On March 26, 2024, the MRAC board approved $415,635 in funding for the 84 individuals to receive grant awards in the Arts Impact for Individuals program. Awardees are listed by county, based on the zip code for the applicant’s primary residence, rather than the location of project activities.
The Arts Impact for Individuals grant program provides up to $5,000 for artistic projects in Minnesota led by individuals working outside of traditional organizational structures. Projects must be focused on creating access to the arts for Minnesotans, and/or engaging with Minnesota communities through artistic endeavors. Applicants were encouraged to propose projects focused on community impact that could include:
- Connecting Minnesotans with participation in arts and cultural experiences; and/or
- Integrating artists and/or artistic engagement to accomplish a community’s non-arts goals; and/or
- Providing Minnesotans with opportunities for arts learning and passing along expressive cultural traditions.
This grant program was open to individuals with a primary residential address in the seven-county metro area who identify as any of the following:
- Black, Indigenous, and/or a Person of Color (BIPOC); and/or
- Disabled/a person with a disability; and/or
- Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersex, Asexual/Agender, Two-Spirit (LGBTQIA2+)
This is the third year MRAC offered the Arts Impact for Individuals program. MRAC staff provided an extensive collection of resources to assist applicants, including an on-demand webinar, live virtual Q&A sessions, and one-on-one assistance to individual applicants via video, phone, and email. Grant guidelines and documents were provided in English, Spanish, and in formats accessible for people with various disabilities. Applicants were encouraged to apply in their preferred language, with MRAC arranging professional translation into English for panelists. For the first time, MRAC received an application in a language other than English.
At the October deadline, 198 applications were received. This represents an increase of 51 applications (35% growth) from the same program the previous year, and demonstrates the continued need for a program supporting leaders deploying creativity for their communities.
MRAC funding is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through grants from the Minnesota State Arts Board thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund.
Anoka County
Tyler Vongphachanh
Photography Enrichment
Funding for a workshop-based enrichment program that offers practical creative experience and industry connections. Participants will work with studios, models, hairstylists, and makeup artists.
Dakota County
Abdifatah Abdi
Muslim Ban
Funding for “Muslim Ban,” a short documentary on former President Trump’s executive order banning foreign nationals from seven predominantly Muslim countries.
Kelly Anderson
Art to rural communities
Funding to bring art learning experiences to rural communities where opportunities are often less accessible and less likely to be affordable.
Sharon Lennartson
Regalia and culture class
To teach a series of classes to engage and educate participants on Regalia-making and Dakota culture.
Ying Li
Chinese Dance for Elderly
Funding to implement a program to learn, practice and perform Chinese dance among the elderly to improve their physical and mental health and to enhance their spiritual healing and happiness.
Valerie Rose
The Man History Forgot
Funding for The Man History Forgot, an art exhibit on the remarkable life of George Edwin Taylor, the son of a slave, who ran for president 100+ years before Obama & 72 years before Shirley Chisholm.
Hennepin County
Korma Aguh
AfroDance for New Moms
Funding for post-baby wellness through West African dance. A course series designed for new moms seeking movement, expression, & connection during a time of great transition. Infants are welcome.
Leila Awadallah
After the Last Red Sky
Funding for Body Watani Dance project’s new work: After the Last Red Sky, a dance & music performance on folk stories and politics of sky in Palestine premiering at the Southern Theater in Nov. 2024.
Martha Bird
Weaving for Wellbeing
Funding for basketry classes at Vail Place to benefit people living with mental illness, culminating in a community reception. Reformatting artist webpage(s) to better share this work with the public.
Gustavo Boada
Alebrije in Motion
Funding to build a large-scale bicycle alebrije along with 3 BIPOC apprentices.
Benjamin Caswell
Conducting Fellowship
Funding to provide rehearsal and performance opportunities for emerging choral conductors from underrepresented communities.
Basil Considine
Not My Last Song & Dance
Funding for Basil Considine to work with 15 Minnesota seniors to create short musical, literary, and dramatic works based on their desires, joys, and life experiences.
Angie Courchaine
Acro Stilt Series
Funding for a series of acrobatic stilt skillshares and classes for intermediate to advanced stiltwalkers and stilt teachers. Funds support space rental, participant stipends, and guest teachers.
Becca David
Community Tempo Extension
Funding for Community Tempo Extension, bringing recycled artmaking inspired by live music to new participants and audiences at Modus Locus Expansion.
