Arts grants to help area schools, groups

Five arts organizations within the 18-county region of southwest Minnesota were recently awarded Equipment & Facilities Improvement grants  from Southwest Minnesota Arts Council (SMAC) for a total of $41,933 and four schools within the region were awarded a total of $10,330 in Arts in the Schools grants. 

Among them are:

•The Dawson-Boyd Arts Association (DBAA), in Dawson, has been awarded $4,000 for a new soundboard that will enhance sound quality and capabilities, such as being able to accommodate more microphones and monitors for artists. DBAA is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization committed to nurturing the visual and performing arts for residents in west-central Minnesota. DBAA presents a variety of quality arts events each season and provide opportunities for local musicians to perform and local artists to exhibit. Additionally, they arrange for professional performances, master classes and workshops for students. www.dawsonboydarts.com

•Dawson-Boyd Public School in Dawson will receive $3,380 for Dawson-Boyd high school students to work with Dawson poet Lauren K Carlson, composing "Where I'm From" poems.  Carlson will present and teach the poem format for individual students and then facilitate the composition of a collaborative poem, which she will assist in printing at A to Z Letterpress in Montevideo. Students will also present the poems during the County Fair in early September at the Robert Bly Study at the Lac qui Parle Museum. www.sites.google.com/a/dwby.k12.mn.us
/dawson-boyd-schools/dawson-boyd-high-school

•Lac qui Parle Valley School in Madison was awarded $2,000 for English Language Learners to attend an "Arts & Culture" field trip to various locations in St. Paul and Minneapolis. The students will get to experience the Festival of Nations, Western Sculpture Garden, Minnesota Museum of American Art and "Makerspace", Schubert Club Music Museum, a matinee of the muical Sweet Land at the Minnesota History Theater, and a concert by the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra. www.lqpv.org