SMAC awards arts grants to Lower Sioux Community, Wilder Pageant, Granite Falls, Bird Island

The Southwest Minnesota Arts Council met on Tuesday, March 23, and awarded $83,516 in grant funds to organizations around the KLGR area to stimulate and encourage the creation, performance and appreciation of the arts through large-scale projects to leave an arts legacy in Southwest Minnesota.

Granite Falls Department of Public Transformation was awarded $20,000 for a project they are calling “Ignite Rural”, which will engage four black, Indigenous and people of color rural and/or tribal artists in Southwest MN through a four-month “at-home” arts residency culminating in four public arts projects across the region.

The Lower Sioux Indian Community was awarded $19,516 to ensure artists and visitors have access to original art and art supplies for decades to come in their forthcoming 15,950 square foot Intergenerational Arts Incubator. The goal of CWO is that by 2030, they will train over 1,000 people and help launch over 100 successful arts entrepreneurs. In addition, through community events and two annual art exhibits, they anticipate reaching at least 500 visitors from around the region each year. The building is slated to open in July 2021.

The Wilder Pageant of Walnut Grove has been awarded $20,000 for a major rewrite creating three different chronological scripts for the Wilder Outdoor Theater. Laura’s Trilogy: Faith, Fragments, and Fulfilled will create a three-year cycle of scripts depicting (with historical context) the years the Ingalls family spent in Walnut Grove. The Wilder Pageant received a separate $10,000 grant to replace 18 fixed non-LED fixtures used to light several vignettes during their production.

The Bird Island Cultural Centre has been awarded $10,000 for facility improvements to six 1950s-era window frames that cause heat loss and moisture buildup on the exterior and interior walls. New double paned windows will be installed.