Past Cultural STAR Award Recipients
-
At their December 3rd, 2025 meeting, the Saint Paul City Council awarded $1,286,552 in Cultural Sales Tax Revitalization (STAR) grants to support 78 arts and cultural projects. These grants will support programming, capital improvements, and organizational development activities for 78 local non-profit arts and cultural organizations. These programs and activities will take place from August 1, 2025 through July 31, 2026.
In addition to awarding competitive grants to nonprofits, the Cultural STAR program also supports the Saint Paul Public Libraries with an annual budget allocation. In 2025, the Cultural STAR program budget included $175,000 in funding for library materials.
(Neo)Muralismos de Mexico
Alebrijes: Keepers of the Island
Award Amount: $26,000.00
Actor's Theater of Minnesota
Marketing post Robert St. Rebuild
Award Amount: $15,000.00
American Composers Forum
I CARE IF YOU LISTEN series
Award Amount: $5,000.00
American Craft Council
American Craft Fest St. Paul 2026
Award Amount: $16,000.00
Ananya Dance Theatre
Swapno Jhnap: Dream Jumping
Award Amount: $15,000.00
ArtStart
Celebrate St. Paul! Wearable Art Inspired by Music
Award Amount: $15,052.00
Asian Economic Development Association
2026 Little Mekong Night Market
Award Amount: $24,000.00
Bach Society of Minnesota
Baroque Tango
Award Amount: $7,000.00
Ballet Co. Laboratory
Freddie: Break Free // A Rock Ballet
Award Amount: $18,000.00
Border CrosSing
Border CrosSing Presents: Un Milagro de Fe
Award Amount: $18,000.00
Center for Broadcast Journalism
7th Street LIVE Arts Festival
Award Amount: $24,000.00
Chinese American Association of Minnesota Chinese Dance Theater
Engaging Young Audiences in Chinese Culture
Award Amount: $25,000.00
Circus of the Star
2026 Community Day and Arts Outreach Proposal
Award Amount: $5,000.00
City of St. Paul - Library Dept.
Saint Paul Public Library Collections Materials
Award Amount: $175,000.00
ComMUSICation
ComMUSICation - Melanie DeMore Residency and Performance
Award Amount: $16,112.00
District 10 Community Council (Como Community Council)
Como Community Events
Award Amount: $6,000.00
COMPAS
Emerging Young Artists Exhibit
Award Amount: $9,000.00
Consortium Carissimi
The Influence of Baroque on Traditional Irish Music
Award Amount: $15,000.00
Creative Enterprise Zone
2025 Chroma Zone Mural & Art Festival
Award Amount: $9,000.00
Elpis Enterprises
Voices of Young People Experiencing Unstable Housing Through Photography and Videography
Award Amount: $5,000.00
European Christmas Market
European Christmas Market 2025
Award Amount: $27,000.00
Face to Face Health & Counseling Service, Inc.
Arts Programming at SafeZone
Award Amount: $29,000.00
FilmNorth
Studio Thirteen Future Filmmakers Lab and the Tech Scout Collegiate Program
Award Amount: $15,000.00
Forecast Public Artworks
Making It Public: Creative Connections in Community
Award Amount: $9,000.00
Frogtown Tuned-In
Tell Tour Pride radio program
Award Amount: $7,500.00
Full Circle Theater Company
Full Circle's Production of CONSTELLATIONS: Centering Disability Stories presented at Park Square Theatre
Award Amount: $30,000.00
Germanic-American Institute
Interactive German Storytime
Award Amount: $5,000.00
Great River Passage Conservancy
Gateway Murals: Transforming the Sibley & Jackson Underpasses
Award Amount: $14,000.00
Greater Twin Cities Youth Symphonies
St. Paul Music Access Initiative
Award Amount: $10,000.00
The History Theatre, Inc
Rollicking! A Winter Carnival Musical by Rachel Teagle and Keith Hovis
Award Amount: $20,000.00
Hmong Cultural Center Incorporated
2026 Minnesota Qeej and Hmong Arts Festival
Award Amount: $30,000.00
Hot Summer Jazz Festival
2026 Twin Cities Jazz Festival
Award Amount: $30,000.00
In Progress
The Collective
Award Amount: $11,000.00
India Association of Minnesota
IndiaFest 2025
Award Amount: $24,000.00
Indigenous Roots
New Beginnings: Honoring Diversity, Connection, and Cultural Identity
Award Amount: $24,000.00
Interact Center for the Visual and Performing Arts
Uniquinox (unique-win-ox)
Award Amount: $13,675.00
Irish Fair of Minnesota
Irish Fair of Minnesota
Award Amount: $30,000.00
Japan America Society of Minnesota
Japanese Obon Festival
Award Amount: $5,500.00
MINNESOTA HARD BOP COLLECTIVE
The Sit-In Series
Award Amount: $15,000.00
Minnesota Landmarks, Inc
Mosaic Festival
Award Amount: $10,000.00
Minnesota Opera
My Name is Florence - Minnesota Opera
Award Amount: $30,000.00
Minnesota Public Radio
Minnesota Music All Year
Award Amount: $18,000.00
Minnesota Vietnamese Language School
Lunar New Year (Tet) Celebration
Award Amount: $11,250.00
Mizna
Publishing Mizna: SWANA Literature and Art
Award Amount: $20,000.00
Music Mission
Lakeside Guitar Festival 2025
Award Amount: $5,463.00
Nautilus Music-Theater
ROUGH CUTS: Musical theater works-in-progress
Award Amount: $21,000.00
One Voice Mixed Chorus
"Royalty" at the Ordway Concert Hall
Award Amount: $14,000.00
Oratorio Society of Minnesota
Korean Choral Music and Culture
Award Amount: $9,000.00
Ordway Center for the Performing Arts
2026 Family Festival
Award Amount: $30,000.00
Oyate Hotanin
Celebrate and Preserve Traditional American Indian Stories and Songs
Award Amount: $24,000.00
Park Square Theatre
Park Square's Production of the Musical "A Chorus Line."
