Lake Region Arts Council, Fergus Fall, MN announces the results of the Spring Legacy Grant Round held in April 2024. $34,880 was awarded to seven Legacy Individual Artist Grants, and $149,321 for seventeen Legacy Organization Grants. The available amount to be awarded was $184,107 between the two funding pools, and $256,130 was requested. This Lake Region Arts Council Grant Program is made possible by the voters of Minnesota, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the Arts and Cultural Heritage fund.
Legacy Individual Artist Grant Program Awardees
James Bjork - $3,780, Otter Tail County
Bjork will use his grant to upgrade his pottery studio with two pottery wheels and equipment for air and floor dust abatement. He will provide a summer mentorship for two high school students, developing their ceramic skills. He will present his “Kids and Clay” pottery workshops for under resourced kids over the summer and will present a pottery demonstration project for Thresherman event in Dalton.
Derek Dahlsad - $5,920, Clay County
Dahlsad will collaborate with regional filmmakers in the production of a short film and hosting a screening series of like-minded films. “Faint” which will be a dramatic reenactment of the bodycam footage to highlight the event’s theatrical nature and show the ramifications of law enforcement’s misconceptions about drugs and drug users. The film will be screened as part of a screening series of short experimental documentary films with similar subject matter for the public, free of charge.
Chuck Johnson- $4,010, Otter Tail County
Johnson will expand his audience with 10 performances in area schools and public libraries of his one-man show, "The Night Before Gettysburg" in which Abraham Lincoln finishes writing the Gettysburg Address. Each performance is about half an hour long, followed by a Q&A about the civil war, Lincoln, writing of the play and what Lincoln might feel if he was here today.
Jammie Niemeyer - $5,990, Otter Tail County
Niemeyer will create art experimenting with new techniques combining wood burning and resin. Her wood burned piece will be made of maple, and framed in metal, 4 feet wide and 8 feet high. She will offer a workshop for teen and adults at Art of the Lake Gallery this summer. At her class, students will learn different techniques of wood burning with different equipment, learning how the pressure and depth of the burning will help to create a flow in the piece.
Kathryn Olson - $5,990, Otter Tail County
Olson will develop a participatory art project that engages the communities in the LRAC region in creating a public art installation that prompts and embodies their personal intention around care for the Earth. She will collaborate with Lindsey Peck Scherloum to create a sculpture that represents the natural landscape of the region and casts colored light onto the space around it, utilizing thousands of colored glass pendants slated for the landfill, creating a striking mosaic of color and light.
Lee Smalt - $5,990, Otter Tail County
Smalt will develop an interactive exhibit that highlights historical, artistic and educational resources in the LRAC region and workshops for adults and children that demonstrates how to incorporate 3D animation into a website. He will document his process with the aid of AI tools to create an educational piece embedded in the website for public consumption and teach 2 workshops at the Fergus Falls Public Library, on 3D art and web design.
Kenyon Williams - $3,200, Clay County
Williams will produce a multimedia live percussion performance featuring two newly-created original short films to accompany two of the musical selection. The concert will feature selections that highlight the confusion, chaos, and paranoia of our current state of American society with theatrical lighting designed to create an immersive musical and visual experience for the audience in Gaede Theatre in the MSUM Center for the Arts.
Legacy Organization Grant Program Awardees
Youth Summer Camps and Artistic Opportunities
Central Square - $8,500, Pope County
Central Square will transform a former theatre/band space within their building into a versatile venue for their youth theatre program, creating a dedicated space for rehearsals, performances, and workshops. This renovation will assist Central Square in expanding its programming, particularly for youth, and provide an intimate setting for specialized activities.
College for Kids and Teens, MSUM - $7,500, Clay County
MSUM’s College for Kids & Teens program will use the funds to provide funding for need-based scholarships for K-12 students interested in taking summer program courses in the Arts. This grant will allow the College for Kids & Teens program to remove economic barriers for youth participation.
CornerStone - $12,400, Becker County
CornerStone will provide artistic opportunity for youth with the opening of their performing arts center. The project will pay a contracted stage director to recruit artists, set up equipment, and design a process for scheduling on CornerStone's performing art stage. The stage director will work to fill the stage with weekly musical performances. A local musician will provide lessons to youth interested in establishing or expanding their musical talents, encouraging them to perform at the PAC.
Historic Holmes Theatre - $8,300, Becker County HHT will produce the musical "Anything Goes Jr." during their Summer Musical Program for students in the area grades 5 - 12. The students will participate in a multiweek camp, developed their acting, singing and dancing skills along with technical theatre training, resulting in three public performances of the show. The grant will pay for the artistic staff and student scholarships.
Kicks Band of Fargo Moorhead - $12,390, Clay County
FM Kicks Band will create two local youth jazz bands for area middle- and high-school students interested in performing jazz. Students will be challenged to develop their skill set while keeping it fun with guest teachers/performances, concert cookouts and jam sessions. The newly formed Youth Jazz Band will perform at the August 4 Jazz Festival in Moorhead.
Pelican Rapids Public School - $12,500, Otter Tail County
Pelican Rapids School will engage Falling Creek Players to organize comprehensive training and to present a summer musical for local children. FCP will hire Missoula Children Theater to provide the hands-on training in theatrical skills and lead the summer theatre camp for two weeks, working with two groups of 64 children to perform Robin Hood and Pinocchio. FCP will shadow MCT to learn their theatre workshop techniques for future summer productions. The camps are July 14 to July 27, 2024.
