Arts News
Fast*Fest 20 Minute Plays will be August 19 & 20
Fast*Fest 2022
Minnesota Association of Community Theatre — MACT’s biennial festival of 20-minute plays, Fast*Fest, will be held August 19 (welcome social) and August 20 (workshops, performances and social) in Faribault. Workshops and performances will be at the Paradise Center for the Arts.
Tentative Fast*Fest Schedule:
Fri, Aug 19 Welcome Social at a location TBA
Sat, Aug 20 Workshops at Paradise Center for the Arts
The deadline for registering your theatre to present a show is June 20th. Visit their website for more information and to sign up. https://www.mact.net/?page=MACT-Events/Fast-Fest-2022-1898
Workshops:
Workshops will be live. There will be two workshop sessions, with two concurrent workshops per session.
Theatre performances:
Will be live Saturday afternoon and Evening
Social gathering at end of festival:
At end of the day, after all theatre performances are completed, MACT will host a live after-glow social at a location TBA.
Guidelines for theaters for Fast*Fest:
Who can perform:
The festival is open to Minnesota community theatres, college/university programs, high school theatre programs and ad hoc groups (pretty much anyone EXCEPT groups using any professional actors). Registration for performing companies is free to MACT members. Non-MACT-members will pay a $25 registration fee which includes a MACT membership through December. Registration deadline for performing companies is June 20th by midnight (received, not postmarked). Performance order will be by random drawig from entries received by the deadline, filling the last performance slot first and working backwards. MACT may cancel the festival if at least six productions are not registered. Additional productions may be accepted after the registration if space is available and all other guidelines are met.
Basic guidelines for participating productions:
Please consider the following guidelines and options to participate:
Actors and technicians may not be professionals (not members of Actors Equity or equivelant)
Each production will be briefly introduced by a moderator announcing the show title and possibly author, director, cast, & time/place/setting.
Following each production, a moderated live discussion will take place.
Performance cannot exceed 20 minutes
You will have 5 minutes to setup before your performance and 5 minutes to strike after your performance
Works presented may be original scripts or otherwise licensed materials including author or licensing house approved cuttings. You must have the rights to perform the show as presented.
Cultural Heritage Grants — Applications Open Until May 31
Through Legacy’s ACHF, the Minnesota Humanities Center offers grants for cultural heritage and community identity projects, for individuals and organizations who work to create/educate/celebrate a diversity of cultures in Minnesota. They’re open to accept applications, and they’re also seeking review panelists.
Visit their website for more information.
Writing Retreat in Fosston April 21-23
Take advantage of this writing retreat in our NW region! April 21-23. Sponsored by FCLAA and led by Kim Hruba of Red Shoes Writing. Grant funding from the NWMAC.
Minnesota State Arts Board Creative Support for Individuals Grant Program
Minnesota State Arts Board launches
FY 2023 Creative Support for Individuals Grant Program
The Minnesota State Arts Board has posted guidelines and application forms for the FY 2023 Creative Support for Individuals grant program. The program offers flexible support for Minnesota artists and culture bearers.
This grant program provides support to help individual artists and culture bearers sustain their creative practices and meaningfully engage with their communities in a time of transition. Creative Support grants are designed to be flexible and allow for adaptability in response to unexpected changes during the grant period. While proposed grant activities may focus more heavily on one or the other, applicants must demonstrate how funds will be used both to continue a creative practice and meaningfully connect to and engage audiences, participants, students, and/or communities during the grant period.
There will be two application deadlines — one on May 6, 2022, and another on July 15, 2022.
This is a statewide program. Anyone who meets the eligibility requirements is welcome to apply.
Please visit the Creative Support for Individuals Web page to find the complete FY 2023 Program Overview and Application Instructions, details about eligibility and grant amounts, and resources to help you learn more about the program.
The Minnesota State Arts Board is a state agency that stimulates and encourages the creation, performance, and appreciation of the arts in the state. It works to ensure that all Minnesotans can participate in and benefit from the arts.
