CMSM opened its new permanent site with increased capacity to serve as an informal learning center that playfully engages children, families, and school groups in interactive experiences with the art and cultural heritage of southern Minnesota. With its current appropriation, CMSM is poised to strengthen its core as an institution that promotes arts and cultural heritage learning through continued
CMSM will build upon the work that began with its 2015-16 appropriation by (1) Remediation and further development of exhibit areas that promote Arts & Cultural Heritage (ACH) learning (2) Expanding ACH learning opportunities for new audiences at off-site locations; (3) Engaging an outside Evaluation Consultant to help plan/implement strategies that meaningfully assess ACH learning outcomes and impacts; (4) Boosting the Museum’s capacity to serve more school/early learning groups.
The Givens Foundation will host a African American Literary Conference, slated for April 2025, to explore emerging themes, trends, and issues in Black American literature. Our collaboration with the Archie Givens Sr. Collection of African American Literature will elevate the discourse, fostering critical engagement. 1) Public Forum: Engaging the general public, as well as emerging and established writers, scholars, critics, agents, publishers, booksellers, educators, and students.
Art from the Inside elevates the voices of incarcerated artists in Minnesota and amplifies their stories through their art and community-centered exhibitions of their art, providing the public a space to explore the complexities of identity, incarceration, and our shared humanity. AFTI will expand its reach and impact into more state correctional facilities and incorporate culturally-sustaining arts programming both inside and outside the walls of confinement.
The Children's Museum of Rochester, Inc. will be implementing a program called Passport To Play aiming to increase the number of children and families of all ages, ethnicities, abilities and incomes to participate in hands-on arts and cultural programming and educational exhibits at the museum. Passport To Play would reach over 1,500 children and families a year from underserved communities in Southeastern Minnesota. The Children's Museum of Rochester, Inc.
This project will expand the Truth Telling Series that collected, preserved, and shared suppressed Dakota and Anishinaabe histories through community oral narratives. The project will document untold and silenced narratives from Black Minnesotans in urban and rural communities to develop new and easily accessible curriculum for grades Pre-K-6, in partnership with numerous BIPOC scholars, elders, and community partners. The project includes a collaborative story collection. The stories will be collected, documented, and written.
The Children’s Museum of Southern Minnesota (CMSM) will build upon a strong foundation of Minnesota Arts, Culture and Heritage (ACH) learning experiences made possible with prior MN Legacy funding support to:
This project is designed to introduce the rich heritage of Chinese dance and music to communities in the Twin Cities and Rochester, fostering cultural appreciation and understanding.
In May 2009, the Minnesota State Legislature asked the Minnesota Humanities Center and four state councils-the Minnesota Indian Affairs Council, the Council on Black Minnesotans, the Chicano Latino Affairs Council, and the Council on Asian Pacific Minnesotans-to collaboratively create new programs and events that celebrates and preserves the artistic, historical, and cultural heritages of the communities represented by each council.
The Children's Museum of Southern Minnesota planned for the cultural alignment of the permanent Children's Museum's art curation, signage, and interactive experiences. The primary focus of this cultural content related to southern Minnesota including Dakota art, culture, and heritage and complemented the Exhibit Development and Fabrication Legacy grant goals.
With the support of Minnesota Humanities Center, Afro American Development Association (AADA) has partnered with renowned Somali musician Nimcaan Hilaac to bring Somali musical education to Somali American youth in Minnesota. The Cultural Music Program for Somali American Youth will allow 50 students to participate in a musical composition workshop with Nimcaan Hilaac, culminating in a performance at a summertime Somali music festival open to all members of the community.
Dakota Wicohan will develop programming alternatives, like online and media resources and delivered care packages, to stay engaged with our youth, adults and families, focusing specifically on using culturally appropriate means to bolster the mental and spiritual health of our youth, and help them deal with any losses they experienced in their families and community. We will continue this new at-home support and activity component of our programming beyond the Covid-19 crisis.
Dakota Wicohan will offer a 16-week “Beading 101” course, covering 5 to 7 different beading techniques presented by experts in each technique, and the needles, thread and other supplies needed for each style. Stitches to include lazy stitch, peyote stitch, the three drop technique, beading with two needles, the wrap technique, loom beading, and, throughout, general beading tips and tricks.
