Region 2 Arts Council Blog

Holly Alcott Holly Alcott

Native Arts and Craft Festival

While the Outreach Coordinator Ogimaa was in Mahnomen, Executive Director Patrick was at the Native Arts and Craft festival!

Huge thank you to Northwest Indian Community Development Center for hosting this wonderful event!

Another group of absolutely amazing individuals, thank you all for being there! We were able to get a few pictures after talking with people. Miigwech to everyone who was able to make it out! And thank you to Kent Estey for joining us in a discussion circle after the event!!!

See the post with more images here.

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Holly Alcott Holly Alcott

Mazinaatebiishin: An Emerging Artists Exhibit

A chii-miigwech to everyone who came this weekend to one of our Weekend of Arts and Culture Events! We know the weather may have interrupted some plans but we tried our best to get out there!

We wanted to say Congratulations to Eliza Klarer and Jakob Littlewolf for their new exhibit "Mazinaatebiishin" located at Gizhiigin Arts Incubator in Mahnomen! And a thanks to Kent Estey for uplifting those in your community! We had a wonderful time talking with people, viewing the beautiful art, but most importantly getting to hear from Jakob and Eliza about their work.

Eliza and Jakob's respective works both meld beautifully together in an almost cosmic viewing, colors from each piece truly stick out and stick with you. If you have not yet gotten a chance to see this exhibit, we highly recommend it!

To read more about the exhibit or to find a time to view it, please visit: https://www.gizhiigin.org/

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Holly Alcott Holly Alcott

Region 2 Arts Council Awards Season/Series Grants 2024

Region 2 Arts Council Awards $198,000 in Season/Series Arts Support Grants

 

The Region 2 Arts Council Board of Directors awarded $198,000.00 in Arts and Cultural Heritage Funds to 12 organizations following a community panel review of 14 Season/Series Arts Support Grant applications. Each awarded organization will offer two or more activities that benefit the people of Beltrami, Clearwater, Hubbard, Lake of the Woods, and/or Mahnomen counties. The funded arts activities must either be designed to remove barriers that audiences may have to accessing arts activities; develop knowledge, skills, and understanding of the arts for all ages; represent the diverse ethnic and cultural arts traditions in our state; or specifically be designed to build bridges between Minnesotans through arts and culture. 

 

The Lake of the Woods Art Guild in Baudette was awarded $18,000 in funds to provide a variety of arts activities including loom beading, beaded ornament making, basket making, greyscale drawing with colored pencils, mixed media, acrylic and watercolor painting workshops.

 

The Northern Light Opera Company in Park Rapids was awarded $18,000 in funds to provide arts activities including a large-scale summer musical, NLOKids Theater Camp, the NLOC Workbench New Play Workshop and the NLOC Workbench Filmmakers Intensive.

 

The Clear Waters Life Center, with locations in Clearbrook and Gonvick, was awarded $18,000 to offer community arts programming including youth theater arts and piano activities, art therapy for residents of their 12-Month Men's Recovery Program, and a workshop creating arts with concrete and welding techniques.

 

The Bemidji Symphony Orchestra in Bemidji was awarded $18,000 in funds to present 3 different styles of “pops concert” featuring music of the holiday season, Disney movie music, and an Elvis Presley inspired concert featuring a guest artist.

 

The Bagley Area Arts Collaborative in Bagley was awarded $18,000 in funds to provide arts workshops and activities in Alcohol Inks, Batik, Oil Painting, Pottery, Watercolor, Colored Pencil and Acrylic, Plein Air, Acrylics, Scandinavian Snowflakes, and Fun with Yupo Paper.

 

The Bemidji Community Theater in Bemidji was awarded $18,000 to pay stipends to vendors and contractors including directors, stage managers, accompanists, lighting and sound design, set construction, costuming, etc. for 6 different productions, as well as cover partial costs for the cast of Disney's The Little Mermaid Jr. to travel to the Twin Cities as part of a cultural enrichment activity.

 

The Nemeth Art Center in Park Rapids was awarded $18,000 in funds to provide resources including materials, stipends, display, and promotions for a series of locally created exhibitions in May, a youth art show, community art workshops, and summer exhibitions by locally-tied and visiting artists.

 

The Mask & Rose Women’s Theater Collective in Puposky was awarded $18,000 in funds to produce the Tony Award winning musical Hadestown, collaborate with theater group Mixed Precipitation to present a walking picnic operetta, show a second season of modern dance films, and organize and host the Sister Song music festival.

