Press Releases Archives - Arts Midwest

Announcing the MN Arts Rise and Respond Fund

Maddie Miller — Thu, 05 Mar 2026 20:56:10 +0000

When communities are forced into survival mode, the arts shift from dreaming and building to protecting and processing. They are where people go when the ground feels unsteady and they need grounding and support.

In recent months, artists and arts organizations across the state have stepped forward amid ICE activity, mobilizing as first responders and cultural stewards for their neighbors.

Minnesota’s arts community has shown that it is an essential civic anchor, holding space for care, dialogue, and collective response when it is needed most.

Creative Care

Arts Midwest and our partners are honored to sustain, strengthen, and amplify the vital work of arts organizations in this moment through the MN Arts Rise and Respond Fund, a pooled fund.

100% of funds raised are going directly to 16 organizations that reflect the breadth and strength of Minnesota’s arts ecosystem, supporting their general operating expenses. If more funds are raised, we seek to strengthen and extend this rapid response effort.

The organizations supported through this fund include spaces for gathering and healing, artist-centered hubs, culture-bearing institutions, and rural and statewide networks.

They have provided emergency resources, supported youth and families, distributed mutual aid, documented the impact of brutality and violence, funded artists’ creative interventions, and opened spaces for connection, healing, and collective processing. They are responding in ways that are locally rooted, culturally specific, and urgently needed.

MN Arts Rise and Respond Recipients

These 16 organizations span Minneapolis, St. Paul, rural Minnesota, and statewide initiatives.

Ananya Dance Theatre (ADT) is a BIPOC ensemble company of TRAnsnational feminist dance artists who create and perform social justice work. They also provide space for the arts community to gather and movement opportunities as a mode of processing the impact of the ICE occupation. They are developing a project focused on love as public practice to spark the care and connectivity that lies on the other side of this traumatic moment. This experience will involve workshops engaging the community directly in the performance of the project.

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Art of the Rural resources artists and culture bearers to build the field, change narratives, and bridge divides. The organization supports cultural exchange programs to develop the skills, networks, and capacity of rural and urban leaders to bridge divides and make change. They are hosting multiple opportunities, including podcasts/articles/digital storytelling platforms, book groups to foster relationships with Native and Indigenous communities in rural MN, artist engagement projects along the Mississippi River, and more intimately scaled in-person regional gatherings for artists and culture bearers.

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Department of Public Transformation is a nonprofit organization that develops creative strategies for increased community connection, civic engagement, and equitable participation in rural places. They believe in the power of rural creativity in activating local solutions to address community challenges and opportunities. This organization was involved in creating a Community Safety Plan for rural Minnesota communities. They are deeply involved in supporting rural community creativity and bridge building.

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Artists As Witness: Forecast is offering 20 small grants of $1,000 each to Minnesota-based artists and culture bearers who are documenting what is happening to their communities, countering disinformation, and telling the lived, human stories and strength of Minnesota’s people. This documentation and storytelling are critical. What happens in Minnesota now will be lessons for others around the country and the world. Any additional funding that comes in will be used to expand and continue this grant.

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In Progress is a media arts organization for a broad network of artists committed to sharing stories, honoring diversity, and strengthening communities through the arts. They are supporting space for media production, development of care networks, strategizing support for families detained/impacted by ICE—they are home to many artists. They are currently organizing a care, resistance, and remembrance calendar of events, including youth, healing, food sharing, and occupation storytelling events.

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Indigenous Roots Cultural Center (IRoots) is a coalition of artists, culture bearers, business owners, cultural groups and organizations dedicated to building, supporting and cultivating opportunities for and with Brown, Black, Native and Indigenous Peoples through cultural arts and activism. They offer space for artists to work, for community support and organizing and wellness and healing. IRoots is actively supporting families through mutual aid and culturally appropriate responses who had and continue to have direct encounters with ICE. While Indigenous Roots has been involved in immigration justice work and mutual aid for over a decade, the work has shifted into appropriate response initiatives last summer (2025) through the formation of an action network. The MniSota Community Action Network (MniCAN) is dedicated to supporting mutual aid and appropriate rapid response efforts across the nine regional areas of the state of Minnesota.

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Mixed Blood, a BIPOC-led space, is gathering a people’s history of this moment. They are soliciting stories from the community, including interviews with someone from the community, poems or pictures or a piece of flash fiction that captures a feeling or a snapshot of what is happening right now in our communities. This project is emergent and will be adapted. As story tellers, Mixed Blood’s intention is to capture and preserve the stories of this moment, as people want them told. They expect to post these stories as part of a gallery of responses to create a tapestry of experiences of the now. They are guided by the creative commons licensing (freely sharing the work) that others can use to create, study, make, remember. The organization is also hosting Say Your Rights workshops that we often pair with the Know Your Rights workshops, giving people practice in saying their rights out loud. They have a large demand for these and will be doing a “train the trainer” session for other theaters in town so that they can help meet the need.

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The gallery, a Native American-led space, began serving as a community hub for observers and organizers to meet the challenges for Native American community that has been impacted by ICE. They are primarily focused on safety and security planning and space and materials for Native American artist and BIPOC artist interventions. Read Executive Director Angela Two Stars’ article to learn more about their work.

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This Black-led space is a home for BIPOC theater and additional activities for artists and the community responding to the challenges of this time. Penumbra is facilitating panel conversations, offering racial healing workshops, offering book groups to discuss banned books, and hosting drives for art supplies for families who are unable to leave their homes due to the occupation of DHS agents in the Twin Cities. Their focus is on healing, wellness, and learning opportunities through the arts.

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Pillsbury House, a Black founded and led organization, is providing creative space for artists and small arts initiatives in South Minneapolis, blocks from George Floyd Global Memorial and blocks from the Renee Good memorial site. Pillsbury House is providing space for a range of activities including workshops, organizing meetings, performances, printing-making workshops, healing circles, safety and security neighborhood planning meetings, legal support for families of people abducted, community radio, digital production, and mutual aid. Rapid response funding will support the staffing and material resources needed to do this work in an ongoing way.

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This Rapid Response Fund is designed to help us raise $1.5 Million to help 250 families with housing support, utilities, medicine, and health care needs. This fund can also help with emergency needs as they arise. People are struggling because they fear going to work. As we continue to navigate this tense and scary moment with care and love, we will show up for our community in these ways because that is what being a loving and caring neighbor looks like. As we always have in our nearly 150 years of being part of our communities, we are here to help ensure radical care, love, and support.

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Public Functionary is a BIPOC artist-led space that includes artist studios, exhibition, performance, and workshop space. To address urgent needs, Public Functionary is offering free weekly open house and community meals for artists and organizers. The events are designed to offer information, resources, opportunities to meet collaborators, and support for art projects that respond to the current moment. These gatherings help artists who may feel isolated and keep our community connected during uncertain economic times. With additional funding, we can maintain this much-needed stabilizing space for artists in Minneapolis.

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Red Eye is a BIPOC and Queer artist-centered organization where artists, staff, and community form a relational collective, stewarding shared resources, relationships, and creative potential. Red Eye has been supporting in person and virtual space and programs, working to accommodate the safety of the artists involved. They have supported Monarca trainings and other safety focused events and well as 24/7 access to space to accommodate artists’ varied schedules. Red Eye has partnered with Powwow Grounds, which has been collecting supplies for people on the frontlines—those patrolling or serving as legal observers.

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Soomaal House is a Minnesota-based Somali artists collective that works with students, emerging, and established artists find artistic community, mentorships, and opportunities. They are supporting Somali artists and working to ensure safety and access for the artists.

