PROGRAMMING HIGHLIGHTS
In 2021 our programming was dialed into our new mission + vision in a way that resulted in leaders, media, and community members taking notice. Racial justice work was front and center in our artist grantees' projects, the work of our Change Lab fellow, and in our FORWARD community safety issue. This new responsive and interconnected way of working across programs helped us deliver on our vision for more equitable public art practices and policies that benefit Black, Brown and Indigenous communities across the U.S. We sought out working with a full spectrum of people who make more equitable public art happen; whether they were an artist, city councilmember, housing developer, librarian, or community member, Forecast’s team found creative ways to engage with them in this vital work to activate public art that advances justice, health, and human dignity.
ARTIST GRANT PROGRAM
2021 Forecast Grant Recipients
We are incredibly proud of the talented group of artists selected to receive Forecast grant funding in 2021. Fifteen artists are recipients of Forecast’s 2021 early- and mid-career grants totaling $86,000. This incredible group of grant recipients created projects that were grounded in the moment, respectful of the past, and imagined creative solutions for the future—from developing free classes for BIPOC artists, to researching creative community health resources, to learning the stories of Somali women elders, to amplifying the erasure of racial covenants and supporting reparations, to uplifting indigenous street art and culture, and so much more.
Artist Grantees
- Mid-Career Project Grantees ($10,000 each): Claudia Valentino, Geno Okok, Holly (Miskitoos) Henning // City Mischief Murals, Shanai Matteson, Thomasina Topbear
- Early-Career Project Grantees ($8,000 each): Erin Paradis, Lacey Prpić Hedtke with Diver Van Avery and Miré Regulus
- Mid-Career Professional Development Grantees ($5,000 each): Alyssa Baguss, Saymoukda Duangphouxay Vongsay
- Early-Career Research + Development Grantees ($2,500 each): Meena Mangalvedhekar, Taylan De Johnette, Wil Natzel, Khadijah M
Image (top row left to right): Holly (Miskitoos) Henning; Khadijah M.; Meena Mangalvedhekar. Top middle row: Claudia Valentino; Thomasina Topbear; Geno Okok; Shanai Matteson. Bottom middle row: Alyssa Baguss; Saymoukda Duangphouxay Vongsay; Wil Natzel; Taylan De Johnette. Bottom row: Miré Regulus; Lacey Prpić Hedtke; Diver Van Avery; Erin Paradis.
This activity is made possible thanks to generous funding from Jerome Foundation (early-career grants) and the McKnight Foundation (mid-career grants).
FEATURED 2021 GRANT PROJECT
Free the Deeds
Early-Career Project grantees Lacey Prpic Hedtke, Mire Russel, and Diver Van Avery worked as an artists team to create “Free the Deeds.” This multi-faceted project involved the creation of vibrant lawn signs and an original print to be displayed by Minneapolis homeowners who have erased their home’s racial covenant, as well as a page on the City of Lakes Community Land Trust’s website that features stories and portraits of elders who have been personally impacted by redlining. The project also shared a path for people to practice reparations by financially investing in Minneapolis’ first African American Community Land Trust.
CHANGE LAB
AMINA COOPER
Racial Justice in Public Art Research Fellow
Our Change Lab Research Fellowships aim to produce new research and policy suggestions to advance justice, health and human dignity in the field of public art. Amina Cooper is serving as our first Change Lab Fellow in 2021 and is focusing her research on racial justice in public art. Amina created a Cultural Equity in Public Art survey for members of arts organizations or commissioning bodies. She is currently analyzing the results of the survey to inform the development of a public art policy platform. Amina is the former Public Art Program Director at Charlotte Douglas International Airport (CLT) in Charlotte, North Carolina and currently operates as the owner and principal advisor for AMEWA Fine Arts, LLC, a consultancy and advisory with a focus on fine art collections, public art project management and policy development. Black public artists "are advancing traditional public art practices in order to speak directly to Black people and respond to our most urgent issues and concerns. These projects speak candidly to white people too, announcing an intention to redress attempts to erase or rewrite histories of Black people...."
—Amina Cooper, FORWARD #3, Public Art Now
FORECAST FORWARD
FORWARD #2: TRANSPORTATION
Guest edited by Ben Stone, Director of Arts and Culture at Smart Growth America, this second issue was created in collaboration with Smart Growth America, a program of Transportation for America. It focuses on the intersection of public art and transportation, exploring how artists create more responsive, equitable and sustainable solutions. Charles T. Brown, senior researcher and adjunct professor at Rutgers University and a fellow of the OpEd Project and the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication, provides the featured essay, Moving Beyond the Aesthetics and Pageantry of Equity and Inclusion in Transportation. Including the Public Art Now section curated by Tricia Heuring, FORWARD #2 is packed with thoughtful commentary on the latest public art of this moment, highlighting how artists lead with creative solutions on issues that intersect with our daily lives.