Award Amount: $25,000.00
Planting People Growing Justice Leadership Institute
Rondo: History & Values Anthology
Award Amount: $5,000.00
Public Art Saint Paul
Wakpa Triennial Art Festival
Award Amount: $23,000.00
Ragamala Dance Company
Mythology Makes Us
Award Amount: $18,000.00
Rain Taxi Inc.
Twin Cities Book Festival
Award Amount: $12,000.00
Red Bird Chapbooks
Red Bird Chapbooks Reading Series and Workshops
Award Amount: $5,000.00
Rice Park Association
Summer Nights in Rice Concert Series
Award Amount: $5,000.00
Saint Paul Art Collective
St. Paul Art Collective - Organization Enhancement (website redesign phanse 2)
Award Amount: $7,000.00
Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra
Finale: Abel Selaocoe in Saint Paul
Award Amount: $20,000.00
Saint Paul Festival and Heritage Foundation
Rondo Arts & Culture Night at Winter Carnival
Award Amount: $12,000.00
Science Museum of Minnesota
Community Science Days
Award Amount: $10,000.00
Selby Ave JazzFest
2025 Selby Ave JazzFest
Award Amount: $11,250.00
Sounds of Hope, Ltd.
Songs of Hope On The River
Award Amount: $7,000.00
Springboard for the Arts
Springboard on Ice
Award Amount: $15,750.00
TaikoArts Midwest
TaikoArts Midwest Healing Taiko Concert
Award Amount: $30,000.00
Taste of Minnesota Foundation
Taste of Minnesota
Award Amount: $24,000.00
Teatro del Pueblo
Los Profanadores
Award Amount: $27,000.00
The Cookie Cart
Lowertown Sounds
Award Amount: $20,000.00
The Great Northern Winter Festival
Frostline
Award Amount: $25,000.00
The Schubert Club
FamilyJam, KidsJam and Museum Minis
Award Amount: $9,000.00
Theater Mu, Incorporated
Theater Mu's World Premiere of HMONG FUTURES by Katie Ka Vang
Award Amount: $24,000.00
Transforming Generations
2026 TG PrideFest & Drag ON Talent Mentorship Program
Award Amount: $24,000.00
TruArtSpeaks
Be Heard MN Youth Poetry Slam Series
Award Amount: $20,000.00
Twin Cities Iranian Culture Collective
2026 Nowruz (Persian New Year) Concert and Community Gathering
Award Amount: $5,000.00
VocalEssence
Global Rhythms, Joyful Voices
Award Amount: $22,000.00
Walker West Music Academy
Rondo Community Music Series
Award Amount: $15,000.00
Wonderlust Productions
Wonderlust Productions Hidden Stories of St. Paul Season 3
Award Amount: $30,000.00
Young Dance, Inc.
Growing Young Dance: Space, Impact, Community
Award Amount: $10,000.00
Zorongo Flamenco, Inc
Bringing Tablao Flamenco to St. Paul
Award Amount: $10,000.00
-
At their November 6 meeting, the Saint Paul City Council awarded $1,108,775 in Cultural Sales Tax Revitalization (STAR) grants to support 68 arts and cultural projects. These grants will support programming, capital improvements, and organizational development activities for 67 local non-profit arts and cultural organizations. These programs and activities will take place from August 1, 2024 through July 31, 2025.
In addition to awarding competitive grants to nonprofits, the Cultural STAR program also supports the Saint Paul Public Libraries with an annual budget allocation. In 2024, the Cultural STAR program budget included $175,000 in funding for library materials.
American Association of Woodturners
Woodturner International Symposium
Award Amount: $24,000.00
American Craft Council
American Craft Fest St. Paul
Award Amount: $13,000.00
Ananya Dance Theatre
ANTARANGA: BETWEEN YOU AND ME
Award Amount: $17,000.00
Asian Economic Development Association
2025 Little Mekong Night Market
Award Amount: $17,000.00
Bach Society of Minnesota
Outside the Box
Award Amount: $18,500.00
Ballet Co. Laboratory
Ballet Tuesday at the Landmark Center
Award Amount: $15,000.00
Border CrosSing
Golijov's Oceana with Border CrosSing
Award Amount: $24,000.00
Brownbody
CapaCITY GRANT
Award Amount: $24,000.00
Cantus
Cantus and The Swingles: In Concert
Award Amount: $6,500.00
Center for Broadcast Journalism
7th Street LIVE Arts Festival
Award Amount: $24,000.00
Circus of the Star
Rigger Communication System
Award Amount: $14,000.00
CLUES (Comunidades Latinas Unidas En Servicio)
Fiesta Latina 2024
Award Amount: $14,000.00
ComMUSICation
Growing ComMUSICation's individual giving program
Award Amount: $14,000.00
East Side Arts Council
SOLIDARITY STREET GALLERY 2024
Award Amount: $6,000.00
Elpis Enterprises
Photo/Video Visual Arts: Voices of Young People Experiencing Unstable Housing
Award Amount: $5,000.00
ArtStart
Rhythms of the City: Art Inspired by Music
Award Amount: $15,775.00
Film Score Fest (Fiscal Sponsor: FilmNorth)
Film Score Fest 2024-25
Award Amount: $24,000.00
FLYING FOOT FORUM
“DANDELIONS” – A world premiere dance/theatre production
Award Amount: $9,750.00
Full Circle Theater Company
Full Circle’s Production of THE ADVENTURES OF A TRAVELING MESKWAKI presented at Park Square Theatre
Award Amount: $24,000.00
Funny Asian Women Kollective (Fiscal Sponsor: Springboard for the Arts)
The FAWK SUPER SHOW
Award Amount: $24,000.00
Great River Passage Conservancy
Music on the River Series
Award Amount: $18,500.00
History Theatre, Inc
Secret Warriors by Rick Shiomi
Award Amount: $24,000.00
Illusion Theater and School, Inc.
