Putting the "Be" in Belief

Art Gumbo was awarded a $2500 Mediacom Arts & Culture Grant last week for the AG Bowls Project. With the help of our neighbor & partner, the Dubuque Rescue Mission, (DRM served as fiscal sponsor by sharing their 501 C 3) we wrote a grant & scored some dough, yo. The awards luncheon was hosted by Kathy McMullen of Mediacom & the Mediacom Arts & Culture Commission and was held in the River Room of The Grand River Center in the Port of Dubuque. 

Megan Starr (AG Co-Founder) & Rick Mihm (Director  of Dubuque Rescue Mission) with $2500 check from Mediacom.

With the funding AG will commission local potters to create bowls that will be sold at the quarterly soup dinners. Patrons will bring their bowls back to subsequent dinners to establish a "bring your own table service" program, move toward a zero-waste event, and eliminate the cost of renting or purchasing table service. All proceeds from sales of the bowls will be used to continue to commission more bowls and create an ongoing revenue stream for the AG project. Our goal is to make AG a more sustainable event by moving toward zero waste, provide economic opportunities for local artists and potters, promote local art, and sustain the AG project. 

Musical guest Feast of Mutton, Shawn Healey & Eric Balayti.

AG allows community members the unique opportunity to not only consume art but also help fund its creation. This reciprocal process gives artists access to potential funding and a captive audience and in return community members are empowered to directly fund a local artist and contribute as patrons. Art Gumbo is transforming the way our community accesses art. Art Gumbo empowers constituents to consider and promote the kinds of artistic production they would like to see enhance their city and strengthen their arts community.

The AG Bowl project will help ensure that this unique artist/patron relationship exists in Dubuque. The addition of handcrafted bowls at AG enhances both the Art Gumbo experience and its mission of supporting local art while instituting project ownership/membership and commitment to the AG funding initiative.

Paula Neuhaus & Megan Starr (AG Co-Founders) livin' the dream.

So, Darling GumbHeads...consider purchasing an AG Bowl at the March AG Soup Dinner & bring it with you to each event. We plan to host a farm-to-table 4-course dinner this Spring to unveil the bowls & do a little fundraising for the project. 

Thank YOU, Mediacom for believing in our efforts & our undying gratitude to Rick Mihm & Dubuque Rescue Mission for continuing to partner with AG. YOU have responded to our efforts, Dubuque & we are thrilled. Spread the word & share the belief.


FYI: Since our launch in September 2010, ART GUMBO has funded 6 proposals raising a total of $4,350 for Dubuque art projects. 


FYI: Mediacom awarded more than $33,000 in funding to 16 Dubuque Arts & Culture projects in 2011.

AG #5 A Dining Table Fit for a...[fill in the blank]

ART GUMBO #5 = B-Day #1 = Biggest dining table in the Tri-States! 

AG #5's big-assed table at Voices Gallery boasted yellow daisies, crayon bundles, butcher block paper, multi-colored bowls, baskets of whole wheat oatmeal bread, and seating for 90. We wished big and Gene Tully & Ali Levasseur of the Voices Team made our b-day wish come true: Big-Assed Table for 90! 

Big-Assed Dining Table

Popcorn Cake! Happy B-Day, AG!

82 patron votes and $850 sent two winning projects out the door with funding for their "what's next?" to impact the arts in Dubuque. This funding cycle was open to creative groups/arts orgs & 5 diverse projects competed for funding including The Medicine Band, Dubuque365, Julien International Film Festival, Hempstead HS Art Dept., and Ruix Zine. Perhaps the most all-arts-encompassing funding round yet, the proposals covered music, exhibition, film, a community-based art club, and a literary zine. 

Dean Wellman, The Medicine Band, "Blackhawk (Maka-tai-me-she-kia-kiak) A Rock Opera" 

Michael Coty, Julien International Film Festival, Screening of SIXTEEN FORTY-NINE

Ryan Werner, Ruix Zine: Sustaining Local Music, Art, & Literature

Mike Ironside, Dubuque365, Exhibition of Ashanti Collection, from the estate of Ruth & Russ Nash

Brad Manternach, Hempstead HS Afterschool Community-based Art Club & "The Pottery Super Bowl"

And the winners are... 
Runner Up, Julien International Film Festival was awarded $100 toward screening the documentary film SIXTEEN FORTY-NINE in Dubuque in 2011-2012 as part of their mission to bring great film to our City. 

AG #5 Runner Up Winner Michael Coty of JIFFD accepts $100 from AG Co-Founder Paula Neuhaus

 The patron's favorite  and winner of $750 was Brad Manternach of Hempstead HS with his proposal to launch an Afterschool Community-Based Art Club and "The Super Pottery Bowl" project.  Manternach plans to use the funds to begin an after-school art program that uses community-based art projects as a method of teaching high school students how art can promote social change. "Through the program students will be able to experience art beyond just process or a letter grade, but experience making art that builds community," Manternach said, "Our first project will be “The Super Pottery Bowl" which will require the students to develop a set of bowls, cups, and other pieces of dinnerware that focus on the issue of homelessness and poverty here in Dubuque." The AG funds will help purchase supplies for the Art Club's first project.

AG #5 Winner Brad Manternach accepts $750 in cash from AG June Winner, artist Katie Duffy

AG is never complete without a final report from the winner of the previous funding cycle. AG June Winner Artist Katie Duffy had the unique luxury of having her installation in the room with us for her gallery talk. (As an extra perk, Duff helped us create the popcorn b-day cake!)

"Pop Quiz" by Katie Duffy, exhibiting at Voices Gallery through October 7

Katie Duffy gives AG some props!

 

AG# 5 would not have been possible without dedicated patrons (aka: GumboHeads), Voices Gallery, Green Dubuque, Trusted Earth Farm & Forage, Dubuque Rescue Mission, Loras College Food Service, Inside Decor, Welu Printing, musical guests Bob Bucko JR & David Morrison, Katie Duffy, Fran & Ellen Henkels, Helynn Starr, Gene & Jane Tully, our Loras College Interns, and, of course, no one looks better than when Sindi Mueller of Luxe Photography is in the house!  

Whole Wheat Oatmeal Bread & Cherry Tomatoes by Trusted Earth Farm & Forage

 

What we learned? ALWAYS have crayons on the table.

                                                                                                                        
Mark your calendars for Thursday, December 29, 6-8 p.m. as ART GUMBO embraces winter with our new permanent venue (TBC). The evening will feature Soup & Bread by Trusted Earth Farm & Forage CSA and Catering, craft brews by the Dubuque Area Society of Brewers, glamorous photo ops by Luxe Photography, a special musical guest, an update by Sept winner Brad Manternach, and the next innovative individual artist's/creative's projects to rock Dubuque. Check it.
 
FYI: Since our launch in September 2010, ART GUMBO has funded 6 proposals raising a total of $4,350 for Dubuque art projects.