ᏗᏁᎶᏙᏗ ᏍᎦᏚᎩ Dinelhdodi Sgadugi

Native artists exploring puppetry in community

ᏗᏁᎶᏙᏗ ᏍᎦᏚᎩ Dinelhdodi Sgadugi

(Puppet Community)

is a cohort of 6 native artists who will meet in person at the Z Puppets studio in South Minneapolis over 12 sessions to explore best practices for creating and presenting culturally relevant native puppetry.

Cohort members each receive:

• 10 hours of individual coaching with Z Puppets co-founder Chris Griffith,

• a $2,100 stipend, and

• a $500 supply budget for their work.

At the end we will host a Circle where participants can share their work with friends, family and community.

6 additional native artists living in Greater MN will also have access to a series of online puppetry workshops.

This program embraces that diverse and unique tribal cultures co-exist within a larger intertribal culture. The cohort will be open to all Native artists seeking to use contemporary puppetry to express their culture and identity.

To apply for this cohort, artists will describe their experience, background and interest in creating and performing puppetry for youth. Artists will also define the skills they would like to develop.

Applicants will be chosen to balance the composition of the cohort with a diverse and compatible range of experience, and who meet the following criteria:

• Native-identified artist

• At least a beginning level of experience with puppetry and/or performing for youth

• Articulated vision for how their work will benefit youth in their communities

This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund.