The COMPAS Anthology Reading took place at the Minnesota History Center in St. Paul on Saturday, Dec. 2, 2023. This special event highlighted profound and inspiring young poets who were selected to be included in the 44th edition of the COMPAS anthology, this year titled “a fire, a river, a window,” and edited by COMPAS Teaching Artist May Lee-Yang.

We’re thrilled to share that Jes Reyes, an interdisciplinary artist, artist organizer, and professional teaching artist, has joined our team as an Arts Program Manager. She will oversee COMPAS’ Artful Aging™ and Access Arts programs and other offerings that bring creative experiences to people who face barriers to experiencing or participating in the arts.  

Everything COMPAS does to bring creativity into the lives of Minnesotans is powered by our donors, and the stories we hear about what inspires their generosity are profoundly moving. One such story was shared with us recently by the Kopperud family, who raised funds for COMPAS in honor of their late father, Brian Kopperud.

The COMPAS team is growing! We are thrilled to introduce you to the amazing new team members helping us unleash the creative potential of all Minnesotans!

“Everybody has their own culture and things they love the most about it. If kids see things from their culture at school, they’ll learn they should love who they are and where they came from.”  

These wise words were spoken by Sherlyn, a 4th-grade student at Eagle View Elementary School, whose family immigrated to the United States from Mexico several years ago.

We are sad to learn of the passing of Community Mother and Master Storyteller Nothando Zulu. Known to many as Mrs. Zulu, Mother Zulu, and Queen Mother Zulu, she was a dearly loved COMPAS Teaching Artist, a local legend, and a storyteller whose light warmed everyone around her.  

When I go to sleep and when I wake up, I look at a weaving hanging on my bedroom wall that my artist friend Molly Roth Scranton made. Woven into the blues and pinks are pieces of my old sweatpants, a bit of my kid Kit’s sock, a shirt I wore in grad school, along with puffs of pink that remind me of cotton candy. The tails of the weaving dangle down, and Kit practices braiding them.

We are thrilled to announce that Frank Sentwali Gardner, who has been a COMPAS Teaching Artist for twenty years, is expanding his role with the organization. Starting August 15th, in addition to his work facilitating workshops and residencies for COMPAS, he will begin serving as the organization’s first Principal Teaching Artist.

COMPAS has been approved for a $20,000 Grants for Arts Projects award from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) to support its Emerging Young Artists (EYA) program. COMPAS’ EYA project is among 1,130 projects across the country, totaling more than $31 million, that were selected during this second round of Grants for Arts Projects fiscal year 2023 funding. 

“This week was magical!”

Have you ever heard a kid say something like this in reference to their time at school? We have. It was the result of a partnership between a teacher and a teaching artist, a collaboration capable of producing transformational success for multiple generations of students.