Hannah Frick
Art In The Basement 24-25
Funding for a multi-event art showing and performances in a gallery-sized basement, called Art In The Basement (2024 – 2025 season).
Aaron Gabriel
Marsha P. Music Video
Funding to create a music video for the song ‘This Is How We March’ about queer icon and activist Marsha P Johnson which will include genderqueer performers from across the Twin Cities.
maya gillard
ComeUnity ArchivalProject
Funding for a series of gatherings to hold conversations and create art about collective healing, resilience, & resistance; wrapping with a showcase.
Chris Griffith
Cherokee Language in Song
Funding to write 4 new songs to engage family audiences in the quest to keep alive the Cherokee language, culminating with 2 free events at Hosmer Library in my South Minneapolis neighborhood.
John Heimbuch
“She and He and I”
Funding to create and present two staged readings of an original queer polyamorous love story, using typical RomCom tropes, with direct involvement from Minnesota’s queer non-monogamous community.
Paul Herwig
Rising from the Ruins
Funding to create and present “Rising from the Ruins,” a public art and music installation in the Ruin Courtyard of the Mill City Museum, an artistic project to express resilience, recovery, and renewal.
Ket Insisiengmay
Singing & Performing live
Funding to create new songs and performing live, singing Lao, Thai, American-English songs at The Lao Community New Year event Celebrations.
Jenny Jenkins
The Lost House
Funding to revisit and refine a photographic and storytelling project to provide artistic exposure to, and encourage participant engagement from, elders in independent and assisted living communities.
Deborah Jiang-Stein
Hidden Worth
Funding for “Hidden Worth: Value Behind Bars,” a writing project with women in prison to dig beyond the surface to explore money, incarceration, and human worth.
Lydia Jones
Processing Grief
Funding for youthful BIPOC dancers in the Twin Cities hip hop dance scene who have recently lost a parent or guardian to process grief through the creation of a short dance film.
Jamie Kalakaru-Mava
Unraveling
Funding to host a community exhibition featuring new works that center on themes of immigration, autism, anxiety, creativity, and culture.
Chris Kalogerson
A Musical Journey
Funding for Music at the Minnesota State Academies for The Deaf and the Blind.
Ricardo Levins Morales
Northland Archive
Funding to create a digital archive that reflects the rich artist/activist history in Minneapolis that inspired Northland Poster Collective’s work.
Or (Laura) Levinson
DOIKAYT
Funding for Or (Laura) Levinson and collaborating artists to present DOIKAYT: nowhere home, everywhere beloved – a film installation and a live performance at Resource Minneapolis in April 2024.
Aeola Lu
Dragon Fusion
Funding for choreography of 2 cross-cultural dances – focusing on Vietnamese traditional dances integrated with urban dances for 28 dancers, showcased in cultural festivals.
Mia Wolf
Transplant Webseries
Funding for a 5-episode romcom webseries created entirely by local trans, nonbinary and gender-nonconforming people in the Minneapolis area.
Theresa Madaus
Rituals for Nothing
Funding for an outdoor performance and dance film exploring grief, geologic time, connection to place, lineage, rituals, spellcasting, and ghosts.
Brian Malloy
Creative Writing & Health
Funding for Creative Writing & Health, a creative writing class for persons living with serious and/or chronic illness, and health care providers.
Maya Marchelle
Black Kids Write
Funding for Black Kids Write will help to provide a life changing experience for young people in the art of storytelling and writing that will guide them in writing and creating their own stories.
Siama Matuzungidi
Siama’s Congo Roots
Funding to perform educational, uplifting Congolese music singalong programs for metro seniors, kids and adults, providing an opportunity to learn, express themselves and build a sense of community.
Sho Nikaido
BlueSky Photo Workshop
Funding for the six-week-long photo workshop at a Japanese restaurant to teach the community how to document their life and heritage and connect with others through photography. (4 sessions a year)
Logan Olson
Inclusive Handbell Music
Funding to commission a handbell piece based on themes and stories of life in the LGBTQ+ community. The piece will be written and premiered by Minnesota musicians.
Akiko Ostlund
collage gathering
Funding to host free collage gatherings in two towns in Greater Minnesota will bring opportunities to rural Minnesota to build community and learn storytelling using collage techniques.
Sofía Padilla
Belong / Pertenecer
Funding for the development, short film adaptation and performance of the show: “Belong/Pertenecer.” The performance will be accompanied by a community talk about the subject and a hands on workshop.