Illusion Theater in St. Paul: "PORTRAIT OF THE ARTIST AS A YOUNG GAY MAN"
Award Amount: $12,000.00
India Association of Minnesota
IAM India Fest 2024
Award Amount: $17,000.00
Indian Music Society of Minnesota (IMSOM)
IMSOM presents Masters of Percussion led by Zakir Hussain
Award Amount: $13,000.00
Irish Fair of Minnesota
Irish Fair of Minnesota
Award Amount: $24,000.00
Katha Dance Theatre
World Premiere of "PRAKRITIR PRATISODH – Nature’s Revenge" in downtown St. Paul
Award Amount: $16,500.00
Lower Phalen Creek Project (dba Wakan Tipi Awanyankapi)
Wakan Tipi Center Finance, Facilities, and Operation planning
Award Amount: $24,000.00
Maia Maiden Productions (FS: Springboard for the Arts)
ROOTED: Hip Hop Choreographers' Evening
Award Amount: $24,000.00
Midwest Special Services, Inc.
World Music Series at MSS
Award Amount: $5,000.00
Minnesota Children's Museum
Community Day of Play
Award Amount: $6,500.00
MINNESOTA HARD BOP COLLECTIVE
The MN Hard Bop Collective Student Weekly "Sit In Series" at MetroNOME
Award Amount: $19,500.00
Minnesota Landmarks, Inc
Mosaic Festival at Landmark Center
Award Amount: $14,000.00
Minnesota Opera
THE SNOWY DAY - MINNESOTA OPERA
Award Amount: $24,000.00
Minnesota Public Radio
2025 Minnesota Music Month Showcase, presented by The Current
Award Amount: $24,000.00
Minnesota Vietnamese Language School
Lunar New Year (Tet) Celebration
Award Amount: $10,000.00
Music Mission
Lakeside Guitar Festival 2024
Award Amount: $5,000.00
Opera Reading Project
Igniting New Audiences: Opera Fusion to Opera Readings
Award Amount: $13,000.00
Opera Reading Project
Opera Storytellers
Award Amount: $6,000.00
Pan Asian Arts Alliance
Fortune Tales: MN Asian Music Festival
Award Amount: $24,000.00
Park Square Theatre
The Production of a Family Holiday Play "The Best Christmas Pageant Ever" by Barbara Robinson and student matinees and school residencies
Award Amount: $24,000.00
People Incorporated
Artability
Award Amount: $24,000.00
Planting People Growing Justice Leadership Institute
Rondo: History & Values Anthology
Award Amount: $6,500.00
PRIME Productions
PRIME Voices; The Playwright Series. Staged readings of new plays by mature female identifying playwrights.
Award Amount: $24,000.00
Rhythmically Speaking
Rhythmically Speaking presents Live Dance and Musical Performance of Jazz Standards
Award Amount: $8,000.00
Rice Park Association
Summer Nights in Rice 2025
Award Amount: $6,500.00
Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra
SPCO Collaboration with Abel Selaocoe
Award Amount: $22,500.00
Scotty Reynolds, DBA Mixed Precipitation (FS: Springboard for the Arts)
Pickup Truck Opera Presents Faust
Award Amount: $6,000.00
SEWA-AIFW
Breaking Boundaries: South Asian Feminist Narratives
Award Amount: $24,000.00
Six Points Theater
The Messenger
Award Amount: $5,000.00
Skylark Opera
A Cultural Celebration of Opera
Award Amount: $6,500.00
Sod House Theater
The Mother
Award Amount: $6,000.00
Springboard for the Arts
Springboard on Ice: Artist-Led Creative Programming in St. Paul’s Frogtown/Rondo communities
Award Amount: $14,000.00
Teatro del Pueblo
Nuestras Voces
Award Amount: $24,000.00
Ten Thousand Things
Free Performance Series in St. Paul
Award Amount: $24,000.00
The Saint Paul Festival Association
Partnership to Revive the Festival of Nations
Award Amount: $20,000.00
The Schubert Club
A Window Into the Past Multi-Media Installation Project for the Schubert Club Museum
Award Amount: $6,500.00
TU Dance
TU Dance’s 20th Anniversary Dance Concert at The O’Shaughnessy
Award Amount: $17,000.00
Twin Cities Gay Men's Chorus
Leading Ladies of Broadway at the Ordway
Award Amount: $24,000.00
Twin Cities Metro IBA
Lowertown Sounds Cultural STAR Grant Application
Award Amount: $24,000.00
Twin Cities PBS
St. Paul Sound: TPT’s Audio Board Replacement
Award Amount: $24,000.00
Twin Cities Pride
You Belong Fall Fest
Award Amount: $18,000.00
Victoria Theater Arts Center
SPEAK OUT AND LEAD Youth Arts Festival
Award Amount: $9,750.00
VocalEssence
VOZ EN PUNTO Residency
Award Amount: $13,000.00
Walker West Music Academy
Supporting the Rondo Community Music Series
Award Amount: $17,000.00
Wonderlust Productions
Hidden Stories of St. Paul Season 2
Award Amount: $24,000.00
Young Dance, Inc.
