Fiscal Year: 2025

A visual art exhibition and performances featuring Indigenous artists of the Woodland Tribes, curated by Ho-Chunk Nation Tribal Member Robert Blackdeer at Pump House Regional Arts Center, La Crosse, WI.

Pure Winds, in collaboration with Detroit Harmony, will organize visits to David Ellis Academy, Detroit Edison Academy, and Detroit Prep Academy during May 2025 to introduce 5th grade students to instruments from the woodwind and brass families. After the visits, Detroit Harmony will host an evening instrument fitting event where students can actually try out instruments.

We are organizing a community concert series that brings together world-renowned artists to celebrate Jazz, Blues, Hip Hop, and Soul, featuring educational workshops and performances accessible to all, including underserved communities.

Red Cedar Chamber Music will bring an innovative quartet of violin, cello, double bass, and electric guitar to Johnson STEAM Academy. The lesson plans, enhanced with videos and slides, will focus on the history of jazz as a creation of black Americans and its continued impact on our musical culture. A free public concert will also be presented at the Cedar Rapids Public Library.

Que Blackout Media Arts Youth Theater distinguishes itself from traditional youth theaters by prioritizing students in backstage roles, such as broadcasting and marketing, while providing a platform for skill development in performance, technical theater, and media production, fostering creativity and individual growth.

The Premiere Premieres Program offers a year long collaborative process that brings locally-written new one-act plays to life on stage. Writers (age 14 and older) have the rare opportunity to identify, develop and share their ideas by attending free playwriting courses, and submitting a One-Act Play for production consideration. This allows open expressive personal and cultural storytelling.

Frozen River Film Festival will host a professional filmmaker to offer filmmaking residencies in underserved Winona area secondary schools to supplement arts programming, and to offer a public filmmaking workshop.

For Black History Month 2025, The GhostLight Theatre would like to bring our friend and professional actor, Ernie Hudson, back to his hometown of Benton Harbor, MI to perform in Lynn Nottage's "Clyde's." If Ernie is unavailable, we will hire another professional, African-American actor.

In a time when “good enough” seems to be the norm, Global Girls trumpets the belief that originality blended with creative discipline is our superpower. Community members in Chicago’s southside and Kalamazoo’s northside will explore and participate in the creative process in workshops and performances led by and featuring internationally renown pianist and composer Miguel De La Cerna.

The Great Lakes Chamber Orchestra is thrilled to bring internationally renowned violinist and educator Dmitri Berlinsky to our northern Michigan community. This collaboration will provide a world-class artistic experience for our audiences and inspiring opportunity for our musicians, while advancing GLCO's mission and contributing to a more thriving and culturally enriched community.