WILLMAR — Mni Sota Arts in Redwood Falls was recently announced as one of five organizations selected to participate in the Activate Rural project, according to a news release from the Department of Public Transformation in Granite Falls.
The organization's goal is to activate a downtown building in Redwood Falls to serve as a place for Native artists to exhibit, gather and connect, and to further serve as a "safe place for truthful historical sharing."
Activate Rural, led by program director Sarina Otaibi, is a two-year learning lab designed to help cultivate welcoming and creative spaces in rural Minnesota communities. To achieve that goal, five building activation projects in Minnesota communities with a population under 10,000 were selected to participate: Mni Sota Arts, Redwood Falls; the city of Buhl; Manoomin Arts Initiative, White Earth Nation; Reclaim Community, Jasper; and Spring Grove Cinema, Spring Grove.
Each selected project will receive $25,000 for artist-led community engagement projects and program participation, one-on-one technical assistance, access to a supportive cohort peer network, project promotion and documentation support, access to Activate Rural Learning Lab resource guides and workshops, as well as travel and lodging costs for three core team members to attend two in-person cohort gatherings.
Activate Rural is a two-year commitment from May 2023 through May 2025. The program is supported by the Mellon Foundation. For more information, visit publictransformation.org/activate-rural
The Trust Project