Community Partnership Manager
Award Amount: $5,000.00
Young Dance, Inc.
Dancing Bodies, Young Dance All Abilities Dancing Performance
Award Amount: $24,000.00
City of St. Paul - Library Dept.
Saint Paul Public Library Collections Materials
Award Amount: $325,000.00
-
The Saint Paul City Council approved the 2023 Cultural Sales Tax Revitalization (STAR) Grant Program awards on November 15, 2023. These grants, totaling nearly $1.3 million, will support programming, capital improvements and organizational development activities for 66 local non-profit arts and cultural organizations. These programs and activities will take place from August 1, 2023 through July 31, 2024.
In addition to awarding competitive grants to nonprofits, the Cultural STAR program also supports the Saint Paul Public Libraries with an annual budget allocation. In 2023, the Cultural STAR program budget included $175,000 in funding for library materials.
(Neo)Muralismos de México
Chiapas - Minnesota Residency and 10,000 Alebrijes
$30,000- (Neo)Muralismos de México, a Saint Paul-based nonprofit focused on Mexican and Latino public art, seeks support for two programs:
- Chiapas - Minnesota Residency: Visiting artist program for painters from Chiapas, Mexico, who will present art and share indigenous Maya Tzotzil culture
113
Lowertown Improv Series
$10,000113 seeks support for a series of nine community-oriented concerts led by a diverse roster of local and traveling musicians, with emphases on free and guided improvisation, invented instruments, noise, free jazz and audience participation. 113's project goal is to offer a platform for diverse artists working in mediums with little or no institutional support.
Ananya Dance Theatre
Digital Infrastructure to Build the Future
$20,233Ananya Dance Theatre will engage Next in Nonprofits to design, build and implement two digital tools: a constituent relationship management (CRM) system and the digital infrastructure to support a new communications strategy. From October 2023 to July 2024, consultants will work with staff/board to build mission-aligned efficiencies that support long-term organizational sustainability.
Art from the Inside
Supportive Arts Programming
$22,232Art from the Inside (AFTI) elevates the voices of incarcerated and formerly incarcerated artists in Minnesota through community-centered exhibitions of their art. We will pilot supportive arts programming centered on healing and our collective power to transform. A special focus this cycle will be centered on engaging youth as we re-imagine a paradigm for community safety through the arts.
Asian Economic Development Association
2024 Little Mekong Night Market
$20,235The Little Mekong Night Market street festival will be held June 22-23, 2024 at University Avenue and Western Avenue. The night market celebrates Saint Paul's cultural diversity; provides Southeast Asian art & cultural performances, offers food and retail experiences; and provides Southeast Asian artists and vendors and Little Mekong businesses revenue-generating opportunities. Cultural STAR will help bring back this beloved street festival after four years of cancellation.
Bach Society of Minnesota
Bach Society Mobile Mini-Concerts
$12,560Mobile Mini-Concerts are free 15-minute outdoor pop-ups by solo musicians in neighborhoods across Saint Paul. Our goal is to introduce new audiences to classical music in ways that enliven community life.
STAR will support over 100 mobile mini-concerts in 35 neighborhoods from September 2023 to June 2024, with two multi-performer, culminating concerts in Central Village Park and the Lowertown Farmers Market.
Ballet Minnesota
Minnesota Dance Festival
$10,000Funding to support the 34th Annual Minnesota Dance Festival, the largest annual gathering of young dancers and professional dance artists in the upper Midwest, taking place in Saint Paul. Minnesota dance artists and audiences will be artistically inspired and challenged through performances, education and exchange.
Cantus
Cantus and Canadian Brass: In Concert
$10,000Cantus will host international brass quintet, Canadian Brass, for a once-in-a-lifetime collaborative concert at the Ordway Concert Hall in February 2024. This concert will provide access to virtuosic artistic quality and a message about international collaboration to Saint Paul residents and attract visitors to the Saint Paul cultural district.
Chinese American Association of Minnesota Chinese Dance Theater
Engaging Audiences at Lunar New Year
$7,000Funding for new marketing efforts to recover and increase audiences after COVID, for the Chinese American Association of Minnesota Chinese Dance Theater's hallmark dance program created each year to celebrate the Lunar New Year at the O'Shaughnessy.
Chinese American Association of Minnesota Chinese Dance Theater
Exploring Chinese Legends with Young Audiences
$30,000Working to bridge cultural gaps, increase racial equity and encourage access, CAAM Chinese Dance Theater will create an original live performance and interactive program at Landmark Center in Downtown Saint Paul based on a Chinese legend ("Nezha's Amazing Underwater Adventures") to serve primarily young audiences through their schools and other programs during Asian Heritage Month.
CLUES (Comunidades Latinas Unidas En Servicio)
Fiesta Latina 2023
$20,000CLUES intends to use Cultural STAR project funding for festival celebrations of Latinx artistic and cultural heritage and tradition during our Fiesta Latina for National Hispanic Heritage Month at our Saint Paul CLUES building. This free event brought over 3,500 people to Saint Paul last year.
