St. Paul
Public Transformation hits the road
Two months ago, I had no idea that I was going to buy a school bus and travel across the country interviewing rural-based artists - I had no idea that I would need to learn how to insure a converted…
Imagining New Futures: Artists & Aging Pilot
What is the future for our artists? What is the future for our aging communities? What is the role of arts in aging and policy? In The American Prospect, author Jeff Chang writes, “When artists…
Let's Get To Work
Creative Exchange is the national program of Springboard for the Arts, based in Fergus Falls & Saint Paul, MN. This piece is adapted from the main Springboard website here. Springboard for the…
New arts grantmaking ideas in action
Here’s the traditional path for artists to get funding: A public entity or private foundation puts out a grant application. Artists or arts organizations fill out the application with statements…
Friendly Streets: Bottom-up St. Paul project changes the way people look at their city
The following is excerpted from Jay Walljasper’s new book, “America’s Walking Renaissance,” which can be downloaded for free here. This excerpt was initially published by MinnPost. Laughter, lively…
Pillsbury House Theatre breaks the ice and serves the community
What does it mean to be a "community theatre"? What does it mean to be an arts organization "for the community"? When we talk about community, and about arts organizations with deep commitments to…
Lessons from RARE: Engaging Artists in Real Estate Development
As real estate developers increasingly look for responsive models, many are seeing the value of incorporating art into buildings and spaces. In one current case study, the Richfield Artist Resident…
Ready Go's mobile art projects capture attention and engage the community
How likely are you to sit and have a conversation with a stranger in a park? What if you could do so while playing a board game at a table under brightly colored flags, all of which popped up in your…
Kala Vandanam is a life-long commitment to one of India's oldest dance forms
Suchitra Sairam, founder of Kala Vandanam Dance Company in St. Paul, has been dancing classical Indian dance for 30 years. Still, she says, she got a later start than most girls. "It's usually…
Witt Siasoco uses art to create home
If you take Twin Cities artist Witt Siasoco's extensive body of work as a whole, a common theme emerges: home. Not home as a physical place, or even a symbolic one – "Home is where the heart is," and…
Artists can be the "connective tissue" of a neighborhood -- but first they need a place to live
On any given day, Quest Skinner may be transforming her latest conversation with a neighbor into a vibrant painting. “My art is an expression of the people I meet,” explains Skinner,…
'Creating Community' Recap: Being open, being flexible, being principled
On a warm September evening that brought rainshowers, 45 people gathered in the open gallery space at Public Functionary in Northeast Minneapolis for ‘Creating Community,’ a conversation and…
Mad King Thomas are the most earnest postmodern dance group probably ever
There is a pretty hard line between the high brow and lowbrow in art and culture. Postmodernists like to toy with that line. Mad King Thomas likes to play jump rope with it. …
Photography & Participation: How Photovoice Engages and Rebuilds Communities
What is the role of photography in community engagement? How can increased engagement lead to effective community rebuilding and development? Photovoice, a participatory research process, provides…
From the Ground Up - Shaping the New Rural Narrative Through Arts and Community
Even if you have not spent a lot of time in a rural community, you’re probably familiar with at least one of the common narratives of small town America. One paints a bleak landscape of “brain…
PlaceBase Productions builds rural communities through participatory theatre
Ashley Hanson grew up spending much of her childhood in Aitkin, a small town of fewer than 2,000 people in northern Minnesota. Like many young people who grow up in small towns, she was dying to get…
Liz Miller creates installations that explore the beauty in devastation
Liz Miller is a Minnesota-based artist who describes herself thusly: "I'm an artist who is currently fascinated with weapons, invasive species, and pattern/ornament/decoration. My installations…
TU Dance makes modern dance accessible to a diverse community in St. Paul
TU Dance, a professional dance company and dance education center located in St. Paul, was founded by Uri Sands and Toni Pierce-Sands in 2004. Initially called Space TU Embrace, the organization…
Joan Vorderbruggen is the one-woman powerhouse behind Minneapolis's Made Here
There's really no better word that can be used to accurately describe Joan Vorderbruggen than "dynamic." Vorderbruggen has a dynamic personality that she is able to use to lead dynamic public art…
Artist/educator Asia Ward: Creating the unexpected through a singular blend of art and science
Bre McGee
Science, magic, memory and art: These are among the tools artist and…
St. Paul City Artist Amanda Lovelee inspires joyful connections
Amanda Lovelee’s life and work have taken her all over the world. A native of upstate New York, she graduated from the Minneapolis College of Art and Design, has traveled extensively…
Public art as social activism: Ta-coumba Aiken creates art that heals the heart and soul
Ta-coumba Aiken grew up in Evanston, Illinois during the peak of the Civil Rights Movement, the rise of the Black Panther Party and Black Power, and the prominence of the NAACP's civil rights…
The media is the message: Guante uses hip hop culture to educate and engage the community
Canadian philosopher and communication theorist Marshall McLuhan coined the expression "The medium is the message" in 1964 (long before the creation of the Internet), implying that it's not so much…
Oskar Ly's work reconciles her identities as a Second-Generation-Hmong-Queer-Asian-Woman-Artist
There are roughly 30,000 Hmong-Americans living in Saint Paul, Minnesota today, more than any other city in the country. The Twin Cities Metro area has a Hmong population of 64,000. While those may…