In this issue:
- NEW OPPORTUNITY: Added Grant Round for Arts in the Schools!
- SMAC awards $47,088 to local artists and organizations
- In the SMAC gallery: Artist reception & Third Thursday Artist Talk
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- Get your nominations in for SMAC's Prairie Disciple Award!
- Upcoming grant deadlines & workshops
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SMAC Arts in the Schools Grants: These grants are for school artist residencies or field trips that include educator training and community involvement, juried student art exhibits, and prepackaged theater experiences. Up to $2,500 (field trips, juried exhibits, or prepackaged theater) or $4,000 (residencies). No cash match required.
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Dates you need to know:
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Application Deadline: April 14, 2021
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Earliest Start Date: June 1, 2021. This grant round can be for projects in summer & fall of 2021 or winter & spring of 2022!
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SMAC Awards $47,088 to local arts organizations |
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The SMAC board met virtually on February 23, 2021 and awarded a total of $47,088 in grant funds to 10 individual artists, one school and one arts organization within our SW MN region. |
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The following four artists were awarded SMAC Individual Artist Established Career Grants, which provide up to $7,000 to aid established career artists in the advanced stage of their career development with projects that will advance their career. This grant program has no match requirements.
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Karen Jenson of Appleton was awarded $7,000 to create a printed portfolio of her large body of works. In 2019 Jenson received money through the Minnesota State Arts Board to photograph and catalogue 277 of her pieces on a website, which will be available until 2023. However at age 85, the website is hard for Jenson to navigate. A printed version will be easier for her to handle, review, and update. The printed portfolio is meant to create a more permanent version of her works that can be available to those who want to learn about them. The printed version will be created by two artists in collaboration with Jenson: Kristi Link Fernholz and Stacey Haugen Crawshaw; both artists are originally from the small town of Milan and are invested in helping Karen preserve her artistic legacy and helping her work towards her goals. Fernholz was the photographer and coordinator of the 2019 catalog project and she will work with graphic designer Crawshaw. Jenson will be involved in the entire project, giving feedback where able, adding content as needed and providing some writing in the portfolio. Pictured to right: Karen Jenson's rosemaling at the Green Lake Bible Camp (photo from the 2019 cataloguing project at https://www.karenjensonrosemaling.com/.)
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John Sterner of Marshall has been awarded $7,000 to make 4-6 large (9"x12" ranging to 4'x6 or larger) oil paintings. The inspiration and subject matter for these works stems from a program called "Inktober" that Sterner has been participating in for some time, where in the month of October each day the artist is given a word prompt to do a small artwork on. Sterner said, "I include my Sicangu Heritage in every submitted work and also an eagle. The Inktober theme has always been related to my journey of self-discovery of my heritage and to paint these larger scaled images makes a connection to my ancestors in size and content. This increase in size follows a historical context of Sicangu Lakota painting on buffalo hides and larger images upon the tipi's." You can view Sterner's work on Instagram.
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David Strom of Windom was awarded $7,000 to paint 12 new 36"x 60" acrylic paintings that visually relate to 12 finished pen & ink drawings he has already completed. Strom said, "my pen & ink drawings are two-dimensional interpretations of our Southwest Minnesota landscape. I portray grain bins, wind turbines and round bales in the contours of our land as defined by fields of row crops, roads and lakes. It is an abstract definition of the land using maps and specifically plat maps, all tied together with a ribbon running through pieced together like a quilt. I am anxious to translate this vision into new acrylic paintings." Strom plans to display this body of work in pairs; the black ink drawing next to the corresponding acrylic painting.