Painting Retreat in Ely Aug 13-20 with Gail Ose
Calling all Creative hearts for a Magical North American Bear & Wolf Painting Retreat August 13th-20th 2022 in Ely, MN.
Art, Connection, and Nature. Weclome your artventure starts here!
This magical retreat is designed to inspire your creative heArt and love of nature. Join Creatively Fit Coaches — Kim Sales of Lantern Light Studio & Gail Ose of Serendipity Art Hub as they take you on a creative adventure to immerse yourself in the natural beauty of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area. This retreat is a week filled with intuitive painting workshops, bonfires, guided meditations and more, all while relaxing in a fully modern cabin on the edge of a lake. You explore the American Bear & Wolf centers in Ely MN and the Vince Shute Wildlife Sanctuary in Orr MN to support and inspire the energy of your wild heArt. For more info visit their website here.
Online Writing Workshop
Online Writing Workshop — Register Today
Marge Barrett will be teaching an upcoming online class for the Marine Mills Folk School, Saturday, February 19, 10 am-1:00 pm. It is open to all.
Outside My Window: A New Look: A breaking, bending, blending literary vision in thought and style. Join in reading works of Danez Smith, Claudia Rankine, Anne Carson, Maggie Nelson, Tommy Orange, Ocean Vuong, contemporary voices with compelling stories written in a hybrid form of poetry and prose.
For more information: https://marinemillsfolkschool.org/2022/01/02/writing-workshop-outside-my-window-a-new-look-online-feb-19-2022/
Applications Open for Creative Community Leadership Institute Cohort
Applications are now being accepted for this year's Creative Community Leadership Institute (CCLI) Cohort!
See the website: https://www.creativecommunityinstitute.org/
CCLI is an intensive, in-person, cohort-based training program with real-world practice for artists, culture bearers, community organizers, community development practitioners, and other leaders seeking to deepen their impact in creative community building. CCLI is for artists, culture bearers, community organizers, community development practitioners, and other leaders from across Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, and the 23 Native Nations that share that geography.
Cohorts meet in person three times over six months from spring to fall, with each session in a different location within the state. CCLI has three regionally-based cohorts, with opportunities for collaboration and connection, as well as in-person gatherings:
The East Cohort will be held in Cloquet, MN at the Cloquet Forestry Center
The Central Cohort will be held in Grand Forks, ND at the University of North Dakota, Memorial Union
The West Cohort will be held in Rapid City, SD at Racing Magpie
Priority will be given to applicants who identify as Native and BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color), disabled, and/or are from rural and smaller-town communities.
Participants will receive modest financial support for the pilot project and to offset costs of travel. New cohorts can expect to gain more knowledge about the role of art and culture in community problem solving, build skills to be able to effectively integrate art and culture into community development, leadership growth, and gain networks of cross-sector peers.
Virtual Writing Classes
The 2021 Red Shoes Retreat Writer-in-Residence Jill Swenson of Swenson Book Development LLC will be holding virtual classes, workshop, and a retreat for writers.
Call for Writing Submissions for Talking Stick Volume 31
Call for Writing Submissions for Jackpine Writers Talking Stick Publication — CELEBRATING THE SHORT FORM.
The deadline to submit is March 15. Wanted: SHORT Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction. THE TALKING STICK is a Minnesota published and nationally recognized publication. Writers must be from Minnesota or have some connection to this area. ALL ENTRIES MUST BE VERY SHORT. Focus on short forms, cutting all unnecessary words. Create an elegant moment that hints of a longer, more complex story. Think of these as compressed creations.
Calling Community Music Ensembles
Are you a community music ensemble member or leader? This initiative hopes to create a "musical map" of Minnesota that directs people to ensemble information through an online map, geared towards musicians and audiences; and gather and share information about the benefits that ensemble members find in participating in a community music ensemble. If ensembles are interested, they plan to work towards collaboration and communication between ensembles and identifying challenges and strategies.