Art Project Grant
Art Project Grant
Concert collaboration celebrating Leonard Bernstein's 100th birthday
Janeen Carey: vocalist, retired Hibbing Community College librarian and information media specialist; Adam Guggemos: graphic designer, art events promoter; Michelle Ronning: jewelry designer and maker; Tara Makinen: Executive Director of Itasca Orchestra and Strings, musician; Moira Villiard: visual artist; Jeanne Doty: Retired Associate Professor of Music at University of Minnesota-Duluth, pianist; Amber Burns: choreographer, dancer, actor, middle school art teacher; Margaret Holmes: visual artist, poet, former Children's Theatre employee; Tammy Mattonen: visual artist, co-founder of Crescendo Youth Orchestra; Quentin Stille: student liaison, College Music Director at KUMD.
Janeen Carey: vocalist, retired Hibbing Community College librarian and information media specialist; Michelle Ronning: jewelry designer and maker; Tara Makinen: Executive Director of Itasca Orchestra and Strings, musician; Moira Villiard: visual artist; Jeanne Doty: Retired Associate Professor of music at University of Minnesota-Duluth, pianist; Amber Burns: choreographer, dancer, actor, middle school art teacher; Margaret Holmes: visual artist, poet, former Children's Theatre employee; Tammy Mattonen: visual artist, co-founder of Crescendo Youth Orchestra; Quentin Stille: student liaison, College Music Director at KUMD.
Arrowhead Regional Arts Council, Drew Digby (218) 722-0952
ACHF Arts Access ACHF Arts Education ACHF Cultural Heritage
The goals of this project are to create a moving and memorable audience experience, and to expand the audience for orchestra concerts in northern Minnesota. Measurable short-term outcomes include (1) establishing close, cooperative relationships with participating choirs; (2) drawing audiences of 300 or more at each concert; (3) positive comments in audience surveys; and (4) meeting budget. Longer-range outcomes for this project include a thriving arts scene on the Iron Range, greater interest in the study of music in our schools, growing audiences for orchestra concerts, and growing financial support for Mesabi Community Orchestra. The Mesabi Symphony Orchestra board tracks concert attendance on an ongoing basis. Financial results will be collected and evaluated at a board meeting. Mesabi Symphony Orchestra will survey the audience, using either written survey forms inserted in programs or brief, in-person interviews. Mesabi Symphony Orchestra will also seek input from the directors of participating choirs and conduct an online survey of participating choir members. Comments and suggestions from interviews and surveys will be used in planning for future large-scale collaborations. The board will track orchestra size and composition, audience size, and financial support over time through DataArts to determine whether the measurable long-term outcomes are being met.
The goals of this project were to create a moving and memorable audience experience, and to expand the audience for orchestra concerts in northern Minnesota. Measurable short-term outcomes included (1) establishing close, cooperative relationships with participating choirs; (2) drawing audiences of 300 or more at each concert; (3) positive comments in audience surveys; and (4) meeting budget. Longer-range outcomes for this project included a thriving arts scene on the Iron Range, greater interest in the study of music in our schools, growing audiences for orchestra concerts, and growing financial support for MSO. Evaluation was conducted by the MSO board. We are thrilled with the relationship we achieved with the University of Wisconsin-Superior choirs and orchestra, and believe it will bear fruit in the years ahead. We fell short of the goal of drawing audiences of 300 or more at each concert. If we had been able to partner with choirs on the Iron Range, we might have been able to draw a larger audience that included friends and families of choir members. This is one of the tradeoffs that came with choosing an out-of-town choir to partner with. On the other hand, by presenting a concert in Superior, we were able to draw an audience from the Twin Ports, many of whom have not attended MSO performances on the Iron Range. This may have a positive impact on audience sizes in the future. We did not conduct audience surveys, so have not been able to measure the third outcome. We did, however, conduct a survey of orchestra members. The budget was adjusted because of the collaboration with UWS. The adjusted budget was met, and cash outlays were lower than projected. The longer range outcomes have not been measured yet.
Other, local or private