Prairie Wind Players - $6,100, Grant County
PWP will sponsor a week-long youth theatrical camp which teaches beginning to intermediate acting and technical skills through morning workshops, afternoon rehearsals, and three public shows of “Grandpa’ Golden Stories”. Experienced adults will provide hands-on learning in acting, character development, stage fighting, set construction, and lights/sounds. Older students will mentor younger students during the workshop to expand their expertise. The camp is August 5 to 10, 2024.
Project 412 - $6,191, Becker County
Project 412 will collaborate with HIKE.LEARN.BE (HLB), a nature-based programming organization, to build an earth art curriculum and implement unique outdoor experiences for youth called “Stumble Upon Art.” This new art experience will be for youth ages 5-12 in Becker County, including the Boys & Girls Club, Hikehoppers Park Play Camps, and the Historic Holmes Theatre’s youth art programs. “Stumble Upon Art” will result in natural art placed around the community for people to stumble upon and enjoy.
Art Exhibits, Workshops and Presentations
Art of the Lakes - $2,200, Otter Tail County
AOTL continues to expand its programming by collaborating with the Otter Tail County Historical Society this summer. The first class is “the musical accomplishments of the First 85”, featuring stories and music. The second class focuses on the accomplishments of two writers; Mary MacLane, screen writer/actress ’20s, and Gregor Ziemer, fiction/nonfiction WWII. The third class, “The Art of Fabric Dying with Natural Dyes” lead by Kristi Kuder, is an extensive hands-on workshop.
Henning Landmark Center - $8,310, Otter Tail County
Landmark Center will to provide a series of 5 Arts workshops at Landmark Center and Henning School in 2024. Mimi Seykora will host the 5-day pottery workshop featuring hand-building techniques, wheel throwing, and glazing, featuring outdoor ornamentation for garden or yard. Steven Henning will provide a 7-Day Oil Pastel oil pastel classes for students and adults, both in person and virtual. Jon Offutt will present six demos during two-days of Glass Blowing demonstrations. Two mural sized community puzzles using 39,000 pieces will feature the Landmark’s 15th anniversary (15,000 pieces) and Henning Community (24,000 pieces) created with photographs in a montage setting. The finished murals will be 6ft by 12ft.
Historical and Cultural Society of Clay County - $1,840, Clay County
HCSCC will host two traveling exhibits by Minneapolis artist Amy Sands which together she is calling Trådar/Threads. The Bunad series, developed after Sand’s 2019 trip to Norway, features 20 framed prints of close-up detail of women's stitchery on bunad. The Portal series integrates ten historical photographs from the Tekstilindustrimuseet and patterns from the textiles collection of the Osterøy Museum, creating an intersection between handwork and the textile industry.
Kaddatz Galleries - $12,480, Otter Tail County
Kaddatz Galleries will continue the Kaddatz's Art Reach program serving underserved populations in community with classes and a public exhibit. Course subjects and instructors include: Ceramics (Blayze Buseth), Printmaking (Michael Weatherly), Oil Painting (Jona Brown), Mixed Media Arts (Amanda Callahan) and 2D & 3D Media and Techniques (Naomi RaMona Schliesman).
New York Mills Cultural Center - $12,016, Otter Tail County
NY Mills Cultural Center will produce and present a variety of summer activities and educational opportunities with four activities. First, Celebrating Cultures will be a collaboration with the White Earth community through dance, storytelling, and cultural exchange. Second, from May - August, NYMCC will host a series of Art in Your Parks workshops for youth ages 6-13. Third, Fish House Festival celebrates rural MN folk art traditions by painting a fish house and creating decoys and original art representing life in rural Minnesota. And last, the Kalevala Puppet Pageant features workshops and performances to celebrate local heritage and world culture in a unique artistic form.
Festivals, Concerts and Performances
ESHARA - $12,500, Clay County
ESHARA will produce the artistic elements of the Somali Cultural Festival in Moorhead, including three different dance troupes of Somali American singers and dancer at Gooseberry Park on July 13, 2024. This celebration will promote unity, cross-cultural learning, and inclusion while providing a platform for Somali artists and cultural expression. The performances are renowned artists Nimcaan Hilaac and Hodan Abdirahman Osman, along with potential appearances by Baajiyo and DJ Jeylaani, to ensure a diverse and engaging lineup for the festival.
Fergus Falls Center for the Arts - $4,400 Otter Tail County
FF C4TA will present two projects focusing on performance and education. First PK Mayo, singer, songwriter, and inductee of the Minnesota Blues and Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and his band will perform an evening of BLUES. He will work with area youth focusing on slide guitar and the blues. Second, area favorite, Mandy Harvey will return to present Mandy for the Holidays, providing a Q&A as well as an ASL Interpreter for booth performance and workshop
Pelican Rapids Multicultural Committee - $11,200, Otter Tail County
The Pelican Rapids Multicultural Committee will present the annual International Friendship Festival on Saturday, June 15, 2024 in Sherin Park, Pelican Rapids MN, from 11 am to 5 pm. The event will include performances by 4 - 6 music or dance groups presenting music from different cultures - Mexico, Somalia, Vietnam, Haiti, Bohemia, and the Native Americans of the US.
Theatre L’Homme Dieu - $10,400 Douglas County
TLHD will produce a play titled "I'm Proud of You," a theatrical production adapted from Tim Madigan's memoir of the same name, chronicling his life-changing friendship with Fred Rogers. This poignant play delves into themes of friendship, vulnerability, and the transformative power of human connection. With searing drama, tenderness, and humor, it offers audiences an intimate portrayal of human greatness and the redemptive nature of companionship. The production will open June 25, 2024 and run through June 30, 2024.