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Springboard for the Arts support artists with the tools to make a living and a life, and to build just and equitable communities full of meaning, joy, and connection.

Artists Respond: Safety in Neighbors

The Artists Respond: Safety in Neighbors program supports neighborhood-scale projects that help neighbors find sanctuary places in their communities where care, safety, and solidarity already live. Many immigrant, refugee, BIPOC, and working-class neighbors are living with increased fear, surveillance, and the threat of being questioned or displaced. At the same time, there are people, spaces, ideas, and networks that quietly hold things together. This program activates the local: neighbors, block clubs, apartment buildings, whisper networks, and local businesses, and asks artists to make it easier for neighbors to find resources, solidarity, and each other.

There are currently 137 pending projects, and 20 are up and running. Our plan is to continue this call, which is approving projects weekly through a statewide network of advisors, throughout the occupation. When our communities are able to start thinking about repair and recovery, this call will evolve to focus on artist-led healing and repair projects, still focused on small, neighborhood and community-specific actions.

Creative Business Recovery Fund

While small-business relief efforts are emerging, Springboard for the Arts recognizes from experience that many of these initiatives may not be relevant or accessible to artist micro-businesses (small, home-based, and/or solo businesses). These small businesses are an essential part of our culture and economy. Many of these businesses have had to pause operations or divert resources to advocate for their communities’ needs.

The Creative Business Recovery Fund was created to respond to ongoing economic instability affecting artist micro-businesses, particularly those with limited access to capital and relief infrastructure. This fund will support 50 Minnesota micro-businesses and artists by providing $2,000 to help recover from months of lost sales and to reinvest in their creative businesses in preparation for the upcoming Spring/Summer season.

Artist Emergency Relief Fund Network

Artist Emergency Relief Fund Network is a statewide direct emergency relief for artists across MN. This fund is led by Springboard for the Arts and Minnesota’s Regional Arts Councils. Artist Emergency Relief Fund Network: If you want to support the Artist Emergency Relief Funds: please include a dedication to ‘Artist Emergency Relief Fund’ with your donation.

With technical assistance from Springboard, the Artists Emergency Relief Fund Network is a new locally rooted emergency relief fund that is up and running. The programs are having a lot of success reaching local artists across the state. Three of the programs have immediate need for additional emergency relief in their regions, including MRAC which is only able to fund about 30% of applicants currently. Our goal is to fund this network at capacity for 3 years for the 11 RAC-led programs, adding at least 1 additional partner which will establish and stabilize the system and provide a ready network to deliver emergency relief dollars during locally specific crises.

Funders interested in supporting individual artist relief and response efforts should contact Springboard for the Arts: laura@springboardforthearts.org

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Theater Mu, an Asian American theater, creates community, gives artists a place to be seen and accepted, shows audiences that Asian voices and experiences matter. As ICE continues to occupy MN, Southeast Asians (Laotian, Hmong, Cambodian, Vietnamese, Karen, Filipino) and Asian transnational adoptees are two of the many Asian sub-communities are being targeted, forcing thousands into a fear to leave their homes. Mu is developing a podcast series to provide a safe forum that is accessible, intimate, and immediate, featuring grassroots activists, small business owners, and artist/activists on both a local and national level. They will also join forces with TaikoArts Midwest to co-produce a project that revisits the experience of Japanese Americans forced into internment camps during WWII. This immersive event speaks directly to the moment of occupation and civil rights violations across our country.

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Photo Credit: Greggory_Addison

Swapnō Jhnāp (Dream Jumping), Ananya Dance Theatre’s 20th-anniversary production, faces ongoing chaos and escalating destruction by bringing connectivity and liberation out of the dream world and into reality.

A performance of Theater Mu’s MAYBE YOU COULD LOVE ME. Saint Paul’s Theater Mu is the second largest Asian American theater organization in the country.

Photo Credit: Forecast Public Art

Forecast Public Art artist James Everest leads a Sound Garden walk. Based in Saint Paul, MN and working both locally and nationally, Forecast connects artists with cities, institutions and communities to courageously tackle the vital issues of our time.

A gallery show at Soomaal House Library & Archives Center. This Minneapolis organization supports Somali artists and communities in Minnesota and beyond.

About the MN Arts Rise and Respond Fund

MN Arts Rise and Respond Fund is a time-sensitive pooled fund created by Arts Midwest and the Jerome Foundation in partnership with other philanthropic partners and donors.

This fund exists alongside the Artist Emergency Relief Fund Network, led by Springboard for the Arts and Minnesota’s Regional Arts Councils, which provides direct emergency support to individual artists across the state. Together, these efforts reflect a coordinated, community-led response—supporting both institutions and individuals during an ongoing crisis.

We are grateful to share that 10 partners have joined MN Arts Rise and Respond Fund, and together, have raised more than $330,000. All funds raised are going directly to Minnesota arts organizations on the ground.

MN Arts Rise and Respond Fund Partners

Support for MN Arts Rise and Respond is provided by the Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation Rapid Response Fund. Support is also provided by an anonymous donor.

An Ongoing Need

The MN Arts Rise and Respond Fund remains open, as the needs that gave rise to this fund are ongoing. Frontline efforts have come at real cost: increased staffing and security needs, emergency planning, unexpected demands on space and resources, disrupted programming, and lost revenue.

Any additional contributions will further strengthen and extend this rapid response effort, supporting arts organizations doing the essential work of community healing, wellness, and repair.

We invite funders to continue standing with Minnesota and Minnesota’s arts community.

Want to Contribute?

If you’re interested in making a gift to support the MN Arts Rise and Respond Fund, please email Arts Midwest, and we’ll follow up with more details.

The post Announcing the MN Arts Rise and Respond Fund appeared first on Arts Midwest.

Meet Lynne and Joshua, Arts Midwest’s Newest Board Members

Alana — Wed, 04 Feb 2026 02:30:28 +0000

Arts Midwest is excited to welcome two new arts leaders to our Board of Directors: Lynne Chambers, CEO and Founder of Legacy Training, Inc., and Joshua Davis-Ruperto, Executive Director of the Illinois Arts Council Agency.

We spoke with Lynne and Joshua to hear what’s inspiring their work right now, their hopes for the Midwest, and learn why Midwestern creativity matters to them.

Lynne, tell us a little bit about yourself.

Hello! I’m Lynne Chambers, and I am the CEO and Founder) of Legacy Training, Inc. in Marion, Illinois.

My work as an attorney and community advocate is focused on expanding access to arts, culture, and civic engagement — and I’m also the one you’ll find dancing in the aisles or sitting in front of a canvas, in deep dialogue. I love all things art and all things living, unabashedly and unapologetically.

My career has centered on nonprofit leadership, community-centered program development, and cross-sector collaboration, with a particular focus on strengthening rural communities through the arts and humanities.

I was born in Chicago and raised in southern Illinois by a family who believed that education is the antidote for poverty — and who believed in me. Their legacy, and the power of the arts to build connection and community, guides everything I do.

Joshua, tell us a little bit about yourself.

Hey everyone! My name is Joshua Davis-Ruperto, and I have served as Executive Director of the Illinois Arts Council since 2017, following previous roles as the agency’s Deputy Director and Program Manager.

Prior to this work, I taught undergraduate courses at Brandeis University, worked in board development at Steppenwolf Theatre, and contributed to urban planning projects for the architecture firm SOM.

At the National Endowment for the Arts, I helped run the Education Leaders Institute, a national initiative aimed at strengthening arts education through collaboration with legislators and policy leaders.

