: visual artist, co-founder of Crescendo Youth Orchestra; Johnnie Hyde: choreographer and dance teacher, publisher; Ariana Daniel: mixed media artist, arts instructor; Keiko Williams: musician, Executive Director at Donald G. Gardner Humanities Trust; Sarah Brokke-Erickson: painter, fine art instructor at the College of St. Scholastica.
Arrowhead Regional Arts Council, Drew Digby (218) 722-0952
ACHF Arts Access ACHF Arts Education ACHF Cultural Heritage
The primary goal of the project is to create an engaging arts experience for participants and the general public. A secondary goal is to expand our participants' artistic skills. These are the measurable short-range outcomes: ň To maintain or increase artist participation ň To engage the public in the artists' work ň To create an atmosphere for collaboration and teamwork ň To be family-friendly These are the longerűrange outcomes: ň To provide rewarding experiences for audiences and increase appreciation for the arts ň To provide participants with opportunities for personal growth as artists ň To draw visitors to Ely to strengthen the local winter tourism industry The first outcome will be met if we have 40 or more participating artists and 14 or more snow sculptures in the park. The degree of engagement with the public is easily observed by EWF board members who will be in the park throughout the time when the carving is taking place. We will sponsor several group meals that are attended by artists and board members, and we will solicit feedback from artists informally at those events. Additionally, we will evaluate our success by soliciting feedback from other arts organizations (e.g., Northern Lakes Arts Association, Ely ArtWalk), the business community, and the general public. The first board meeting following the completion of the Festival is always open to the public for the express purpose of evaluation. We obtain lodging tax information from the Chamber of Commerce. Because lodging taxes are collected monthly, not weekly, it can be difficult to sort out the impact of the Festival itself, but year-over-year trends indicate a long-range positive impact.
Measurable outcomes were: - To maintain or increase artist participation - To engage the public in the artists’ work - To create an atmosphere for collaboration and teamwork - To be family-friendly - To provide rewarding experiences for audiences and increase appreciation for the arts - To provide participants with opportunities for personal growth as artists - To draw visitors to Ely to strengthen the local winter tourism industry Forty-five artists participated this year, which is down from the 2018 total of 53 snow carvers. There were 16 sculptures in the park, and seven more at Fortune Bay, the Grand Ely Lodge, the Front Porch (EWF headquarters), Art and Soul Gallery, and Veterans on the Lake resort. On the morning of Feb. 9, volunteers interviewed 51 people attending the initial days of the Winter Festival in Whiteside Park. Fifteen of these survey respondents reported that they “did talk with the sculptors,” and learned about the tools and techniques, how carvers grid a sculpture, how they develop their concepts, and how the snow varies from year to year and with the temperature. This indicates a high degree of engagement by the public. Twenty-eight of the people surveyed resided in Ely. Twenty-three people resided outside of Ely in California, Wisconsin, and cities across the state of Minnesota. Adventure Inn reported that they had “pretty much a no vacancy and reservations came in starting at the end of December. Many happy guests as winter was perfect this year.” Anecdotally, we have heard reports that the number of visitors may have been down in 2019 due to bad weather in the Twin Cities, but we do not have a way to measure overall attendance. EWF surveyed Symposium artists and learned that 89% of carvers felt welcomed and supported by the other artists, while 81% felt they had time to meet and connect with other carvers. Based on these results, we believe this year’s festival met all the goals except maintaining or increasing artist participation.
Other,local or private