Rural and Community Art Project Grant

Goal #1: Create a quality face-to-face art experience for hundreds of Iron Range residents that amplifies individual and community narratives around the importance of work, women, and water on the Iron Range. We will measure this with quantitative and qualitative participant surveys and data collection. Goal #2: Collect hundreds of stories about these topics from people who come from different backgrounds. We will measure this by the number of stories collected along with collecting basic demographic data through our participant surveys. Goal #3: To build the cohesion/connection amongst an emergent network of "Overburden/Overlook Project Partners" who have never all worked together before. The outcome of this will be measured through post-project partner testimonials detailing the ripple impacts and value of the project as well as their interest in continuing the larger project. To measure the outcomes and success of this project, we will track how many people participate in our workshops and ask participants to fill out a brief survey that asks for basic demographic information as well as a qualitative response to the art experience. We will also collect testimonials from our project partners to track the impact on them and their work. The true success of the proposed project will be defined by who we engage, and how that engagement transforms their sense of place, future, and identity. These are difficult impacts to measure, as they are personal and occur in ripples over time. We will continue to gather stories and to keep in touch with people we meet through email and social media, following up to survey those we can about the longer-term impact of this project on individuals and communities.