Listen to our weekly podcast on Pioneer 90.1 on Wednesdays at 3:05 pm.
Hear these captivating interviews with regional artists, arts organizations, state arts leaders and others sponsoring arts events on our website.
Anna Pollock is the Executive Director of the Prairie Lakes Regional Arts Council and the current Forum of Regional Arts Councils board chair. She spoke about the regional arts councils, the Legacy Amendment, other funding sources, and the impact of the Emergency Relief Funds on her region (we are trying to promote this program ourselves now with $500 grants).
NWMAC's Emergency Relief Fund. The Emergency Relief Fund (ERF) provides short-term relief to individual artists facing housing, healthcare, income, transportation, legal, or property loss emergencies that impact their wellbeing or ability to work. This program offers one-time awards of $500. In general, payments for emergency assistance are considered gifts and are not taxable income. Individuals must be currently active in a creative practice and live in Region 1: (Minnesota counties of Kittson, Marshall, Norman, Pennington, Polk, Red Lake, or Roseau). The Artists Emergency Relief Fund Network is stewarded by Springboard for the Arts and supported by F. R. Bigelow Foundation, Jerome Foundation, McKnight Foundation, John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, and the Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation.
The application process opened May 1, 2026. Application deadlines are June 15, August 15, October 15, and December 1 as funds allow. Read more and download the application here at our website.
Sod House Theater Founders Darcey Engen and Luverne Seifert are in Hallock to put on their show FARM. They spoke about the history and mission of Sod House Theater, the show with original and professional music and dance and local talent too, the Farm to Table concept, working with rural artists, and their theater background. The City of Hallock received grant funding for FARM from the NWMAC.
Here's a link to info about the show: https://www.sodhousetheater.org/farm-2026 and more about them at https://www.sodhousetheater.org/team-board. Listen to the conversation and come to see this engaging, fun, inspirational, and FREE show!
Sherri Kukowski is a mosaic artist who founded Winding River Mosaics. Sherri has a huge mosaic piece in our Great State of Minnesota exhibit. She spoke about the process of creating that piece and making it in separate pieces to be more manageable. There’s an Artist reception for the exhibit on Tuesday, June 30 from 6:30-8:00 PM, in conjunction with the play Frozen. The exhibit is open until Friday, August 28.
A former Arts Advocate of the Year, Sherri is a well-known mosaic artist in our region. She’s in our Artist Booklet, has had art in our annual exhibit. She was also the artist behind the Heritage Wall, a large public piece — the largest she’s ever created — in Badger. She worked with community members who helped her craft the large mosaic.
Finally, Sherri shared that she’s working on a very large piece of public art this summer. She was recently picked up by a gallery on the North Shore that will sell her work. Find Sherri at windingrivermosaics.com or her FB page. Listen for all the details!
Gregory Paul is an award-winning playwright and screenwriter and the brain child behind the Workbench New Play Workshop and Filmmaker Intensive in Park Rapids. Greg lives in New York City and spends time in Park Rapids in the summer and at Christmas.
The Workbench New Play Workshop is a playwriting workshop designed to guide writers though the process of writing an original 10 page play. It’s a quick intensive format of writing a play over the course of a week that ends with the play being read in reader's theater style.
The filmmaker intensive requires participants come with an already-written script. Participants will be led through the process by award winning LA filmmaker David Leidy and Gregory Paul, culminating in a public showing of the new films.
Greg spoke about the playwriting process, the role of a director, working with the Northern Light Opera Company, and the creativity, openness, and generosity of the community.
The Workbench New Play Workshop takes place from June 14 - 19 with the public performance on June 20th at 7 PM.
The Workbench Filmmaker Intensive takes place from August 11 - 14 with the public screening on August 15 at 7:30 PM.
Free to the public thanks to the support of The Northern Light Opera Company & Minnesota's Region 2 Arts Council.
Learn more at northernlightopera.org. Listen for more details!
