Red Lake Nation College Welding Instructor and Leech Lake Band Member Featured in Ten Year Arts Legacy Exhibition

Saint Paul, MN -- Artwork created by Red Lake Nation College welding instructor Al Belleveau and Leech Lake Band member Cari Tabor will be featured in a Minnesota State Art Board exhibition showcasing artwork supported by the state’s arts and cultural heritage fund.

A Creative Investment exhibition, celebrating ten years of Legacy art and impact, opens on April 26, 2019, at the Minnesota State Arts Board in Saint Paul, and will be on display through the fall. The exhibition highlights the breadth of art engagement throughout the state and features work by all ages—kindergartners to older adults—and all abilities. Its theme is that all Minnesotans are creative, and all benefit from the arts.

Welder turned metal artist Al Belleveau, uses his technical skill, artistry, and life’s experiences to inspire and mentor students at Oshkiimaajitahdah Institute of Technology, part of educational services at Red Lake Nation College, helping them gain employment as welders or mechanics. Through a Region 2 Arts Council Arts Learning grant awarded to Red Lake Nation College, Belleveau and his students created three metal clan sculptures, which are permanently located outside the college. Belleveau’s artwork, Sculptress, is on display in the exhibit, as an example of his work, along with a large photo featuring the students and placard describing the metal clan project to Saint Paul audiences.

Tabor carries on a tradition of quilling in her porcupine quill box, infusing a distinct and contemporary voice in her work. The quill box was part of Aazhoomon, a December 2017 exhibit hosted by Watermark Center for the Arts, and Tabor has presented quilling demonstrations as part of the Center’s Annual Creative Spirit Fiber Festival. She continues to share her art and expertise with audiences.

In 2008, Minnesota voters approved the Clean Water, Land, and Legacy Amendment to the state’s constitution. For a period of twenty-five years, the amendment will dedicate a pool of funds for clean water, parks and trails, outdoor habitat, and arts and cultural heritage. The Arts Board and the state’s regional arts councils receive appropriations from the arts and cultural heritage fund. In the first ten years, the Arts Board and regional arts councils have awarded 13,894 legacy supported grants.

“Since the passage of the Legacy amendment, more Minnesotans have access to and are able to participate in the arts, and the funding has put the arts to work in new ways to help achieve important public goals,” says Sue Gens, executive director of the Minnesota State Arts Board. “In addition to supporting arts programming in traditional settings like theaters and concert halls, legacy funds are helping bring the arts into community settings. Collaborative arts projects are bringing neighbors together, traditional artists are helping to foster cultural understanding, arts activities are promoting health and well-being for older adults, young people are developing their talents and skills through community arts education, and artists and arts organizations are being recognized as important tools in economic and community development.”

The Minnesota State Arts Board is a state agency that stimulates and encourages the creation, performance, and appreciation of the arts in the state. It serves as fiscal agent for a network of eleven regional arts councils. Together, the Arts Board and regional arts council system serves all 87 counties, distributing arts funding to individuals and organizations through competitive grant programs and providing services around the state.

More information about the exhibition and the artwork can be found on Arts Board Web site: http://www.arts.state.mn.us .