Lakes Region Arts Council awards over $125,000 for projects ranging from traditional needle arts to AI in the potter’s studio
In its latest round of arts funding, Fergus Falls-based Lake Region Arts Council awarded $125,020 to organizations and individuals through the Legacy Grant program. The funding is made possible by the voters of Minnesota via a legislative appropriation from the Arts and Cultural Heritage fund.
With nearly $176,000 in requests for the available $125,020 in funding, the council was able to support a wide-ranging selection of projects, from an exploration of the social and political facets of women’s traditional fiber arts to a festival celebrating a community’s Celtic heritage, the emerging potential of artificial intelligence as a creative tool for artists and more.
Organizational Grants Showcase the History and Diversity of Artistic Expression
A total of $94,447 was awarded to organizations in Lake Region Arts Council’s nine-county service region, including:
Detail from Summer Dreams, embroidery by Susan Curtis.
Historical and Cultural Society of Clay County, which will use a $3,240 award for a fiber arts exhibit and programming in partnership with the Emily Reynolds Historic Costume Collection (ERHCC) to be displayed at the Hjemkomst Center in Moorhead, MN, March 25 through June 16, 2024. The exhibit will explore the needlework of women, how they used their embroidery to conform to the social constructs of femininity while also to express their individuality and creativity and to make political/social statements.
Members of Artrageous create a live visual art piece.
Fergus Falls A Center for the Arts in Otter Tail County was awarded $9,500 to share with their community and patrons the artistic talents of Artrageous, a troupe of multi-talented Live performance artists, world-class singers, and recording artists, highly trained dancers, and audience motivators, and veteran musicians hailing from the high desert of New Mexico. The performance will take place on April 12, 2024.
In Becker County, CornerStone Community and Youth Center will use $12,450 to purchase equipment, including spotlights, a lighting console, an electric drum set for its recently renovated stage. This equipment is will allow the organization to provide a high-quality visual and performing art experience in the facility.
Welcome to Pelican Rapids by local elementary students, 2022.
The city of Pelican Rapids in Otter Tail County was awarded $11,200 to create and install a mural downtown, designed by local elementary students under the direction of local artist Paul Johnson. The public art will celebrate the multiple ways the diverse community utilizes, appreciates, and conserves its local river.
Fused Glass art by Jolene Juhl.
With its $4,360 award, Ulen-Hitterdal School in Clay County will hold a four-day visual art residency for K-6 students and 7-12 art students with glass fusing artist Jolene Juhl. Juhl will lead students on an appropriate level glass fusing project, and all students will create their own art piece(s) to take home. Additionally, Juhl will conduct a public artist talk and demonstration the evening of Thursday, April 25, 5:30- 6:00 p.m.
In Barrett, the Grant County Prairie Wind Players were funded $5,070 to present Broadway-level musical theatre in west central Minnesota by producing the musical "Return to the Forbidden Planet" during the Barrett Old Settlers Reunion June 20-24, 2024. The project is intended to engage an underutilized age group of actors and [their] musical-loving audiences.
Douglas County’s Alexandria Area Arts Association will use $11,920 to produce a student show and performance for the public of the stage play “On The Verge” at Andria Theatre, Alexandria and in Barrett, Henning and Battle Lake. Directed by Sharon Thalmann, the production will be staged at the different venues in April and May 2024.
Central Lakes Symphony Orchestra, also in Douglas County, was awarded $3,860 to empower and educate local Alexandria students in the process of using visual art to inspire music composition, and vice versa, merging music and visual expression. Students will create visual art inspired by the live orchestra, which will be displayed at the Art and Music concert scheduled for March 24, 2024 at 2:00 pm.
Kicks Band will perform original work at their concert in March, 2024.
From Clay County, Kicks Band of Fargo Moorhead will use their $8,200 award to provide the region access to original musical compositions as well as encourage and support the creation of new big band music through the recording of original works created by local composers and an ORIGINALS concert, designed to encourage concert-goers to seek local jazz as part of their variety of music to be held on March 2, 2024.
Art of the Lakes in Otter Tail County was funded $9,510 to expand their programming beyond visual arts to include performing arts as well as other art forms. This will include producing a youth production of Seussical Jr. with a director, choreographer, and vocal director supported through the grant as well as bringing in touring musician Monroe Wright III for a concert on February 15, 2024, and two touring shows from the Andria Theatre.
Children creating in the maker shop at the Otter Cove Children’s Museum.
