Creative Chops 2022

The show’s over for this year, but you can watch it again here!

This January, Creative Chops – a virtual fundraiser for COMPAS – returns for another knock down, drag ‘em out, art battle. On Wednesday, January 26, 2022 at 7pm, tune into the YouTube livestream to participate in a reality gameshow like no other.

Three COMPAS Teaching Artists will be given just a short amount of time to create original works of art, all using the same basic materials. With each artist representing a different art form, the competition is sure to be fierce. Become a member of the virtual audience to engage with the contestants and then vote on which artist had the most chops to create art on the spot!

A Competition for A Cause

Why combine art and competition, you ask? For a great cause! Every dollar raised during Creative Chops will go towards increasing equitable, creative learning in communities across Minnesota. This means more students, older adults, and people in between can have the life changing experience of discovering their own talents and being inspired to do more than they ever thought they could. This January, you can bring the gift of creativity to even more Minnesotans!

Introducing Your Contestants

Chiaki O'Brien is a SAORI weaver and Bengala dye artist, having brought both traditions in her native Japan. SAORI is a way of self-expression through weaving. Showing yourself in your piece tells the world, “I’m different from everyone!” You may have caught her colorful feature on TPT’s MN Artists. You can also learn Kumihimo braiding from Chiaki in her COMPAS Home Studio video. Chiaki’s competitors could be SAORI that they went up against her. Does she have the chops to weave her way to first place?

Emmett Ramstad is an art educator and sculptor. He teaches soft sculpture, fiber arts, woodworking, found object sculpture, performance, printmaking, collage, bookmaking, and professional development. His works investigate daily life by re-purposing and re-orienting familiar and mundane materials. He often displays pieces in unexpected locations and sizes, encouraging the viewer to have a new relationship with products they often ignore. Does Emmet have the chops to re-make the ordinary into an extraordinary win?

Karla Nweje is a choreographer, dancer, and literary artist. She’s a mover and shaker who uses dance to paint moving portraits that entertain, inform, and provoke thought. In the classroom she combines movement and theater arts techniques to enhance the learning process. She was also the COMPAS 2019 Teaching Artist of the Year. Karla draws from a wide range of dance traditions when she choreographs amazing performances, but does she have the chops to leap over the

Creative Chops will be hosted by the one and only Aimee K. Bryant. Aimee is a COMPAS Teaching Artist and award-winning veteran of the Twin Cities theater community. This multi-talented actor, singer, songwriter, poet, dancer, and choreographer enjoys helping others find their own brilliance. You can play a few theater games with Aimee in her COMPAS Home Studio video. With her infectious joy and charisma, she’s sure to keep our competitors on task and the creative ideas flowing.

Join Us on January 26th!

We’ve got our contestants; we’ve got our rules; all we’re missing is YOU! Register for free today and join our virtual audience.

Thank you for bringing the gift of creativity to even more Minnesotans!