I received word this week that the Minnesota State Arts Board awarded me a FY2021 Creative Support for Individuals Grant. I am especially grateful for the support, especially given the challenges of how the pandemic has changed the way I am able to connect with Minnesota communities. This grant will help me adapt to this changing environment, by maintaining visibility and staying connected to audiences, participants, students, and communities—both now and in the future.
My goal with this grant is to take the next big step of my project, The Unchosen Ones. I plan to edit and share a series of documentary vignettes (approximately six 4-6 minute videos), highlighting life skills learned by youth raising animals for county fair contests in Minnesota. While re-photographing over 50 participants (socially distant, of course) from July - October 2020, I set up a video camera and asked them a few important questions related to lessons learned since 2016. This will be a new challenge for me, as I will be learning all sorts of new skills related to video production. The resulting short videos will be released monthly, promoted on social media and the project website, www.unchosenones.org.
I am also working on a new book project and I hope the completed videos will help support the book project and traveling exhibition with Mid-Atlantic Arts Alliance (booking details here >>).
Behind-the-scenes of The Unchosen Ones project (2020) in Anoka County with Kol and Annabel (top) and Kenzi and Hootie (bottom).