Otter Cove Children's Museum, located in Otter Tail County, received $1,500 to bring Megan Flød Johnson of Now.Make.Art. to host Storytime Adventures, an interactive storytime that includes process art and play stations designed specifically for ages 5 and under that focus on expanding sensory skills, building motor skills, and creating connection between families.
Irish Dancers will be one of the performances at the annual Celtic Festival in Moorhead.
In Clay County, the City of Moorhead Celtic Festival, an annual event that will take place March 16, 2024, will use its $3,500 in grant funds to secure six different musical and performing acts specializing in the arts and activities of Celtic culture. The festival is scheduled for 10:00 am to 3:00 pm at the Hjemkomst Center in Moorhead, MN. Two separate stages will accommodate the variety of artists who will share their talents with the community.
Pope County’s Central Square was awarded $7,200 to present two musical performances in April and May 2024. Representing diverse musical styles and traditions, the performances will include Alice Wallace, a nationally recognized Americana musician whose song, “The Blue” was praised by Rolling Stone magazine as one of the 10 best Americana songs to hear, and Minnesota artist Maud Hixson, who will present a show that honors the legacy of female songwriters from the flapper, swing, and bebop eras of music.
Henning Landmark Center in Otter Tail County plans to use $1,667 to purchase a 44-inch wide large format digital printer to create high quality reproductions of artwork produced by regional artists for exhibition and artist promotion.
Fergus Falls Civic Orchestra, also in Otter Tail County, was awarded $500 to bring in Dr. Patrick Miles, professor emeritus from the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point and retired director of the Central Wisconsin Symphony Orchestra, to provide outreach to the middle school, high school, and the community, and guest conduct Beethoven's Egmont Overture at a concert scheduled for April 28, 2024.
Becker County’s Historic Holmes Theatre will produce the community theatre production "Holmes Spun 3" and pay for artistic staff and related expenses with its $2,250 award. The original Holmes Spun Theatre (HST) show, written by Mary Otto and Lynn Hummel, debuted in 2021. The 2024 version continues the tradition and brings the community up to date with the culture of Detroit Lakes for the past 20 years. Performances will take place in April 2024.
Moorhead Area Public Schools in Clay County will use $2,070 to produce an exterior cross stitch installation of the school’s mascot. The word will created by all 600 sixth grade students to celebrate the 150th year anniversary of Moorhead Public Schools. As part of the project, students will learn about the art of cross stitching and apply these skills to their class grid. Upon installation, there will be a community event celebrating the anniversary and showcasing the unveiling of the Spuddy installation.
Individual Artists Will Explore New Methods with Traditional Forms
In addition to organizational awards, Lake Region Arts Council also made funding allocations to four regional individual artists through the Legacy Individual Artist Grant Program:
Breath and Life vase, Carved Stoneware, 2023 by Blayze Buseth.
Blayze Buseth, an artist in Otter Tail County, was awarded $5,960 to explore Artificial Intelligence (AI) and pottery, sharing the potential for generating creative content. He plans to create 5 to 10 new vases with the help of AI using text prompts. From AI-generated images, he will create the physically real vessels. The project will culminate in an exhibit at the Kaddatz Gallery in Fergus Falls in November 2024 that will feature the completed ceramic vessels and 10 of the AI-generated images.
Where Stars Are Born, digitally manipulated cyanotype print, 2022, by Kristi Kuder.
Another Otter Tail County artist, Kristi Swee Kuder, received $5,850 to develop a new series of pieces combining her use of wire with natural fibers and wax to create three-dimensional works that express the ambiguous state of mental illness as experienced through her relationship with family and friends. She will also share her fiber arts knowledge and experience with local teenagers in a series of four after-school sessions at the Creative Arts Center in Battle Lake.
Whitney Walters from Becker County was awarded $5,100 to support time and resources to write and submit for publication a series of new essays to be included in her creative nonfiction book exploring skills, objects, and traits passed on (or not) from generation to generation. Beyond writing for the book, she will host a community workshop in June 2024 at the Detroit Lakes Public Library to engage with readers and writers, and will blog each week about her writing progress to demystify the process.
Scandalous Fish, acrylic, 2007 by Carissa Baez.
Carissa Baez of Otter Tail County was funded $5,050 to create a public mural for display near the Riverwalk in Fergus Falls, at on the exterior of the offices of Strong Self Mental Health in that city. The mural is intended to draw attention to mental health access in the community, and will be unveiled in Fall 2024 in a special event that will include a short audio video explaining the process, with other original art on display and musical entertainment provided by The North Skies, comprising Matt and Elizabeth Danielson, a warm, adventurous duo from Fergus Falls Minnesota.