I’ve also spent many years as a theater artist, performing with companies such as the Berkshire Theatre Festival, Goodman Theatre, and Chicago’s Second City.

I have an over-zealous doodle puppy named Violet and an unhealthy love for terrible reality television.

“I love all things art and all things living, unabashedly and unapologetically.”

Lynne Chambers, Legacy Training, Inc.

What excites you most about joining the Arts Midwest board?

Lynne: What excites me most about joining the Arts Midwest Board is the chance to help expand access to the arts across the Midwest—especially in rural and under-resourced communities. I am looking forward to developing new relationships and understanding the creative economy of the region.

Joshua: I’m excited about the opportunity to collaborate with regional leaders who are deeply committed to strengthening the Midwest through policy and programming. With our cultural traditions, community-centered values, and geographical diversity, the Midwest is a wonderful representation of the nation. We’re uniquely positioned in this moment to set an example for what true partnership and arts impact can look like for the future.

What are a few examples of Midwestern creativity that you want people to know about?

Joshua: Firebird Community Arts runs a program called Project FIRE, a glassblowing and trauma recovery program for youth injured by gun violence in Chicago. They also run an employment and mentoring program that provides trauma-informed support groups, case management, and medical treatment. The program is in partnership with Healing Hurt People-Chicago, a hospital-based violence intervention program that provides case management support to participants.

The Macoupin Art Collective in Staunton, Illinois, has the ARTBUS. It’s filled to the brim with supplies for pottery, sewing, stained glass, drawings, paintings, felting, jewelry, and more. With the ArtBus, they take classes to severely underserved communities, offering workshops and activities for children and adults who might not have had the chance to let their creativity shine.

Lynne: In Chicago, murals and public art in areas like Pilsen, Bronzeville, and Little Village have transformed whole neighborhoods into galleries. In Central Illinois, you find college-based creativity hubs that include student performances, galleries, and community partnerships. And in Southernmost Illinois, Cairo, you find historic storytelling and preservation creativity — reclaiming historic buildings, spotlighting Black history, and documenting elders’ memories.

What’s inspiring you lately?

Lynne: Lately, I’ve been inspired by the simple but powerful feeling of watching my work take shape in real time. For so long, the vision has lived in my mind and heart — ideas, conversations, and plans that I knew mattered, even when they weren’t fully formed yet. But now, I’m starting to see those pieces come together. Seeing progress reminds me that consistent effort matters, that relationships matter, and that change is often slow—until one day it isn’t.

Joshua: Honestly, I’m inspired watching creativity do what it always does: adapt, connect people, and remind us we’re not alone even when the world feels a bit heavy. I see small victories happening in all of Illinois’ counties. Progress doesn’t always have to be loud to be meaningful.

“I’m inspired watching creativity do what it always does: adapt, connect people, and remind us we’re not alone even when the world feels a bit heavy.”

Joshua Davis-Ruperto, Illinois Arts Council Agency

Photo Credit: Zeltzin Vazquez / Courtesy of National Museum of Mexican Art

Sonido festivals take place in the Lower West Side of the Pilsen neighborhood in Chicago, Illinois. It is an area known for its large Latino community and vibrant Hispanic culture.

The post Meet Lynne and Joshua, Arts Midwest’s Newest Board Members appeared first on Arts Midwest.

15 Midwestern Walking Together Grantees Announced

Alana — Tue, 13 Jan 2026 16:56:00 +0000

Arts Midwest and the other US Regional Arts Organizations (USRAO’s) today announced the grant recipients of Walking Together, a program administered by Mid Atlantic Arts.

A total of $3.34 million has been awarded to 96 grantees, including 15 grantees from the Midwest. Organizations will each receive a $50,000 grant. Individuals will each receive $15,000.

This pilot program awards significant nonmatching grants to traditional artists, practitioners, nonprofits, local and Tribal governments, and community organizations and knowledge keepers that demonstrate a deep commitment to sustaining folklife rooted in community.

15

Midwestern organizations and individuals have recieved Walking Together grants
$540k

Total amount of Walking Together grants made in the Midwest

“Supporting folklife means directly supporting the intrinsic role art plays in everyday life.”

Juan Souki, Executive Director of Mid Atlantic Arts

Each region also assembled committees of consultants composed of traditional artists, folklorists, scholars, arts professionals, and advocates as “Working Circles.”

These Working Circle members were involved in every stage of the program, including the development of grant guidelines, outreach to potential applicants, and application review and feedback processes as part of a participatory grantmaking model.

About the U.S. Regional Arts Organizations

The United States Regional Arts Organizations (USRAOs)—Arts Midwest, Creative West (formerly WESTAF), Mid-America Arts Alliance, Mid Atlantic Arts, New England Foundation for the Arts, and South Arts—are a collective of six nonprofit arts service organizations committed to strengthening America’s infrastructure by increasing access to creativity for all Americans.

The USRAOs partner with the National Endowment for the Arts, state arts agencies, individuals, and other public and private funders to develop and deliver programs, services, and products that advance arts and creativity.

Together, the USRAOs work to activate and operate national arts initiatives, encourage, and support collaboration across regions, states, and communities, and maximize the coordination of public and private resources invested in arts programs.

In 2024, they invested over $33.6 million across the United States and Jurisdictions, through nearly 3,000 grants that reached more than 1,300 communities.

Learn more at usregionalarts.org.

The post 15 Midwestern Walking Together Grantees Announced appeared first on Arts Midwest.

87 New GIG Fund Grants Power Creativity and Wellness Across the Midwest

Briteweb Ltd — Wed, 07 Jan 2026 20:21:35 +0000

Arts Midwest has awarded more than $780,000 to 87 nonprofit organizations across the Midwest, supporting art projects that invite people into shared creative experiences and nurture well-being.

This year’s awards were made across two funding tracks, each reflecting a different—but deeply connected—approach to how art can support thriving communities:

GIG Fund: For organizations with budgets under $2 million annually whose projects reach underserved audiences. These grants fund creative, engaging public activities, ensuring that audiences have access to high quality arts activities.
GIG Fund: Arts and Wellness For organizations of any budget size whose projects have an arts and wellness focus. These grants fund high quality arts activities such as efforts that engage veterans in the arts, creative aging programs, artists working in schools, and more.

Grants of up to $15,000 were awarded to organizations across Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, Wisconsin, and the Native Nations that share this geography.

Funded projects will take place between December 2025 and June 2026.

Funded Projects Include

In Chicago, IL, Chicago Composers Orchestra is partnering with youth music education organization MUSIC Inc. to invite students in grades 3–8 into the world of composition with its Drawn Together project.

Guided by professional musicians, students will create their own graphic scores—using drawings, symbols, and color to express pitch, tempo and dynamics—which will be performed at the end of the workshop and later premiered for a public audience at CCO’s spring concert, a performance dedicated solely to world premieres.

At Wormfarm Institute in Reedsburg, WI, Hay Rake Ballet transforms everyday farm work into performance. Directed by Berlin-based choreographer and Wormfarm resident artist Sarah Butler, this site-responsive event will feature local farmers driving tractors and equipment in carefully choreographed patterns during the hay harvest.

Leading up to the fall 2026 performance, rural students and residents will take part in workshops, pasture walks, and open rehearsals, all honoring the craft, beauty, and significance of family-scale farming.

In Milwaukee, WI, Danceworks is expanding its Dance for Multiple Sclerosis program to provide accessible arts experience for people living with MS.

