PAST ARTIST PROJECTS

The census has long been a tool used by government to organize and provide resources to communities, but it has undercounted the same communities that are also underrepresented in decision-making.

The Hearing Tenant Voices team gave a platform to tenants in Minneapolis around decisions involving housing inspections. The artists analyzed the department’s work in tenant engagement and created a three-phase project.

The greenway in the middle of Minneapolis needs both traditional and unconventional wayfinding elements so more people use it, particularly communities near the trail that are unaware of it or don’t feel welcome to use it.

The Southside Green Zone initiative works to promote environmental health and justice in the Phillips and Cedar-Riverside neighborhoods. These low-income, high-BIPOC communities are overburdened with environmental issues.

This artist-staff partnership helped shape neighborhood planning by identifying important community strengths in Cedar-Riverside, a Minneapolis neighborhood that’s been home to new immigrant communities since the late 19th century.

The artist team promoted the development of digital literacy skills with a technology/arts festival in the Harrison neighborhood. The festival brought together a unique mix of community residents, technology professionals, local performers and neighborhood artists.

The artist created a comic book that portrayed the workings of the City Clerk’s office and the City’s legislative process in a clear, simple and engaging way.

This artist team helped develop a small area plan for Linden Hills in southwest Minneapolis.

This project was a collaboration between the City of Minneapolis and Hennepin County to rethink land uses and transportation along Penn Avenue North, an important commercial spine in North Minneapolis.

The City wanted to analyze the findings of historic survey work conducted over the past 10 years. To engage residents and get their input on the buildings they thought were important or historically significant, the artist designed and conducted a public engagement campaign.

The project artist worked with CPED planners on the long-range land use and transportation interface between neighborhoods and businesses at five stations on the Southwest LRT line: Royalston Station, Van White Boulevard Station, Penn Avenue Station, West 21st Street Station and the West Lake Street Station.

This installation invited participants to heal through play with whimsical interactive “alebrije” — animal sculptures inspired by dream creatures from the Caribbean, Mexico, the Pacific Islands and the Dakota and Anishinaabe peoples and cultures of Minnesota.

Made of more than 150 suitcases, this multifunctional pavilion shared the stories of immigrants in Minnesota. Shaped like a house, it was a space for people to come together and explore the concept of home.

This triad of spherical environments connected visitors to the reality of climate change through the story of birds in Minnesota and the language of our senses.

Animated and illuminated, these spectacle-scale sculptures of a wolf and moose were constructed of found and recycled materials. Interactive features included stationary bicycles that people had to pedal to start animations of the animals breathing, their beating hearts and an illuminated, rotating Earth.

This 50-foot scale model of downtown Minneapolis was created in collaboration with city residents in a series of build workshops. The artist team collected stories and memories of Minneapolis neighborhoods to create a multimedia interface within the model.

Evoking the concept of balance, this skeletal wooden structure housed six rows of pairs of wooden benches and a playground-style seesaw. Activated by the presence of as few as one or as many as 100 people, this welcoming interactive space was continually transforming.

This large inflatable balloon-like sculpture was suspended from a slender structure. Cloud-like in concept, it hovered 30 feet above ground and gathered the mood of Minneapolis residents and visitors from online platforms.

A Poem for the Southside project promotes healing through street art focused on ancestry work and remembrance. Divine and Slim will create a series of nine public artworks in the form of temporary shrines and memorials to be displayed on Lake Street to promote community healing. The nine shrines represent one shrine for each minute that George Floyd suffered before he died. These shrines will honor heroes, artists, and other victims of state violence from Minnesota and who are now revered as ancestors.

Art for Liberation is a writing workshop that cultivates a safe space for community healing. Ashe and Sterling will also collaborate with artists of different disciplines to positively impact workshop participants and will focus the healing process on the intentional use of words.

