Mu Performing Arts is a finalist in the 2014 St. Paul Knight Arts Challenge. This article is cross-posted from KnightArts.org.

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We are excited to announce 69 finalists for this year’s Knight Arts Challenge in St. Paul. This spring, we asked the community for their best ideas for the arts. More than 850 people shared their passion and projects with us.

Our panel of 10 local readers — artists and arts leaders from a variety of communities and genres — carefully reviewed each submission before arriving at this list of finalists. These ideas reflect the new St. Paul, a diverse and creative city. We set out to attract arts projects from all corners of the city, from organizations and small collaboratives to individual artists, and to make sure the list reflected the people who live and work and create in St. Paul.  We’re thrilled with the results.

Thank you to everyone who submitted an idea and who helped spread the word.

Winners will be announced in September. We hope you will follow us on Twitter and Facebook, and join our email list to keep up with challenge updates.

– Tatiana Hernandez Program Officer, Knight Foundation

Aaron Dysart, Andrea Steudel, Emily Stover, Asia Ward To celebrate the landmark power plant in downtown St. Paul as a largely sustainable fuel source by projecting a light to show off the steam plume that billows from the roof

Alec Soth / Little Brown Mushroom To create “The Winnebago Workshop,” a mobile classroom where teens are paired with artists to create multimedia stories

American Composers Forum To bring the arts into people’s everyday lives by creating cultural experiences in unlikely places, from jazz at the light rail stops to free yoga in a commercial storefront

Ananya Dance Theatre To tell the story of womens’ roles in the global food system through an interdisciplinary piece

Art House North To grow the arts in St. Paul’s West End by making upgrades to Art House North, a 100-year-old church turned community arts center

ArtSage d/b/a Minnesota Creative Arts and Aging Network To demonstrate that art making has no age or limitation by creating a fellowship program for elder artists with residencies in senior facilities

Asian Economic Development Association To explore the importance of water through art at the St. Paul Water Festival, a Minnesota adaptation of events that take place in Southeast Asia

Barry Madore To showcase Latino East Siders through a fictional radio novela/variety show, broadcast on the new Dayton’s Bluff FM station

Bedlam Theatre To build the capacity of local theaters by creating an inventory of high-end technical equipment that companies could borrow for shows

BFU-USA: Minnesota Chapter To celebrate Cameroonian culture at a special event of choral singing, traditional drumming and dance at the newly dedicated Cameroon Community Center

Button Poetry To provide the community with access to top spoken-word artists through monthly performances and workshops

CapitolRiver Council To ensure the continued success of Music in Mears, a free concert and indie film series that offers exposure for emerging artists and local businesses

Center for Hmong Arts and Talent To highlight the best of Hmong design through the Fresh Traditions Fashion Show, where contestants incorporate the five traditional Hmong fabrics into contemporary form

City of Skate To create a skateable art plaza that brings out the creativity of skateboarders and the community with skateable sculptures, a video screen and performance stage

CLUES (Comunidades Latinas Unidas en Servicio) To highlight Latinos’ cultural heritage by creating tile mosaic benches that showcase the community’s narratives

Contempo Physical Dance To bring international artists and their expertise to St. Paul through an annual choreography residency for those working in Brazilian or African Diaspora contemporary dance

Curious Incident To highlight the history of St. Paul’s unused spaces by energizing them with immersive arts events

Creative Enterprise Zone (St. Anthony Park Community Council) To turn the creative work of the enterprise zone inside out with highly visible installations in empty storefronts, on billboards, in pop-up art parks and other public spaces

Dreamland Arts To promote sustainable practices in the arts by converting Dreamland Arts into a solar-powered theater with an exterior solar-art design

East Side Freedom Library To create large-scale artworks that celebrate freedom and honor the people who have shaped the city’s East Side

Erik Barsness To bring a new chill to Saint Paul Winter Carnival audiences through concerts performed on xylophones, marimbas and vibraphones made entirely out of ice by Swedish instrument builder Tim Linhart

Above: Minnesota Fringe Festival.

Hamilton Print Cooperative To expand this cooperative that provides daily classes and a mentorship program for the hand printing of original artwork

Henry Garnica To celebrate St. Paul’s many peoples and cultures through a fall arts festival timed to El Dia de La Raza

Hmong National Development To explore how Hmong-American arts and culture has evolved on the 40th anniversary of the community’s major migration to the U.S.

Igbofest To celebrate the Igbo culture of Nigeria through traditional music and dance performances at the community’s signature cultural festival

In Progress To build understanding of the long invisible, yet vibrant North End community through digital storytelling by local youth and adults

Independent Filmmaker Project Minnesota To help develop local screenwriters through a fellowship competition where all finalists receive mentoring and classes to improve their work

Jonathan Oppenheimer To amplify artists’ and immigrant business owners’ voices along Snelling Avenue through mosaics, graffiti art and paint murals that showcase the neighborhood’s stories

Jeff Bartlett To transform the city’s landmarks by having lighting designer Jeff Bartlett turn buildings into kinetic canvases for light, color and drama

Ka Joog To preserve the art of Somali poetry through a mobile art program offering performances and educational programming

Kang Vang To use film as a way to explore the lives of young, first-generation Hmong-Americans living in the Twin Cities in 1985, the 10th anniversary of the fall of Laos to communism

Kaotic Good Productions To produce a live radio drama titled “San Pablo, MN,” which explores the lives of fictional immigrant children and their adaptation to life in the U.S.