 

The Armory Arts and Events Center in Park Rapids was awarded $18,000 in funds to provide arts activities including live concerts and art workshops featuring local artists

 

The Northern Artist Association in Bemidji was awarded $15,026 to offer free art classes in a variety of genres to young people and adults including plein air workshops featuring intermediate techniques for artists to gain advanced skills.

 

The Beltrami County Historical Society in Bemidji was awarded $12,075 in funds to provide a series of workshops and artist-in-residence programs led by women artists for the local community.

 

The Headwaters Music and Arts in Bemidji was awarded $8,899 to provide a series of introductory art, music, and creative writing experiences for adults.

 

Region 2 Arts Council Season/Series Arts Support Grants are made possible by the voters of Minnesota thanks to a legislative appropriation from the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund.

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Holly Alcott Holly Alcott

Tofte Lake Center Residency Programs

We at Tofte Lake Center are incredibly excited to share our 2025 residency programming with you! Applications for our 2025 artist residencies open December 1st. This year, we're offering five distinct residency opportunities, and we hope one of them below speaks to you, a friend, or fellow artist!

Thank you in advance for spreading the word about all of the opportunities we have for artists of all backgrounds, disciplines, and career stages here at the lake!

Please reach out with any questions or if you'd like to connect!

Individual Artist Residency

June 11-17, 2025

September 3-9, 2025

This year we are offering two Individual Artist Residencies. These residencies are focused on individual artists and/or small collaborative teams of all disciplines who wish to create work in community with other artists in all stages of their career.

National Emerging Artist Residency

July 2-11, 2025

Our National Emerging Artists Program is back! This 10-day residency is focused on emerging artists and/or small collaborative teams of all disciplines who wish to create among other emerging artists from around the US.

MN BIPOC Artist Residency

June 2-8, 2025

This week-long residency provides space for 6 BIPOC artists of any discipline to retreat and create in community. The residency balances personal work time with group interaction and optional sharing of work or performance, as well as time for play and rejuvenation.

Arts Educators Residency

July 14-20, 2025

This week-long residency provides space for 6 artist educators to center themselves and their work as artists first and get the well-deserved rest and rejuvenation they need.

Family Artist Residency

August 13-19

This week-long residency for Minnesota parent-artists offers the opportunity for single parent artists and artists who wish to bring their spouse/partner and 1-2 children. The residency enables these artists to focus on their work while the child/ren enjoy age-appropriate, supervised activities onsite and in town.

Applications are open December 1st - December 31st, 2024, at 5:00pm CST.

Programming activities are made possible in part by the voters of Minnesota through a grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund.Operating support is made possible in part by the voters of Minnesota through a grant from the Arrowhead Regional Arts Council, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund.

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Holly Alcott Holly Alcott

Intro to Grants Writing

Are you or your organization seeking funding? Are you aware of all the grants that are available to you? Region 2 Arts Council has now created a monthly workshop series, Intro to Grant Writing. In these free monthly meetings, join our grants manager Holly Alcott share important information about grants and the granting process!

In the first session on November 4th at 6pm, we will discuss how to understand grants, how to apply for a grant, how to find other granting sources, and more! If you have any questions, you are encouraged to ask them! This is an online zoom, all you need is wifi, and a device to log in on.

You and your organization do not need to be located in our five county region in order to access this webinar. This is a tool that Region 2 is sharing with members of the public to access the opportunities around them!

To register, please email staff@r2arts.org or call us at 218 751 5447. If you have any questions you want addressed by Holly, don't hesitate to reach out and let us know!

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Holly Alcott Holly Alcott

The Stories of Us: Call for participants.

Region 2 Arts Council has been working towards developing new video content for the R2 website. One of these ideas came up after a very insightful meeting at the Gizhiigan Arts Incubator in Mahnomen. What if Region 2 began to document personal experiences correlating with art as a way to tell the stories of creative families?

This started an idea of generational interviews, allowing families to tell their stories about how art has impacted their lives. We have heard stories of how basket making wove a family closer, how the art of basket weaving was passed down through generations, and how intimately the art of the practice is woven with their family's history.

We began thinking about how powerful it truly was to hear about this experience. And further, how could we get these stories out there? At Region 2, we firmly believe that art is far more than just creation. It is also community, connection, and unity and a large part of that is sharing this with others.