The Riverside Park Sound Garden (self-guided) event was presented on May 14, 2022 from noon to 4:00 pm. For details on all events, go to: https://waveletscreative.org/riverside-park-sound-garden/

Brunch at the End of the World is a theatrical work-in-progress created and researched by Black queer performing artists with a primary focus on addressing the intersectionality of being Black and queer in Minneapolis. The work will be presented to audiences to gather insight and feedback and end with the development of a final script.

HeART & Music will host several free community collaborative workshops of healing through music and art making. The workshops will be designed for youth and adults on the Northside and will explore storytelling, fellowship and creativity offering participants new tools to help cope with grief, stress, and trauma.

HeartSpeaks Healing Circles will offer facilitated healing spaces for under resourced LatinX/BIPOC youth and families. Healing will be offered through writing and poetry workshops with themes such as Strength, Resistance and Resiliency. HeartSpeaks writing and poetry workshops will be LatinX centered. They will affirm identity through activities that include culturally relevant traditional healing, self-reflective writings, and ongoing mentorship so that writers can deepen their self-awareness, sense of power and purpose.

The Semillero: Sowing Artful Healing project will instruct and engage participants in the creation of individualized, functional pieces of art that are appropriate for each participant’s personal and collective circumstances. Four areas of learning will be offered to promote healing, each based on how mindfulness and identity reaffirmation can be applied in conjunction with different art media. Each session will allow participants to connect to an ancient culture that remains alive and ever evolving. Building on the creative process, participants will incorporate healing practices and other acquired knowledge to face stressors and approach self-healing.

Metamorfosis channels the Mexican tradition of Alebrije art into a process of community-engaged cultural reawakening for the Latino/a/x/e communities in Minneapolis, with a strong focus on East Lake Street. Artists Gustavo Boada and Aaron Johnson-Ortiz will create four works of public art (puppets, movable murals, or installations) in collaboration with the community to help process and heal years of trauma after the murder of George Floyd, community uprising and COVID-19. Metamorfosis will uplift and heal with a strong focus on revitalizing Latinx peoples through cultural heritage and artistic traditions.

Northside 365 is a year-long project that includes healing workshops focused on Northside youth to create a collaborative mural about healing through storytelling and sharing. The artist team will work with community to generate ideas for the future of the Northside and then work with youth to develop and implement a mural design. Once a design is confirmed, the mural will be painted with the Northside community at a location along the West Broadway corridor where the majority of the uprising occurred following the murder of George Floyd.

OWAMNI: Expanded Cinema Experience is a new form of visual Indigenous storytelling and collective healing infused with Film, Public Art, XR experience utilizing 360 VR, music performances, dancing, and community participation. During this multifaceted event Missy and Thomasina will collaborate with other artists to create two live painted 8’ x 8’ murals, specially designed seed packets and educational coloring pages about Owámniyonni – along with healing performances by Native artists. This gathering welcomes all people to come together at this Dakhóta sacred site.

Roots are two concerts offered to the North Minneapolis community as a healing balm using the unifying power of music to ease collective pain. The artists will curate and weave together a moving, inspiring, and spirit-filled tapestry of songs designed to heal the soul. The pay-what-you-can concerts will take place at the Capri Theater on West Broadway, in Minneapolis and will feature Spirituals, Jazz, Blues, and Gospel music.

Summer Cypher will create authentic hip-hop spaces where people in community can immerse themselves into a process of self-exploration and critical reflection within the raw elements of hip-hop culture. Self-exploration and having a critical analysis of the world and its impact on oneself, is a major part of the process of mastering any aspect of hip-hop; dance, graffiti, Djing, MCing, even history and philosophy. Summer Cypher will provide intentional space for the community to explore the raw, uncut, and authentic expressions of hip-hop in a safe, all inclusive, interracial, intercultural and intergenerational healing environment.

Unconquered Nation is a workshop series providing skilled leadership tailored to support Native women known as Little Earth Protectors so they can process recent traumatic events. The workshops consist of facilitated creative writing with publication and Reiki healing sessions.

The primary objective of A Budget is a Moral Document is to create public art via murals and zines as a backdrop for civic engagement by community members around how the budget for the City of Minneapolis could affect them in various ways. Samuel and Jordan's goal will be to represent a new vision for the budget reflecting the desires of people on Lake Street.