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Dan Wahl of Walnut Grove has been awarded $5,595 for a project he calls "Don't Doubt Your Horses", which he describes as an "interactive work in the guise of an exhibition of 400 horse drawings". Wahl has exhibited this body of work before, but this time will be different because of the location and duration; the exhibition will be held in Walnut Grove at the Laura Ingalls Wilder Museum and will run for an extended period of time, from April 1 to October 31. Wahl said the exhibition will be interactive, "using a variety of persuasive, non-manipulative devices to invite the public to draw horses of their own on 4"x6" postcards". These drawings will then be added to Wahl's collection of 400. Wahl said "most people, braving the horse drawing experience, feel like sharing their drawings." This is the first time the museum has housed artworks and extra effort is needed to navigate how it will work. The exhibit will be divided between two locations, the participation portion of the exhibit will take place in the museum gift shop while the gallery space will be across the street in the Masters Store, a historic building the museum is renovating. There will be a virtual gallery set up in the participation location because of accessibility (the gallery is only accessible by stairs) and an assistant will be needed to scan the visitors' horse drawings for archiving, to transfer the pieces from the gift shop to the gallery, and to make sure that art supplies are always available in the space. Pictured right: One of Dan Wahl's horse drawings. You can view more of Wahl's horses here.
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The following five artists were awarded SMAC Individual Emerging Artist Grants, which provide up to $2,500 to aid emerging artists at an early stage of their career development with projects that will advance their career. This grant program has no match requirements.
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Laura Deleksi of Willmar was awarded $2,500 to expand her art by designing an original piece which merges both quilting and genealogy together into one piece about 40"x60" in size. The project will combine photos from 5-6 generations of ancestors from both sides of her family tree. Deleski's artwork will include printed photographs, hand appliqué, machine embroidery and added graphic designs, of which she says "these images will be a combination of pre-designed and original art I will digitize for the machine to stitch". She will also incorporate her own free motion quilting details to add texture that combine the top, batting and backing fabrics together and add binding.
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Jason Frank of Ortonville has been awarded $2,500 to create a coffee-table book of Minnesota landscape photographs accompanied by natural history notes and original poetry. Frank says the content will reflect variations on three elemental themes (Wood, Water, Stone) emphasizing the interactions between them: "how they shape, influence, reform, and/or overwhelm each other through the erosive qualities of impermanence." The natural history notes will focus on phenology (the relationship between climate and habitat to seasonal cycles of birth, growth, death, and renewal) while the verses will give voice to the "'deep time' legacy of glaciers and volcanism, titanic forces of ineffable magnitude reduced to etchings found strewn across our lichen-scabbed outcrops of granite, quartzite, and basalt." The book will be titled The Old Glacier's Almanac. Frank said, "my hope is to spur a mythopoeic evocation of the inexhaustible grandeur, mystery, and pathos inherent to the land, as it exists on its own terms, and will continue to do so, in and of itself." Pictured left: Photographs by Jason Frank: Textural study of Minnesota bedrock. Lake Superior outcrops at right and upper left, 2020. Sioux Quartzite at Blue Mounds State Park, 2019.
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Maggie Fuller of Montevideo was awarded $2,500 to purchase artist supplies and for the development of an artist website to market her artwork as finished originals, prints, and solicit for art commissions. Fuller said she plans to create a total of 25 pieces for a series on Disappearances/Emergings, as well as adding pieces to an on-going series on Conflicts in Nature. Fuller will be working with Holdgrafer Marketing to create a new, search engine optimized, visual arts website that will include a blog and gallery. Fuller said, "The future of art shows and other public exhibits is uncertain, but I am encouraged by art lover’s willingness to support artists through websites and other social media platforms."
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Erik Hatlestad of New London has been awarded $2,500 for a project that will seek to reacquaint Minnesotans with the rich history of agrarian social movements that formed in rural Minnesota through music. Hatlestad explained, "many Minnesotans are not aware of the inspirational history of agrarian social movements that happened in their own communities throughout the 20th century... Organizations like Farmers Union and the Farm Holiday Association published songbooks for members to sing at meetings that spoke to the struggle of rural life, to build solidarity and spur people to action. Many of these songs have not been heard in decades and are slowly passing out of living memory as well as the history that comes with them." Hatlestad will research historical sources to find songs of Minnesota's agrarian social movements, make music selections, perform and record an album to be published online. A website will also accompany the release of the album to share the historic context of each song and the social movement that created them.
