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.
As Minnesota’s state Zoo, we are committed to ensuring that our programs are accessible to all our citizens – regardless of age, geographic location, disability or background. “Zoo Unlimited” is our community outreach and access initiative that unites a wide range of programs and policies designed to ensure every Minnesotan has unlimited opportunities to form stronger connections with the natural world. Legacy funds help us implement this program bridge barriers that keep people from connecting with all the Zoo has to offer.
African Economic Development Solutions will sustain and expand funding development team skills, this funding would support training, coaching, and overall support. The project has the following key objectives: 1) hire expertise to train staff on fund development planning; 2) grant writing training and support; 3) grant research; 4) grants management and reporting; 5) sponsorship fundraising; 6) grant application writing for humanities programs.
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.
America is polarized around cultural and racial identity. AmercaTV.me will offer a vision where people can discover common roots across diverse cultural identities.Two videos and virtual tours will be produced - "Rhythms" and "Flavors". For example, Rhythms - An Asian Indian playing the ?tabla , an African American playing the Saxophone, an Irish American playing the piano, Each plays the same beat in their unique way. Videos will be produced in multiple languages.
Our focus is on planning and implementation of programming suitable for indigenous and non-indigenous special-needs youth, that allows for an enriching experience that values indigenous culture and affords engaging and creative ways for learning and personal growth. We will modify the "traditional" Native Skywatchers We Are Stardust workshop training with follow-up transition and support for these youth to share Stardust workshop activities in the role of afterschool club leaders.
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.
ASAL Charities will enhance civic engagement within the East African community in the Twin Cities, honoring and celebrating its unique culture. "Empowering Voices" will integrate cultural nuances into civic education throughout twelve sessions focusing on the significance of voting, civic involvement, and active participation in civic life.
ASAL will enhance operations in three areas: 1) non-profit management; 2) grant writing and reporting; 3) fundraising strategy development. This project has the following key objectives: 1) train and assist staff on grant writing and reporting for non-profit management; 2) hire experts to conduct strategic planning, fiscal management, and community outreach training; 3) hire consultation to identify, monitor, and communicate fundraising campaign opportunities, grant writing, tracking progress, and project management.
This project involves the collaboration between Pan Asian Arts Alliance, Elluminance Era, Chinese American Chamber of Commerce-MN, Asian Media Access, Unity Dance Group, and other Pan Asian Arts groups. It is a first-ever collaboration between Asian American performing and visual arts organizations. The project, "Asia Extravaganza," is a one-night festivity event to showcase Asian American youthful culture through dance, music and storytelling.
The Asian American Short Film Project is a six-month long series of workshops on how to create a five minute narrative or documentary short film culminating in a public event showcasing works-in-progress. This will include workshops on how to write a short film, how to find funding, how to produce a short film with the tools that you already have (i.e. smartphone), how to edit, and how to distribute/show your short film.
We are seeking funds to showcase the immigrant and refugees stories: lives, talents, culture and history beyond survival. Too often the stories of immigrants and refugees are framed in the context of surviving. The problem in those stories is that they miss the richness of the lives of migrants starting in a different country. The multimedia project will work on the stories from several angles, narrative, mural making, written stories, portraits, video and pictures.
Move for America will engage youth ages 14-18 in interactive groups to increase participants' relationships across differences; interest in and understanding of civic engagement; media fluency and source evaluation. Through this project, youth will build the skills, knowledge, and relationships they need to be active, connected, and informed citizens.
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 Equity Alliance MN will bring to life absent narratives of Latino, Hmong, Native, Asian, African American, and women of the Civil Rights Era in a collaboration among youth, social studies teachers, Full Circle Theater (FCT), and St. Paul Neighborhood Network. The narratives, researched by youth, will be transformed by FCT into a six person play that will be presented, video recorded, and distributed with accompanying curriculum written by social studies teachers for teachers across the Equity Alliance MN and the state.
St. Paul Civic Symphony will help to develop a multidisciplinary arts project for its free 2025 Children's Concert inspired by a recent publication, The Rhythm of Somalia: A Collection of Songs, Stories, and Traditions by Qorsho Hassan, Minnesota Teacher of the Year (2020), and music specialist Becca Buck, both educators at Gideon Pond Elementary, Burnsville.
