|
|
The COMPAS mission is to strengthen people and communities in Minnesota by engaging them in creating art.
Formed in 1974, COMPAS is Minnesota's most widely-used resource for artist residencies and community-building through the arts, engaging approximately 320,000 people in the arts in approximately 100 Minnesota towns each year. COMPAS began as Poets in the Schools in 1968, was incorporated as COMPAS in 1974, and merged with United Arts in 1998. With a mix of direct-service participatory programs and re-granting programs, COMPAS is similar to many of the local arts councils around the country.
• people of all ages who have little or no opportunity to participate in making art of their own;
• rural towns and city neighborhoods by helping them celebrate culture and community in dynamic art projects they design themselves;
• students across the state who discover the beauty and power of art-making in schools, neighborhood centers, after-school programs, and other community settings;
• artists who — through our residencies, workshops, and performances — share their skills with children and adults around the state.
• ArtsWork—our artsbased summer youth employment program that gives young people, ages 14 to 21, valuable work experience while employing them as professional artists.
• Arts Education—Writers & Artists in the Schools, our artist residency program in schools, and Global Arts & Culture, which explores cultural traditions through artist performances and workshops in schools and other sites.
• Arts in Health Care—a program that provides patients and care givers in healthcare facilities with participatory arts activities led by COMPAS artists.
• Diversity Education & the Arts—a partnership with Travelers that exposes thousands of individuals to diversity issues through the arts.
• United Arts Workplace Giving—increases access to the arts and enhances arts education by supporting arts organizations through a granting process.
• Grants—our program for nurturing arts organizations, programs and events.
COMPAS' roots go back to a 1967 program called the Art of Poetry, which later became Poets in the Schools and has since expanded into Writers & Artists in the Schools. WAITS was the first of many innovative programs COMPAS developed to encourage artistic expression and community-building at the grass roots level.
Our programs have since grown in number and reach, and our neighborhood-based projects have become national models. In addition to Writers & Artists in the Schools, some of COMPAS' familiar programs over the years have included Literary Post, Summer Writing Workshop, Minnesota Rural Arts Initiative, Community Art Program, Surviving with Art, ArtsWork, and Global Arts & Culture.
The merger of COMPAS with United Arts in 1998 further extends our grant-making to artists and organizations with funds raised through work-place giving.
Back to Top
• COMPAS has reached over $1 million of its $1.2 million Points Forward Campaign goal that has allowed us to expand our WAITS and ArtsWork programs, launch an Arts In Healthcare demonstration project, strengthen our endowment, and develop earned income ventures.
• Frost Lake and Galtier Magnet elementary schools in St. Paul elected COMPAS for a partnership as part of an ArtsABLE grant from the U.S. Department of Education.
• COMPAS worked with communities around the state to fund and assist with the development of community arts projects as part of the Minnesota Rural Arts Initiative, its ten-year partnership with the Blandin Foundation.
• The Centre for Creative Communities located in London recognized COMPAS programs on their Register of Creative Communities.
• COMPAS was selected as grant-making partners with the McKnight Foundation (Community Art Program) and the Medtronic Foundation (Medtronic Arts Access Audience Development).
COMPAS CONTINUES to find new ways to support communities, and to engage the people of Minnesota in creating art.
Back to Top
|
 |
