The city of Minneapolis announced Monday that it has approved $100,000 in grants “for urgently needed artist-led creative healing in the wake of the death of George Floyd and the subsequent community uprisings.”
“The first funding priority was given to Black artists working with communities who have historically experienced the stress and trauma of racial discrimination,” said a city press release.
The city’s Office of Arts, Culture and the Creative Economy awarded 10 projects with a share of the grant dollars, which “also recognize the unpaid labor of artists and designers as they respond to multiple health and racism emergencies to support community needs,” according to the release.
One of the projects, called “Haircuts for Change,” will focus on “healing and beauty practices in the South Minneapolis Black community by providing opportunities for haircuts and self-care in pop up locations.”
Another grant recipient will create a “series of four instructive healing murals aimed at making simple herbal/energetic medicine knowledge public and accessible.”
“The murals will share medicine that is necessary to help our communities in this time of change and healing. Potential mural design subjects may be how to identify and use plantain weed to cure bug bites, common plants that grow in Minneapolis and the benefits of using them for tea, a simple meditation exercise, and energy clearing exercise. The project will both provide useful information and also affirm the existence of non-monetized indigenous healing knowledge,” states a description of the project.
A third project will include a series of community events to “provide spaces that support neighbors to examine critical public issues through processes developed from creative practice and trauma healing frameworks.”
“Funded projects range in nature from pop-up healing and beauty stations, filmed performances projected onto damaged and destroyed spaces, painted murals that share native medicinal knowledge of healing herbs, community healing through art-making, and engagement events that involve storytelling and deep dialogue,” says a description of the projects.
Funding for the grants comes from repurposed resources provided by the Kresge Foundation to Minneapolis’ Creative CityMaking program.
Anthony Gockowski
Anthony Gockowski is Editor-in-Chief of Alpha News. He previously worked as an editor for The Minnesota Sun and Campus Reform, and wrote for the Daily Caller.
