Rural and Community Art Project Grants
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: -To place at least 16 snow sculptures in Whiteside Park. -To engage the public in the artists’ work. -To create an atmosphere for collaboration and teamwork. -To be family-friendly. These are the longer–range outcomes: -To draw visitors to Ely to strengthen the local winter tourism industry. -To provide participants with opportunities for personal growth as artists. -To provide rewarding experiences for audiences and increase appreciation for the arts. The number of snow sculptures is easily counted, and the degree of engagement with the public is easily observed by Ely Winter Festival 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, Greenstone Committee), 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.
These were the measurable short-range outcomes: To place at least 16 snow sculptures in Whiteside Park. To engage the public in the artists' work. To create an atmosphere for collaboration and teamwork. To be family-friendly. There were 16 snow sculptures in Whiteside Park, and another at the Headquarters operation. The public was clearly engaged in the artists' work, as we could see from the number of people in the park watching them carve. We sponsored several group social events for carvers, and received positive feedback on their ability to collaborate with each other. All sculptures were judged to be family friendly. These were the longerûrange outcomes: To draw visitors to Ely to strengthen the local winter tourism industry. To provide participants with opportunities for personal growth as artists. We have several carvers who come back year after year, attesting for the long-range ability of the event to help participants grow as artists. One team led by Jaymie Stocks that began carving several years ago at our event placed first at the Saint Paul Winter Carnival snow carving competition this year, and will represent Minnesota at the national competition in 2017. This attests to the track record of our event in developing artists.
Other, local or private