Wisconsin Arts Board panel recommends funding four Woodland Indian Arts grants; one application not recommended

A review panel convened by the Wisconsin Arts Board recommended funding four of the five applicants to this year’s Woodland Indian Arts regrant program and did not recommend the Institute of Indigenous Teaching and Learning’s application, panelists said.

Karen Ann Hoffman, chair of the Woodland Indian Arts panel and a member of the Wisconsin Arts Board, opened the session and framed the program’s mission, saying the state agency “nurture[s] creativity, cultivate[s] expression, promote[s] the arts, support[s] the arts in education, stimulate community and economic development, and serve[s] as a resource for people of agriculture and heritage.” Caitlin Burrell, the board’s folk and traditional arts coordinator, and Dale Johnson, grants and information specialist, staffed the panel and handled technical questions and score averaging.

The panel reviewed five applications. Panelists — including April Bridal, who works in Native American studies at Northern Michigan University, and Sadie (Oneida Nation arts program coordinator) — discussed strengths and weaknesses of each proposal before submitting numerical scores. Dale Johnson averaged the reviewers’ scores and displayed rankings for group discussion.

Panel findings and applicant summaries

- College of the Menominee Nation (Keshena), request: $6,000. The proposal sought funds to produce a full-length pageant at the historic Woodland…