LRAC Announces Awardees for FY23 Artist Quick Start Grants
On Tuesday, September 20th, LRAC held a Grant Review where eight artists were selected to receive $1,000 Artist Quick Start Grants. These awards are funded by a grant from Lake Region Arts Council through McKnight Foundation funding.
Open to all applicants in LRAC’s nine-county region including Becker, Clay, Douglas, Grant, Otter Tail, Pope, Stevens, Traverse, and Wilkin counties, Artist Quick Start Grants are geared towards funding activities and projects resulting in career development and artistic achievement. Artists of all disciplines interested in applying for one of six Artist Quick Start Grants in FY23-24 are encouraged to submit their applications beginning on July 3, 2023.
Congratulations to this Year’s Awardees
Out of all the talented artists that applied for Artist Quick Start Grants, LRAC’s Board had the difficult task of selecting only eight artists to receive funding. Each application that was submitted was carefully considered and we are pleased to announce the following eight recipients of this year’s Artist Quick Start Grants.
Penny Kagigebi
Becker County
Visual Artist, Quillwork
Birchbark basket “Queering Indigeneity”, 2022, Penny Kagigebi
Kagigebi will use the grant to purchase equipment and supplies to explore “New Style Traditional Quillwork” with birchbark basketry, and introduce the art form to the public through exhibition.
“I’m planning a quillbox canister series with friction-fit jar lid openings that will also increase my body of work with new processes and materials and, in a very Ojibwe manner, pulling in and applying the best and most useful of what we see around us – always evolving, growing and thriving.”
- Penny Kagigebi
Jessica Chipman
Douglas County
Literary Artist, Playwright
Chipman will be acquiring a more-reliable and functional laptop personal computer, and will purchase the screenwriting/playwriting software Final Draft 12, to allow for a smoother writing process for her upcoming works.
“Theatre is a communal sort of learning: artists and audiences alike share an experience together in real time. What I love about being a theatre artist and, in particular, a playwright, is that the shape of the play may be the same, but the actual experience in the room may be wonderfully different based on who is in the room.”
- Jessica Chipman
W. Scott Olsen
Clay County
Visual Artist, Photography
“Untitled” photograph, 2022, W. Scott Olsen
Olsen will purchase 16 16x16 reusable black metal frames for gallery presentation of his photography. These frames are re-useable and will last many years. The grant will also be used for the printing cost for photographs that will be the first use of these frames--an exhibition of street photography that will be shown in Moorhead, MN.
“Gallery presentation is still the benchmark for photography. To that end, framing and printing are the presentation tools that influence how an image is received. This grant will allow an elegant, modern and minimalist presentation that goes well with my black and white photography.”
- W. Scott Olsen
Brian Christensen
Otter Tail County
Visual Artist, Woodwork
“Arts and Crafts Rocking Chair”, 2015, Brian Christensen
The funds from this grant will help Christensen to develop his "Olivia Collection" of fine furniture. The focus of the Olivia Collection will be chairs and seating, which will be constructed utilizing hardwoods and Danish cord seats. Additional items planned for this collection include benches, dining chairs, and a rocking chair.
“I enjoy working with wood because it is a medium that provides an intimate experience transforming the raw material into something refined and beautiful. I deeply appreciate the organic nature of wood and the uniqueness of each piece of material.”
- Brian Christensen
Brad Wegscheid
Otter Tail County
Visual Artist, Sculpture
Metal sculpture, “Lester Uglivelds”, 2019, Brad Wegscheid
This grant will be used to allow Wegscheid to create sculptures (rocket ships) that speak to the future of technology. These works will then be photographed and have short stories written about each and the adventures or mishaps that have taken place to have brought the ship to “Professor Sprinkles Rocket Emporium”.
“I feel you should always strive to find fun in everything you do. Hopefully my work brings fun/joy to others as well.”
- Brad Wegscheid
Jessica Woods
Becker County
Visual Artist, Sculpture
“Untitled” metal sculpture, 2022, Jessica Woods
This grant will be used to allow Woods to purchase equipment that will be used to shape and polish the stainless steel she uses to create metal sculptures. Her hope is to create enough metal sculptures to sell at street fair events or donate them to charity benefits.
“In my sculptures I want people to see the beauty in the familiar designs of old silverware and outdated candle holders and reflect on how metal can be reworked and welded into something different.”
- Jessica Woods
Michael Pettit
Otter Tail County
Visual Artist, Sculpture
This grant will be used to purchase materials for the production of a body of work containing wooden elements. Pettit has largely done metal sculpting in the past and is now moving into other mediums for his work.
“The message I've be trying to express in my art is the need to pay attention to Global Warming. Metals and glass have a rather large carbon footprint, while a conscientious use of wood as an artistic material would be more neutral.”
- Michael Pettit
Kathryn Hagstrom
Otter Tail County
Visual Artist, Paint
“Complex landscape”, Oil sticks, 2018, Kathryn Hagstrom
This grant will be used to allow Hagstrom to purchase supplies and equipment for development of new work for submission to call for artists and galleries. She will purchase a laptop to use for creating a website, storing photos for submitting images and emailing applications for Juried Shows, Call for Artists and Gallery submissions, as well as supplies for creating new paintings.
“I draw inspiration from contemporary abstract artists, as well as musicians who evoke a sense of emotional tapestry. These aspects of artistry compliment each other in my work.”
- Kathryn Hagstrom
Upcoming LRAC Grant Information and Deadlines
It’s never too late to begin planning for the next grant opportunity! This Spring of 2023, LRAC will be offering the Career Development Grant for individuals in the LRAC region. The Career Development grant will fund up to $2,000 per person for trainings, workshops, supplies, equipment, marketing, production, and time to create new work.
Applications for this grant will open February 20, 2023 and the deadline to apply is Thursday, April 6, 2023. Watch for the grant writing webinar and more information after the first of the year. Both the LRAC Artist Quick Start and the Career Development Grant are funded by a grant from the Lake Region Arts Council with McKnight Foundation funding.
Guidelines for eligibility for McKnight-funded grant programs can be found here and questions can be addressed to the LRAC office via phone at (888) 735-9622, email at lrac4@lracgrants.com, or by visiting us in the office at 133 S Mill St, Fergus Falls, MN, 56537.
We are thankful for the arts support we receive from the McKnight Foundation to make this programming possible, as well as the artists and organizations that make the Lake Region a wonderful place to be. Congratulations again to our eight Artist Quick Start Grant awardees!