Dakota Wicohan created the first half of a leadership and civics curriculum for Dakota youth—Dakota Itancan Kagapi, or, the making of Dakota leaders. The program will be used to train Dakota youth through the inter-related strategies of remembering, reclaiming, and reconnecting with our Dakota language and lifeways to enhance the region’s civic foundation.
Dakota Wicohan will hire a consultant to 1) sustain success and growth; 2) train and empower staff; 3) foster leadership from within the community; 4) prepare for future challenges and opportunities.
Dakota Wicohan will provide a transformative 16-week program aimed at empowering local Dakota youth by guiding them through the intricate process of crafting their own dance regalia outfits and provide dance lessons, tailored for 10-13 students (boys and girls), from the Lower Sioux Community. Upon completion of their regalia, the participants will be empowered to share their newfound knowledge and skills with the broader community. This sharing will be prominently featured at two local events - the Lower Sioux Powwow and the Redwood County Fair.
The Department of Public Transformation will hire a Development Consultant to lead the Board and staff toward more sustainable and intentional fundraising strategies. Specifically, a consultant teaches skills in building annual giving programs, creating audit systems and policies, coach staff and board on effective fundraising strategies, and implement processes that can evolve as the organization continues to grow.
This project through field trips, community access events, museum-to-go, and free family passes, support programming that celebrates the rich and diverse community of Olmsted County.
The Children’s Museum of Southern Minnesota (CMSM) will complete the innovative community engagement process started with the previous Legacy grant. CMSM will build upon the progress created with the previous Legacy grant by transitioning the team's focus to carrying-out of strategic access strategies that engage a diversity of community members in the exhibit development process, resulting in the completion of fabrication plans for exhibits and environments that are accessible; engaging; and reflect the diverse art, culture, and heritage of southern Minnesota.
Building on the exhibit development community engagement process carried through three successive Legacy grants, the Children’s Museum of Southern Minnesota used the 2013 direct appropriation to prepare for and begin building exhibit components for its permanent facility by combining professional museum expertise with local resources, volunteers, and community involvement.
In 2007, the Children's Museum of Southern Minnesota (CMSM) conducted an environmental scan of early learning opportunities for children in southern Minnesota. It became apparent that the region creates few opportunities for children to engage in self-directed learning experiences in social settings; in particular, opportunities that create access to arts, culture, and heritage. This is still true today.
Building on the exhibit development community engagement process carried out through four successive Legacy grants, the Children’s Museum of Southern Minnesota will use the 2014-15 direct appropriation to complete fabrication and installation of several exhibit components for its permanent facility. Local resources, volunteers, and community involvement will be combined with museum expertise to complete this process.
The program that we are proposing has three components; 1) weekly arts club that provides arts education and peer mentoring for youth that are designed to introduce youth to traditional Somali arts. 2) A Somali arts show and cultural learning opportunity taking place at The Southern Theater in Minneapolis through The Southern’s Arts Residency and Art Share Programs. 3) Showcasing Somali art at the Somali Independence day Festival in 2017.
This project will support new exhibit components, including an agriculture heritage exhibit, that will showcase the farming way of life and the importance of family farms for the country's food source. It includes workshops and hands-on learning in roles such as gardener, farmer, processor, seed agronomist, farmers market vendor, and consumer.
Red Wing Arts will facilitate a collaboration beginning the process of healing the historical trauma that
divides the Dakota and Red Wing residents. Leaders of the Prairie Island Indian Community, Goodhue County
and Red Wing Arts will use the power of the arts to host engagement and cultural education arts experiences
that provide space for healing, improved mental health and connection. A mural designed by tribal members
will be installed in downtown Red Wing will symbolize this initiative.
The goal of this project is to provide opportunities for India Association of Minnesota (IAM) to empower Asian Indian community in Minnesota to build intercultural identity amplify Asian Indian arts, culture, and heritage for benefit of all Minnesotans provide education and outreach to all Minnesotans so as to increase the depth and breadth of understanding about cultural diversity and inclusion in Minnesota.
This project is for a new film initiative, "Images of Africa,", that will regularly feature films from African regions, particularly those with the most significant representation in Minnesota. Images of Africa will put a spotlight on the African experience, storytelling, and contributions of a range of artists, most especially filmmakers, from African communities. This series will be showcased at The Main Cinema in Minneapolis, MSP Film's home venue, as well as other Twin Cities locations, including the Capri Theater in North Minneapolis.