Region 2 is looking for creative families to talk about their experiences. Whether they are weavers, painters, metal workers, writers, actors, or singers. We want to hear about you! Part of sharing these stories with others is to influence Arts Advocacy, showing that art is far more important to families and individuals than it may seem. For some families, art is a healing thread that holds them together and we want to advocate for this important connection.

If you or someone you know has a familial history of creating, whether you are in a family of actors, or you're the painter in a family of singers, we want to hear about your experiences. Please email: info@r2arts.org

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Holly Alcott Holly Alcott

October Board Meeting

Later in the week, Region 2 Arts Council will be having another board meeting. This meeting will be on October 17th at Rail River Folk School in Bemidji, from 5:30-8pm. If you have any questions about this meeting, please do not hesitate to talk with a member of staff!

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Holly Alcott Holly Alcott

Methods of Phone Photography at Watermark Art Center

Bemidji, MN - Exhibiting artist and local photographer William Petersen will present on methods of working with phone cameras (primarily iPhone) and photo enhancements using the app "Snapseed" on Thursday, October 24 from 6 to 8pm at Watermark Art Center. Participants should be familiar with operating their phone and download the app prior to arriving at the presentation.


Petersen came to embrace the practice of digitally enhancing his photographs once he accepted that it would take decades to master the darkroom in order to produce compelling images versus pursuingelectronic digitally-altered images and getting amazing results almost right away. His exhibit "iPhone Artistry" is currently on display at the center. His work can be viewed online atwatermarkartcenter.org/iphone-artistry/. The exhibit was made possible with support from Paul Bunyan Communications.

Registration is not required and there is no charge to attend this presentation. For more information regarding events, classes and exhibits visit watermarkartcenter.org or call 218-444-7570. Watermark galleries are accessible and open to the public Monday - Saturday from 10 to 5pm. Watermark is located at 505 Bemidji Avenue N. in Bemidji, Minnesota.

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Holly Alcott Holly Alcott

2SLGBTQQIA+ History Month

2SLGBTQQIA+ History Month is an annual observance of 2SLGBTQQIA+ history, and the history of the gay rights and civil rights movements. 2SLGBTQQIA+ History Month provides role models, builds community, and represents a civil rights statement about the contributions of the 2SLGBTQQIA+ community.

For more information please visit https://www.facebook.com/2SpiritsMotion

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Holly Alcott Holly Alcott

Region 2 Wears Orange for Orange Shirt Day

Today, the Region 2 Arts Council team is wearing orange for #OrangeShirtDay in solidarity with the First Nations, American Indians, Alaska Natives, and Native Hawaiians affected by Residential Indian Boarding Schools. At Region 2 Arts, we are committed to supporting the individuals and communities that are healing from the terrible legacy of the boarding school era as they nurture the cultural traditions damaged by the systematic attempt to erase Indigenous cultures in America. We want to offer our support and solidarity to all those who were and still are affected by the tragedies that took place, in our community and in all communities. Today is a day of remembrance for those lost and those who are being returned home, as well as a celebration of the resilience of Indigenous peoples.

For background information regarding Orange Shirt Day, as well as resources, please visit: https://www.oregon.gov/.../Pages/orange-shirt-day.aspx

#ODHSOrangeShirtDay #OregonOrangeShirtDay #EveryChildMatters #mmir #mmiw

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Holly Alcott Holly Alcott

100 Minnesota Artists Are Receiving Guaranteed Income for Five Years

Read the full article, and watch the video here!

Kandace Creel Falcón, one of the artists in Springboard for the Art's guaranteed income piklot program, gives a talk on their billboard commission Guaranteed Income is the G.O.A.T.

Sarah Cascone September 20, 2024

In a welcome bit of good news, 100 artists in Minnesota are receiving five years guaranteed income as part of an expanded pilot program for St. Paul nonprofit Springboard for the Arts. The no-strings-attached payments are $500 a month.

It’s one of the longest-running guaranteed income pilots ever staged in the U.S., which Springboard hopes will provide key data demonstrating the value of guaranteed income and its positive effects on recipients’ lives.

“We’re excited to contribute research in order to better advocate for statewide federal guaranteed income,” Ricardo Beaird, Springboard’s community development director, told me.

Springboard’s guaranteed income program emerged in 2020, when the organization was able to provide 2,799 Minnesota artists with $1.4 million in emergency relief funds.

“We were thinking how we can address this at a systemic level, to make it so that there’s not a need for emergency relief for artists and for people in our community,” Beaird said.