FORWARD #2 TEAM
Publisher: Theresa Sweetland; Guest Editor + Writer: Ben Stone; Project Manager: Jen Dolen; Curator of Partnerships and Programming: Mallory Rukhsana Nezam; Contributing Editor: Jon Spayde; Advisor/Consulting Editor: Karen Olson; Featured Essayist: Charles T. Brown; Guest Curator: Tricia Heuring; Copy Editor: Loma Huh; Layout: Manuel Miranda
FORWARD #3: COMMUNITY SAFETY
FORWARD’s third installment focuses on community safety, a critical issue nationwide and especially urgent in our Minneapolis-Saint Paul community. Guest editor cultural organizer and creative consultant Mallory Rukhsana Nezam asks in her introduction, "So what could 'public safety' look like if reframed as community safety? What are the new systems we can dream into being, and what will it take to make them a reality? What could it mean to collectively acknowledge harm, to protect, to heal, to course-correct, to generate wellness?" Browse the issue to find artists stewarding creative community safety initiatives. With featured essays from Andrea Jenkins, Minneapolis City Council Vice President, poet, and transgender activist, together with an additional, global perspective offered by music educator and human rights activist Dr. André de Quadros.
FORWARD #3 TEAM
Publisher: Theresa Sweetland; Guest Editor + Curator of Partnerships and Programming: Mallory Rukhsana Nezam; Project Manager: Jen Dolen; Contributing Editor: Jon Spayde; Forecast Consulting Advisor: Jen Krava; Advisor/Consulting Editor: Karen Olson; Featured Essayists: Andrea Jenkins; Dr. André de Quadros; Guest Curator: Amina Cooper; Writer: Geraldine Slevin; Contributor: Dr. Meghan Venable-Thomas; Copy Editor: Loma Huh; Layout: Manuel Miranda
FEATURED FORWARD PROGRAMMING
‘PUBLIC ART NOW’ CONVERSATION WITH AMINA COOPER
FORWARD #3 Public Art Now guest curator Amina Cooper, Forecast's 2021 Change Lab Research Fellow, was joined by artists Lava Thomas and Martha Jackson Jarvis for a discussion about contemporary public art policy, their experiences as Black artists entering this field, challenges, and policy changes they would like to see.
WORKSHOPS + TRAININGS
Haciéndolo Público
Making It Public in Spanish
Forecast adapted one of our most delivered workshops, Making it Public, into a bi-lingual program in English and Spanish for Latinx and Hispanic emerging artists living in Minnesota interested in exploring how to make their art creations public. We adapted the workshop to provide it safely during the pandemic, expanding it into a 5-week virtual program. This inaugural offering of Making It Public in Spanish (Haciéndolo Público) was a resounding success, with 29 Latinx and Hispanic artists participating from across the state. Participants who completed all sessions received a $300 stipend to create their own mini public art project. We value and support these small, low-risk entry points for artists to enable their education and to bring their creations to their own communities. Forecast can now be hired to provide this training to Spanish-speaking artists nationwide.
Led by Candida Gonzalez and co-facilitated by Luis Fitch, the workshop was enriched by these guest artists: Jessica Lopez Lyman, Olivia Levins Holden, Camila Leiva, Claudia Valentino, Mary Ann Quiroz, Amanda Cortes, Cecilia Cornejo, Dani Bianchini, Eric Garcia, Xochi, Tina Tavera, Victor Yepez.
This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund.
Making It Public in Louisville, KY
Dual Track for Artists + Decision Makers
Forecast was hired by the city of Louisville, KY to provide a broader population of Louisville artists with the skills, resources, and networks to adapt their professional practices in response to the COVID-19 Pandemic. Forecast produced and facilitated Making It Public - a workshop for artists and decision makers/commissioners who are interested in the fundamentals of public art. Workshop content was presented through an equity lens with a particular emphasis on skills to increase the competitiveness of BIPOC artists. As a result we have seen concrete changes in artist commissioning processes in the city of Louisville.
The workshop was led by Candida Gonzalez and Aki Shibata and enriched by these guest artists: Rob Gipe, Brianna Harlan, Kipp Kobayashi, Amanda Lovelee, Josh Miller, Mark Salinas, and Erin Sharkey.
Artist grant program featured project images: (left graphic) Photo courtesy the artists; (right graphic) Free The Deeds photo credits (artists with signs in the yard): 2021 early-career grantee team Lacey Prpić Hedtke, Miré Regulus and Diver Van Avery initiated Free the Deeds to build awareness of the history of racial covenants in Minneapolis housing and encourage action to repair harm done. Photo by Bruce Silcox. FORWARD images: Covers: (top) Devised to draw attention to the students crossing the busy one-way street on their way to school, the Reverberations crosswalks were designed in collaboration with students at Margaret Brent Elementary/Middle School and painted by neighbors, students, and passersby. Photo courtesy Graham Coreil-Allen; (bottom) Detroit Grand River at 14th site visit in July, 2020. Photo by Stephanie Kamera. Featured FORWARD programming: (left graphic) Artwork images, clockwise from top left: (1) Simone Leigh, Brick House, 2019. A High Line Plinth commission, on view June 2019 - Spring 2021. Photo by Timothy Schenck, courtesy the High Line. (2) The Roll Up CLT by Jessica Moss, photo by Terry Suave. (3) Light of Freedom by Abigail DeVille, photo by Andy Romer photography, commissioned by Madison Square Park Conservancy, New York. (4) A Resurrection in Four Stanzas, photo courtesy artist April Banks; (right graphic) Artwork by Simone Leigh Brick House, 2019. A High Line Plinth commission on view June, 2019 - Spring 2021. Photo by Timothy Schenck, courtesy the High Line. Martha Jackson Jarvis photo by Grace Roselli. Workshops and Trainings image: Photo from La Doña Cervecería courtesy artist Luis Fitch.