COLLIDE Theatrical Dance Company
Wonderland School Tour
$22,000This grant will support nine free performances of "Wonderland," our educational show on mental health, for Saint Paul schools serving diverse student populations, as well as a public community show. Our goal is to open up conversations about mental health and offer valuable resources for help. The shows will positively impact up to 2,000 people: approximately 1,850 students and 200 community members.
Como Community Council
D10 Como Community Events Diversity Programming
$8,500Our project will increase diverse vendor representation at the Como Community Council's five annual community events. This funding will allow us to more publicly celebrate the growing diversity of our neighborhood by hiring a representative group of performers and artists. This project will increase the sense of welcome at our community events and within our organization, for all of our neighbors.
COMPAS
Emerging Young Artists
$12,000COMPAS will curate an exhibit to showcase exceptional 2D & 3D visual art by Saint Paul and East Metro middle and high school students. The exhibit will be open to the public for 2-3 weeks in March 2024 and include events to invite a diverse audience to attend. STAR funding will underwrite staff and artists' pay to curate the show and lead workshops; space rental; marketing; and accessibility costs.
Compassionate Action for Animals
Music at 2023 Twin Cities Veg Fest
$8,900Funding from Cultural STAR will bring audiences to hear music in downtown St. Paul, enable musicians to share their music with new audiences, and give audiences access to musical experiences they would not otherwise be able to access.
Consortium Carissimi
Introducing Paolo Costa's Organ to Saint Paul with Monteverdi
$10,989Our project is two-fold: 1) Bring to Saint Paul, MN, and introduce, permanently, an exquisite portative hand-crafted Italian organ, unique among local instruments; and 2) Introduce this instrument with a performance of Monteverdi's great collection Selva morale e spirituale - which translates as 'moral and spiritual forest.' Performances will occur April-June 2024 at venues described below.
Creative Enterprise Zone
2023 Chroma Zone and Art Festival
$15,000Chroma Zone Mural & Art Festival is an annual celebration (September 14-16, 2023) of artistry and community that connects people to place, advances creative and economic development through tours and events, and ensures representation by BIPOC, Women, Queer and Nonbinary artists with the commission of outdoor public murals in Saint Paul's Creative Enterprise Zone (South Saint Anthony Park).
District 6 Planning Council
2023 Marydale Festival
$5,000Marydale Festival is in its seventh year. The festival is held on the fourth Saturday in September and at Marydale Park (542 Maryland Avenue). An annual event such as Marydale Festival can be especially effective in a community with great social, ethnic and economic diversity.
East Side Freedom Library
Digital repository for community connection
$20,233Creating a digital repository of cultural information at the East Side Freedom Library to augment community connection, organizing, and collective action in the community. Access to these materials will improve understanding and outcomes for the diverse communities of Saint Paul, focusing on materials previously unavailable in digital formats.
Face to Face Health & Counseling Service, Inc
Arts Programming at SafeZone
$35,000Our proposed project is Arts Programming at SafeZone, our day shelter for youth experiencing homelessness. The intent is to provide creative, therapeutic opportunities for expression for under-resourced young people, so that they can pursue their creative aspirations. Prior funding allowed us to expand the program to include multiple art forms and we are seeking funding to continue these offerings.
FilmNorth
Studio Thirteen
$5,000FilmNorth requests funding to support Studio Thirteen, an intensive lab for talented creative youths who are interested in honing their filmmaking skills. Studio Thirteen will take place three days a week from September 26 through December 21, 2023 at FilmNorth in the Creative Enterprise Zone in Saint Paul. Cultural STAR funds will be used to bring in guest artists and ensure the lab is free.
Full Circle Theater Company
Full Circle’s Production of ANON(YMOUS) presented at Park Square Theatre
$35,000Full Circle's production of ANON(YMOUS) by Naomi Iizuka, directed by Stephanie Lein Walseth, at Park Square Theatre, November 2-19, 2023. Based on Homer's Odyssey, ANON(YMOUS) will illuminate the many refugee and asylum seeker crises around the globe, as it follows the harrowing journey of a mother and son. STAR funds will support professional theater artists and accessibility costs.
Greater Twin Cities Youth Symphonies
Harmony
$20,000Harmony is an extra-curricular year-round strings program that transforms low-income BIPOC students' lives by creating long-term access to music. Funding would support instruction for 2nd - 5th grade Harmony participants at Riverview Spanish/English Dual Immersion School (Saint Paul) and costs for Harmony alumni (6th - 12th grade) to participate in lessons and GTCYS' orchestras as they progress.
Historic Saint Paul Corporation
Theory of Change
$18,250Historic Saint Paul respectfully requests funding to complete a Theory of Change and resulting workplan. As historic preservation evolves into a more diverse, community-involved endeavor, this effort is crucial for our future Historic Saint Paul is the only preservation group focused on Saint Paul, and we are excited to more fully demonstrate the effects that the city's histories and stories have on its culture.
Hmong Cultural Center of Minnesota
2024 Minnesota Qeej and Hmong Arts Festival
$30,000Hmong Cultural Center will host the 2024 Minnesota Qeej and Hmong Arts Festival at Landmark Center on June 2, 2024, involving a Sunday of comprehensive daylong programming to educate Hmong & non-Hmong about the Qeej instrument and other Hmong art forms including traditional musical instruments and dance.
Illusion Theater and School, Inc.
IN THIS MOMENT…NOW: Illusion Theater in Saint Paul
$20,000Illusion requests $20,000 to help pay artist & ADA expenses to produce IN THIS MOMENT NOW (ITMN) for 3 weeks at the Lowry Lab in Downtown Saint Paul during Spring 2024. Led by renowned African American artists, T. Mychael Rambo & Amiee Bryant, ITMN features Black artists who share their views on how theater, spoken word, dance and song serve our community as we continue to deal with systemic racism.