Developed in collaboration with medical researchers, the program will offer various workshops including improvisational dance, singing and visual art-making to address challenges like mobility, fatigue, and emotional stress while cultivating confidence, creativity, and joy. The workshops are open to people living with MS as well as their family and caregivers.

The Bay Mills Indian Community is hosting an artist-led initiative that brings Indigenous youth and mentors together for regalia-making workshops rooted in Anishinaabe culture.

Led by Indigenous artists and culture bearers, the program weaves together traditional and contemporary techniques, storytelling, and intergenerational learning as pathways to healing and belonging. The project culminates in a community dance exhibition at the Bay Mills annual powwow, celebrating cultural resilience, creativity, and collective wellness.

In Central Illinois, Freedom Sings USA uses songwriting as a tool for healing and connection among veterans and their families. Through a two-day immersive retreat, veterans are paired with professional songwriters to transform lived experiences into original songs.

The program culminates in a community concert and is followed by optional songwriting classes and production of an album.

87

GIG Fund Grantees received awards this cycle
62%

Have never been funded by Arts Midwest in the past
31%

Are organizations from rural areas

“Research shows that art and creativity can strengthen community wellness. It helps people build connections, feel a sense of belonging, and access resilience. We are honored to support these grantees who are using creativity to nurture well-being across the Midwest.”

TORRIE ALLEN, PRESIDENT AND CEO AT ARTS MIDWEST

GIG Fund 2025-26 Grantees

Organization	City	State	Award Amount
artsBASICS	Bettendorf	IA	$5,000
Dubuque Museum of Art	Dubuque	IA	$15,000
Great Sounds Promotions	Davenport	IA	$5,000
Standing Bear Council, Inc.	Keokuk	IA	$7,500
Wieting Theatre	Toledo	IA	$3,000
Uplifting Puppet Company	Oskaloosa	IA	$5,000
About Face Theatre	Chicago	IL	$5,000
American Indian Center	Chicago	IL	$9,500
Chicago Composers Orchestra	Chicago	IL	$5,000
DuPage Symphony Orchestra	Naperville	IL	$7,000
FilAm Music Foundation	Evanston	IL	$10,420
Fonema Consort	Chicago	IL	$15,000
Heritage Museum of Asian Art	Chicago	IL	$12,000
Legacy Theater Foundation	Carthage	IL	$5,400
Monroe County Arts Alliance	Waterloo	IL	$1,500
NCI ARTworks	La Salle	IL	$860
Poco a Poco	Streator	IL	$4,410
Festival 56	Princeton	IL	$2,500
Quincy Art Center	Quincy	IL	$4,000
The Still Searching Project	Chicago	IL	$15,000
CANDLES Holocaust Museum and Education Center	Terre Haute	IN	$15,000
Bloomington Early Music	Bloomington	IN	$5,000
Pearl Arts	Fort Wayne	IN	$7,000
Propel New Works	Zionsville	IN	$7,500
Terre Haute Symphony Orchestra	Terre Haute	IN	$12,500
Equity in the Arts Program	South Bend	IN	$5,000
Elberta Heritage Center	Frankfort	MI	$5,500
Good Hart Artist Residency	Harbor Spgs	MI	$15,000
Lake Effect Community Arts Center	Manistique	MI	$2,000
Lowell Arts	Lowell	MI	$4,000
Marupo ACTS	Ann Arbor	MI	$15,000
Michigan Arts Access	Detroit	MI	$8,250
Pine Mountain Music Festival	Hancock	MI	$8,000
Play House Laboratories	Detroit	MI	$4,000
Pure Winds	Lansing	MI	$9,070
Tapology	Mount Morris	MI	$15,000
RADFest by Wellspring	Kalamazoo	MI	$15,000
Indigenous Roots	Saint Paul	MN	$15,000
Lakes Area Music Festival	Brainerd	MN	$11,400
Project 412	Detroit Lakes	MN	$15,000
White Earth Land Recovery Project	Callaway	MN	$10,000
Frost Fire Summer Theatre	Walhalla	ND	$15,000
Rendezvous Region Foundation	Cavalier	ND	$5,000
Federal Valley Resource Center	Stewart	OH	$14,750
The Ghostlight Stage Company	Cincinnati	OH	$10,000
Kennedy Heights Arts Center	Cincinnati	OH	$7,000
Les Délices	Cleveland	OH	$7,040
Northeast Ohio Musical Heritage Association	Cleveland	OH	$2,500
OhioDance	Columbus	OH	$10,000
ORMACO	Homerville	OH	$4,800
Summit Choral Society	Akron	OH	$15,000
River City Blues Festival hosted by the Blues, Jazz, and Folk Music Society	Marietta	OH	$15,000
Wyoming Fine Arts Center	Wyoming	OH	$5,000
Red Cloud \| Mahpiya Luta	Pine Ridge	SD	$15,000
The Matthews Opera House and Arts Center	Spearfish	SD	$4,000
Black Arts MKE, Inc.	Milwaukee	WI	$15,000
Hmong Autism Neurodiverse Disability Support	De Pere	WI	$5,000
Prairie Music & Arts, Inc.	Sun Prairie	WI	$6,500
Pump House Regional Arts Center	La Crosse	WI	$8,400
River Arts, Inc.	Prairie Du Sac	WI	$5,000
Wormfarm Institute	Reedsburg	WI	$12,000

GIG Fund: Arts and Wellness 2025-26 Grantees

Organization	City	State	Award Amount
Hearst Center for the Arts	Cedar Falls	IA	$4,130
Tanager	Cedar Rapids	IA	$15,000
KOI Institute	Chicago	IL	$15,000
Freedom Sings USA – Central Illinois Chapter	Heyworth	IL	$3,500
Haitian American Museum of Chicago (HAMOC)	Chicago	IL	$15,000
Hear My Cry, Stageplay	Chicago	IL	$15,000
Fort Wayne Dance Collective	Fort Wayne	IN	$15,000
Kurt Vonnegut Museum and Library (KVML)	Indianapolis	IN	$15,000
Bay Mills Indian Community	Brimley	MI	$15,000
Birmingham Bloomfield Art Center, Inc.	Birmingham	MI	$5,000
Creative 360	Midland	MI	$9,730
Eastern Michigan University	Ypsilanti	MI	$5,170
Pelvic Sanctuary	Detroit	MI	$10,000
Vista Center	Flint	MI	$5,000
WMCAT	Grand Rapids	MI	$2,250
FamilyMeans	Stillwater	MN	$7,600
Lake Street Council	Minneapolis	MN	$15,000
Kori Art	Grand Forks	ND	$10,000
The Well	Cincinnati	OH	$10,000
CAC	Cincinnati	OH	$10,000
Forever Amber Acres	Medina	OH	$4,000
The Actor’s Village	Cleveland	OH	$15,000
Cheyenne River Youth Project	Eagle Butte	SD	$7,000
First Peoples Fund	Rapid City	SD	$8,250
Danceworks, Inc.	Milwaukee	WI	$5,000
Fox Valley Memory Project	Menasha	WI	$15,000

Explore all Arts Midwest Grantees

Learn more about the organizations funded by Arts Midwest in our grant and award database.

See All Grantees

Want to learn more about the GIG Fund?

Visit the program page or sign up for our newsletter for updates on all Arts Midwest grant opportunities.

The post 87 New GIG Fund Grants Power Creativity and Wellness Across the Midwest appeared first on Arts Midwest.

A Transformational Investment in Midwestern Creativity

Alana — Tue, 09 Dec 2025 19:56:28 +0000

Today marks a historic moment for Arts Midwest.