M2 Foundation To foster a love for music in  St. Paul youth by teaching them to perform African and Brazilian rhythms on percussion instruments, preparing for performances at the Saint Paul Saints’ new ballpark

Maria IsaBelle Perez To broaden understanding of the African Diaspora and indigenous  connections in Latin America through an exhibit of Afro-Latino art at Union Depot

Michael Bahl To create a landmark for St. Paul bicycle culture through a sculpture that doubles as a bike rack

Minnesota Fringe Festival To expand the year-round local arts scene by connecting adventurous audiences and artists in a winter Minnesota Fringe Festival

McNally Smith College of Music Foundation To provide high school-aged students interested in music careers with the rare opportunity to attend a prestigious Grammy Camp, staffed by Grammy professionals

Mizna To foster the arts in the city’s Arab-American community by bringing acclaimed Arab writers and filmmakers to present their works in the city’s parks, art spaces and bars

MN Spoken Word Association To celebrate the city through spoken word by creating a tapestry of poems written by residents in 10 rapidly growing neighborhoods

Mu Performing Arts To empower immigrants in the Twin Cities to tell their stories through original theatrical performances with puppetry, masks and movement created in collaboration with Masanari Kawahara

Nautilus Music-Theater To become a major resource in the artistic and social renaissance of Lowertown St. Paul by expanding programming and audience engagement efforts in a new street-level space

Northern Lights.mn To present new media performances monthly that engage local audiences with an expanded theater experience

Oromo Community of Minnesota To explore what it means to be Oromo-American by giving mini-grants to community members to share art about their culture and traditions

Ragamala Dance To bring traditional Indian arts into the community by inviting musicians, poets, dancers and storytellers to celebrate Navarathri,  the Festival of Nine Nights, in a public celebration

Ricardo Vazquez To bring the Latino and larger Twin Cities community together to celebrate the life and work of Spanish playwright and poet Federico Garcia Lorca in an outdoor festival

Rogue Citizen To celebrate St. Paul Hip-Hop through an arts and music series that draws attention to an often overlooked culture in the city

Saint Paul Public Schools and Partners To encourage creative expression by creating a space to present high-quality student-produced art events

Science Museum of Minnesota To explore race and racism through community workshops that are paired with a museum exhibition, led by Penumbra Theatre Company, and grounded in theater techniques

Seitu Jones To provide an artistic and scientific exploration of the Mississippi River by creating a wooden barge called an “ARTark” for an exhibition at the Science Museum of Minnesota

Shades of Yellow To build the Hmong LGBT artist community by creating a studio where artists can create, perform and receive support to creatively share their stories

Silvia Pontaza To make art more accessible to the Latino community by creating a community radio show and podcast that provides context on local cultural exhibits and events

Skylark Opera To push the frontiers of musical collaboration by producing an opera with Teatro del Pueblo that represents Minnesota’s Latino communities

Stahl Construction Company To preserve the legacy of St. Paul’s architecture by restoring the historical company signs that distinguish Lowertown

Sumunar Indonesian Music and Dance To introduce St. Paul audiences to the tradition of the Indonesian wayang kulit (shadow puppet play), based on traditional stories and current events in Minnesota

Sweet 317 To offer a free monthly music series at this intimate space in Lowertown focused on art forward events

Above: Ananya Dance Theatre.

The Baroque Room To showcase the Saint Paul classical music scene during the Art Crawl through performances in art gallery spaces

The Bindery Projects To ensure the city is part of the national discourse on contemporary art by showcasing prominent artists at this artist-run exhibition space

The Drawing Project To bring together two local artist groups – the Urban Roving Drawers and BikeDrawBike – to create art works in neighborhoods around the city and display them in nontraditional settings

The O’Shaughnessy at St. Catherine University To pilot a new Women of Substance series focused on the artistry and voice of global female artists, complemented by public master classes and school visits

The TC Club Crawl, Concert & Ticket Report To broaden the audience for live music in St. Paul by building TCCLubCrawl.com into a comprehensive website with descriptions of bands and weekly curated recommendations

The Winding Sheet Outfit To infuse a sense of magic and wonder into theater through a storytelling performance that takes place beneath a black tent that travels around the city

TU Dance To help local dancers build careers by bringing together TU Dance’s school with students from Miami’s New World School of the Arts for residencies in both cities

Twin Cities Jazz Festival To increase audiences for jazz by expanding the outdoor stages in Lowertown for the Twin Cities Jazz Festival

Unify University! To celebrate cultural unity by commissioning artists to build giant street puppets for the Unify University Community Parade

VocalEssence To capture the impact of war and honor veterans through song via the work of Iraqi veteran and poet Brian Turner, local musicians and the Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra

Walker West Music Academy To bring jazz music back to Selby Avenue through a monthly free concert series at Walker West’s new music center

Wonderlust Productions To tell the stories of the state Capitol through a site-specific play generated by the politicians, staffers, reporters and other people who bring the place to life each day

WorkHorse Coffee Bar To engage the commuting public through an intimate streetscape gallery in a vintage fire-hose cabinet near the new Green Line

Zeitgeist To unite the aural and oral experiences of audiences through musical works that accompany particular dishes created by five St. Paul chefs at events in Studio Z in downtown St. Paul