In Progress
The Collective
$12,704THE COLLECTIVE is a digital arts project that provides mentorship, access and presentation opportunities to developing artists that face barriers to participation due to cultural, social and economic barriers. Activities take place in the North End neighborhood, with exhibitions extending to City Hall and State Capitol. Funding supports mentorship, participant goal planning and exhibit activities.
Indian Music Society of Minnesota (IMSOM)
IMSOM presents virtuosos Kaushiki and Ambi
$20,000IMSOM will present a special duet concert to commence their 45th season, featuring the sensational young virtuosos, Kaushiki Chakraborty (Vocal) with Ambi Subramaniam (Violin).
The concert is expected to enthrall an estimated 600 attendees and raise IMSOM's profile in the Twin Cities cultural landscape as it furthers its mission to bring people and cultures together through musical offerings.
Indigenous Roots
Intertribal Cultural Corridor Mural Expansion
$20,233We are planning on creating a series of murals on the side of the building at 781 Hope Street and the Indigenous Roots Arts and Cultural Center. These murals will become part of our initiative to highlight the 7th Street Intertribal Cultural Corridor and raise a sense of ownership and representation within the community.
Irish Fair of Minnesota
Irish Fair of Minnesota
$35,000Each August, Irish Fair of Minnesota (IFM) hosts a three-day arts and culture festival on Harriet Island intended to immerse our attendees in Irish culture. We offer popular and traditional Irish music, dance, history, sports, cuisine and more. Our event attracts 30,000+ people. Cultural STAR funds are used to ensure high quality programming and an enhanced guest experience.
Lower Phalen Creek Project (dba Wakan Tipi Awanyankapi)
Wakan Tipi Center - Star Map Exhibit
$22,232WTA is requesting support for the design, fabrication and installation of a Dakota Star map for the main gathering hall at the new Wakan Tipi Center. Minnesota is the ancestral homeland of the Dakota people, numerous sites hold sacred significance representing Dakota spiritual beliefs and cosmology.
Minnesota Hard Bop Collective
The MetroNOME Jazz Mentorship Project
$30,000The MetroNOME Jazz Mentorship Program aims to provide a formal opportunity for music students to perform with and learn directly from professional musicians at the MetroNOME (Nourishing Outstanding Music Education) Stage from November 2023 to June 2024. This will provide students with performance skills and confidence building that is not available in the classroom or open mic jam sessions.
Minnesota Museum of American Art
Lambert's Landing Mural Re-envisioning Project
$35,000The M will support artist Seitu Jones in the process of restoring "Confluence," an important public mural the artist mounted along Lambert's Landing in 1986. The work has fallen into disrepair, while the site along the Mississippi has become an encampment for the unhoused. This project will take place August 2023 - July 2024, and will involve re-envisioning "Confluence" for today's communities.
Minnesota Museum of American Art
Seitu Jones Retrospective
$22,226The M seeks funding for an artist residency for Seitu Jones to prepare an immersive exhibition featuring his multi-faceted, community-based work that pushes beyond traditional art spaces. Seitu will collaborate with Black archivists and co-curators Alexandra Nicome and Ego Ahalwe Sowinski and the M's curator, Laura Joseph, on a community-based archival process to inform the exhibition.
Minnesota Public Radio
Minnesota Music Month Showcase
$35,000MPR's The Current will host a Minnesota Music Month showcase in downtown Saint Paul and adjoining neighborhoods in April 2024. We envision hosting one event per weekend for four weeks, starting on April 5 and ending on or about April 28. Funds will make it possible to bring 12-16 of the best local bands and a buzzy atmosphere to venues and businesses in the cultural district.
Minnesota Transportation Museum
African American Railway Workers Exhibit
$20,233Add to the cultural identity of Saint Paul by exhibiting the legacy of early 20th century African American railway workers who worked at Union Depot, as porters on the trains, supported and educated their families, and helped build the cultural and economic fabric of Saint Paul. The project will create a permanent home for this exhibit at the Jackson Street Roundhouse which was unveiled early in 2023.
Minnesota Vietnamese Language School
Lunar New Year (Tet) Celebration
$14,500The Lunar New Year (Tet) Celebration is a free event at Washington Technology Magnet School in Saint Paul on January 27, 2024. Tet is the pinnacle celebration of Vietnamese culture, and the goal is to promote Vietnamese culture and diversity through cultural performance and artistry. Cultural STAR funding would expand programming, outreach, access, and inclusion to a wider audience.
Mizna
Publishing Mizna: SWANA Literature and Art
$30,000Mizna is seeking support for the publication of two issues of our award-winning literary journal, "Mizna: Southwest Asian Literature + Art," one of which will be a special Cinema Issue, and the other will feature a tribute to Baya, the overlooked early 20th-century Algerian painter whose work was coopted by Picasso and other modernist artists.
One Voice Mixed Chorus
The Art of Joy at the Ordway Concert Hall
$25,000One Voice will perform "The Art of Joy" at the Ordway Concert Hall during Saint Paul Pride Weekend, June 22-23, 2024. Featuring music and performances by LGBTQ artists, "Joy" will celebrate One Voice's 35th Anniversary Season, and spotlight the role Joy plays in binding together the multidimensional and intersectional queer community.