We are honored and humbled to share that philanthropist MacKenzie Scott has made a transformational $20 million unrestricted donation to support our work. This gift, which builds on her 2021 support of Arts Midwest, is the largest in the organization’s history.

This extraordinary investment comes at a pivotal time for the Midwest. Every day, we see the impact that creative Midwesterners make across the region, using art to build community, belonging, and opportunity.

And yet, the Midwest’s creative sector faces real pressures and continued uncertainty. This gift creates room to dream boldly about how we can support the people, organizations, and ideas shaping our future.

We’re excited to explore how this gift can have the greatest impact and strengthen Midwestern creativity in meaningful and enduring ways. At this time, we are not accepting proposals about the use of these funds, but we’ll share more as our work progresses.

To stay connected and receive updates on our work — including future news about this gift — we invite you to sign up for our newsletter.

With gratitude,

Torrie Allen
President & CEO, Arts Midwest

Get to Know Arts Midwest

About Us

One of six nonprofit United States Regional Arts Organizations, Arts Midwest’s history spans more than 40 years.

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Our Impact

Arts Midwest supports artists and community organizations across the Midwest and beyond through grants and programs.

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John Davis Receives 2025 Peter Capell Award for Midwestern Creativity & Entrepreneurship

Alana — Tue, 02 Dec 2025 15:10:05 +0000

We’re thrilled to announce John Davis of Warroad, Minnesota as the 2025 recipient of the Peter Capell Award for Midwestern Creativity & Entrepreneurship.

For more than 35 years, Davis has been one of rural America’s most visionary arts leaders. His work has centered around weaving arts into the fabric of small communities, connecting economic impact with innovation.

Photo Credit: Marie Bergman

John Davis, recipient of the 2025 Peter Capell Award for Midwestern Creativity & Entrepreneurship.

Davis began his career founding the New York Mills Regional Cultural Center, where he launched programs like the Great American Think-Off, a national philosophy competition that continues to draw participants from across the country.

During his time as Executive Director of Lanesboro Arts, he spent nearly two decades reimagining the entire town as an Arts Campus. Under his guidance, Lanesboro became the first small town in the nation to adopt a citywide arts campus proclamation, was named one of the top 12 Small Town Artplaces in America, and saw more than $3.3 million in investment in its downtown and creative infrastructure.

Most recently, as the first Executive & Artistic Director of Warroad RiverPlace in northern Minnesota, Davis has shepherded the development and activation of a 20,000 sq. ft. arts, culture, and event center—a $20 million project with a mission of bringing the community together through innovative access to arts and culture.

Across every chapter of his career, Davis has championed rural creativity, cross-sector collaboration, and the belief that small towns deserve big artistic ideas. In celebration of his efforts, he has received a $2,500 unrestricted cash award from Arts Midwest.

About the Peter Capell Award

Established in 2022 to honor the legacy of longtime Arts Midwest Board member and former Board Chair, the Peter Capell Award for Midwestern Creativity & Entrepreneurship recognizes individuals whose work exemplifies entrepreneurial thinking, creative accomplishments, and a commitment to community.

This year’s award focused on individuals based in Minnesota. Details about next year’s award will be available in 2026.

“John’s work using the arts and creativity as an economic engine in small towns and demonstrating the positive impact of these initiatives in our rural communities is a true example of the values, initiatives and results this award is meant to support.”

Peter Capell, longtime Arts Midwest Board member and former Board Chair

Q&A: John Davis on Cultivating Rural Creativity

Photo Credit: Betsy Roder

The New York Mills Arts Retreat and Regional Cultural Center—founded by John Davis—is located in the west-central Minnesota town of New York Mills (population 1,294).

You’ve spent your career showing how rural communities can be national leaders in creativity. What led you down this path?

After graduating from the Minneapolis College of Art and Design, I knew I wanted to live in rural America. I bought an abandoned farm outside New York Mills, Minnesota.

I really didn’t have a plan other than wanting to be involved in the arts. I painted barns to make money and listened to farmers, community members, senior citizens about their hopes and dreams for the future.

As it turns out, there was a yearning for the arts, just no access in a small rural community. I wanted to change that narrative.

So that’s what led me down this path. Listening.

Your motto is “the audience is everyone.” How has that shaped your leadership?

I came to my philosophy of “the audience is everyone” when I started working in New York Mills to renovate the first brick building in town into a cultural center and start an artist residency program. It seemed obvious that in a town of about 1,000 people, it was critical to reach everyone.

That’s when a friend gave me a toy plastic tractor and I had my ah-ha moment. The tractor would be the logo for the organization. The mission: Cultivate the arts.

Cultivation takes time. The day-to-day challenge was simply how to make art, culture and creativity relevant in everyday people’s lives. Do that with your programming, and you have your buy in and your audience.

Photo Credit: Courtesy Lanesboro Arts

Community members gather inside Lanesboro Arts during a gallery event.

You’ve partnered with beef councils, veterans groups, senior centers, civic government and more. How do you approach bringing such different groups into the arts?

Sometimes it’s as straightforward as having a cup of coffee and starting a dialogue. It’s really not even about having an “arts conversation.” It’s more important to listen and learn how to make arts, culture and creativity relevant in people’s lives.

This can mean having conversations about the arts honoring veterans, or how the arts can help solve civic challenges. Or, showing the value of the arts as a tool for economic development, rural narrative uplift and positive publicity. Or, engaging and cultivating the creativity of young people.

It’s all about inviting people to share ideas. Nontraditional partnerships expand your audience!

Photo Credit: Yvonne Meyer

A poetry sign from the Lanesboro Arts Poetry Series — part of the town’s pioneering Arts Campus initiative shaped by Davis’s vision.

Transforming a town into an arts campus or opening a $20 million cultural center takes long-term vision. What helps you stay focused?

For me it’s really not about focus, it’s about being patient and planting seeds of ideas.

It took 7 years for the Lanesboro Arts Campus vision to become a shared vision, and 15 years from concept to City Council proclamation declaring the entire community an Arts Campus.

In Warroad, it took guided hard hat tours of a 20,000 sq ft. facility under construction with civic organizations, teachers, school children, farmers and business owners to ask for their ideas for programming in order to get buy-in and to help create that shared vision.

Sometimes it just takes time to cultivate unique ideas that can spark community engagement and narrative shift. The Poetry Parking Lot in Lanesboro is one example. We replaced ordinary parking signage with regional poetry, solving a civic challenge and connecting visitor parking to downtown businesses.

What’s inspiring you lately?

In September of 2025 Warroad RiverPlace culminated a one-year rural/urban partnership with Mixed Blood Theater who created a play by, for, with and about the people and cultures of Warroad. We had three sold out performances with dialog in Spanish and English.

In addition, we just hosted a “Festival of Cultures” with 12 different cultures represented through food, music, storyboards and dance. Cultures represented included Laos, the Philippines, Cuba, Mexico, Norway, South Africa, Venezuela, Native America, Haiti, Canada, Puerto Rico and Nicaragua.

We had no idea if this event would work, however we had 50 people waiting in line for our doors to open, and over 450 attendees for the 3-hour event. (Warroad’s population is 1,983 for context.)

Two Laotian elders who were not planning on performing spontaneously took the stage to perform traditional Laotian music and dance. Multiple generations posed for selfies in front of their food and cultural booths. The definition of inspiring!

The post John Davis Receives 2025 Peter Capell Award for Midwestern Creativity & Entrepreneurship appeared first on Arts Midwest.