Springboard believes that guaranteed basic income would benefit all people—and was inspired in part by the city of St. Paul’s People’s Prosperity Guaranteed Income Pilot, which served 150 local families between October 2020 and April 2022. But the organization believes that artists in particular benefit from this kind of support because of the nature of their work: they are often effectively small business owners, paid on a project-by-project basis.

“I’ve always thought guaranteed income is something that we should all have,” Springboard pilot recipient Kashimana, who recorded an album inspired by the experience, told the Guaranteed Income Pilots Dashboard, which is collecting data from 30 pilots across the U.S. “Everybody in society deserves to be taken care of, no matter what circumstances we’re in, no matter where we find ourselves in life.”

Thus far, the dashboard found that the largest portion, or 35.94 percent, of the guaranteed income funds went toward retail purchases, followed by 30.26 percent for food and groceries, and just over 10 percent for housing and utilities.

The nonprofit’s initial 2021 pilot benefitted just 25 St. Paul artists, selected via lottery from applicants to Springboard’s emergency relief funds and to participants in the organization’s other programs and workshops.

Originally set to run just 18 months, it has grown in phases. First, Springboard added 25 more artists St. Paul, then 25 more in rural Fergus Falls, Minnesota, where the organization has an office, and the surrounding Otter Tail County. The last phase will add 25 additional rural artists, all of whom will enter the program with the security of knowing they will be getting the extra funds for half a decade.

“We’re curious what people will dream up or vision when they know for sure that they will have guaranteed income for five years,” Beaird said. “Because of the gig economy, artists are always thinking about the next six weeks or the next six months. This will provide space for artists to dream up what their next five years might look!”

Springboard has also been promoting the guaranteed income pilot through the artist’s work, including a commissioned billboard by pilot artist Kandace Creel Falcón titled Guaranteed Income is the G.O.A.T. And for International Basic Income Week, the organization is currently hosting a group exhibition, “Exhale,” at its St. Paul headquarters.

Though guaranteed income might be a hard sell among conservatives opposed to government handouts, Beaird believes one only has to look at statistics to make a strong case for implementing the payments nationwide: a troubling 64 percent of Americans are living paycheck to paycheck, according to a December report from financial services company Lending Club.

“That means regular, everyday people are one emergency expense away from chaos and calamity,” he said. “If we want to restore economic power and stability to families and people, the guaranteed basic income movement says that we can do this through a very simple and effective tool, which is cash.”

Beaird also disagrees with critics who worry that guaranteed income will encourage people to drop out of the workforce—at just $6,000 annually, the program functions as an added safety net, not a replacement for a job, he argued.

The artists who have benefited from Springboard’s pilot program have great things to say about their experience.

“This is the first time I’ve really felt supported as an artist,” 64-year-old Fergus Falls fiber artist Torri Hanna told the Minnesota Star Tribune.

“Having a little comfort means I can go back to creating. Before, I couldn’t create unless it was generating income,” one artist told Springboard for the organization’s impact report on the pilot. “I couldn’t justify it.”

Another spoke of being able to buy back the DJ equipment he had been forced to sell to make rent, saying: “I’ve literally been using [my guaranteed income] to restart, or kickstart, my career from a bit of a dead zone.”

There is a push in Minnesota to implement statewide guaranteed income. A bill introduced this year by Representative Athena Hollins did not pass, but would have provided government funding to organizations like Springboard to run additional programs providing guaranteed income. (Springboard’s program is privately funded.)

“I feel really hopeful and optimistic that a guaranteed income bill could be passed in the next legislative session in Minnesota,” Beaird said. “Moving from pilot to policy, it’s really possible in this moment.”

Artists also received guaranteed basic income through a now-completed 2021 pilot program run by the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco. A similar program, still ongoing, launched in New York in 2022, through the Creatives Rebuild New York program. Some 2,400 artists are receiving $1,000 payments for 18 months.

“Exhale” is on view at Springboard for the Arts, 262 University Ave W., St. Paul, Minnesota, September 17–30, 2024.

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Ogimaa Chalmers Ogimaa Chalmers

Arts Access Grant Now Open

As one grant closes, another one opens! The Arts Access Grant is now open for applications!

These grants can support creation, production, and presentation of high-quality arts activities, as well as projects that help overcome barriers to accessing high-quality arts activities, and projects that help instill the arts into the community and public life in our region. Arts activities proposed for funding must be accessible by the public, have a strong community component, and must benefit the residents of Beltrami, Hubbard, Clearwater, Lake of the Woods, or Mahnomen Counties. Organizations can apply for up to two Arts Access Grants for two different arts activities each year. Arts Access Grants are open to non-profits, nonparochial public and charter schools, colleges, universities, community education programs, local tribal government entities from the sovereign nations of Leech Lake, Red Lake, and White Earth or town/city/county government entities from our five-county region, arts organizations, arts affiliates, and groups formed for nonprofit purposes with a fiscal sponsor.