Ordway Center for the Performing Arts
Ordway's Flint Hills Family Festival
$35,000For four days next spring, the Ordway's 2024 Flint Hills Family Festival will transform Rice Park and the downtown Saint Paul area. In part, our goal is to provide an exceptional, positive arts experience for schools and families. Funding will support our ability to host 2 outdoor and 2 indoor stages, and a wide range of interactive arts experiences-highlighting over 200 artists from varied cultures.
Penumbra Theatre
Flex
$20,233The goal of this project is to enhance, explore, express, and celebrate Black culture through a series of interdisciplinary activities combining arts and athletics including: the regional premiere of the play FLEX, a fellowship for young creative professionals, an arts-driven youth basketball clinic, an intergenerational panel discussion, and student matinees.
Ragamala Dance Company
Children of Dharma: Interactive Workshop & Community Conversation Series
$25,000To create an original six-month Interactive Workshop and Community Conversation Series hosted by multiple partner venues in the Saint Paul Cultural Corridor, in alignment with our new multi-disciplinary production Children of Dharma, premiering January 2024. The Series will incorporate live performances & engagements to address critical issues of culture & identity impacting our local communities today.
Rhythmically Speaking
Rhythmically Speaking presents: CHILL - The Entire Charlie Brown Christmas Soundtrack, Played Live and Danced!
$6,352CHILL is a crowd-favorite evening of original jazz dance works, set to the "Charlie Brown Christmas" soundtrack and played live by the Nordeast Jazz Band. The show - being held 12/1/23 - 12/3/23 at the space of long-time partner Amsterdam Bar & Hall - will add vibrancy to downtown Saint Paul during the holidays, and STAR funding will help us compensate the artists at the center of the project.
Saint Paul Festival and Heritage Foundation
Bringing Us Together Again at Rondo Night
$9,538The Saint Paul Winter Carnival saw great success bringing the community together through Rondo Night as part of the annual festival in 2023. We are again requesting funding to pay for artists, performers, and educational experiences. The purpose of the project is to celebrate the diversity and vibrancy of the Rondo community of Saint Paul as we come together at the Coolest Celebration on Earth.
Saint Paul Public Library
Saint Paul Public Library Collections Materials
$175,000Saint Paul Public Library uses Cultural STAR funds to purchase a wide range of cultural & art materials for patrons across the City to borrow. Materials are purchased in multiple formats for all age groups including books, DVDs, CDs & online access. These funds expand the cultural reach of more authors of color, local authors, debut & self-published authors, & ensure a broader range of stories & voices are represented.
Six Points Theater
TORCH SONG by Harvey Fierstein
$13,950TORCH SONG, a comedy about a Jewish drag queen, will be produced to increase understanding and tolerance, and will enlarge SPT's LGBTQIA+ audience. It will run May 4-19 in Highland Park Community Center. Several free/open to the public programs ("Doorways") will complement the play. Funding will enable SPT to hire top actors, appropriately compensated, and have design elements with high artistry.
Sounds of Hope, Ltd.
Songs of Hope Downtown Concert
$9,000In the upcoming summer of 2024, building on the success of last year's first efforts, we intend to continue looking for new Songs of Hope audiences in the downtown area. STAR funding will help support a concert within the Cultural District in Wacouta Commons, a small, attractive, and underutilized City park near the corner of West Seventh and Wacouta Street.
Springboard for the Arts
Springboard on Ice: Artist-Led Creative Programming in Saint Paul’s Frogtown/Rondo communities
$15,000Cultural STAR funds will support "Springboard on Ice", a series of artist-led performances and programming hosted on a pop-up outdoor ice rink at Springboard's University Avenue location (winter 2024). With partner Brownbody, we will bring culturally responsive creative programming to Saint Paul residents who do not have access to and who frequently do not see themselves represented on the ice.
TaikoArts Midwest
TaikoArts Midwest International Taiko Concert
$35,000TaikoArts Midwest will produce an international collaborative concert at the Ordway concert stage on May 12, 2023. Performers include local taiko favorite, Enso Daiko, and special guest artists, Yuichi Kimura & Daichi no Kai (Taiko group from Kobe, Japan), and Japanese folk tenten (vocals/shamisen from Toronto, Canada). We are making Saint Paul and international center of excellence for taiko arts.
Ten Thousand Things
Free Performance Series in Saint Paul
$15,000Ten Thousand Things (TTT) will increase arts access by presenting 12 free theater shows in 2024 in partnership with: St. Paul Opportunity Center; Saint Paul Conservatory for Performing Artists; Episcopal Homes senior facilities; Ramsey County Corrections; Interact Center for the Visual and Performing Arts; Dellwood Gardens; Black Youth Healing Arts Center; Avalon School; and MSS.
The Friends of the Saint Paul Public Library
2024 Minnesota Book Awards
$7,068The Minnesota Book Awards connects thousands of readers and writers in MN through the stories of their neighbors. The program, in its 36th year, identifies and celebrates the best books by MN writers over the past year through a judging process, awards ceremony, and events showcasing finalists and winners. Cultural STAR funding would support expenses for the awards ceremony and panel discussions.
The Great Northern Winter Festival
Tunde Olaniran
$19,056TGN will present events featuring Tunde Olaniran, a multidisciplinary artist from Flint, MI. In addition to a concert at Amsterdam, the festival will share a screening of their film Made A Universe followed by an artist conversation. Olaniran's work draws on their intersectional identities as a Black and queer person. STAR funding will make the project possible.