Meet the Winners of the 2025 Midwest Culture Bearers Award

Alana — Mon, 06 Oct 2025 14:38:11 +0000

Arts Midwest is thrilled to announce the winners of the 2025 Midwest Culture Bearers Award.

This annual award celebrates Midwestern folk artists and cultural practitioners who keep traditions alive through craft, poetry, dance, visual arts, and more. This year, more than 365 culture bearers shared their work and stories with us.

Today, we recognize nine extraordinary practitioners who are preserving traditions and passing them on to the next generation.

John Medwedeff (Murphysboro, Illinois)
Calvin Small (Gary, Indiana)
Putu Tangkas Adi Hiranmayena (Grinnell, Iowa)
Jozefa Rogocki (Lansing, Michigan)
Judith Kjenstad (Minneapolis, Minnesota)
Roxanne C. Henry Laducer (Rolette, North Dakota)
Ryan K. Johnson (Columbus, Ohio)
Ken Cook (Martin, South Dakota)
Gabriela Jiménez Marván (Viroqua, Wisconsin)

John Medwedeff (Illinois)

“I have been a full-time studio artist creating monumental sculptures and site-specific architectural ironwork, furniture, and small objects since 1988. My work is represented in numerous public, private, and corporate collections, including the Illinois State Museum, SAS Inc., The Metal Museum, John Deere, and the Minneapolis Institute of Art.

At the age of 9, I learned metal casting techniques in my father’s dental office and started taking art classes with Nashville artist Chris Tibbott, who encouraged me to create sculptures out of wire, wood, and ceramics. At 14, I acquired my first anvil. At 19, I took a blacksmithing course from James Wallace, the founding director of the Metal Museum in Memphis, and started a three-year blacksmithing apprenticeship with him the next year. I earned BFA and MFA degrees in metalsmithing from Southern Illinois University Carbondale.

Since establishing my studio, in conjunction with my commission work, I have also published articles in trade journals, taught visiting artist workshops, and presented at conferences, craft schools, art schools, and universities while nurturing and training studio assistants in my shop.

As a member of the Metal Museum Board of Trustees and a full-time studio artist and educator, I am engaged in the development of deeper relationships between the public, art, and artists.”

Photo Credit: Courtesy of John Medwedeff

Sculptor John Medwedeff’s forged steel grand staircase railing blends traditional design elements, sculptural forms, and period correct fabrication details in this renovated late 19th Century home.

Calvin Small (Indiana)

“I am a lifelong artistic, freestyle, and JB skater. This style of skating mirrors the fancy onstage footwork of James Brown (JB), whose famous song ‘Say it Loud: I’m Black and I’m Proud’ still means so much to Black communities.

Although I began roller skating in Gary, Indiana in 1967, Black skaters were excluded from roller rinks until 1969. With the opening of Black-owned Twin City Roller Rink in East Chicago, Indiana, my community was able to congregate and build new traditions.

As a competitive roller-skating athlete, I placed first in the Coca-Cola Skate Contest from 1976 to 1979 and won the 1979 Nationwide Skate Contest with the Gary Steel City Steppers.

I was also one of the co-originators of JB roller skating in 1971. JB skating has evolved to include new steps, skaters of diverse backgrounds, and a growing global community.

Although we have earned multiple honors, including a Midwest Emmy Awards nomination, my skate crew Glide8orz most strongly values connecting with youth. We perform for Boy and Girl Scout troops, community organizations, and K-12 school groups all over Chicagoland. As one of JB’s few living culture bearers, I maintain communal connections by teaching, specifically as the Dean of Skate University at The Rink in Chicago’s predominantly Black Chatham neighborhood. I have taught over 10,000 students of all ages, abilities, and backgrounds.”

Photo Credit: Monika Wnuk/AARP Illinois

Calvin Small teaches JB skating steps at The Rink in Chicago.

Putu Tangkas Adi Hiranmayena (Iowa)

“I am an Indonesian artist-scholar serving as Assistant Professor of Music (Performance and Creativity) at Grinnell College, where I where I direct the Balinese Sound Ensemble and teach courses on Heavy Metal Music, Sonic Installations, Performance Art, and Noise and Activism. I am also a founding member of the Balinese Experimental duo ghOstMiSt, with dancer-anthropologist Dewa Ayu Eka Putri.

My academic, performance, and compositional research focuses on the intersections of Cosmology, Indigeneity, Environmental Activism, and Performativity in Balinese Gamelan, Heavy Metal, and Noise. I take post-colonial, performance studies, and creative ethnographic approaches to looking at the state of cultural sound and glocal community.

As a creative ethnographer, I have written articles, coupled with artistic compositions, that interrogate the state of performance in South-East Asian performing arts. Most notably, my articles “If a Dragon Dies in the Forest, Do Humans Hear a Sound?” (2022); “Fix Your Face”: Performing Attitudes Between Mathcore and Beleganjur” (2022); and “ghOstMiSt’s Trails of Indigeneity” (2021) discuss myriad perspectives on traditional, popular, and experimental Balinese performance idioms. I continue to perform and compose internationally, most recently as a member of the CHAN percussion ensemble with Susie Ibarra.”

Photo Credit: Ivan Indrautama

Putu Tangkas Adi Hiranmayena and collaborator, Dewa Ayu Eka Putri, give a banten (Balinese offering) before a performance

Jozefa Rogocki (Michigan)

“I was born in the UK to a Polish father and an English mother. As a child I loved the beautiful decorated eggs on the Easter cards we received from Poland. When I came to the US in 1999, I found a strong Polish community in Hamtramck, Detroit and began to participate in a traditional Polish art that represented community and belonging for me: Pysanky, or decorated eggs, a Slavic folk tradition that is thousands of years old.

I have practiced this art for 25 years and am honored to be recognized as an expert by my local Polish community. I learned the more advanced techniques from the Master Pysankarka, Helen Badulak, and have acquired extensive knowledge about the designs specific to various regions in Poland and Ukraine.

I participate in the Polish Dozynki Festival in Grand Rapids with the Polish Heritage Society, provide education workshops for the Polish Federated Home in Lansing, and offer workshops at libraries in the Greater Lansing Area as well as demonstrations anywhere from art galleries to gardening clubs to local schools. I have also been invited to present my work at the International Festival of Holland, Michigan. I am passionate about the art of Pysanky and excited to continue reflecting contemporary relevance within this Eastern European folk art.”

Photo Credit: Jozefa Rogocki

One of Jozefa Rogocki’s intricately decorated pysanka eggs, part of a centuries-old Slavic tradition.

Judith Kjenstad (Minnesota)

“I started painting by learning rosemaling, one of the trademarks of Norwegian folk art, earning a gold medal in rosemaling in 1981 from Vesterheim, the Norwegian American Museum.

Since then I have expanded my repertoire to include Swedish, German and Dutch decorative paintings as well as faux finishing.

I have produced large public and private commissions around the Midwest including the Hotel Pattee in Perry, Iowa. In Minneapolis I painted in the Black Forest Inn, Ingebretsen’s and many stints at the old Dayton’s Auditorium shows in Minneapolis as well as the Norway Pavilion at Epcot Cetner in Orlando, Florida.

I earned my bachelor of science degree in design from the University of Minnesota in 1990.”

Photo Credit: Courtesy of Judith Kjenstad

A hand-painted bowl with rosemaling by decorative painter Judith Kjenstad.

Roxanne C. Henry Laducer (North Dakota)

“I made my first Dreamcatcher in 2000. A cousin from Minnesota taught me and my children, and we made them as a family that summer. About ten years ago, I picked up the craft again.

