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 “Evie should do trainings for the entire district.”  “I wish they could come to my school!” “It was everything I needed!” That’s what Minneapolis Public Schools teachers had to say after participating in professional development workshops led by COMPAS Teaching Artists, including Evie Digirolamo, Karlyn Coleman, Frank Sentwali, and Alsa and Morgan Bruno.  Those sessions [...]

On a beautiful summer afternoon at Ascension Catholic School in North Minneapolis, middle school students gathered in a classroom around a U-shaped table with paintbrushes in hand, building their own night skies one star at a time. Black canvases. Acrylic paint in shades of blue, white, and black. And in the middle of it all, COMPAS Teaching Artist Moira Villiard, moving from student to student, helping each one find their own galaxy.

By the time the Minnesota Yacht Club Festival opened, the mural was ready. 

Festival goers stopped to admire it, snapping photos and pointing out favorite details: a loon gliding across blue water, a kayaker winding through the landscape, a beaver wearing headphones, giant mushrooms rising from the forest floor, wildflowers, and stars dotting the night sky.

Summer is the season of wonder.

It’s when kids have the freedom to ask, What if? What if I could build a robot that moves? What if my voice could become an instrument? What if I said “yes” and stepped onto a stage? What if I could tell my story through art?

I know who should be running things.
I’m greeted by this sentiment everywhere lately.

“Do we sit and watch our world burn? Do we dig deeper as it struggles to turn? Do we slowly lose our human will? Do we all just stay there, standing still? Is this the price of paradise?” “Please, please bring my father back.” “My Asian heritage makes me feel like an outsider, always looking [...]

It was the first sign of what the evening would become. And it was thrilling.

Parents. Grandparents. Siblings. Friends. Teachers. And the young artists themselves, proud of work that had earned its place on the walls of one of Saint Paul’s most beloved landmarks. Three hundred and twenty people filled Landmark Center until there wasn’t a seat left, and staff quickly brought in more chairs, and then MORE CHAIRS, because that is what you do when a community shows up like this.