(6/2/2021)
Arts Council awards local grants
This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through grants from the Minnesota State Arts Board thanks to a legislative appropriation from the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund.
On May 18, 2021, the board of directors of the Southeastern Minnesota Arts Council (SEMAC) awarded 26 grants for a total of $115,330 in funding to applicants throughout Southeastern Minnesota. This included 15 Arts and Cultural Heritage grants for $82,330 and 11 Programming Grants for $33,000.
SEMAC is the State Arts Board-designated granting authority for local/regional arts producing and sponsoring organizations and disburses funds allocated for this purpose by the Minnesota State Legislature. The SEMAC region includes the counties of Dodge, Fillmore, Freeborn, Goodhue, Houston, Mower, Olmsted, Rice, Steele, Wabasha, and Winona.
Free Seasonal Saturday Event Boxes available at MMAM (6/2/2021)
It’s a tour, an activity, a craft, a snack and a curated music playlist all neatly packaged in a box for you to enjoy with your family and friends. And it’s free.
The Minnesota Marine Art Museum (MMAM) is again offering its free Seasonal Saturdays Event Boxes. The Summer Art Shenanigans Event Box will be available to reserve beginning June 1. Each Event Box includes elements of the popular Seasonal Saturdays program for use at home, and $1 admission for recipients to come visit MMAM at their leisure.
“This Event Box brings a little slice of the Museum into your home, and still offers low-cost admission to come enjoy the amazing collections. Most people are so surprised when they come in and see the great artworks we have right here in Winona,” says Heather Casper, MMAM curator of education.
In Minnesota, the $16.6 billion leisure and hospitality industry took a $7.1 billion hit in 2020. The largest declines were in lodging where revenues fell 37%
MMAM opens two exhibitions in April (4/28/2021)
The Minnesota Marine Art Museum (MMAM) in Winona, MN, is opening two new temporary exhibitions this April. “Twentieth Century British Marine Master Artists” opened on April 16, and “Water: Shots Magazine Group Exhibition” opens on April 30.
On exhibition in “20th Century British Marine Master Artists” are historic and contemporary marine scenes by several of the best British marine artists of the 20th century. See works from the MMAM collection by Roy Cross, Montague Dawson, Louis Dodd, Henry Scott, and William Bishop, exploring a variety of subjects such as seascapes, ship portraits, naval battles, whaling vessels, and Mississippi River steamboats. “Twentieth Century British Marine Master Artists” runs through June 13, 2021.
Photo by Alexandra Retter Elena Holey (foreground, left) waits for her turn to dive during a swim practice at the Winona Family YMCA while instructor Kaitlyn Calabrese (foreground, right) helps Graham Dembiec prepare to dive. The Y is one of many local groups planning summer programming for children. Summertime fun for kids returns (4/28/2021)
For Eileen Moeller, seeing students fully perform one of Shakespeare’s plays is the highlight of Great River Shakespeare Festival’s (GRSF) summer programming for children. “That’s always one of my favorite performances of the year, because you see kids who are maybe 10 or 11 years old recite these full monologues,” Moeller, who is GRSF’s marketing and sales director, said. Audience members can tell the students are confident and understand what they are saying, she added. “The kids always bring their own twist on everything to it, and it just makes it a really engaging thing to