Local grant winners further creative pursuits

Nov. 17—The Minnesota State Arts Board (MSAB) recently announced the first round of winners for the 2022 Individual Creative Support grants.

The funds from these grants are meant to support Minnesota artists and help them connect to their communities through creativity.

Five of the grant winners are from Otter Tail County. Blayze Buseth, Amanda Callahan and Erinn Webb from Fergus Falls were each winners in this round of grants. Nancy Valentine from Underwood and Mike Weatherly of Elbow Lake were also both winners.

Each artist will use their grant to further their artistic pursuits and explore creativity with their audiences, students and communities.

"As an early career artist, being named a recipient of this grant award feels like a milestone," said Underwood artist Nancy Valentine. "This past spring I created a series of 12 watercolor and Chinese ink-scroll paintings on rice paper that visually tells the story of the Hao family's — my maternal family — Chinese American immigrant experience in rural west-central Minnesota titled "The Audacity to be Asian in Rural America: we owe you no apologies" as a part of Springboard for the Arts' Artists Respond: Equitable Rural Futures. The funds from this MSAB grant will be used to sustain my creative practice in the new year as I compose an anthology of 12 artist statements for this series, allowing me to more effectively share the stories held in each scroll painting, continuing to give voice to Asian and immigrant community members in 'Greater' Minnesota."

Fergus Falls artist and Creation Shop owner Blayze Buseth said that receiving the grant was exciting news for him. "As the Creation Shop is finding its way into the lives of many locals through our community workshops and events I have been eager to hear the results of this grant," he shared. "This grant is primarily for exploring video content sharing in order to extend the reach of Creation Shop. This will help me share the goings on at Creation Shop with higher-quality digital content. I will be able to share more photos and videos from our events, participant artwork, live stream and share the art I make in the workshop."

Mike Weatherly of Elbow Lake is also looking forward to using the grant for his creative endeavors, "I am excited about being part of this group of fabulous artists that were awarded this grant. It is great to see local artists making an impact outside the region," he explained. "I am also excited to receive funding to continue my art on the 'Behind the Door' project. This project is a continuation of prints on actual doors that focus on the continuing opioid epidemic."

For more information about MSAB visit arts.state.mn.us.

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