2021 BY THE NUMBERS
2021 marked the start of a comeback for the arts community with the pandemic turning a corner and the cultural sector receiving much needed relief and resources to begin the return to business. We are incredibly proud of how our team continues to adapt and find creative and accessible ways to support and bring attention to the value of artists, work with community, public and private partners, offer new programs and workshops online, distribute grants and opportunities to artists on time, grow our digital publishing, and expand our work nationally. As people began to gather in public spaces again, our public art projects were experienced by over 50,000 people in our home community of the Twin Cities, including at the Minnesota State Fair.
COMMUNITY PARTNERS
ARTISTS SERVED
EVENT & WORKSHOP PARTICIPANTS
FORWARD READERS
Images (clockwise from top left): Smart Growth America asked us to help match artists with transit agencies for Arts & Transportation Rapid Response to address COVID-related transport issues and inequities. We completed round 2 with Marta Artbound, Port Authority of Allegheny County in Pittsburgh, PA, and Quaboag Valley Community Development Corporation in Ware, MA. Franco Bejarano's portraits were designed to highlight individuals and invoke compassion. Photo courtesy Smart Growth America; Geno Okok paints their Joyful World Mural Park mural. Photo by Andres Perez; Muna Malik's work, Blessing of the Boats, was featured in Public Art Now from FORWARD Issue 2. Photo courtesy the artist; Indigenous women/nonbinary mural artists Holly “Miskitoos” Henning (Marten Falls Anishinaabe First Nation, Constance Lake Oji-Cree First Nation), Marlena Myles (Spirit Lake Dakota / Mohegan / Muscogee), Thomasina Topbear (Santee Dakota and Oglala Lakota), and Missy Whiteman (Northern Arapaho and Kickapoo), joined moderator Candida Gonzalez for a special Chroma Zone closing event, Decolonizing Public Spaces - Celebrating Indigenous Women/Nonbinary Voices.