Art + Nature is a series of free outdoor community workshops created by artist organizers Charonn Williams Shen, JG Everest and Nimo Farah. Local community members will be led by a team of teaching artists in creating a site-specific Spring Sound Garden sound + performance installation at Riverside Park in the Cedar Riverside neighborhood in Minneapolis.

The Riverside Park Sound Garden (self-guided) event was presented on May 14, 2022 from noon to 4:00 pm. For details on all events, go to: https://waveletscreative.org/riverside-park-sound-garden/

Archway Healing presents multi-media sculptors celebrating BIPOC communities’ and their intimate healing practices. Participants are invited to sit beneath archways and listen to audio stories that will emanate from lanterns above each archway. Audio recordings will be developed from community events and story sharing. Recordings of community members and elders will share healing stories promoting a sense of belonging and well-being.

Through Ayeeyo Youth Stories, three Speaking Out Collective (SOC) artists will deepen their relationship with Ayeeyo, a Somali family-owned daycare on E. Lake Street. SOC artists will tell and create original stories with Ayeeyo youth and will integrate hands-on activities to promote healing for staff and youth. Daren Mann Hill will create a new mural on the family’s building next door, and make needed repairs on an existing mural on the Ayeeyo building.

Brujería for Beginners (Witchcraft for Beginners) written by Keila Anali Saucedo was performed November 5th - 20th, 2021 at the Mixed Blood Theatre Company. The play presented a cultural gathering in the form of a bilingual play. Directed by Marcela Michelle in her directorial debut and Suzanne Victoria Cross, a team of artists presented the story of Griselda and her family in transition - experiencing loss, grief and ultimate renewal and awakening. Creative workshops and design tours were also planned.

Film is a powerful medium for telling stories and revealing hard truths. CellFilms will offer classes to community members who would like to learn cellphone filmmaking as a tool for empowerment and as a medium to share their own stories. Participants will learn how to create short documentaries about themselves and their communities.

Forgotten Souls is a short documentary film about police brutality and the traumatic effect it has on families and communities. The story of Abuka Sanders, who was killed by Minneapolis police on November 1st, 2000 will be highlighted. The film strives to create a space for storytelling and healing from intergenerational trauma caused by police brutality.

Mamas Ignite Fireside Circle is a series of events whereby BIPOC mothers can ignite their creativity and healing by participating in songwriting, poetry, visual art and sound healing - coupled with reflection, affirmations and food; culminating in a final concert of the new works ignited by the mothers.

Power Tree Quilting and Affirmation Mirrors are projects focused on fostering healthy, collaborative relationships with and in community. Paige Reynolds and Bayou Bay will identify eight locations in different neighborhoods throughout Minneapolis for continued quilt making sessions in tandem with Affirmation Mirrors healing art collaborative projects.

Rise Up! Cinderella! A community theatre, dance and singing performance produced and directed by Tanya L. Eubanks and choreographed by LaTanya Cannady. With a nod to the classic tale, Tanya Eubanks’s original story places her “Rella” in an urban community landscape navigating social injustices, power players and opportunists. Finding solidarity and healing in her neighborhood garden, along with the perfect timing of her godmother, Rella climatically rises up to discover and use her own voice.

Resiliency through Soliloquy will highlight the collective voice of healing in the Twin Cities through drum, dance and song via a public art performance. Drum work will center on the importance of the connection between heart, body and land utilizing music in activism, arts and healing. The project will center the Native community in South Minneapolis through collaborations with Little Earth of United Tribes and the Latinx community.

In Serenading the Wounded Spaces, the vocal group Give Get Sistet will gather to commune and sing in five places in Fall 2021 and Spring 2022 where Black people have experienced hurt, pain or wounding (i.e. killings, injustices, etc.) in Minneapolis.

