Artists share their time and talents with students, off-campus groups
February 28, 2017
By Mike Killeen
Imagine if Bob Dylan collaborated with Adele on a musical project.
Seems kind of unlikely, doesn’t it?
On the surface, a collaboration between Fine Arts Programming (FAP) at the College of Saint Benedict and Saint John’s University with the St. Cloud Veterans Affairs Hospital would seem just as unlikely. After all, what do they have in common?
A lot of things, as it turns out.
Since the start of spring semester, three groups who have performed on campus have also appeared at the St. Cloud VA. Rani Arbo and daisy mayhem will perform for the veterans in March.
“We’ve always had a history of doing work in the community, and by community I mean both on-campus for our students working closely with faculty, and off-campus,” said Leslie Hanlon, director of fundraising and marketing for FAP who also serves as the organization’s director of outreach.
FAP began its outreach programs in 1999, Hanlon said. Deb Lehman became director of community outreach for FAP when the programs became joint under previous FAP Executive Director Anna Thompson.
Many of those earlier efforts were directed toward K-12 area schools (at the time, FAP had an education series, which has since been discontinued). But two things happened in 2008 to boost the program.
When Brian Jose became executive director of FAP in 2008, Lehman was given “more autonomy to think more creatively and to think wider,” Hanlon said. “Brian was open to new ideas and looking for new ideas.”
The Legacy Amendment, which was passed by Minnesota voters in the fall of 2008, increased the state sales tax by three-eighths of one percent beginning on July 1, 2009. The additional sales tax revenue was divided into four areas, with the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund receiving 19.75 percent of the sales tax revenue to support arts, arts education and arts access in helping preserve Minnesota’s history and cultural heritage.
“Part of thrust of the Legacy Amendment is that populations that historically lacked access to the arts got access to the arts,” Hanlon said.
That funding has allowed artists to go to St. Cloud and play for the appreciative veterans.
“They (the patients) get an opportunity to forget their struggles and forget they are in a hospital,” said Brett Jagodzinski, recreation therapy supervisor at the St. Cloud VA. “They just enjoy great entertainment.
“The patients talk about the performances for a long time after the performances. They often say that it was one of the best things that they have done in a long time,” Jagodzinski said.
During a Feb. 2 performance from Step Afrika!, a group which blends stepping with traditional African dances and live drumming, about 60 veterans enjoyed an hour-long performance which included a how-to tutorial which got everyone on their feet to dance. Afterwards, about a dozen vets stuck around to talk to the performers.
“After each performance, the performers come out in the crowd and interact with our veterans,” Jagodzinski said. “The veterans share their stories with the entertainers, and I often see tears. The performers often say it is an honor to share their gifts with the veterans.”
Upcoming performers will also work with CSB/SJU students. Rani Arbo and daisy mayhem, the Navy Concert Band and Tierney Sutton will all have workshops on campus in March and April.
“We walk that very fine line of wanting to be very interconnected with the campus. We want to be very responsive to the campuses needs, and how we can be useful to our students – how we can help our students develop creativity and critical thinking. We also want to be responsive to our community,” Hanlon said.
FAP was recently moved under the Academic Affairs office, and Hanlon thinks FAP will be continue to look for ways to become better stewards. New FAP Executive Director Tanya Gertz, who previously served as the director of campus programming at Luther College in Decorah, Iowa, comes from a similar background.
“She (Gertz) is coming in with a full set of experiences to build and grow on, into an organization that already values those skills and experiences,” Hanlon said.