The Works Museum will design, fabricate, and install a new exhibit with partners from Minnesota's East African, Hmong, and Latinx communities that forwards elementary education goals and celebrates Minnesota's rich cultural diversity.
Ka Joog and Afro American Development Association (AADA) will partner to create a platform for Somali American youth to learn traditional Somali artistic mediums and present their learning through public presentations that will ignite community conversations. Art clubs and public forums will be implemented in Hennepin, Ramsey, and Clay counties and will promote inter-generational dialogue on taboo topics within the Somali American and cross-cultural acceptance with non-Somali audiences.
The Kairos Alive! Cultural Wisdom Immersion and Sharing Project collaborates with Centro Tyrone Guzman, Augustana Open Circle, Walker West Music Academy and outstate Developmental Achievement Centers to explore and exchange joyful cultural meaning through music, dance, song and story via 2-way Zoom webcast. Project explores cultural heritage and identity expression, and how it relates to the universality of human experience, in an environment of creative safety and intercultural exchange.
This project collaborates with 1) Minneapolis Hawthorne Neighborhood Council (multi-cultural/intergenerational); 2) Minnesota Independence College and Community (MICC), Richfield (neuro-divergent young adults); 3) an established network of 20+ senior centers and organizations serving people with developmental disabilities statewide (multi-cultural and intergenerational), such as Centro Tyrone Guzman (Latinx), Ecumen Prairie Lodge, Brooklyn Park, Wabasha County Developmental Achievement Center, Wabasha, and Adult Day Services, Bemidji; 4) community collaborations in Bemidji and New Ulm servi
Lanesboro Arts will launch the Equitable Systems Change project for the Lanesboro Arts Gallery as a commitment to a thorough review and change of current systems and processes, based on detailed recommendations to align practices with equity values and more deeply serve BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ artists.
Lao Culture Dance & Traditional Fashion Show will be implementing training youth for new leadership program. We are focusing on teaching students by passing on the skills & knowledge of traditional Performing art to a young generations to continue the tradition. We will make sure that the students that completed the program will be able to teach & passing on & continue the work to keep our tradition & rich Lao heritage and Culture. The youth leader will be great asset for our Communities.
This project is a fall 2024 exhibition of art created by self-identifying Latina women and non-binary, Latinx Minnesota-based artists with ancestral roots in Latin America. The exhibition is being co-curated by local visual artist, community muralist and educator, Zamara Cyan, and William Gustavo Franklin, an independent art curator, educator and author of the recent volume, Latin Art in Minnesota Conversations and What's Next (Afton Press, 2023).
The 11th Grade English and Social Studies students of Windom Area High School (WAHS), the Cottonwood County Historical Society (CCHS), and the American Legion (AL) Post #206 developed a project centered on collecting the experiences of living war Veterans by interviewing, writing, publishing in book format, and promoting the stories of Veterans from CC who have served in the military.
The goal of the Dakota History Symposium at Lower Sioux Agency is to reclaim Dakota voice in a narrative that under-represents Dakota perspective and cultural worldview while providing opportunity for exiled Dakota to reconnect to their shared history, disrupting dominant power dynamics that restrict Dakota truth-telling. Hosting a Dakota-led educational event will enhance public understanding, broaden worldviews perspective and increase access to historic truths of the State of Minnesota.
Katha Dance Theatre (KDT) will produce a mainstage program of three world premiere dance concerts to share the art, culture, and history of India through the art of Kathak dance - the 2,000-year-old classical dance style of North India. These productions will include the world premiere of GANGA. The Myth and Reality, the world premiere of PANCHATANTRA, and the world premiere of PRAKRITIR PRATISODH Nature's Revenge. The first will premiere in St. Paul, the second in Minneapolis, and the third will play in another Twin Cities venue (TBD).
This project includes a new exhibit component that includes a variety of farm production machinery, diverse agriculture commodities, and livestock, and provides an interactive learning experience about agricultural production and the art of manufacturing food for every culture.
Research shows that few young people receive a high-quality social studies education, despite the key role social studies plays in preparing students for civic life. Active and responsible citizens identify and analyze public problems, respectfully deliberate with others, take constructive action together, reflect on their actions, and influence institutions. We support young people in developing the knowledge, skills and motivation to participate as invested stakeholders in civic life.