Application Deadline: November 15, 2024

Maximum Award: $6,000

Earliest Start Date for Projects: January 29, 2025

For eligibility details and to apply visit www.r2arts.org

Questions? Need more information? Inquiries about accessibility needs?

CALL: 218-751-5447 / 800-275-5447 TEXT: 218-407-2507 EMAIL: staff@r2arts.org

Region 2 Arts Council Arts Access Grants are made possible by the voters of Minnesota thanks to a legislative appropriation from the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund

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Holly Alcott Holly Alcott

Upcoming Board Meeting

The Region 2 Arts Council will hold our board meeting on Thursday, September 19th, 2024. Please contact staff for a Zoom link if you are interested in observing. The meeting will start at 6 pm and continue until approximately 8 pm. The agenda will be sent out with the Zoom link.

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Holly Alcott Holly Alcott

Rural Regenerator Fellows 2024-2026

Meet the 2024-26 Rural Regenerator Fellows!

Springboard's Rural Regenerator Fellowship brings together individual artists, culture bearers, grassroots organizers, and other rural change-makers who are committed to advancing the role of art, culture and creativity in rural development and community building.

We are proud to introduce the 2024-26 cohort of Rural Regenerator Fellows! 

  • Hannah Breckbill (she/her/hers) - Decorah, Iowa

  • Megan L. Bull Bear (she/her/hers) - Mankato, Minnesota

  • Shelley Buffalo (she/her/hers) - Meskwaki Settlement, Tama, Iowa

  • Monica Cady (she/her/hers/we/us) - Hessel, Michigan 1836 ceded territory Ojibwe Nation

  • Lynne Colombe (she/her/hers) - Rosebud Sioux Indian Reservation

  • Lera Hephner (she/her/hers) - Ogema, Minnesota

  • Regina M. Laroche (she/her/hers) - Madeline Island on the southern edge of Lake Superior, Northern Wisconsin

  • Chrystal A. Odin (they/them/their) - Osceola, Wisconsin

  • Marcella Prokop (she/her/hers) - Beaver Creek, Minnesota

  • Susan Mayo (she/her/hers) - Peabody, Kansas

  • Alejandra (Alex) Sanchez (she/her/hers) - Mondovi, Wisconsin

  • Stephen Robert Webster (he/him/his) - Oneida Reservation in Wisconsin

These 12 artists span a diverse range of geographies and artistic practices across the Upper Midwest, from spinning wool to sustaining traditional and Indigenous foodways. While their individual practices vary, these fellows share a dedication for environmental justice, land and food sovereignty, agriculture, climate solutions, and sustainability.

Over the next two years, each fellow will receive $10,000 in flexible funds to support or expand on their existing work, and participate in learning, exchange, and solidarity-building with their fellow rural artists.

“Artists in rural places are at the forefront of reclaiming and redefining how we care for our environment. By drawing on local knowledge, cultural traditions, and creative engagement, they offer unique approaches to environmental stewardship deeply rooted in their communities. We are excited to provide a space for these fellows to exchange ideas, support one another, and foster rich learning by sharing knowledge across geographies, cultures, and generations.”

- Michele Anderson
Rural Director, Springboard for the Arts

Read more here.

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Holly Alcott Holly Alcott

Anishinaabe Arts Initiative Grant Now Open

Anishinaabe Arts Initiative Grant Deadline November 1, 2024

 

Region 2 Arts Council Anishinaabe Arts Initiative Grants are open to Indigenous artists, musicians, writers, filmmakers, actors, dancers, craftspeople and culture bearers who are enrolled tribal members and descendants residing in the following Minnesota counties: Becker, Beltrami, Cass, Clearwater, Hubbard, Itasca, Lake of the Woods, Mahnomen, or Roseau. This grant offers funding for costs associated with the exhibition, performance, or production of a creative work, purchase of materials or equipment to create works of art, learning opportunities in the arts, and proposals for projects or opportunities to enhance the career of an individual artist. 