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John Kellen of Willmar was awarded $2,500 to further develop his Macro Photography skills by upgrading technology (Macro Lens and Lighting System), taking topic specific classes online and devoting a minimum of 80 hours to hone his skills and to learn new perspectives. Kellen said, "at the end of this project I will create a virtual tour of my best images along with a dialog describing what I have learned and any new insights gained as a result of this grant." The online classes Kellen plans to take are Macro Photography & Focus Stacking Made Easy and Macro Photography: Insects and Plant Life- Get Close To Capture Insects, Plants And Water Droplets. Note: John Kellen will be exhibiting in our gallery starting March 11, 2021! Click here (or read on below in this newsletter) to learn more. Pictured right: An example of Kellen's up-close nature photography.
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Jammie Niemeyer of Maynard has been awarded $3,992 from our Artist Equity grant program for individual artists. These grants provide up to $4,000 to aid Black, Indigenous, Latinx, and other artists of color with projects that will advance their skills and artistic careers. This grant program has no match requirements.
With this grant, Niemeyer plans to do multiple portrait series', including: My 44 Most Influential Black Americans, My 10 Most Influential Disabled Americans, My 10 Most Influential Native Americans, and My 10 Most Influential American Women to come together as a whole project titled "'Diversity- An Eye on Our Growth' Art Exhibit of Multicultural Leaders throughout American History". Niemeyer also plans to make a 50 page coloring book called Doodle Coloring Book of her original artwork. Niemeyer said "art and history comes alive and is very meaningful to many people when they color. Within this Doodle Coloring Book, I will publish the last 10 pages of the book to highlight 'Diversity-an Eye on Growth'". Pictured left: Niemeyer with one of her portrait paintings.
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SMAC awarded one Arts in the schools grant to RTR (Russell, Tyler, Ruthton) School in the amount of $3,001. Arts in the Schools Grants are for school artist residencies or field trips that include educator training and community involvement, juried student art exhibits, and prepackaged theater experiences. Up to $2,500 (field trips, juried exhibits, or prepackaged theater) or $4,000 (residencies). This grant program has no match requirements. We have added a third round of Arts in the Schools grants with a deadline of April 14, 2021 by 4:30 pm! T his grant round can be for projects in summer & fall of 2021 or winter & spring of 2022. To learn more visit: https://swmnarts.org/grants/smac-grants-for-schools/arts-in-the-schools-grants/. And to register for a virtual Q & A session for these grants happening on March 15th from 7-8 pm, click here!
RTR plans to do an Artist in Residency program that will be taught by the " Keepers of the Sacred Tradition of Pipemakers". The applicant said, "they are a highly regarded organization out of Pipestone Minnesota, led by Bud Johnston." During the week of May 3rd - May 6th, 2021, RTR Middle School and High School students will "learn about different aspects of Indian/Tribal History and culture". All 8th and 9th grade Art students will also make dreamcatchers during the residency. The RTR Art teacher for the Middle School and High School will continue making dreamcatchers with other grades after the residency. As part of this residency, the High School Band, Choir, and Art Students will take a field trip to the Pipestone Monument in mid-May. |
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The Worthington Memorial Auditorium was awarded a total of $1,000 for a Going Virtual: Equipment, Technology & Training Grant. These grants provide up to $1,000 to arts organizations in the SMAC service region for equipment or technology that will allow them to provide virtual events and programming. Applicants can also use the funds to participate in “go-virtual” training or consultations. This grant program has no match requirements. We have funds designated for ONE more Going Virtual grant; to learn more or to start your application, click here.
The Worthington Memorial Auditorium plans to use this grant on purchasing camera equipment needed for livestreaming and recording virtual events. The applicant said they'll purchase the equipment as soon as they are able through the grant and begin with bringing local talent to their stage for virtual performances.
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A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words:
The Language of Photography
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After a 30-year career in International Business, Real Estate Development, Academia and Philanthropy spanning more than 60 countries, John Kellen returned to Willmar to care for his aging parents.
Kellen stated in his biography, "I've always loved photography having received my first camera when I was very young and over my lifetime I've documented my experiences and travels behind the lens. Fast forward to this new chapter as a caregiver, the experience and change of space has allowed me to pursue my artistic inclinations and photography at a much higher level. I'm excited to be working alongside so many talented artists associated with the Southwest Minnesota Arts Council. My focus is primarily nature photography mixed in with a bit of photo-journalism, architecture and history. I'm also working to document my mother's journey with Alzheimer's disease."
