Chinese American Association of Minnesota CAAM – for the appearance of the Jiangxi Performing Arts Troupe at the Chinese New Year celebration event, Festival of Spring·Beauty of Jiangxi, at the Northrop Auditorium at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis. It is to be a special Chinese New Year gala evening. This stunning extravaganza enhances the jubilant holiday celebration atmosphere of the local Minnesota Chinese community, highlights the aspects of ethnicity and folklore nature of Chinese performing arts and showcases the magnificent Jiangxi (China’s porcelain capital) culture and greater Chinese culture through a meticulous selection of breathtaking and award winning Chinese acrobatics, vocal music, dance, traditional musical instrument performance, and other fine performances that best reflect its ancient and modern traditions, capture its vitality and strength of character. Its goal is to promote Chinese culture across the globe and infuse some of its essence and vitality into mainstream Western society.

Weisman Museum – The Weisman Museum is mounting and exhibition of ink paintings by renowned Chinese ink painter JIZI. The exhibition consists of 15 large scale ink painings 3m x 6 meters and a scroll 1 x 40 meters, the exhibition will opcupy main galleries A & B and open 10/7/17. Philosopher and art writer David Brubaker who teaches and lectures in WuHan, and the deceased artist’s son Dr Wang Chunchen, curator of the Museum of the Beijing Central Academy of Fine Art will lecture and discuss the artists career and work . This grant is for the support of educational programming in conjunction with the Jizi exhibit WAM would use the funds to underwrite the cost of bus transportation for underserved K-12 Twin Cities classrooms to further cross cultural learning between Minnesota students and China.

Minhua Chorus – to underwrite a full length concert, titled The Rhythm of Northern Winds, on November 11, 2017 at O’Shaughnessy Auditorium of St Catherine University. China is a country with a vast land, a long history and very diverse cultures. Besides diversities in nationalities and ethnic groups, cultural differences in geographic regions are also significant, for geographical and historical reasons. In the 2017 and 2018, Minhua Chorus plans to produce two concerts to systematically introduce cultures from northern and southern China. This proposed concert will focus on the northern Chinese culture. The concert will feature songs and dances that demonstrate the unique characteristics of the northern China culture. This will be the first time that the Chorus will be systematically introducing the cultures of northern China toits audience.

Minnesota Historical Society – to support the publication Chinese-ness: The Question of Identity by Minnesota artist Wing Young Huie. This is Huei’s third collaboration with the MNHS Press, which continues to support his approach to art and community, using art as a medium through which to explore a variety of contemporary topics. Since 2010, Huei has explored the concept of Chinese-ness with all types of people and in a variety of settings: rural, urban, and suburban Minnesota, various regions of the United States (Milwaukee, Chicago, Philadelphia, Atlanta, the Mississippi Delta), and in China (including his family’s ancestral village). In addition to the striking photographs, Chinese-ness includes essays and personal reflections that bring further context and subtext to questions of identity as well as an array of societal and cultural themes. The text and images touch on such diverse issues as ethnicity, gender, adoption, religion, mental health, and even food.

Minnesota Yucai Chinese School – to underwrite the replacement costs of traditional music instrument ssuch as pipa, bamboo flute, erhu, drum, gong, and cymbals, and costumes such as Tang Dynasty dance costumes, scholar robes, Peking Opera face; large poster and pictures of China such as scenes of the Great Wall and the Forbidden City, for the School’s many cultural outreach activities.