With our emerging initiative, Buffalo Weavers: Connecting Land and People through Dakota Thought for Climate Rescue, we plan to engage in a range of programming activities aimed at healing climate grief and working toward climate justice. We are creating a movement through art to awaken the world to climate change and its impact.
The Chicano Latino Affairs Council and the Humanities Center will build on the grant received last year, which was intended to identify the elements of success in programs for Latino high school students and ways to replicate them. Applying the findings of CLAC's and HACER's research, CLAC will integrate its biennium goal of improving levels of educational achievement for Latino youth with the Legacy goal of enriching Minnesota’s cultural legacy by piloting the program in two Minnesota schools.
Move for America is a new initiative designed to preserve and celebrate the diverse cultural heritage of Minnesota by fostering intercultural exchange and education. It will consist of a direct exchange program involving students from community and technical colleges in Minneapolis and Saint Paul (urban centers) and two rural counties: Otter Tail County and Lyon County. This project includes two full exchanges, each with 30-40 participants over two weekends.
Asian Media Access (AMA) will embark on a capacity-building project aimed at cultivating individual donors from Asian American and Pacific Islanders (AAPIs) and the public, and encompasses a multifaceted approach to enhance grant writing, reporting, nonprofit management, and fundraising capabilities. Key activities include: 1) train and assist board/staff on grant writing and reporting; 2) build internal expertise in grant writing and reporting by obtaining consultation and training from experts in Donor Solicitation.
The Center for Hmong Studies is seeking a $20,000 grant form the Hmong Cultural Grant program to acquire the Jason Schoonover Collection, to provide stipend for students to digitize and catalog the collection, and to organize a Hmong Textile exhibit to show the collection.
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:
Understanding interconnected social justice histories is foundational to build solidarity with Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC) communities to address systemic inequalities. LinkingLeaders Partnership will integrate solidarity practices by creating and integrating resources, tools, and modules for teaching BIPOC histories in our programs. Resources will be shared as models for practicing solidarity to be used and adapted by others doing solidarity and racial justice equity work.
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.
The Winona County Historical Society (WCHS) will partner with Engage Winona and The Joy Labs to create and launch a leadership circle from historically and currently marginalized communities, who will guide new exhibit development in collaboration with museum staff and exhibit professionals. Members of the leadership circle will co-design the leadership circle process, which will involve framing discussion questions, engagement plans, and exhibit content.
Minnesota Teaching Artists from African, Indigenous, Latinx, and/or Asian heritages, will develop & deliver community-inspired arts programs that teach an art form with roots in their cultural heritage. Artists will select the Minnesota community where their residency will be delivered, focusing on increasing access to the art form. Over the course of multiple sessions, participants will learn the art form's cultural context, artists from that culture who have influenced it, and create the art form.
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 Cultural River Stewards project gathers narratives and practices from different cultural communities' stewardship of the Mississippi River (Haha Wakpa). Friends of the Mississippi River (FMR) will partner with Language Attitude to work with community members, educators, and artists to bridge science and cultural stewardship. Through curriculum and stewardship events, we will gather and share community connections to the Mississippi River (Haha Wakpa) in Minnesota (Mni Sota Makoce).
During the 2016 Legislative Session, the Minnesota State Legislature asked the Minnesota Humanities, $75,000 the first year is for a grant to the city of St. Paul or Ramsey County to develop and install activity facilities in parks for Takraw courts that are reflective of the current demographics in Ramsey County. This grant is available if the recipient provides at least a 25 percent match for funding.
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.
For this project, eahpro is interested in focusing efforts in obesity prevention and chronic diseases through amplification and celebration of Somali arts, culture and heritage in Minnesota, because different Somali dances are exercise which help to prevent obesity and chronic disease. If we get help from Minnesota humanities center (MHC) we will create multicultural event and dinners to show different communities how Somali culture and heritage and dance are important and can be part of prevention of chronic diseases.
The Media Education team we will share resources with the community so they can tell their own stories through youth and adult programs. These programs focus on photography, audio and visual storytelling, and advanced cinematography skills.
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.
