Arts and Cultural Heritage

Project Details by Fiscal Year
2021 Fiscal Year Funding Amount
$6,000
Fund Source
Arts & Cultural Heritage Fund
Recipient
Project GEM
Recipient Type
Non-Profit Business/Entity
Status
Completed
Start Date
September 2020
End Date
June 2021
Activity Type
Grants/Contracts
Counties Affected
Blue Earth
Brown
Le Sueur
Nicollet
Sibley
Blue Earth
Brown
Le Sueur
Nicollet
Sibley
Project Overview

Arts and Cultural Heritage

Project Details

The Growth, Experience and Motivation Project will provide virtual arts education programs to low income and special needs youth, taught by college students going into education. Funds will be used for artist fees, salaries, art supplies, and a computer.

Competitive Grant Making Body
Board Members and Qualifications

Steve Davis: member of the Mankato Symphony Orchestra and Minnesota State University/Community Orchestra, volunteer for Mankato Area Youth Symphony Orchestra and New Ulm Suzuki School of Music; Kristie Gaalswyk-Pomerenke: Martin County 4-H Coordinator, former Education Coordinator at the Ordway Center for Performing Arts, and a board member for the Martin County Area Foundation and Fairmont Community Education; Diana Joseph: author and College Professor of Creative Writing and Humanities at Minnesota State University, Mankato, active with Open Arts Minnesota and LitReach; Teresa Konechne: interdisciplinary media artist, co-founder of Henderson CAN (Community. Art. Nature.) and founder of Wicked Questions, a non-profit about art and conversation on climate and change; Karen Krause: a visual artist, retired school counselor and art teacher, and a member and instructor at the Waseca Art Center; April Malphurs: glass artist and art teacher for community art camps in St. Peter and the Minnetonka Center for the Arts; Liz Miller: a visual artist and college Professor of Art at Minnesota State University, Mankato; Larry Pint: board member of the Minnesota Association of Community Theaters, member of American Association of Community Theater and New Prague Arts Council, and past board member for Curtain Call Theatre; Rita Rassbach: recent interim Executive Director for the Mankato Ballet Company and past board member of Merely Players Community Theater and Creative Play Place; Dana Sikkila: a visual artist and the Executive Director of the 410 Project Gallery, Mankato; Carol Soma: retired Language Arts teacher and volunteer with the Kee Civic Theatre; Bethany Steffl: Principal, music, art, and choir teacher at St. Raphael School, Springfield, Board Member of the Springfield Community Theater, and a jewelry artist; Ginny Walters: a literary artist and Associate Director of the Honors Program at Minnesota State University, Mankato.

Advisory Group Members and Qualifications

Steve Davis: member of the Mankato Symphony Orchestra and Minnesota State University/Community Orchestra, volunteer for Mankato Area Youth Symphony Orchestra and New Ulm Suzuki School of Music; Kristie Gaalswyk-Pomerenke: Martin County 4-H Coordinator, former Education Coordinator at the Ordway Center for Performing Arts, and a board member for the Martin County Area Foundation and Fairmont Community Education; Diana Joseph: author and College Professor of Creative Writing and Humanities at Minnesota State University, Mankato, active with Open Arts Minnesota and LitReach; Teresa Konechne: interdisciplinary media artist, co-founder of Henderson CAN (Community. Art. Nature.) and founder of Wicked Questions, a non-profit about art and conversation on climate and change; Karen Krause: a visual artist, retired school counselor and art teacher, and a member and instructor at the Waseca Art Center; April Malphurs: glass artist and art teacher for community art camps in St. Peter and the Minnetonka Center for the Arts; Liz Miller: a visual artist and college Professor of Art at Minnesota State University, Mankato; Larry Pint: board member of the Minnesota Association of Community Theaters, member of American Association of Community Theater and New Prague Arts Council, and past board member for Curtain Call Theatre; Rita Rassbach: recent interim Executive Director for the Mankato Ballet Company and past board member of Merely Players Community Theater and Creative Play Place; Dana Sikkila: a visual artist and the Executive Director of the 410 Project Gallery, Mankato; Carol Soma: retired Language Arts teacher and volunteer with the Kee Civic Theatre; Bethany Steffl: Principal, music, art, and choir teacher at St. Raphael School, Springfield, Board Member of the Springfield Community Theater, and a jewelry artist; Ginny Walters: a literary artist and Associate Director of the Honors Program at Minnesota State University, Mankato.

Conflict of Interest Disclosed
No
Legal Citation / Subdivision
Laws of Minnesota 2019 First Special Session, chapter 2, article 4, section 2, subdivision 3
Appropriation Language

ACHF Arts Access

2021 Fiscal Year Funding Amount
$6,000
Other Funds Leveraged
$0
Direct expenses
$0
Administration costs
$0
Number of full time equivalents funded
0.00
Proposed Measurable Outcome(s)

Real or perceived barriers to arts participation and arts access are identified and addressed. New relationships with members of groups that have traditionally been underserved by the arts or by the applicant organization are built. The number of Minnesotans who are engaged in arts education and learning opportunities increases. The quality and types of arts education and learning opportunities in our region, and the organizations or venues that offer them increases. Real or perceived barriers to arts learning are identified and addressed. The variety and number of festivals and traditional arts activities in our region/state increases. Our evaluation methods includes questionnaires for all participants in the program. Some of the surveys include ratings and also narrative. That would include, all site staff, team leaders, interns, volunteers and speakers. The team leaders will be in charge of handing out the surveys to youth in the after school art programs. The intern will tabulate the results of the evaluations. Team leaders are required to complete year end outcome measurements to evaluate the youth we served throughout the school year. Another part of our method is using stories of success that our team leaders submit to our board when they have competed their teaching contract. The outcome matrix grid results gives a more accurate reading on the students and how we are making an impact.

Measurable Outcome(s)

The on-line teaching evaluation surveys were modified to fit how the program was structured this past year with doing everything online instead of in person so the questions were tailored to reflect it. The site staff were also given surveys that reflected the changes in providing the arts this year. We found that some of the site staff preferred zoom per-recorded sessions over live sessions so they could have more control over how long the students took to complete some of those projects. The team leaders were divided in wanting to do on-line vs live because they felt they didn't get the hands on interaction they would have liked to experience. What our program has learned is that this gives us more options and flexibility to work with the team leaders and site staff to custom coordinate what is best for each class.

Proposed Outcomes Achieved
Achieved Proposed Outcomes
Source of Additional Funds

Other,local or private

Recipient Board Members
Alice De Yonge, Jed Highum, Kelli Kottke, Ferdinand Mabeya, Jason Oren, Jeanne Zwart, Katie Reisenbigler, Patricia Radford, Stephanie Taylor, Tiffany Hewitt.
Project Manager
First Name
Alice
Last Name
De Yonge
Organization Name
Project GEM AKA Project G.E.M.
Street Address
631 320th Ave
City
Pemberton
State
MN
Zip Code
56078
Phone
(507) 726-6047
Email
projectgem94@gmail.com
Administered By
Administered by
Location

Griggs Midway Building, Suite 304,
540 Fairview Avenue North,
St. Paul, MN 55104

Phone
(651) 539-2650 or toll-free (800) 866-2787
Email the Agency
Location

105 22nd Avenue NE, Suite A
Waseca, MN 56093

Phone
Project Manager: Anna Pollock
507-833-8721
Email the Agency
Location

105 22nd Avenue NE, Suite A
Waseca, MN 56093

Phone
Project Manager: Anna Pollock
507-833-8721
Email the Agency