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Join an IN-PERSON artist reception on
Thursday, March 11 from 5-7pm
Social distancing and masks required.
If you would like to see this exhibit in person by private appointment email: info@swmnarts.org
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Join a VIRTUAL artist talk on
Thursday, March 18 at 5:30 pm.
Please email SMAC staff [info@swmnarts.org] for the ZOOM link to join this Third Thursday Artist Talk.
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A SMAC Individual Artist
John Kellen of Willmar received a SMAC Emerging Artist grant to work on a project called "A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words: The Language of Photography". The final project includes 25 matted and framed photographs and accompanying text that share the story of his mother's journey with Alzheimer's as the two of them create life experiences together. |
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This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund.
Funding provided by the McKnight Foundation. Minnesota thrives when its artists thrive. The McKnight Foundation supports working artists to create and contribute to vibrant communities.
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The Prairie Disciple applications are now OPEN!!
Who will you nominate? Applications are due April 15, 2020
We encourage you to start now as multiple letters
of support for the nomination are required.
The Prairie Disciple Award ($1,000) provides awareness and recognition of one individual per year from southwest Minnesota, whose activities and involvement have substantially contributed to the arts over an extended period of time. The accomplishments of arts advocates working in the region are often not widely known or appreciated. In recognizing these individuals publicly, the awards will raise the profile of the arts in their community and throughout the SMAC region.
Learn more, see past Prairie Disciple Winners, and start your nominations:
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You may also be interested in joining us for a virtual Questions & Answers Sessions just for our Arts in the Schools grants happening on Monday, March 15th from 7-8 pm. Click here to learn more and to register. |
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Provides up to $4,000 to aid Black, Indigenous, Latinx, and other artists of color with projects that will advance their skills and artistic career. No match requirements. **View Grant Webinar from August here.**
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Provides up to $1,000 to arts organizations in the SMAC service region for equipment or technology that will allow them to provide virtual events and programming. Applicants can also use the funds to participate in “go-virtual” training or consultations. No match requirements.
**Monthly Arts Organization Grants Are BACK!**
Applications Due March 1 & April 1, 4:30 pm, 2021. Monthly Arts Organization grants are on a first-come, first served monthly deadline until all funds have been expended. Deadline is the 1st of each month, 4:30 pm, January-April 2021. Earliest project start date is the first day of the following month after board action.
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Art Legacy Project Planning grants provide organizations with up to $2,500 to plan for a specific large-scale project or activity that will create or advance a strong arts legacy in Minnesota. **Click here to view a recording of our January 21, 2021 webinar.**
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Arts Organization Development grants provide arts organization in the SMAC region with up to $2,500 in matching funds to increase their long-term stability and capacity through organizational development and management projects. **Click here to view a recording of our November 18, 2020 webinar.**
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Arts Organization Start Up grants provide arts organizations with at least two years of programming up to $2,000 to develop articles of incorporation, by-laws, and apply for their 501(c)(3) status. **Click here to view a recording of our November 18, 2020 webinar.**
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Provides organizations in the SMAC region with up to $20,000 to stimulate and encourage the creation, performance and appreciation of the arts through large-scale projects that will leave an arts legacy in Southwest Minnesota. No cash match required this year. **Click here to view a recording of our January 21, 2021 webinar.**
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Provides organizations in the SMAC region with up to $7,000 in matching funds to stimulate and encourage the creation, performance and appreciation of the arts (pre-packaged theatre residencies limited to $2,500). No cash match required this year. **Grantwriting Webinar: February 11, Noon-1 pm. Register here!**
- Provides up to $500 to allow young artists entering grades 5 – 12 to attend an enrichment camp or specialty study. Standard weekly lessons (such as piano or voice lessons) are allowed only for those students who qualify for the federal free or reduced lunch program. Arts supplies costs are allowed for students attending a MN public arts high school. No match requirements.**Grantwriting Webinar: February 18, 5:30-6:30 pm. Register here!**
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The Prairie Disciple Award ($1,000) provides awareness and recognition of one individual per year from southwest Minnesota, whose activities and involvement have substantially contributed to the arts over an extended period of time. The accomplishments of arts advocates working in the region are often not widely known or appreciated. In recognizing these individuals publicly, the awards will raise the profile of the arts in their community and throughout the SMAC region. Learn more, see past Prairie Disciple Winners, and start your nominations here.
