“I’ve been making hip-hop therapy, in a way,” said Jelani Osiname, 21, who raps under the name Boogie. “There was this vulnerability to it, where I could talk without being judged.”
Are We in a Renaissance? (Our Crocs Say Yes.)
What if we’re living at the start of a new renaissance, and we don’t even know it yet?
That may sound like a big claim, but if you look around, the signs are there. The world has been through a lot. A global pandemic. Widespread instability. Technology that seems to be changing faster than we can keep up. People are tired, but also restless. They want something different. Something better. And historically, that is exactly when renaissances begin. These are the kinds of conditions that have always come before a creative shift—when the old ways stop working, and people start reaching for something new.
July 15, 2025
Poetry, Courage, and Connection in Greater Minnesota
Tucked along the rocky shoreline of Lake Superior in Silver Bay, Minnesota, something quietly transformational happened. It did not arrive with fanfare or flashy headlines, but rather in the charged silence that follows when a teenager stands up and shares their truth.
July 7, 2025
Teaching Artist Spotlight: Linda Brant-Malm
Our roster of amazing teaching artists expanded this year, and we couldn’t be more excited! In our latest Teaching Artist Spotlight, get to know visual artist and storyteller Linda Brant-Malm.
June 3, 2025
COMPAS is in the community, and YOU are invited!
This spring, COMPAS is out in the community, creating space for young voices, building local connections, and inspiring artful expression across Minnesota. We’re excited to share several standout events that reflect this work in action. The best part? You can participate in all of them!
May 15, 2025
Termination of COMPAS NEA Grant
Our National Endowment for the Arts grant has been terminated. That means funding for our visual arts program for young people, Emerging Young Artists, will be impacted due to a shift in national funding priorities. This year, those funds enabled 59 students to showcase their creativity in a month-long gallery exhibition, and more than 600 students to learn from a professional COMPAS teaching artist during in-school residencies. Here’s a glimpse of what that experience meant to them.
This quiet power came to life during a recent COMPAS residency, when Teaching Artist Mike Hazard spent a week at Elim Oasis Adult Day Center in Princeton, Minnesota, using photography and writing to help older adults connect, create, and share their stories.
May 13, 2025
Teaching Artist Spotlight: Layl McDill
A camera may capture the world around us, but it also has the quiet power to reveal something deeper: the shape of a soul, the trace of a memory, the truth of being seen.
This quiet power came to life during a recent COMPAS residency, when Teaching Artist Mike Hazard spent a week at Elim Oasis Adult Day Center in Princeton, Minnesota, using photography and writing to help older adults connect, create, and share their stories.
May 6, 2025
PRESS RELEASE: COMPAS offers FREE creative workshops to help Minnesotans navigate uncertain times
A camera may capture the world around us, but it also has the quiet power to reveal something deeper: the shape of a soul, the trace of a memory, the truth of being seen.
This quiet power came to life during a recent COMPAS residency, when Teaching Artist Mike Hazard spent a week at Elim Oasis Adult Day Center in Princeton, Minnesota, using photography and writing to help older adults connect, create, and share their stories.
May 5, 2025
