Anishinaabe Arts awards $5,888 to artists

The Region 2 Arts Council’s Anishinaabe Arts Initiative Council awarded $5,888 in artist grants on Jan. 4.

According to the council’s press release, the grants are to fund costs associated with the exhibition, performance or production of creative work, purchase of materials or equipment to create works of art, educational opportunities in the arts and proposals for projects or opportunities to enhance the career of artists who are enrolled tribal members or descendants in Hubbard, Becker, Beltrami, Cass, Clearwater, Itasca, Lake of the Woods, Mahnomen and Roseau counties.

The recipients include:

• Therese Brown – $1,000 to create Berries of the Ojibwe, a series of works made of porcupine quillwork on birchbark and leather, and to teach quillwork to a new student each month.
• Desiree Stillday – $1,000 to purchase supplies such as beads, leather, bead findings and material to create beadwork for sale.
• Veronica Veaux – $997 to purchase materials for making ribbon skirts.
• Sharon Nordrum – $942 to purchase photographic equipment and supplies to help her create a series of photos highlighting and honoring the Anishinaabeg relationship to Animosh (dog).
• Donelle Omer – 1,000 to purchase a laptop for writing, building a functional website and indexing an existing body of work.
• Jessica Dretsch – $949 to purchase materials and supplies to create paintings and multimedia artworks.

The Anishinaabe Arts Initiative grant program is supported by a grant from the McKnight Foundation.