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 Council on Asian Pacific Minnesotans in collaboration with the Minnesota Humanities Center will fund arts and cultural heritage programming to educate, highlight, and promote understanding of the arts and cultural heritage of Asian American and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) for all Minnesotans.
Per Minnesota Law, the Minnesota Humanities Center administers the Arts and Cultural Heritage Children's Museum Grants. The Humanities Center uses a portion of the funds to provide grants administration, including overseeing the proposal process, agreement drafting, financial and program monitoring, and reporting.
Per Minnesota Law, the Minnesota Humanities Center administers programs, named and competitive, related to cultural heritage in Minnesota. The Humanities Center uses a portion of the funds to provide grants administration, including overseeing the proposal process, agreement drafting, financial and program monitoring, and reporting.
During the 2015 Legislative Session, the Minnesota State Legislature asked the Minnesota Humanities Center to award arts and cultural heritage grants to civics organizations. Legacy funds are appropriated to the Humanities Center to support such work. A small portion of each appropriation was reserved by the Humanities Center for direct expenses related to administering the grant. Should any portion of this reserve be unused, the difference will be awarded to the respective organizations.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Minnesota, home to the largest Somali population in the United States, lacks resources for students to access knowledge and representations of Somalia. The Somali Museum of Minnesota will offer students immersive field trips illuminating the history and arts of traditional Somali society by subsidizing admission fees, integrating elders as immersive guides on tours, and developing take-home curriculum materials.
Minnesota Civic Youth is dedicated to helping kids and young adults develop the knowledge, skills, confidence and desire to be informed, active citizens. We do this by engaging them in authentic civic experiences and activities that respect their viewpoint and celebrate their voice. We have three primary program areas: Kids Voting Minnesota Network, Governing Youth and Teens Speak Out.
Learning Law and Democracy will enhance civic education across Minnesota by increasing the value of teachingcivics.org through redesigned architecture and an updated look and feel along with the addition of new lessons and user instructions. Student programs supported with this grant will also experience a redesign to capitalize on the renovated State Capitol and new Senate Building and will benefit from new partners and teachers with increased capacity to teach through professional development.
The Civics Education Coalition will create opportunities for students, enrich teacher capacity to engage students, and build state-wide networks. Work will include an interactive website, online youth summit, youth conference, new lessons for educators, teacher institutes, and expansion of the statewide Civic Education Network and its activities.
The Civic Leadership Institute Online (CLIO) provided original content that complemented other online resources and developed young people’s ability to act on issues that matter to them and to increase their civic and political understanding.
The Arts and Access Programs included two major new initiatives: 1. New arts and access programming at Minnesota Children’s Museum-Rochester; and 2. Creativity Jam Exhibit, which engaged Minnesota children and families in a changing line-up of large-scale creative arts projects and loose parts play at the Minnesota Children's Museum's flagship downtown Saint Paul site.
Legacy-funded programs at the Minnesota Humanities Center demonstrate our determination to collaboratively create humanities programs for the broader public by forging strong partnerships with local, state, and national cultural organizations. These programs show the broader community how the humanities can be used to address issues important to their everyday lives. Each activity, event, and program shares an Absent Narrative with participants, which help residents across the state engage in a more sophisticated understanding of their community.
The Arts and Access Programs include three major initiatives: 1. Arts and access programming at Minnesota Children’s Museum-Rochester 2. Creativity Jam Exhibit; and 3. Storyland Tour of Greater Minnesota.
Ampers is partnering with the Minnesota Humanities Center to expand the “Veterans’ Voices” project. Focused on widening the narrative surrounding Minnesota’s service members, this series will feature 25 different Veterans and will explore their knowledge, experience and leadership, from their perspectives, and in their own voices. Ampers will produce and distribute 25 different 90-second segments.
Total: $43,017.75 We are Water MN is a program and partnership with the Humanities Center, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, Minnesota Historical Society, Minnesota Department of Health, Minnesota section of the American Water Works Association, and six greater Minnesota communities.
Minnesota Youth in Government (YIG) is a youth-led experience that engages middle and high school youth in democratic governing leadership. Students learn about government process and gain an understanding of local, state, national and international concerns. They research and debate, participate in model Assemblies, United Nations, Youth Conferences on National Affairs, retreats and trainings, and National Judicial Competition, and gain an appreciation of diverse viewpoints in respectful ways.