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And you can also still view our virtual exhibit for the Dakota Artists in Residence (that is mentioned in the above quote) here: https://youtu.be/GLUr5eODK1E
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For more opportunities and resources be sure to check our the latest news posts (updated DAILY!) on SMAC's website:
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SMAC is still seeking representatives from Lac qui Parle County and McLeod County to serve on it’s Board of Directors.
If you live or work in Lac qui Parle or McLeod county and are interested in a position on our board here are some details: The Board meets monthly on the 4th Tuesday evening, currently virtually, to set policies, make final decisions on grant awards with input from grant review panels, share ideas and information from their representative counties, and to design programs that enable SMAC to best serve our communities. To learn more and to fill out an application, please go to
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Memberships
From January 26 to February 26, 2021
Contributors: Yellow Medicine County Historical Society, Granite Falls
Supporters: Luanne Fondell, Dawson • Margaret Khali, Granite Falls • Green Earth Players, Luverne • Robert Dorlac, Marshall • Cheri Buzzeo, Willmar • Business, Arts & Recreation Center, Windom • Cheryl Avenel-Navara, Worthington
Benefactor: Swift County Commission, Benson • McLeod County Commission, Glencoe • Yellow Medicine County, Granite Falls • Lyon County Commission, Marshall • Chippewa County Commission, Montevideo • Renville County Commission, Olivia • Redwood County Commission, Redwood Falls • Kandiyohi County, Willmar • Nobles County Commission, Worthington
General donations: John Ginocchio, Marshall
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Would you like to become a contributing member of SMAC or make a donation?
The arts have suffered tremendously since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Our arts organizations and individual artists have had to modify, postpone or cancel most, if not all of their projects and events, since March of this year. These closures mean lost income and lost opportunities. Although we will certainly see a reduction of funding from our state funding which comes from sales tax revenues, the SW MN Arts Council will continue working to support and fund arts access for the citizens of your county. We need you to help us support the arts.
You help by contributing online or by mail, for more information, visit:
THANK YOU FOR SUPPORTING THE ARTS!
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Check out our regional arts calendar!
We are continuing to post both in-person and virtual arts events in our region on our website calendar. If you have events to let us know about, please email the details to info@swmnarts.org!
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2021 SW MN Arts Council BOARD OF DIRECTORS |
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Big Stone - Janine Teske
Jackson - Kristen Kuipers
Lincoln - Mark Wilmes
Meeker - Darlene Kotelnicki
Pipestone - Erica Volkir
Rock - Shawn Kinsinger &
Louella Voigt
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Chippewa - Georgette Jones
Kandiyohi - Cheri Buzzeo
Lyon - Michele Knife Sterner
Murray - Jessica Welu
Redwood - David KelseyBassett
Swift - Alison Nelson
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Cottonwood - Anna Johannsen
Nobles - Cheryl Avenel-Navara
Renville-Anne O'Keefe-Jackson
Yellow Medicine-Betsy Pardick & Michele Huggins
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Executive Director - Nicole DeBoer
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Grants/Financial Administrator - Caroline Koska
Marketing Coordinator/Receptionist - Krystl Louwagie
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SW MN Arts Council
The Southwest Minnesota Arts Council (SMAC) is a non-profit organization committed to promoting and encouraging the development of the arts in the eighteen counties of southwestern Minnesota by serving as a source of funds and technical services which enable local organizations, educational institutions, and individuals to sponsor and/or create and promote the arts in their communities.
SMAC receives funding from individuals, businesses, organizations, schools, cities, counties, private foundations including the McKnight Foundation, an allocation from the State of Minnesota, and a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund, made possible by the voters of Minnesota.
Thank you for supporting the arts in the southwest Minnesota region!
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