The Minnesota Sesquicentennial Grants Review Committee considered fifty-two Round One Legacy Grant applications on October 15-16, 2007. The competition for these funds was substantial. Nearly $370,000 in funding was requested, and yet the Committee could award only $75,000. Given the limited grant dollars available, the Committee could award only fifteen of fifty-two proposals at $5,000 each (although most of the top-scoring proposals requested $7,500).
The Minnesota Sesquicentennial Commission–and the Grant Review Panel–greatly appreciated the wide range of proposals submitted and the effort each represents. “Had additional funds been available, it’s clear we would have been able to award many more important and creative projects,” commented one member of the Review Committee.
Round Two Legacy Grants are due November 15, 2007. Organizations not awarded in Round One are welcome to submit a new proposal for a new project; they may not, however, resubmit their earlier grant proposal.
Below is list of funded projects, along with the primary county(ies) served:
Minneapolis Public Library (Hennepin). Minnesota Innovation: 150 Years of Ingenuity. For an exhibit drawing on the Library’s extensive collection of patent materials linked to Minnesota inventions and inventors.
Public Interest, Inc., / Intermedia Arts (Hennepin). Speaking of Home. For creation of public art in downtown skyways exploring cross cultural notions of “home.”
Citizens League (Ramsey/Statewide media). CitiZing! MAP 150 Project. For creation and beta testing of an online civic-networking platform.
White Earth Land Reservation (Becker). Celebrating Change and Resilience—Photos and Narrative Exhibit. For creation of an interpretive exhibit exploring 150 years of Ojibwe culture.
Great River Greening/Historic Murphy’s Landing (Scott). Murphy’s Landing Historic Oak Savanna. To establish a historic oak savanna at the living history site in the Minnesota Valley.
Cass County (Cass). Leech Lake Agency Oral History Project. For collecting and editing oral histories of residents of the Onigum Ojibwe community.
American Composers Forum (Ramsey/Statewide). Minnesota Voices. For six new compositions premiered by regional choirs with a joint State Fair program in 2008.
Blue Earth County Historical Society (Blue Earth). Junior Historians Talking Back to Tomorrow. For support of oral history interviews and broadcast on local radio by students in grades 6-12.
Hinckley Fire Museum (Pine). Fire Relief House Project. To construct a ‘fire relief house’ replica to serve as new meeting and research space.
Choral Arts Ensemble-Rochester (Olsmstead) HAIL, MINNESOTA!For premiers of four new works by Minnesota composers and CD recording.
Minnesota’s Historic Northwest (Clearwater, plus 13 northwestern MN counties). Traveling Through Time: 150 Years in Minnesota’s Historic Northwest. For a traveling exhibit and postcard book exploring the history of the region.
Association of the French of the North (Red Lake). The Story of Old Crossing. For a Readers’ Theatre program and educational materials exploring the 1863 treaty interactions.
Lyndale Neighborhood Association (Hennepin). Walldogs On Nicollet. For community-conceived, professionally-rendered murals along Nicollet Avenue.
Albert Lea Friends of the Library (Freeborn and Mower). Tales of Two Counties. For creation of two local history plays in Albert Lea and Austin based on local oral histories and other resources.
Gunflint Trail Historical Society (Cook). Chik-Wauk Museum & Nature Center. For acquisition of AV equipment, displays, dioramas for interpretive programs for the new facility.
Minnesota Sesquicentennial 