Star Girl Clan was performed on Friday evening October 9th, 2021 at the corner of E. Lake Street and Chicago Avenue. Using magical realism and a journey into the Maya cosmovision, an intergenerational story of emergence and healing transformation was presented. The performance called on ancestors and cellular memory to inspire a new generation of descendants to look up into the stars and to care for the earth.

The Rock Royalty Experience was a public healing event held on Saturday, Sept 25, 2021 designed for George Floyd Square that synergized three worlds: Earth science, ancestral alternative healing practices and functional fashion. In addition, the work of three functional jewelry artisans, four clothing designers and a healing mall were showcased. Healing foods from various vendors were also available. A runway-style sharing of functional jewelry and clothing crowned the event. Community members experienced wellness treatments, practices and services to develop a new relationship with practitioners and wellness practices.

UNSCRIPTED uses improv theater to promote healing and to empower youth to take charge of their own stories. In partnership with Roosevelt High School in Minneapolis; UNSCRIPTED will offer workshops that mine for joy, hone skills that extend beyond the stage and prepare students to perform in public showcases.

In 2020, Art for Nervous Systems created four instructive murals presenting ways to prepare easily accessible herbs and energetic medicines for self-healing.

In 2020, At the Corner Of was an experimental short docu series highlighting artist/activists at the intersections of art and healing. The series was filmed in specific locations where artist/activists lived, worked or performed their transformative work.

In 2020, Haircuts for Change hosted an artist designed pop-up location for haircuts and self-care along Lake Street to support Black healing, Black beauty and Black community-building in South Minneapolis.

In 2020, Harvest Feast connected arts and healing activities through food, art-making and acts of collective nurturing in the artists’ respective Northside and Southside neighborhoods. Each artist hosted a neighborhood gathering centered around food, music, performance and the distribution of arts activity kits and artist-made dinnerware.

Artists hosted pop-up locations for haircuts and self-care along Lake St. and Chicago Ave. to support Black healing, Black beauty and Black community-building in South Minneapolis. The events were held in collaboration with BareBones puppet theater’s fall 2020 performance: “PASSAGES: Mourning the Fires of Lake Street.”

Six community events in the fall of 2020 engaged residents of the Phillips, Central, Powderhorn, Bryant, Bancroft, Corcoran and Standish neighborhoods in South Minneapolis. Artists created spaces where participants could share their wisdom, opinions and experiences. Events were outdoors or online and occured in areas affected by the uprisings or in the sanctuaries of unhoused residents.

A series of three site-specific videos were based on interviews and reflections with Black and brown community members. The videos met community members where they were in their daily lives — at the intersections of work and community — and gave them an opportunity to express what they were holding in that moment.

The artists created an installation to celebrate immigrant contributions, promote healing through art-making and drive census participation in Northeast Minneapolis. Over six weeks, four events aimed to heal through art-making and to engage residents in the census process.

This project was a partnership to connect arts and healing activities through food, art-making and acts of collective nurturing in the artists’ respective Northside and Southside neighborhoods. This joint community project connected two Minneapolis neighborhoods with events tailored to each location.

“New Neighbors,” an award-winning film about race, culture, housing, belonging, safety and the policing of Black people, was selected for the 2016 Sundance Film Festival and has been screened at over 115 film festivals across the globe.

The artist created a series of five projections of Black artists and performers onto different damaged or destroyed spaces in North Minneapolis and the Bryant Central neighborhood. The projection experiences took place as an exhibition over one week.

This project explored the impact of the months of turmoil on the mental health and well-being of East African women and immigrants. The members of the collective shared their personal stories and the stories of the broader community on social media platforms. These stories were then integrated and reimagined as illustration and audio clips in an engaging digital storybook.

Artists created a series of four instructive healing murals aimed at making knowledge about simple herbal/energetic medicines accessible to the public. The murals shared information about medicine that can help our communities in this time of change and healing.

The artists engaged in creative healing and support with communities directly impacted and affected by the escalation of trauma, stress and violence after the murder of George Floyd. Their project supported local queer, trans, Black, brown and Indigenous artists who were creating art during the uprising in Minneapolis.