Activate Rural Public Workshop: Northwest Minnesota
Location: Fire Hall, 124 E Madison Ave, Mahnomen, MN 56557
Date + Time: Tuesday, June 24, 2025, 9am - 3pm
Join the Department of Public Transformation (DoPT) at our Northwest Activate Rural Public Workshop in Mahnomen, MN (pop. 1,210). This one-day workshop will provide connections for artists, creative entrepreneurs, small business owners, activators and leaders developing creative physical places of connection for their communities. Participants will take away community engagement strategies, funding resource ideas, and structures for stewardship and operations for rural creative gathering places. During the workshop, attendees will hear from the following speakers:
- Sarina Otaibi, DoPT Activate Rural Program Director, will lead a panel discussion with Barbara Johnson, Firefly Center Chair and Northwest Minnesota Foundation Program Manager, and Patrick Calder-Carriere, R2Arts Executive Director, about the funding opportunities and challenges that exist in Northwest MN.
- Joseph Allen, MAI Executive Director, and Taylor Vonderharr, Mahnomen City Administrator, will share how Manoomin Arts Initiative (MAI) is cultivating their creative place for community as a part of DoPT’s Activate Rural Learning Lab.
- Luwaina Al-Otaibi, The YES! House Program Coordinator, will share how artist-led building activation and community engagement around physical spaces can cultivate a creative ecosystem for your community and region with examples from The YES! House in Granite Falls, MN (pop. 2,697). Information about its capital campaign journey will be shared.
- Benjamin Domask-Ruh, Activate Rural Program Coordinator, will share how groups can integrate transparency and accountability into their community engagement approaches when implementing projects.