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Welcome to the City of Minneapolis office of Arts, Culture and the Creative Economy newsletter. Here you will find information on program and partner related news and updates, opportunities, events and special announcements.
Sign up for the Arts, Culture and the Creative Economy newsletter at http://www2.minneapolismn.gov/coordinator/arts/index.htm
News
Step Up Reframes 2020 Program for COVID-19
In a typical program year, there would have been nearly 1,400 interns and 200 Twin Cities businesses on board to make Step Up summer internships happen. Due to COVID-19, for summer 2020, this is not the case as there are fewer job experiences to offer. In light of this, Step Up has developed new plans that take into consideration the safety of Minneapolis youth, employer partners and staff. While the summer 2020 Step Up program will look different than a normal year, we are excited to still be able to offer our students the opportunity to develop employment skills and earn money.
Step Up plans to offer a reduced scale internship program, as positions are made available and can ensure the safety of interns by following CDC, MDH and DEED guidelines. About 400 young people will participate in this experience.
Step Up participants who will not be placed in internships this summer (approx. 2,600 youth) will have an opportunity to participate in a stipend earning five-week online training program focusing on core work readiness competency skills and career exploration. Each week will have a training module and for every module completed, youth will earn a stipend. The online training program is being developed with our partners and is planned to launch July 13 – August 14. Through this experience, youth will have the opportunity to develop their communication skills, time management, teamwork, problem solving, financial literacy, and explore their career interests, with additional opportunities to attend virtual networking events, participate in e-mentoring and earn certificates and career credentials.
Read more about Step Up.
Workers in Theater, Music and Entertainment Eligible for the Twin Cities Hospitality and Events Workers’ Relief
Ten percent of Minneapolis/St. Paul area workers earn income in the hospitality and events sector. Women and people of color make up a large portion of this sector’s workforce. The Twin Cities Hospitality and Events Workers’ Relief Effort supports those who lost earnings due to business closures and event cancellations due to the COVID-19 outbreak. Through the fund, workers may access direct financial support of up to $200.00 to assist with rent and mortgage payments, utilities and other essential expenses. In addition, hospitality sector “navigators” assist displaced workers with applying for unemployment, negotiating payment with landlords and utility companies, managing finances, childcare needs and more.
Find information on eligibility and to apply.
Recently Laid off? You could be Eligible for Dislocated Worker Services
People who have been laid off and are receiving unemployment benefits may be eligible for specialized employment and training services through the Dislocated Worker program to help prepare for their next job. This could include funding for post-secondary schooling for in-demand careers like (nursing, IT, trade programs), funding short-term training certificates (welding, commercial driver's license), providing child care assistance, and coordinating on-the-job training opportunities.
Minneapolis CareerForce is providing virtual sessions to pre-screen eligible applicants for job search assistance and retraining opportunities. Information sessions will be offered virtually. Participants will be contacted via email after the date and time of the session. For more information about these sessions, please call North Minneapolis CareerForce at 612-299-7200 or South Minneapolis CareerForce at 651-539-4410.
Remembrance as Resistance: Preserving Black Narratives
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Remembrance as Resistance: Preserving Black Narratives celebrates the Ring Shout, a traditional African-American worship and gathering practice whose origins in West African ritual and ceremony predate slavery From its roots in West Africa, the Ring Shout was reborn during enslavement in the West in resistance to laws which prohibited those enslaved from gathering, except for worship, and forbid any form of cultural expression not in service to the enslavers, including drumming. These laws were imposed in an effort to systematically dismantle communication, and ultimately community. In response, those enslaved created Praise Houses—small usually wooden structures used for worship throughout the Southeast. As an act of resistance, congregants would gather in circle to stomp or shout (full body rhythmic movement) upon the wooden floors, ultimately creating a communal drum—secretly preserving their cultural rituals and collective prayers and traditions. These small hidden worship spaces were the first Black churches in the Western world.
Perspectives on Anti-Racism from Six Leaders
We reflect on the wisdom of six Capacity Interactive to Eye guests who have shared their thoughts on racism and inequity in the arts and suggested steps to ensure cultural organizations are becoming more equitable institutions.
Listen to the podcast here.
Dismantling Anti-Blackness Together
Photo by Alberto Garcia
Two struggles—Black liberation and immigrant rights—are intertwined and must be confronted together, which means acknowledging there is racism in the project of Latinidad.
Read the article from the Latinx Project here.
