Author: Region 2 Arts Council

R2AC will be in attendance at the Americans for the Arts Convention in Minneapolis, June 13- 14, 2019.

Our regular office hours will resume on Monday, June 17.

Our office will be closed on Friday. We will be presenting our FY20-21 Biennial Plan to the Minnesota State Arts Board and Regional Arts Advisory Committee.

See you Monday!

-Laura Seter, Executive Director

On April 15, 2019 the Region 2 Arts Council Board of Directors awarded $19,990 through the Arts Project Grant program. These grants offer funding for a variety of arts projects including costs related to performances or exhibitions, engagement of guest artists, public arts projects, and artists-in-residence. Funded arts projects must benefit the residents of Beltrami, Hubbard, Clearwater, Lake of the Woods, or Mahnomen Counties.

Grant recipients included:

Bemidji Symphony Orchestra received $2,500 to present the Deep Pulses concert featuring soprano Tammy Hensrud performing Gustav Mahler’s Songs of a Wayfarer and Richard Pearson Thomas’ Singing with the Larks.

Nemeth Art Center received $2,500 to host a collaborative art and community engagement project in which Luisa Fernanda Garcia-Gomez’s work will be exhibited as local weaver Bruce Engebretson weaves a tapestry of Gomez’s design onsite.

Watermark Art Center received $2,360 to organize a board development and leadership training retreat with consultant Mary Jo Wimmer.

Heartland Arts (formerly Park Rapids Lakes Area Arts Council) received $1,651 to sponsor a Creative Placemaking Workshop with Greg Wright for arts and community stakeholders.

Bemidji Woodcarvers Club received $2,327 to create an opportunity for area woodcarvers to carve with and learn from Debbe Edwards, an exceptional wildlife carver and instructor.

Lake of the Woods Art Guild received $1,349 to offer an encaustic workshop with instructor, Terry Honstead of Tenstrike.

Headwaters Music & Arts received $2,030 to hold Bemidji Sings!, a city wide vocal competition for amateur singers.

Norda Gonvick Rosemalers received $1,383 to hire Trudy Peach, a gold medal rosemaler, to teach the Os style of Norwegian rosemaling.

Bemidji Community Theater received $1,349 to offer a puppet workshop with puppet master Ezra Bartsch as well as provide funds to purchase professionally made puppets and craft supplies to make puppets for future presentations.

Bagley Area Arts Collaborative received $1,342 to hire artist Kelli Lien to facilitate a three-day workshop teaching specific techniques used in creating a collage work of art with paper.

Bemidji High School Art Club received $1,299 to visit the Walker Art Center and the Minneapolis Institute of Art to explore various art forms and artistic career paths.

Region 2 Arts Council Arts Project Grants are made possible by an appropriation from the Minnesota State Legislature with money from the State’s general fund.

Region 2 Arts Council will be closing early Wednesday May 22 to attend.

Shannon Lucas-Westrum, Region 2 Arts Council 2018 Fellow, will present work from her fellowship travels at the Bemidji Public Library from 4:30-6:30 PM. She will be exhibiting the Traditional Irish Willow Basketry that she created while studying under Master Basket Weavers Joe Hogan and Ciaran Hogan of rural Co. Galway, IE and work created while in Residency at Shankill Castle, Co. Kilkenny with an abundance of stories and photos. Come Join us!

The Region 2 Arts Council is excited to announce their recipient of the 2019 Anishinaabe Arts Initiative Fellowship, awarded to contemporary artist Delina White. White was selected on April 3, 2019, when the Region 2 Arts Council’s Anishinaabe Arts Initiative (AAI) Council convened to review fellowship applications through the AAI program. The AAI Fellowship is made possible by the generous support of the McKnight Foundation, and aims to assist the region’s most talented Native American artists in their work by awarding financial support to fund creative time and/or arts experiences. This award is for Native American artists residing in Minnesota’s Beltrami, Clearwater, Hubbard, Mahnomen, Lake of the Woods, Becker, Roseau, Cass, and Itasca counties.

Delina White is a Contemporary Artist doing contemporary work based on traditional design. Of her work she states, “I am a Native Apparel Designer and Beadwork Artist; I am Anishinaabe. My artwork includes working with fabrics that are rich in texture and to the touch, interesting to look in all colors; I am grateful to be able to harvest indigenous materials that I know my ancestors prized, and I am fascinated by traditional designs shared between all Great Lakes and Woodland Nations that are so similar and yet so different, that sets a fire in my soul to create. I sew stories that expresses my pride as a First Nations / Indigenous person to this continent so full of history, heartbreak, love and resiliency.”

The Region 2 Arts Council Staff and AAI Council members would like to thank each of the AAI Fellowship applicants and congratulate Delina White as 2019 AAI Fellow!

The Region 2 Arts Council Anishinaabe Arts Initiative Fellowship Award is made possible through the generous support of the McKnight Foundation.