Virginia Townsend

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  Paul Summers

  Midwest Culture Bearers Award
  
  FY2024
  Minnesota

  Paul Summers is one of nine winners of the 2024 Midwest Culture Bearers Award. This award celebrates artisans and folk arts practitioners whose work is rooted in cultural preservation and...

• ArtReach St. Croix

  NEA Big Read
  
  FY2024
  Minnesota

  ArtReach will work with semi-rural & exurban libraries and other multi-disciplinary partners to present NEA Big Read in the St. Croix Valley. A month of programs will evolve around Kevin Wilson's unpredictable novel "Nothing to See Here" where the children are literally fiery. It challenges us to reconsider neurodiversity, self-control and caregiving. "What happens when we walk into the fire?"

• Northern Lakes Arts Association

  Shakespeare in American Communities: Schools
  
  FY2024
  Minnesota

  The Great Nordic Shakespeare Festival in Ely, MN is a month-long event featuring one Shakespearean play and one contrasting contemporary production. Through free youth access, tours to schools, and educational workshops, our goal is to make Shakespeare's work accessible to rural and low-income households of Northern Minnesota, nurturing a lasting love for the Bard's legacy in our community.

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  Project Optimist

  Creative Midwest Media Cohort
  
  FY2024
  Minnesota

  Project Optimist will launch its Biophilia program, a series of features—commissioned and community-sourced—that celebrate the beauty of the natural world. They plan to work with artists, naturalists, scientists, folk schools, and other thought leaders to explore our affinity with nature.