MN State Arts Board Artist Initiative Grants: Project grants for artists at all stages of their careers, to support artistic development, nurture artistic creativity, and recognize the contributions individual artists make to the creative environment of the state of Minnesota.
$10,000 to Brendan J. Stermer of Montevideo. Stermer will produce Interesting People Reading Poetry, a podcast that will feature regional artists and local celebrities reading and discussing their favorite poems. A live broadcast is planned for the final episode in the Twin Cities.
Kari CL Weber, Abstract Landscape
$10,000 to Kari CL Weber of New London. Weber will create a series of landscape paintings that call attention to Minnesota’s rural communities and agricultural spaces. The work will be exhibited at the Great River Gallery in Little Falls, Kaddatz Gallery in Fergus Falls, and at the Studio Hop that takes place in Willmar, Spicer, and New London.
Andrew Nordin.
$10,000 to Andrew J. Nordin of New London. Nordin will research and create paintings at the threshold of abstraction and representation, focusing on rural Minnesota architecture. The work will be exhibited at the Gallery Saint Germain in Saint Cloud.
$10,000 to Rory E. Wakemup of Morton. Wakemup will create alter egos with Native American youth that will combine his studio art practice with public performance and engagement. He is on a mission to wake people up to their inner ingenuousness and join him in what he calls “Funktavism,” fun activism.
