It's Official!

The Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund grant I wrestled with this past spring has been approved and I will be getting a felt rolling machine from Feltcrafts in CO later this month.  I can hardly wait!  The photo above is from the "Big Check" ceremony the other night. Left to right: Senator Tony Lourey; me; Representative Tim Faust; East Central Arts Council Program Director, Mary Minnick Daniels; East Central Arts Council chair, Amanda Thompson Rundahl; someone very important; and East Central Regional Development Commssion Exectuve Director, Bob Voss.

In addition to buying the felt rolling machine, I will demonstrate felting at fairs this summer, and at the Sticks and Stones Art Event this September the public will help to create prefelts which will be incorporated into a rug that will be displayed in an exhibit of my work on Felt United Day, October 2, 2010.  Whew!  It's going to be a busy summer and fall!  And I'm anxious to get started.

The funding for this grant program comes directly from the Clean Water, Land, and Legacy Amendment to the Minnesota Constitution. The people of Minnesota voted on November 4, 2008 to approve this amendment which will provide dedicated funding for arts and cultural heritage for 25 years in Minnesota through a small increase the state sales tax.

There were four other individual artist grant recipients in this round, with projects ranging from glass blowing, photography, painting and metal sculpture.  All these projects will infuse life and creativity to the region.  I feel very fortunate to live in an area where funds are available for individual artists' projects as well as organizational arts projects.

Now the big check sits in my kitchen reminding me of the excitement to come this summer.  It's right next to the cool teapot I got yesterday from our good friends, Denise and Paul Morris.  This pot is from 1996 and I can't believe I hadn't snatched it up already.  I love the black and white - and yes, that's a chicken on it!

This activity is funded in part, by a grant from the East Central Regional Arts Council with funds provided by the Minnesota arts and cultural heritage fund as appropriated by the Minnesota State Legislature with money from the vote of the people of Minnesota on Nov. 4, 2008.