Events
Ibram X. Kendi on "How to Be an Antiracist" on July 20
 2019 Guggenheim Fellow and New York Times bestselling author Ibram X. Kendi will discuss his renowned book “How to Be an Antiracist” on Monday, July 20 at 6:00 p.m. CT with Dr. Charlene M. Dukes, president of Prince George’s Community College. Dr. Dukes is the first African-American woman to serve as president of the College and has 30 years of progressive leadership experience and administrative responsibility in higher education. The conversation will be streamed live online on Crowdcast, Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter/Periscope, and will air on PGCC TV on a later date.
Opportunities
Du Nord Riot Recovery Fund (Du Nord Foundation)
Created on May 31, 2020, the riot recovery fund has raised more than half a million dollars. These funds will be used to provide financial support for minority owned small businesses who were adversely impacted by the riots and looting the week of May 25.
Application and more information.
Learning Opportunities
Webinar on Demand: Beyond the Board Statement: How Can Boards Join the Movement for Racial Justice?
With each day come more statements from organizations articulating their stances and, in some cases, their specific commitments to be part of change in the wake of the police killing of George Floyd. Some nonprofit and philanthropic boards are actively discussing whether to make a statement at all, and if so, what it should contain. What is the nonprofit board of directors’ responsibility and opportunity for leadership around racial justice? Beyond the board statement, what can boards do to ensure that the organizations they govern are living their values?
In this webinar session, nationally recognized governance, strategy, and equity consultants Vernetta Walker and Robin Stacia have an in-depth set conversation about how boards of directors can and should join the movement for racial justice.
Watch Part One and Part Two.
Video Series on Artist Wellness: Meditation, Herbalism, and More
Artist Relief has produced a series of free wellness videos to help artists’ physical, mental, and emotional well-being. These sessions led by artists include discussions of movement, meditation, herbalism, sound therapy and music, poetry and writing prompts, and more.
Watch wellness videos here.
New DEI Webinar Series by Nonprofit HR
Nonprofit HR’s REALITIES webinar series topics are driven by priorities which nonprofits have reported to us, and cover everything from workforce development, recruitment, talent attraction and recruitment, workplace culture and beyond. Each session will be addressed through the lens of race and will incorporate facets of diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging practices in talent management.
Equitable Evaluation Initiative
Everyday narratives that continue to marginalize, minimize, and disrespect people of color and those with less privilege could be replaced with ones that do not demonize and place blame on the individual. They could instead lift up the historical, contextual, and powerful dynamics that create and sustain oppression and shed light on the strategies and solutions which can shift the “rules of the game” so that equity is achievable.
Check out the Equitable Evaluation Initiative for new resources as they are shared and developed across the field.
Arts for Health Equity and Social Justice: A New IAM Lab Series Prepared by the International Arts + Mind Lab
Art has always been a reflection of and response to the world around us. It’s also a way of envisioning what is possible and what is just.
We have seen art-making on the front lines of the current uprising, with people around the world using art to call out racism, end police brutality and fight social injustice. Through spoken word, murals and signs, song and dance, people are expressing their feelings, beliefs and calls for change.
As a lab focused on the intersection of the arts with health and wellbeing, we have been moved and stirred to action by the art created in response to long-standing injustices faced by Black communities.
We are launching an ongoing series about the role of arts in health equity and racial justice. We will hear from Black writers, artists, scholars, scientists and other experts in these fields and spotlight leaders who incorporate the arts as a tool for healing, resistance and justice.
Learn more here.
Coming up: Virtual Community Office Hours
Community members are welcome to reserve virtual 'Office Hour' time with the Arts, Culture and the Creative Economy team.
Join Gulgun Kayim, Director of Arts, Culture and the Creative Economy on Fridays from 9:00 am -10:30 a.m,Teeko Yang, Creative CityMaking Project Manager on Wednesdays from 10:00 am to Noon, and Brenda Kayzar, owner of Urbane DrK Consulting on Wednesdays from 1:00 pm - 2:30 pm for virtual community office hours.
Reservations are necessary! Upcoming dates and contact information below:
For meetings with Gulgun Kayim: e-mail Gulgun.Kayim@minneapolismn.gov to notify that you will be attending and call: 612-710-2232 on Friday, July 24 at your confirmed time between 9:00am-10:30am.
For meetings with Teeko Yang: e-mail Teeko.Yang@minneapolismn.gov to notify that you will be attending and call: 612-271-4960 on Wednesday, July 29 at your confirmed time between 10:00am-Noon.
For meetings with Brenda Kayzar: e-mail urbanedrk@gmail.com to notify that you will be attending and call: 612-730-7913 on Wednesday, July 22 at your confirmed time between 1:00 and 2:30pm.
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