Pooja Pavan
Songs of Awadh
Funding for “Songs of Awadh”, comprising two concerts, each with an accompanying lecture-demonstration, presenting rarely heard, semi-classical and folk music from the Awadh region of North India.
A. Pavan
Tabla Workshop Series
Funding for a series of 4 workshops on Hindustani (North Indian classical) percussion, covering the art of Tabla drumming for diverse music and dance students and produce videos of all workshops.
Juan Perez
Moving Monuments
Funding to produce Moving Monuments, a performative/sculpture work of participatory creation of pedestal structures based on food baskets to be carried on public spaces on Lake Street.
Nell Pierce
Free Adult Collage Course
Funding to cover expenses for Adult Beginner Collage courses in 2024 and 2025, making it possible to offer tuition-free spots.
Mary Prescott
Mae Nak
Funding to create and present an original evening-length music performance.
Nirmala Rajasekar
Play the Veena
Funding to present 4 workshops across MN for beginners on how to play the veena, the national instrument of India.
Ashwini Ramaswamy
Ancestral Currents
Funding to create & lead workshops that contextualize the complex themes, poetry, and mind-body connections of 3 Bharatanatyam works, combining performance, education, health/wellness, and meditation.
Scotty Reynolds
1460 Mount Curve
Funding for a one-act disco romp that is a historical account of housing and care for people with HIV, a celebration of survival, and revelry of imagination for future LGBTQ Elder Care.
Muna Scekomar
Shedding Shame
Funding for a project examining the profound influence of words on self-hood, and aiming to dismantle the grip of shame and discover the key to rewriting our personal narratives.
Patrick Scully
A Few Tales-Fairy & Other
Funding for “A Few Tales, Fairy and Other” will bring this interactive theater presentation to many communities that are part of Patrick Scully’s intersectional identity.
Andrea Shaker
postcards to & from bayt
Funding to engage Minnesota Arab Americans to create a series of postcards about bayt (home) and watan (homeland|country).
Witt Siasoco
Drawing NE Renter Stories
Funding to partner with the Minneapolis Public Housing Authority to produce & display large scale vinyl artworks on the facade of Spring Street Manor, a low-income/senior complex in NE Minneapolis
George Slade
Fostering Creativity
Funding to encourage and facilitate participation in a group show of work by fellow residents in the Northside Artspace Lofts building in Minneapolis’ Harrison neighborhood.
Moheb Soliman
Poem of Sublime Proportion
Funding for research, prototyping, and presenting a site-specific public art project titled Poem of Sublime Proportion that uses poetry, land art, and social practice around the Great Lakes.
Ryan Stopera
Photo Cook Book Events
Funding for a photography book capturing images, stories, and recipes of chefs, kitchen workers and community members. The project will create dialogue around food, food systems, labor, immigration, and cultural history.
Brenda Tran
Midwest FOBCORE
Funding to produce a collaborative print publication authored by Asian Minnesotans.
Deneal Trueblood-Lynch
SECRETS
Funding for Secrets. A true story of the spiraling events that took place over a lifetime. Culminating in an assault, an incarceration and finally redemption.
Jaehyun Veenstra
한국전통 규방공예, 조각보를 통한 뿌리 찾기.
이 자금 조달의 목적은 제가 한국 전통 섬유예술인 규방공예 중에 조각보 수업을 통해 입양인들에게 그들이 한국의 전통 문화를 경험을 함으로 다시 뿌리찾고, 마음의 치유를 돕는 데 도움이 될 교육 프로젝트입니다.
Finding your root through Jogakbo, the traditional Korean art craft.
Funding to implement the educational project in which the grantee will help adoptees find their roots and heal their hearts by providing them with experience in traditional Korean culture through “Jogakbo” classes among Gyubang Handicraft, a traditional Korean textile art.
dom Venzant
The Wheel Wagon
Funding for The Wheel Wagon by Symco Pottery Works will increase access to creative exploration by providing the physical support needed for underserved communities to make a pot from clay.
LIPING VONG
Pizza and Puppets
Funding for “Pizza and Puppets,” a live puppetry performance led by Liping Vong that will be performed in three pop-up performances in Minneapolis and Saint Paul Public Parks.
Taja Will
Disabled Affinity Group
Funding for disabled artist Taja Will to pilot a Disabled Artist Affinity Group. They will hold 4 meetings where artists will author Access Riders and connect for mutual support.