The Saint Paul Conservatory of Music
The Saint Paul Chamber Music Festival at MetroNOME Brewery
$9,528SPCM seeks Cultural Star funding to support four free public concerts at MetroNOME Brewing in Lowertown, as part of our new Saint Paul Chamber Music Festival. These performances will feature nationally renowned professional musicians and SPCM faculty and students in an accessible, informal setting for audiences of all ages.
The Schubert Club
Schubert Club Mix presents Shruthi Rajasekar and Friends
$10,000Shruthi Rajasekar & Friends- Sunday, February 18, 2024, Ordway Concert Hall. Rajasekar curates a concert celebrating South Asian arts and culture in Minnesota. Fusing western classical and Carnatic music, it includes a new work by Rajasekar, script, film, dance and food samples. Dual goals are to elevate the visibility of local South Asian artists and to bring the MN South Asian community to the Ordway.
Theater Mu
Blended Harmony: The Kim Loo Sisters
$35,000To support the world premiere production of Blended Harmony: The Kim Loo Sisters, a new musical co-commissioned by Theatre Mu and History Theatre. Cultural STAR funding will support the co-production, which shares an important piece of MN history and shines a light on often overlooked Asian American stories. Cultural STAR will also support increased community engagement.
Tlalnepantla Arts (Fiscal Sponsor: Springboard for the Arts)
Festival de las Calaveras presents Dia de los Muertos Festival and Family Art Day 2023
$26,000Festival de las Calaveras' Dia de los Muertos Festival and Family Art Day 2023 is a public community gathering that will share vibrant Latinx cultural arts centered on the Mexican Day of the Dead traditions. This all-day festival will create space for Latinx community-building and sharing in Saint Paul through cultural arts expression, ancestor celebrating, while demonstrating artistic excellence.
Transforming Generations
Pride BBQ Festival
$35,000Held at Harriet Island in June, TG Pride BBQ Festival is a free LGBTQ+ Hmong family-friendly event combining TG's programs: Pride BBQ, Drag Tale Times and Pride Concert with the goal of providing space for LGBTQ+ Hmong/Southeast Asian community to celebrate Pride. Cultural STAR funding would support us to pilot an event combining these three programs and a 9 month Drag mentorship program/cohort.
TU Dance
Yusha-Marie Sorzano’s THREAT at The O’Shaughnessy
$20,233TU Dance requests support for the development and premiere of THREAT by Yusha-Marie Sorzano, a new full-evening dance work, to be performed at The O'Shaughnessy, April 26-27, 2024.
Twin Cities Iranian Culture Collective
2024 Nowruz (Persian New Year) Concert and Community Gathering
$10,068Our 2024 Nowruz (Persian New Year) Concert and Community Gathering, to be held March 30 at the Ordway Center Concert Hall, will share Iran's rich musical heritage with the larger Minnesota public, raise awareness of Iranian culture, and help to transform public perceptions of the Iranian people. Cultural STAR funding will make it possible to afford artists and a venue of the highest caliber.
Twin Cities Jazz Festival
Twin Cities Jazz Festival
$35,000STAR funds will be used to support the 26th annual Twin Cities Jazz Festival held in Mears Park and surrounding Lowertown venues June 21-22, 2024. The goal is to once again have a diverse thriving free civic event in St. Paul to include over 200 diverse performing jazz artists and youth musicians in as many downtown venues as possible.
Twin Cities Metro IBA
Lowertown Sounds
$19,056Lowertown Sounds, an outdoor music series nearly every Thursday evening from June - August, serves as a local music, beverage maker, and food truck showcase, celebrating community by bringing all ages and backgrounds together to enjoy a fun evening in historic Mears Park. The grant will bolster our budget for bands and sound production to enrich our programming and expand our audience.
Twin Cities PBS
Don't Believe the Hype: Next Generation
$19,056TPT requests support for the 2023-34 program year of DON'T BELIEVE THE HYPE: NEXT GENERATION, TPT's youth media arts and mentorship initiative that amplifies the unique voices of BIPOC high school students. HYPE helps youth craft their own narratives through hands-on media production, relationship building and career exploration, all informed by youths' desired outcomes for the program.
Victoria Theater Arts Center
2024 SPEAK OUT AND LEAD Youth Arts Festival
$13,000VTAC seeks funding for the 3rd annual SPEAK OUT & LEAD Youth Arts Festival, Happening in April of 2024 at the Black Youth Healing Arts Center. This festival centers the art and voices of youth ages 13-21, providing them a platform for their talent via paid performance, workshop, and vending opportunities.
Wonderlust Productions
Hidden Stories of Saint Paul
$22,232Inspired by the STAR program's focus on Saint Paul's cultural district, Wonderlust seeks support to use stories gathered from people who live and work behind the scenes downtown to create short, place-based, audio plays peeling back the curtain on what makes our city tick. Audiences will be invited to take a listening tour of the city by following an online map and QR codes displayed around town.
Young Dance, Inc.
Young Dance All Abilities Dancing Strategy Development
$10,000Young Dance will create an All Abilities Dancing strategy including codifying curriculum and training Teaching Artists and educators. All activities will take place at Young Dance and Saint Paul community partner sites from September - June. Funding will support embedding All Abilities Dancing into our infrastructure, laying the path for Young Dance to be a leader for access and inclusion in our community.
zAmya Theater Project
A Challenge to Change
$20,000"A Challenge to Change" is a 60-minute performance and dialogue event developed by zAmya with residents of Catholic Charities' Dorothy Day Place. Grounded in personal experiences with homelessness, the event is designed to build understanding and connection between residents and employees in downtown Saint Paul. A STAR grant would support 11 events in downtown Saint Paul locations and online.