It is commonly understood that one of the most important purposes of educating the nation's citizens is to protect and strengthen democracy. Education in America must prepare all students for informed participation in civic and democratic life. Minnesota Civic Youth develops authentic, nonpartisan civic programs to support educators in their efforts to prepare the next generation of citizens and to help students learn about democracy, civic responsibility and the political process.
Funds are appropriated for programs and purposes of the Minnesota Humanities Center. The humanities remind us of where we have been, bring knowledge and insights to current life, and help us envision where we are going.
The primary goal of the Humanities Center’s Education Initiative is to increase student engagement and success; the foundation is strengthening the teacher-student relationship. Drawing upon the multiplicity of experiences and cultures represented in schools, educators gain insight into how to engage every student authentically and respectfully.
The Minnesota Humanities Center is dedicated to bringing informative, enlightening, and engaging events to the community, providing all Minnesotans opportunities to build relationships, listen to stories, and learn from one-another.
Drawing on the power of the humanities, Veterans’ Voices changes the narrative of Veterans and honors their contributions. It empowers Veterans to speak in their own voices through plays, discussions, literature, and the Veterans’ Voices Award. Veterans’ Voices will recognize the next great generation and illustrate that the Veteran’s voice is essential to the work of building our great democracy.
We are Water MN is a program and partnership with the Humanities Center, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, Minnesota Historical Society, Minnesota Department of Health, Minnesota section of the American Water Works Association, and eight greater Minnesota communities. Bringing Water/Ways, a traveling exhibition and community engagement initiative of the Smithsonian Institution’s Museum on Main Street program, Legacy funding will support We Are Water MN work for relationship building with existing partners and for community engagement events at the eight Minnesota host sites.
Why Treaties Matter: Self-Government in the Dakota and Ojibwe Nations is a traveling exhibition made in partnership with the Minnesota Indian Affairs Council and the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian. The exhibit explores relationships between Dakota and Ojibwe Indian Nations and the U.S. government in this place we now call Minnesota. Legacy funds will be used to support a new statewide tour, educational resources, and community engagement activities throughout Minnesota in 2018-2019 in partnership with the Minnesota Indian Affairs Council and 11 sovereign nations.
Kids Voting St. Paul will introduce youth-friendly technologies to enhance civic learning, expand its veterans civic education initiative, increase the number of students participating in Kids Voting elections, pilot a state-wide KidVention, expand and leverage partnerships, and convene a civic education provider summit.
Learning Law and Democracy Foundation will strengthen learning about the Minnesota constitution and government, create a civic self-assessment instrument for Minnesota schools, convene a civic education provider summit, enhance the teachingcivics.org website, expand professional development opportunities, and develop new lessons on Minnesota state and local government.
The Duluth Children’s Museum continues to grow dramatically, in large part from the investments of the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Legacy funding support over the last three years.
This Minnesota Humanities Center Heritage Grant will allow project partners to plan and design a Chinese garden in Phalen Regional Park to commemorate the City of Saint Paul's Sister City Relationship with Changsha, China.
The Chicano Latino Affairs Council in collaboration with the Minnesota Humanities Center will use funding to address the education challenges and opportunities faced by Latino students. The central theme and core value is “culture and language matter,” that culture and language is an asset and not a liability. A research project will focus on identifying specific strengths in Latino culture that improve education engagement.
The Minnesota State Council on Disability (“MSCOD”) seeks to preserve and raise awareness of Minnesota’s disability culture in sync with the 25th anniversary of the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”) through a theatrical production, public opinion survey and research, and an ADA celebration/training conference. Activities will also highlight the low employment rate of people with disabilities. Most of the public activities will occur in the second year of the grant.
The Dakhóta Iápi Okhódakichiye will conduct a series of interviews with first language speakers of the Dakhóta language to understand the systematic absence of Minnesota's first language through a Dakhóta lens. The project has three objectives: 1) Understand the systematic absence of the Dakhóta language from Minnesota, 2) Understand language loss and revitalization from a Dakhóta perspective, and 3) Create Dakhóta language curriculum and archive (bilingual) from the transcripts.