Liqing Xu
Queer Asian Play
Funding for a workshop and staged reading of a new comedic play examining mental health within the queer Asian community, specifically looking at codependency.
Wisdom Young
Freedom-Plant Seeds
Funding to facilitate a combination of wellness practice ( yoga) and artistic workshops for Black community in Minneapolis.
Ramsey County
Ngoc Bui
Twin Cities Audio Lounge
Funding to create an intentional audio arts community by organizing monthly audio workshops and audio lounges for queer, BIPOC artists and community members.
Manling Chen
Image of Taiwanese people
Funding for documentary film showing elders’ stories in the Taiwanese community, as well as a workshop for teaching the younger generations how to record stories from their parents or family elders.
Rebekah Crisanta de Ybarra
Chaa’jala Calendar System
Funding for Rebekah Crisanta de Ybarra and Maya day keeper Gina Kan Balam, who will design and print Chaa’jala calendars for daily use, a 360 day ancient Central American Indigenous calendar system.
Cuauhtli Day
Youth-led Music Project
Funding for the creation and promotion of a new album featuring Cuauhtli and a group of students from the HS of recording arts by creating a music video to this album for social media.
Alexandra Eady
Sustained Motion Dance
Funding to create a new performance project with musical and movement collaborators that will engage BIPOC Artists.
Jered Everson
Doc Sound/Color & Impact
Funding for color/sound from local LGBTQ or African American talent for a documentary on Marlon Riggs’ personal and artistic experience with HIV; funding for a local impact/access screening event.
MAL FLOR
AQUÍ AHORA (HERE NOW)
Funding for two artist-curated exhibitions showcasing queer, trans, BIPOC emerging artists creating artwork in the Twin Cities.
Lucina Kayee
The Healing Lens
Funding for a project documenting how Black folks in MN grieve in a society that often does not allow us time to mourn. Through videos & photos this project will showcase stories of celebration & loss
Candace Lee
Sankofa Rising Project
Funding to Sankofa Rising: “Becoming a person of plants is not a learning process, but a remembering process. Someone in our ancestral line lived deeply connected to the earth. Let’s go back and get it.”
Isavela Lopez
Indigenous. Not Immigrant
Funding to write a manuscript for and by the Latinx indigenous and native community here in Minnesota.
Ka Oskar Ly
HMong Batik Workshops
Funding to facilitate and teach a HMong Batik workshop series
Margaret Ogas
Moonquakes (Phase 3)
Funding for an evening-length dance performance that will engage BIPOC and queer performing artists.
Jes Reyes
A Woven Quilt
Funding to create A Woven Quilt, a weaving and sewing project that builds connections between people.
Kalina Vang
Kuv Tsis Yuav Kev
Funding for”Kuv Tsis Yuav Kev,” which translates to “I am not wrong.” The project allows Hmong women to believe and live with the power of unapologetically being themselves.
Pramila Vasudevan
Plantulary English is a trade and military language filled with nouns.
Funding for ‘Plantulary,’ a performance that expands English through the generation of verbs and physical actions inspired by plant processes.
Sarah Weiss
Rumination
Funding for Rumination, an interactive, collaborative installation of photographic prints on sculptural organza. The series focuses on the underrepresented aspects of ADHD and Depression.
Xiongg Xy
(Why) We’re Here
Funding to capture and create videos of Hmong refugees living in Minnesota sharing their journey from Southeast Asia to America in post-Vietnam/Secret War.
Peter Yang
Broken Hmong Men: A Play
Funding to workshop and complete the final draft for a play about Hmong men, friendship, mental health, and violence.
Washington County
Kashimana Ahua
Hum Songs and Loops
Funding for in-person and virtual gatherings focused on singing, looping, humming and songwriting to BIPOC parents. We will use our voices to hum and write songs of affirmations using loop stations.
Karina Kelton Marin
Serie de Arte – Repujado
Funding for a summer art series connecting Latine youth to their cultural heritage and fostering family bonding through traditional art classes.
Niphone Phommaras
Preserving Lao Arts Dance
Funding to teach New Sengtian Candle Dance to new and exciting students to preserve Lao Arts dance and Cultural Heritage.
Pagnia Xiong
Hmong Music Mentorship
Funding for Hmong Music Mentorship: Empowering aspiring Hmong music creatives in singing, songwriting, artist development, and music production through immersive artist shadowing experiences.