Art in This
Present Moment
A Celebration of Minnesota Artists and Their Work
During challenging times, artists have been at the forefront in expressing a community’s response and demanding change. As we experience a global pandemic and the aftermath of George Floyd’s tragic murder, Minnesota artists have continued this tradition.
We launched Art in This Present Moment to support their work.
Over the months of August and September, over 50 Minnesota artists will respond in real time to history as it unfolds by creating Art in This Present Moment.
Pictured: Brownbody
About the Project
Art in This Present Moment is an initiative of the Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation, with funding from the McKnight Foundation. We are providing financial support to artists who are Black, Indigenous, and People of Color who are changing and challenging dominant narratives through their craft.
Current crises have hit BIPOC communities especially hard. Black, Asian and Latinx communities continue to be hospitalized for COVID-19 at a rate significantly higher than the white population. Recent protests in Minneapolis demonstrated how living as a Black person in America can be a dangerous proposition. Additionally, with the closures of arts venues and cancellations of in-person events, artists have lost income.
Follow the Progress
Follow the artists’ in-progress work by using the hashtag #ArtInThisMoment.
The artists’ work will be photographed, recorded and shared on this page in late September.
Pictured: Walker West
Partner Organizations
We appreciate the following partner organizations for identifying and selecting the participating artists.
Participating Artists
Concept: Artists will paint a mural that aims to bring color and life to a community resource center in Duluth’s Lincoln Park neighborhood, utilizing Anishinaabe symbolism to shed light on the city’s Indigenous history.
Artists
Moira Villard
Michelle Defoe
Couple Thomasina Petrus and Charles Petrus, and composer Alex Shaw, are continuing to develop the score to Tracing Sacred Steps, which Brownbody initially presented in April 2019 as a “works-in-progress.”
Artists
Thomasina Petrus
Charles Petrus
Alex Shaw
Tiyo Siyolo
A collaborative on a Black/queer living & cultural experience in an RV exploring sustainable + unique ways of living and traveling while following their acting, writing, filmmaking dreams. The artists’ journey will be documented through video and photos.
Artists
Adja Gildersleve
Ashembaga Jaafaru
The three artists will create interrelated work that builds community through practice of movement, conversation, and personal transformation.
Artists
Demetrius McClendon
Xiaolu Wang
Heather Peebles
Clyde Estey, Jr., is a third-generation basket maker carrying forward the Ojibwe tradition of Black Ash basketry, and Kent Estey’s preferred artform is painting on canvas. These artists, both born and raised in the White Earth Nation, will collaborate on a work reflective of their shared artistic upbringing.
Artists
Clyde Estey, Jr.
Kent Estey
City Mischief Murals in collaboration with Indigenous Roots is creating a mural celebrating four Twin Cities multicultural women dancers, Mary Anne Quiroz (Mexika Aztec), Holly Henning (Anishinaabe), Djenane Saint-Juste (Haitian) and Sghne Xgino (Hmong). The women will be painted in their traditional regalia, showing them standing in unity, representing various cultures & traditions.
Artists
Thomasina Topbear
Joy Spika
Holly (Miskitoos) Henning
Charles (Wanisin) Garcia
Student Artists
Simone Tinker
AJ Kimble
Cheyenne Gill
The Million Artist Movement is working on two collaborative projects – one is a quilt and the other is a project based on food sovereignty.
PROJECT #1 - Preparation and Interconnectedness (PI) Growers Collective
Artists
Stephanie Watts
Alejandra C. (Tobar Alatriz)
Malia Araki Burkhart
Marie Michael
Mankwe Ndosi
Miré Regulus
Signe V. Harriday
PROJECT #2 - Power Tree Quilting
Artists
Laura Mann Hill
Paige Reynolds
Donald Bayou Thomas
Harry Waters, Jr.
Artists will be creating a shadow puppet piece to reflect on stories from the uprising in the Twin Cities.
Artists
Ty Chapman
Andrew Young
Rebekah Crisanta de Ybarra
Penumbra Theatre company member Hannibal Lokumbe is composing an original score for a video being made in tribute to George Floyd and all of the victims of state-sanctioned violence.
Artists
Hannibal Lokumbe
Brannen Temple
Reginald Carter
Jimmy Blazer
Colin Shook
Za’Nia Sephra
Lou Bellamy
Sarah Bellamy
For this initiative Soomaal has invited four artists to share their most recent and exciting creative work with the public. Soomaal House of Art is a Minneapolis-based Somali artists’ collective supporting a growing number of emerging and established Somali artists living in Minnesota and beyond.
Artists
Khadijah Muse
Kaamil A. Haider
Mohamed Samatar
Mohamud Mumin
TruArtSpeaks will highlight the work of dancer Herb Johnson III and ceramicist Gabrielle Samone.
Artists
Herb Johnson III
Gabrielle Samone
Musician William E. Duncan will compose and record a song for this project.
Artist
William E. Duncan