Maximum Award: $1,000

Application Deadline: November 1, 2024

Grant Review by Anishinaabe Arts Initiative Council: December 11, 2024

Earliest Start Date for Funded Projects: January 15, 2025

Create a Login and Apply Online: r2arts.org

Request a paper copy of the grant application: staff@r2arts.org

 

Questions? Need support? Inquiries about accessibility needs?

Contact the Region 2 Arts Council

CALL: 218-751-5447 / 800-275-5447

TEXT: 218-407-2507

EMAIL: staff@r2arts.org

IN-PERSON: 505 Bemidji Avenue North; M-F 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.

 

Anishinaabe Arts Initiative (AAI) Grants are made possible by the Anishinaabe Arts Initiative through support from the Region 2 Arts Council with funding from the McKnight Foundation

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Holly Alcott Holly Alcott

New Mural on the Northwest Indian Development Center in Bemidji

Exciting things are going on around the lake! If you’ve driven through town you may have already had a chance to sneak a peak at the new mural being painted on the side of Aazhoomon, the Northwest Indian Development Center. Please visit this link and watch the video!

The Northwest Indian Community Development Center, located in Bemidji, has started a community-based art project in the form of new mural, which will be seen on the side of their building facing Bemidji Avenue.

The center is a Native-run community nonprofit organization that has been serving the Indigenous population of the greater Bemidji area for the past 35 years.

“We’re located between the three largest Ojibwe reservations in the state of Minnesota,” explained NWICDC Executive Director Martin Jennings. “And we have a significant Native population, but you don’t really see that expression very prominent in this community. So I want this center to be a place that helps tell that other side of the story and the richness of the culture, the strengths and beauty of the Indigenous population, which originally called this area our homelands.”

The NWICDC not only wants to be a forefront for Native representation inside the enter, but outside as well.

“I want this building to be a landmark,” stated Jennings. “I want this to be a place of visibility, pride, the Indigenous values that we have.”

“The mural project is to inspire appreciation and building community together through sharing culture, because culture is meant to be shared,” said lead mural artist Sylvia Houle.

So far, the background and first layer has been painted, and this weekend the artists will get together to start painting the people.

“There’s going to be people from different backgrounds participating in this different races, identities,” explained Houle. “But the main thing is to have Indigenous relatives in modern times doing traditional practices.”

In being brought in as the lead artist, Houle is mentoring a group of teenagers connected with the NWICDC who are volunteering to help with the project.

“You don’t have to be technically skilled at it from the gate,” said Houle, “I encourage them to just learn to have fun with it, learn to play. So even if it’s just like getting your hands all covered in paint and just smearing it on the wall, because that’s where it starts – it’s just learning how to become comfortable with it.”

Although Houle was the only one painting Friday due to the rainy weather, you can drive by the Northwest Indian Community Community Development Center at any point this weekend or next week to see the group of artists at work. They’d appreciate a wave or “hello” as they continue to work on the project, which is set to be finished within the next week and a half.

Visit https://lptv.org/in-focus-northwest-indian-community-development-center-painting-new-mural/ to read more and to watch the video!

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Holly Alcott Holly Alcott

Yéigo Action Grant

Dear Friends and Supporters,

First Peoples Fund has always championed artists and culture bearers as the heart of our communities. We are thrilled to announce the launch of the Yéigo Action Grant, a dynamic new initiative designed to empower and uplift Native artists and culture bearers. This grant provides crucial financial support for professional development opportunities or to help overcome any challenges that may stand in the way of creative expression.

The Yéigo Action Grant offers funding ranging from $100 to $5,000 to individual Native artists and culture bearers. At First Peoples Fund (FPF), we understand the significance of supporting artists through tough times, especially when unexpected hardships arise. The grant’s name, inspired by the Diné word "yéigo," is a phrase of encouragement meaning “keep going” or “don’t give up.”

We encourage you to spread the word about this exciting opportunity within your network and urge eligible individuals to apply. Together, we can ensure that Native artists continue to flourish and share their invaluable talents with our communities.

Don’t give up—keep going with a Yéigo Action Grant! Apply today and share this opportunity with your friends and family. For more information, visit our website, or reach out to us at programs@firstpeoplesfund.org with any questions.

Ahéhee’ (Diné bizaad: Thank you),

Justin Kii Huenemann (Diné)

President/CEO of First Peoples Fund

Learn more here.

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Holly Alcott Holly Alcott

Office Closed 8/22

The Region 2 Arts Council office will be closed August 22nd, as staff will be participating in a mural painting at the Northwest Indian Community Development Center, located next to University Heights on Bemidji Ave!

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