The Department of Public Transformation (DoPT) has announced the 2023 Cohort of the Ignite Rural Artist Residency. Ignite Rural uplifts rural arts and cultural workers as invaluable contributors to increasing community connection. 8 artists were selected for the 2023 Cohort, which is in its second year of operation, led by the Ignite Rural Program Director Holly Doll, Anpao Win (First Light Woman). Ignite Rural artists will receive a $4,000 creative fund, an additional $6,000 living stipend, and access to an $800 artistic development/wellness fund, along with six months of cohort model professional and artistic development support through workshops, in-person gatherings, and digital learning exchanges. This project is supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts.

DoPT sees a future where rural communities across the country acknowledge, support, and integrate art and artists as vital contributors to economic, community, civic, and social life. Ignite Rural Program Director Holly Doll, Anpao Win (First Light Woman) says: “All 8 artists are in the early stages of their artistic careers and I’m honored to be part of the process that supports them in their journeys! The artists are all so talented with unique approaches and goals. I’m excited to see what unfolds over the coming months!” The artists and DoPT leadership are preparing to meet at an in-person artist retreat on April 29-30, 2023, and will ultimately wrap up their residency with a final art showcase on September 23, 2023 at The YES! House in Granite Falls, MN. DoPT invites you to get to know the new 2023 Ignite Rural Cohort below:

Rocky Casillas Aguirre

Rocky is an emerging, Latinx and LGBTQ artist originally from Tijuana. His comics and creative efforts aim to create safe spaces to talk about mental health and to empower young people everywhere, especially kids of color and LGBTQ2IA+ identities, in recognizing their true potential and living authentically.

Omani Luger

Omani is a self-taught illustrator of Lakota and Northern Tutchone descent. Inspired by film and comics, she’s on a journey to find her place as a multi-media sequential storyteller.

Lynne M. Colombe

Lynne M. Colombe is a digital storyteller, documentarian, and writer from the Sicangu Lakota (Rosebud Sioux) Reservation. Lynne aims to create space for digital storytelling by Native peoples and build content platforms.

Leticia (Gonzales) Snow

Born and raised in the desert southwest of New Mexico, Leticia is the Assistant Library Supervisor at the Saint Peter Public Library in Saint Peter, Minnesota, overseeing teen and young adult programming. Leticia plans to further develop her writing and publishing skills and will facilitate a youth-centered project that incorporates culture with a focus on community engagement.

Leah Xiuzhen Rathe

Leah was adopted from China and raised in the US. Many of her previous projects have covered topics such as gender equality and the criminal justice system and she has begun diving into her own identity as a transracial adoptee. Leah plans to create projects to help other transracial adoptees feel represented and seen. She is very passionate about the impact of art and aims to create with meaning and intention.

Esmarie Cariaga

Esmarie Cariaga-Whiteman is a self-taught artist based in Vermilion, South Dakota and a citizen of the Isanti Dakota people of Santee, Nebraska. Esmarie is a fashion illustrator who enjoys creating pieces reflecting contemporary fashions, while mixing them with Dakota contour. She wants to see more indigenous representation in the fashion industry and wants to create ways to uplift and support her community through fashion.

Cecily Rose Engelhart

Cecily Rose Engelhart (Ihanktonwan Dakota & Oglala Lakota) is a Master Certified Life Coach and Indigenous arts practitioner. Cecily is interested in creating functional, everyday-use items that incorporate cultural imagery, personal stories, and historical contexts. She has big visions for a contemporary re-emergence of parfleche purses in a range of styles and functions.

Alixena Patnaude

Alixena is an enrolled member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians and lives on the Turtle Mountain Reservation. An avid beadwork artist, she is interested in learning diverse art forms, particularly quillwork, and creating pieces that represent her culture and heritage.

Please visit the Ignite Rural homepage for more information on the program, artists, and DoPT: www.publictransformation.org/igniterural

About Ignite Rural:

Ignite Rural is an “at-home” artist residency focused on uplifting and supporting emerging rural artists that engage in social/civic work. To be considered for the program, artists must reside in rural communities with a population of 20,000 or less within the colonial state borders of Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, and the 23 Native Nations that share that geography, with priority given to BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) and Native artists and culture bearers. Ignite Rural 2023 operates as a 6-month cohort model to connect rural artists with each other, provides digital learning exchange opportunities, and supports rural artists in their social and civic work within their communities.

Ignite Rural is a program of Department of Public Transformation developed in partnership with Dakota Wicohan, Mni Sota Arts, and Racing Magpie. Ignite Rural is supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts and shaped by our Advisory Committee made up of artists, community organizers, and changemakers across Minnesota, North Dakota, and South Dakota: Angela Zonunpari (Artist + Writer / Arts Midwest | South Dakota); Anne O’Keefe-Jackson (Artist + Advocate / DoPT Board Member | Minnesota); Dyana DeCoteau-Dyess (Artist | North Dakota); Eileen O’Keefe (Dakota Wicohan | Minnesota); Nancy X. Valentine (Artist / Kaddatz Galleries | Minnesota); Peter Strong (Racing Magpie | South Dakota).

About Department of Public Transformation (DoPT):

The Department of Public Transformation is an artist-led nonprofit organization that works to develop creative strategies for increased community connection, civic engagement, and equitable participation in rural places. More information at www.publictransformation.org.