2022-2024 Rural Regenerator Fellows Selected

Fergus Falls, MN – Springboard for the Arts is excited to announce the new cohort of Rural Regenerator Fellows for 2022.

Springboard for the Arts has selected 10 Rural Regenerator Fellows who live or work in rural communities across the Upper Midwest. Each fellow will receive $10,000 in flexible funds to support or expand on their existing work, and will participate in two years of learning exchanges with their fellow rural artists. The Fellows were selected through a peer review process of 9 rural artists and leaders across the Upper Midwest, including 3 Rural Regenerator alumni.

The selected Fellows are:

• Siriacasso Garcia (Huxley, IA)

• Penny Kagigebi (Detroit Lakes/White Earth Reservation, MN)

• Wicanhpi Iyotan Win Autumn Cavender (Granite Falls, MN)

• Melissa Wray (Caledonia, MN)

• Nancy XiáoRong Valentine (Otter Tail County, MN)

• Awanigiizhik Bruce (Belcourt, ND)

• Eliza Blue (Bison, SD)

• Lyle Miller Sr (Mitchell, SD)

• nibiiwakamigwe (Dunkirk, WI)

• Rufus Jupiter (Viroqua, WI)

The 2022-24 cohort of Rural Regenerator Fellows are cultivating change in their rural places and beyond, by creating art that explores questions about identity, land stewardship and food sovereignty, cultural reclamation, and community healing. From dance and painting, to traditional craft, sewing, and songwriting, these artists are using their creative practice as a grassroots community organizing tool and are seeking to combat complacency, equitably rebuild systems, and deepen understanding across generations and cultures.

The Rural Regenerator Fellowship was launched in 2021, and expands on Springboard’s work supporting and connecting creative rural leaders in the upper Midwest who are committed to strengthening their communities through art, culture and creativity. The Rural Regenerator Fellowship will initially support three cohorts between 2021 and 2025, with applications opening for the third cohort in Spring 2023.

“We started the Rural Regenerator program at Springboard to build on our belief that our region’s rural resilience is a product of the relationships we have, the ability to witness each other’s work, and encourage and challenge that work.” said Michele Anderson, Rural Program Director at Springboard for the Arts. “The artists in this cohort have already made huge strides in leading change in their communities, and we’re thrilled to provide them with new support and space for shared learning and ideas across geographies.”

See more about the Rural Regenerator Fellows: https://springboardforthearts.org/rural-regenerator-fellows/

About Springboard for the Arts

Springboard for the Arts is an economic and community development organization for artists and by artists. From our offices in Fergus Falls and Saint Paul, MN, Springboard provides programs that help artists make a living and a life, and programs that help communities connect to the creative power of artists. Our work is about creating communities and artists that have a reciprocal relationship, where artists are key contributors to community issues and are visible and valued for the impact they create. We do this work by creating simple, practical solutions and systems to support artists. Springboard’s work has been featured in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Stanford Social Innovation Review and The Guardian and directly impacts over 25,000 artists each year in our home state of Minnesota. Through national tools and training Springboard’s programs have been replicated in over 100 communities across the U.S. and internationally. Learn more about our work at: http://www.springboardforthearts.org.