Marcie Rendon will visit arts center, Lino Lakes Correctional Facility

BY SHANNON GRANHOLM MANAGING EDITOR

The White Bear Center for the Arts (WBCA) and the Lino Lakes Correctional Facility are teaming up with a Minneapolis-based author to provide programming to a population that traditionally has limited access to the arts.

It’s all a part of a grant the WBCA secured from Arts Midwest GIG Fund.

WBCA Outreach Coordinator Karen Parkman said when they were looking for the “perfect project” to apply for the grant, she knew author Marcie Rendon would be it.

“She just seemed like such a perfect fit, both her amazing work as writer to the work she has done for underserved communities,” Parkman explained. “It was really a way to build off of Marcie’s incredible experience working with these communities, and also a way to engage people who have limited access to the arts and do so in a way that speaks to the themes that she writes about in her books.”

Rendon is an enrolled member of the White Earth Nation, author, playwright, poet and freelance writer. As a community arts activist, Rendon supports other native artists, writers and creators to pursue their art, and is a speaker for colleges and community groups on Native issues, leadership and writing.

She is an award-winning author of a new murder mystery series, and also has an extensive body of fiction and nonfiction works. The creative mind behind Raving Native Theater, Rendon has also curated community-created performances.

Rendon and Diego Vazquez received a 2017 Loft Spoken Word Immersion Fellowship for their work with women incarcerated in county jails. Rendon was recognized as a 50 over 50 Change-maker by Minnesota AARP and POLLEN in 2018. Rendon also received the McKnight Distinguished Artist Award in 2020, an award that recognizes artists who have made significant contributions to Minnesota.

As a part of the grant, the WBCA has to host at least two activities at the center along with at least one activity that reaches an audience that has limited access to the arts.

On May 17, the WBCA will host

SEE ART IS HEALING, PAGE 8