Region 2 Arts Council (R2AC) recently awarded $52,500 through the Arts and Cultural Heritage Grants Program, to schools, arts organizations and non-profits in Beltrami, Clearwater, Hubbard, Mahnomen and Lake of the Woods counties. The grant recipients included:
Clearwater Life Center, Clearbrook, received $5,246 to hire artists to engage the community through a series of two 3-day workshops for the purpose of designing and fabricating sculptures and creative walkways in the Gonvick Community Sculpture Garden.
Bemidji Community Arts Center, Bemidji, was awarded $2,322 to host four poets from “The Great Twin Cities Poetry Road Show,” and a renowned local author, for the 2012 Spoken Word Workshop Series.
White Earth Tribal and Community College, Mahnomen was awarded $3,016 to offer an Anishinaabe oral story-telling event to elementary, middle, and high school students, as well as to the larger community.
Indigenous Environmental Network, Bemidji was awarded $5,088 to hire local mural artist Wesley May to work with community members in the creation of a mural expressing the diversity of cultures in this region and community members’ relationship to the nature that surrounds them.
Park Rapids Lakes Area Arts Council, Park Rapids, received $2,282 to sponsor Youth Music & Arts Showcase IV in downtown Park Rapids.
Boys & Girls Club of the Bemidji Area, Bemidji, received $2,934 to offer puppetry classes with Margaret Burger of Fortuna Puppet Theater to youth ages 6-18.
Boys & Girls Club of the White Earth Reservation, Mahnomen, received $3,008 to offer a class for twelve members to make pow-wow regalia with regalia artist Dana Goodwin.
Beltrami County Historical Society, Bemidji, received $1,400 to present performances, in conjunction with the Lake of the Woods Historical Society, by folk musician John Berquist in Bemidji and Baudette featuring lumberjack songs to celebrate north woods heritage and musical traditions.
Pequana Playhouse, Baudette, received $1,440 to sponsor two Mixed Blood Theater performances of “Hijab Tube,” one for the public and one for Lake of the Woods School.
Waubun Ogema White Earth School, Waubun received $4,371 for the school choir to attend a performance of Hairspray at the Chanhassen Dinner Theater and tour theatrical and musical arts facilities in the Twin Cities.
Mask & Rose Women’s Theater Collective, Bemidji, was awarded $3,160 to present “The Legend of Paul Bunyan – the Musical” in August 2012 in celebration of the 75th anniversary of Paul & Babe in Bemidji, MN.
Park Rapids Lakes Area Arts Council, Park Rapids, received $3,531 to sponsor Art Leap 2012, a driving tour of artists’ studios and other cultural destinations, including live performances, in the Park Rapids area.
White Earth Tribal and Community College, Mahnomen was awarded $3,956 to offer “Elemental Arts: Natural ‘Wild’ Plant Dyes and Papermaking workshops and exhibits.
Bemidji Community Theater, Bemidji, received $4,796 to produce the musical “Oliver” in November 2012 at the historic Chief Theater in downtown Bemidji.
Lake of the Woods Art Guild, Baudette, received $5,950 to hire professional artist Frank Covino to teach a Classical Academic Oil Painting Seminar in Baudette.
All funds will be used to create opportunities for arts access, arts education, and building bridges between Minnesotans and were made available through an appropriation by the Minnesota State Legislature Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund passed by Minnesota voters on November 4, 2008.
r2arts.org 