Crookston artist Trey Everett, Crookston Latino youth, and Badger artist and math teacher, Sherri Kruger with area residents who participated in making artwork through We Are Water MN workshops, will be featured in a Minnesota State Arts Board exhibition showcasing artwork supported by the state’s arts and cultural heritage fund.
A Creative Investment exhibition, celebrating ten years of Legacy art and impact, which opened Friday, April 26, at the Minnesota State Arts Board in Saint Paul, and will be on display through the fall. The exhibition highlights the breadth of art engagement throughout the state and features work by all ages—kindergartners to older adults—and all abilities. Its theme is that all Minnesotans are creative, and all benefit from the arts.
Each art piece in the exhibition captures a community story. Kruger and Badger residents share a piece (24 x 12-foot panel), of a Community Heritage Wall, a public art piece that is made up of thousands of stained glass tiles representing the history and culture of the City of Badger. In 2017, Kruger received a grant from her regional arts council to start the project. The project quickly ignited momentum and interest. Residents received training to help create the stained-glass mosaic mural and others volunteered to raise money to build a gazebo to protect the community wall when it will be permanently installed at its own park, the Badger Heritage Park.
The Fresh Voices program, facilitated by the nonprofit organization In Progress, has helped to pave the way for Latino youth in Crookston to amplify their voices in learning digital art making while helping to build confidence and strengthen the appreciation of their skills as public speakers, media producers, and leaders. The Fresh Voices program, supported by an Arts Board grant, is made up of a diverse collection of pieces. Three pieces are featured as part of the Arts Board exhibition.
The Northwest Minnesota Arts Council supported the creation of local art as part of the statewide We Are Water MN exhibit, a traveling project in partnership with the Minnesota Humanities Center and the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency. Crookston artist, Trey Everett held several workshops with residents in communities around the area to reflect on the meaning and inspiration of water. Participants were provided 12” X 12” canvases, supplies, and guidance to create art pieces around this theme. A total of 78 canvas pieces were created and exhibited at the Northwest Minnesota Arts Council Gallery.
In 2008, Minnesota voters approved the Clean Water, Land, and Legacy Amendment to the state’s constitution. For a period of twenty-five years, the amendment will dedicate a pool of funds for clean water, parks and trails, outdoor habitat, and arts and cultural heritage. The Arts Board and the state’s regional arts councils receive appropriations from the arts and cultural heritage fund. In the first ten years, the Arts Board and regional arts councils have awarded 13,894 legacy-supported grants.
“Since the passage of the Legacy amendment, more Minnesotans have access to and are able to participate in the arts, and the funding has put the arts to work in new ways to help achieve important public goals,” says Sue Gens, executive director of the Minnesota State Arts Board. “In addition to supporting arts programming in traditional settings like theaters and concert halls, legacy funds are helping bring the arts into community settings. Collaborative art projects are bringing neighbors together, traditional artists are helping to foster cultural understanding, art activities are promoting health and well-being for older adults, young people are developing their talents and skills through community arts education, and artists and arts organizations are being recognized as important tools in economic and community development.”
The Minnesota State Arts Board is a state agency that stimulates and encourages the creation, performance, and appreciation of the arts in the state. It serves as fiscal agent for a network of eleven regional arts councils. Together, the Arts Board and regional arts council system serves all 87 counties, distributing arts funding to individuals and organizations through competitive grant programs and providing services around the state.
More information about the exhibition and the artwork can be found on the Arts Board Web site: www.arts.state.mn.us