I learned that the Dreamcatcher originated with my people, the Ojibwe, as a symbol of protection; I am part of the Bear Clan of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa.

The Dreamcatcher was originally made with Willow, a tree associated with the moon, the water, and the feminine; with dreams, deep emotions, and intuition. To me, the Dreamcatcher is a spiritual symbol of great love.

Making the Dreamcatcher has guided me into learning more of my culture and heritage. Through crafting dreamcatchers I have learned the healing properties of the Willow tree, and I have gone on to learn more Ojibwe traditions including smudging with sage and singing traditional songs.

Now I attend arts and craft shows and share what I have learned. I have taught at Dunseith Public School, the Turtle Mountain Heritage Center, and the Arts for Vets art gallery in Grand Forks, North Dakota. I feel honored that I am able to share the knowledge I have gained and keep such a tradition going. I honor my children and my people by doing so.”

Photo Credit: Courtesy of Roxanne C Henry Laducer

Roxanne C Henry Laducer with her handmade dreamcatchers in North Dakota.

Ryan K. Johnson (Ohio)

“I am an award-winning performer, choreographer, and cultural leader described by Dance Magazine as ‘one of the foremost percussive dance artists in the U.S.’ I am dedicated to preserving and evolving African Diasporic traditions through performance, education, and community engagement.

I made history in 2024 as the first African American body percussionist to receive a Guggenheim Fellowship in Choreography, celebrating my boundary-pushing work at the intersection of sound, storytelling, and embodiment.

As Executive Artistic Director of SOLE Defined Percussive Dance Company, I blend technical excellence with visionary leadership. I have successfully led national tours, curated large-scale productions, and secured over $500,000 in arts funding. My performance and choreographic credits include Jacob’s Pillow, The Joyce Theater, Cirque du Soleil, Amazon Studios, and STOMP, among many others.

Holding an MFA in Dance and Social Justice from the University of Texas at Austin, my work is rooted in cultural equity and artistic innovation. I bring deep expertise in body percussion, tap, immersive technologies, and arts education—bridging tradition and innovation to inspire audiences and empower communities across the country.”

Ryan K. Johnson leads a workshop at Williams College Workshop

Ken Cook (South Dakota)

“My work is primarily meter-and-rhyme cowboy poetry, memorized and presented to the listener. Four decades as a ranch hand, plus several seasons as an actor with the Utah Shakespeare Festival, are the cornerstones of my artistic history. Though my father’s death brought me back to South Dakota and put ranch work center stage, by the ‘90s I was writing poetry about ranch life and starting to perform again. By 2010, I was named the Academy of Western Artists Poet of the Year.

Cowboy poetry is a relevant art form that has tremendous value and appeal. I have worked with high school teachers seeking alternative lesson plans and provided cowboy entertainment at functions across the West.

I have recorded three spoken-word CDs of original poetry and co-authored Passing It On: Poetry by Great Plains Cowboys, which also includes a CD. I was a founding member at CowboyPoetry.com, a project of the Center for Western and Cowboy Poetry. My poetry and recitations of classic poetry are included in compilation CDs available worldwide and my website. My work has also been included in the National Cowboy Poetry Gathering’s 30th anniversary anthology.

The poetry and music of the working cowboy has a past, a present, and a future. It frustrates editors, angers English teachers, and delights hundreds of thousands across America. It is real, heartfelt, and humorous. My work pays tribute to past as well as future generations.”

Photo Credit: Richard Carlson

Cowboy poet Ken Cook at sunset in South Dakota.

Gabriela Jiménez Marván (Wisconsin)

“My artistic path is rooted in cartonería (the Mexican folk tradition of paper-and-paste sculpture), first introduced to me in the vibrant festivities of my childhood in Cuernavaca, Mexico. In 2016, I began training with traditional masters such as Monica Franco and Raziel Pacheco, whose families have practiced cartonería for generations. Later, I had the honor of learning from the renowned Leonardo Linares. I also studied at the Center of Arts and the Folk Art Museum in Morelos before moving to the United States.

In 2020, I founded the Mexican Folk Art Collective, a space for artists to preserve and share traditions in Wisconsin. Since then, we have co-organized Día de Muertos celebrations in the Driftless Region, developed school programs, and curated exhibitions with museums and galleries. My workshops and presentations have been welcomed by nonprofits, ecological organizations, and institutions including the Consulate of Mexico in Milwaukee, the Mexican Cultural Institute in Washington, D.C., Latino Arts, and the Milwaukee Art Museum.

In 2021, I was selected for Mexico’s National Cultural Conferences for migrant artists, which produced the international touring exhibition “Corazón Migrante.” More recently, I received a Wisconsin Arts Board apprenticeship grant in 2024 and presented large-scale alebrijes (fantastical folk creatures) at Sauk County’s Art DTour.

I believe traditional art sparks creativity and fosters belonging, building bridges between heritage and community. Through teaching and sharing these traditions, I hope to cultivate cultural pride, freedom of expression, and understanding across communities.”

Photo Credit: Natalie Hinahara

A community Día de Muertos altar (ofrenda) designed and led by Gabriela Jiménez Marván, decorated with over 1,000 marigolds, candles, natural elements and cartonería sculptures

The post Meet the Winners of the 2025 Midwest Culture Bearers Award appeared first on Arts Midwest.

Arts Midwest Welcomes Brian Tiemann to Emeritus Board

Alana — Mon, 15 Sep 2025 16:10:59 +0000

Arts Midwest is pleased to welcome former Board Chair Brian Tiemann to the Emeritus Board. Brian first joined the Arts Midwest Board of Directors in 2011. Over the course of his tenure, he served in various leadership positions, including Treasurer, Vice Chair, and, from 2022–2025, Chair.

Brian Tiemann is a partner in the employee benefits and executive compensation practice group of McDermott Will & Schulte in Chicago, Illinois. As a Board member, Brian frequently provided valuable legal counsel to Arts Midwest pro bono.

“Brian has been an integral partner to Arts Midwest for more than a decade,” said President & CEO Torrie Allen. “As Chair, he helped guide the organization through a strategic planning process, navigate the aftereffects of the COVID-19 pandemic, and understand changing regulations at the federal level. We’ve been so grateful for his steadfast support, and I am thrilled that he will remain part of the Arts Midwest community as a member of our Emeritus Board.”

Prior to law school, Brian was the National Touring Manager for the Education Department of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. Brian graduated with honors from Saint John’s University and received his law degree from the University of Virginia School of Law.

“I am honored to be invited to join the Emeritus Board,” said Brian. “I am proud of the tremendous work Arts Midwest accomplished during my tenure on the Board of Directors and look forward to continue supporting and advocating for Arts Midwest as a member of the Emeritus Board.”

In honor of Brian’s leadership and commitment to Midwestern creativity, Arts Midwest’s Board of Directors unanimously approved the designation of one of its Board seats as “The Brian Tiemann Honorary Board Seat” in June 2025. This seat will stand as a living testament to Brian’s legacy and service for years to come.

The post Arts Midwest Welcomes Brian Tiemann to Emeritus Board appeared first on Arts Midwest.

9 Artists Receive the 2025 Midwest Award for Artists with Disabilities

Alana — Mon, 08 Sep 2025 15:37:11 +0000

Please note that we acknowledge both identity first and person first framing of disability identity. When we use the phrase “disabled artists,” we intend to align with the Social Model of Disability understanding that people are disabled by environmental and societal barriers.

