Community Art & Cultural Exchange
Co-Presented with Niijii Radio
Wednesday, May 31, 2023
4:00 – 7:00 p.m.
@ NYM Sculpture Park / Barn

All are invited to Celebrating Cultures, a family-friendly community art and cultural exchange event!  Join us at the New York Mills Sculpture Park / Barn just off Highway 10 in New York Mills between 4:00 – 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday, May 31, 2023. This event is free to attend and will include both free and paid activities/products.

[NOTE: In the event of inclement weather, we plan to move this event to Thursday, June 1st. Updates will be shared here and on social media.]

This year is the 3rd annual cultural exchange event held in partnership with Niijii Radio and we are thrilled to be working with them again this year. Niijii Radio will once again work with partners to share Native dancing, drumming, and storytelling, as well as a variety of Indigenous artists and makers.

Seeking cultural partners!

We are seeking additional cultural partners to make this a true cross-cultural exchange event; all cultures are welcome!

Do you have stories, traditions, artistic practices, or cultural food to share? Give us a call at 218-385-3339 or send an email to info@kulcher.org. All those interested in positive, family-friendly cross-cultural sharing are welcome.

Ideas for participation include art activities for children and adults, artist/maker demonstrations, cultural exchange sharing presentations, food booths/trucks, and any creative way to share and celebrate a variety of cultures!

At this year’s event, we will continue our focus on family-friendly community art activities. We are also opening the event up to vendors to sell their goods. Vendors who are selling goods are asked to pay a booth fee of $25 (and keep 100% of their own profits). (Artists demonstrating or sharing practices do NOT pay any fees.) Click below to register online, or contact info@kulcher.org or call 218-385-3339 to sign up.

Register online for vendor booth (selling goods) >

Event Activities and Performances include:

  • Performances:
    • Aztec Dance Performance @ 4PM: The Kalpulli Yaocenoxtli traditional Mexica-Nahua (Aztec) cultural group is dedicated to preserving and practicing the traditions of the Mexica-Nahua culture through dance, drum, song, and philosophy classes for all. They are based in St. Paul, MN.
    • Learn more: facebook.com/Yaocenoxtli/ and indigenous-roots.org/kalpulli-yaocenoxtli
    • Buffalo River Dance Troupe @ 5PM: Ojibwe dancing, drumming, and storytelling.
    • Open Mic @ 6-7PM: Share a cultural story, song, poem, etc. with fellow attendees! Free and open to all between 6-7PM. Please keep your sharing to 5 minutes or less to allow everyone a chance to share. We will circle back through interested parties if time allows.
  • Activities/Learnings/Demonstrations:
    • Pop-Up Think-Off: Awaken the philosopher in you! Learn about this year’s 30th annual Great American Think-Off Weekend June 9-10, and take a stance on the 2023 question: “Which is more important to protect: the environment or the economy?”
    • Finland in a Suitcase 4-5:30PM: Join Amy & Adam Tervola Hultberg of Finn Creek Open Air Museum to explore the Finnish culture.
    • Improv for Kids with Visiting Artist Valerie David 4:30-6PM: Learn some skills between 4:30-6 and then try them out during Open Mic (6-7)!
    • Roots & Wings Forest School: Sharing creative nature activities for kids in celebration of outdoor culture.
    • Precious Plastics: Reuse, reduce, and recycle in STYLE with the Otter Tail County Solid Waste Department by creating repurposed plastic art creations from discarded plastic items.
    • Soccer: Learn some soccer skills from Perham’s Latino-Community soccer team, FC Perham.
    • Art Activities: Art activities for all ages with Cultural Center staff/board/volunteers!
    • The Painted Turtle: The Painted Turtle specializes in various types of event entertainment including face painting! (costs vary)
  • Indigenous Artists and Makers: A variety of Indigenous artists and makers will share their creative practices.
    • Regalia Viewing: Teresa Rojas will bring different regalia for people to see the intricacies and details.
    • Dream Catcher Demonstration: Tonya Strom will demonstrate/share about Dream Catchers.
    • Chokers/Bracelets: Char Ellis will create Chokers and bracelets.
    • Quill Work: Dana Trickey will be selling quill work art pieces.
  • Food & Drinks:
    • Native Harvest: Offering wild rice hot dish and sumac tea for purchase.
    • Taqueria Escobar Food Truck: Local family-owned Taqueria from Pelican Rapids with delicious Mexican food.
    • Lions Bar: New York Mills Lions Club will serve beer.
    • Yaque’s Party Supplies & Mexican Snacks: Selling Mexican snacks at Celebrating Cultures, Yaque also rents out party supplies.

More details will be added as activities, artists, businesses, and organizational partners are confirmed.  

There will be something for everyone! Thanks to all the artists, organizational partners, and businesses for coming together for this fun community cross-cultural art event!

Questions? Call us at 218-385-3339 or email info@kulcher.org. Please note, in the case of extreme/inclement weather, we are planning on a rain date of June 2rd. We will update here and on our social media pages.

We look forward to seeing you at the Sculpture Park on Wednesday, May 31st from 4-7pm!

 

This activity is made possible in part by the voters of Minnesota through grants from the Minnesota State Arts Board, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the Arts and Cultural Heritage fund.