Arts Midwest is thrilled to announce the nine recipients of the 2025 Midwest Award for Artists with Disabilities, chosen from more than 400 submissions. This award supports accessibility in the arts and celebrates the exceptional contributions of disabled Midwestern visual artists.

This year’s awardees are:

Jennifer Bock-Nelson (Quincy, Illinois)
Johnson Simon (Indianapolis, Indiana)
Lucas Delaney (Dubuque, Iowa)
Nicholas Harrier (Essexville, Michigan)
Natalija Walbridge (Duluth, Minnesota)
Jane Gaffrey (West Fargo, North Dakota)
Tabeena Wani (Athens, Ohio)
Brianna Wiersema (Mitchell, South Dakota)
Rebecca Kautz (Sun Prairie, Wisconsin)

Each artist will receive $3,000 in unrestricted support to continue their artistic journey.

“This year’s awardees are quilting, welding, collaging, and even transforming prosthetics into art pieces,” says Grants Manager John Kaiser. “Their work shows just how expansive Midwestern creativity is, and the powerful role disabled artists play in shaping the arts.”

Established in 2022, the Midwest Award for Artists with Disabilities is supported by the James Edward Scherbarth and Paul Francis Mosley Giving Fund. The award honors the late James Edward Scherbarth, an award-winning visual artist, teacher, and advocate for arts access who believed that creativity lives in everyone and dedicated his career to helping people express themselves through art.

Join us in celebrating the creativity these artists bring to the Midwest, and explore some of their works below:

Jennifer Bock-Nelson (Quincy, Illinois)

My disability is Tourette’s Syndrome. I developed motor and vocal tics as a child, which have ebbed and flowed during adulthood. I discovered as a child that making art is a way for me to get out of my physical body and enter a flow state. I also have OCD and depression as accompanying symptoms of Tourette’s.

I find my work fulfills a need to balance order with chaos. For the past seven years, I was a working artist. I am now returning to education in the role of an art professor at a small liberal arts college.

My work is about perception and how we see. In addition to teaching methods of painting and drawing, I help all students learn to see and experience the world around them. I make a concerted effort to help neurodivergent students embrace their unique way of seeing.

Photo Credit: Jennifer Bock-Nelson

Exhale (2024). Watercolor and colored pencil on paper.

Photo Credit: Jennifer Bock-Nelson

Origin and Exile (2021). Oil on cradled basswood.

Photo Credit: Jennifer Bock-Nelson

Salt (2021). Oil on linen.

Photo Credit: Jennifer Bock-Nelson

Winter (2025). Gouache watercolor and colored pencil on paper.

Photo Credit: Jennifer Bock-Nelson

Horizon (2024). Latex on 9×72 wall.

Johnson Simon (Indianapolis, Indiana)

My name is Johnson Simon. I am a Haitian-born artist living with cerebral palsy, and I use painting to express the movements my body cannot.

My art is an extension of my lived experience—vivid, resilient, and deeply rooted in culture. Each piece I create celebrates my Haitian heritage and the stories of people who, like me, have overcome adversity.

My goal as an artist is to make the invisible seen. I want to inspire others by showing that disability is not a limitation—it’s a lens for unique creativity. Through bold colors, layered textures, and cultural symbolism, I explore identity, pride, and joy. My slogan, “My Art is My Movement,” guides me as I use my brush to speak when words fall short.

My work has recently grown through public recognition and community programs. I’ve been honored with a residency at The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis and a community grant from the City of Fishers to teach youth and families. These opportunities allow me to expand the reach of my art and fulfill my mission: to educate, uplift, and connect through visual storytelling.

Photo Credit: Johnson Simon

Johnson Simon with”Hip Hop I” and “Hip Hop II” (2023 Eli Lilly Collection)

Photo Credit: Johnson Simon

Johnson Simon with Illustrated children’s book “Playing for Change”

Photo Credit: Johnson Simon

Johnson Simon with “Overcome”

Lucas Delaney (Dubuque, Iowa)

My recent works are an expression of survival, identity, and the complexities of grief. As a disabled, transgender artist raised in the Deep South and specifically in a strict religious and military-influence household, I use art to process my life experiences with themes of disconnection, trauma, chronic illness, memory loss, and transformation, just to name a few.

Grief, both personal and collective, is central to my work. I create to hold space for the layered emotions that come with loss, identity shifts, and living in a body that doesn’t always cooperate.

My most recent works are primarily layered collages (mixed-media) and utilize lots of various platforms and tools, beyond creating things 2-dimensionally, like Procreate, Canva, and sometimes AI, to adapt to my cognitive disabilities while still creating emotional, layered visual pieces.

My goal is to make art that is expressive, accessible, and affirming—for myself and others. I center queer and disabled narratives, designing with inclusion in mind, so that people who are often overlooked in traditional art spaces can see themselves reflected.

Ultimately, my work is about making meaning from hard experiences, pain and, offer connection through vulnerability. I want others to feel seen, validated, and less alone.

Photo Credit: Lucas Delaney

Grief Containers (2025). Mixed media.

Photo Credit: Lucas Delaney

Seventeen Months w/ You (2025). Mixed media.

Photo Credit: Lucas Delaney

Gold Version (2025). Mixed media.

Photo Credit: Lucas Delaney

Disconnected (2025). Mixed media.

Photo Credit: Lucas Delaney

Vocal Chords (2025). Mixed media.

Nicholas Harrier (Essexville, Michigan)

As an artist, my primary goal is to transform perceptions of disability through custom prosthetic covers that blend functionality with bold, unapologetic design. I aim to create wearable art that reflects individuality, resilience, and the power of self-expression. My work is rooted in the belief that mobility aids shouldn’t be hidden or neutral—they should be celebrated as extensions of identity.

I design and build every piece free of charge, ensuring that cost is never a barrier to self-expression. Each cover is a collaboration with the wearer, tailored not just to their physical form but to their personality, story, and cultural influences. Whether drawing from pop culture, mythology, or abstract forms, I strive to create designs that empower the user and spark conversations about ability, aesthetics, and agency.

This work is deeply personal. As an amputee, I understand the complex relationship between visibility, vulnerability, and pride. My designs are an expression of my goal to challenge shame and stigma by elevating prosthetics into the realm of fine art and fashion.

Photo Credit: Nicholas Harrier

Family Photo (2024)

Photo Credit: Nicholas Harrier

Steampunk knee disarticulation socket

Photo Credit: Nicholas Harrier

Nicholas Harrier’s First Exhibit (2025)

Natalija Walbridge (Duluth, Minnesota)

As a fabric collage artist, I create layered textile compositions that celebrate the quiet beauty of Minnesota’s natural world. From my studio on Park Point in Duluth, I draw inspiration from the wildlife and native plants I encounter in local wetlands and forests. Each piece begins with a fleeting moment—like a mink bounding across a log or a wood duck taking flight at dawn—and becomes a richly textured fabric narrative.

I build depth, texture, and movement using hand-dyed fabrics. This slow, meditative process allows me to reflect the rhythms of nature and cultivate a sense of connection and care for the environment.

In addition to gallery shows, I’m passionate about creating public installations in spaces where people are already inspired to engage with the natural world—places like Split Rock Lighthouse, the Great Lakes Aquarium, and Sky Harbor Airport, which is adjacent to an old-growth forest on Park Point. These settings offer meaningful opportunities to connect my work with the landscapes and wildlife that inspire it.

My goal is to spark curiosity, foster environmental awareness, and remind viewers that beauty and wonder can be found in the smallest wild moments, often just beyond our doorsteps.