Out of 20,000 applicants worldwide, our newest resident of Granite Falls, Ashley Hanson,  was selected to be one of the 20  Obama Foundation Fellows.  Click here to read the article in the  the Advocate Tribune . 

It's exciting to see our town on the map of all the winners of this award.

 Quoting their website, www.obama.org ""These Obama Foundation Fellows are powerful examples of the many pathways we can take to improve our communities. These civic leaders bring a variety of disciplines and skill sets to their work – including community organizing, healthcare, technology, and the arts – and they apply those talents to a range of missions, from empowering parents and teachers to improve our schools, to ensuring deaf children have equal access to literacy tools, to bringing trauma-informed care to the criminal justice system and refugee camps, to working with partners across the healthcare system to treat addiction collaboratively.
These leaders are working hand-in-hand with their communities to build better futures. They understand that creating change often requires reaching out across the lines that divide us. And their successes to date show how collaborative, community-driven work can lead to strong, imaginative, and long-lasting solutions – even on some of our most intractable and polarizing problems."

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This photo is from an article written in 2013 by MPR, Ashley was then working on a theater production in Granite Falls.  Follow the Facebook page for her downtown building - The Yes House. 

I'm so excited about all the art related activities and new artists coming to Granite Falls!  A vibrant art community benefits everyone young and old, visitors and residents, big and small businesses.  Recent studies by Creative Minnesota in neighboring counties have shown a huge economic impact of the arts with close to one million dollars a year in Renville County.  The study also showed that people are willing to drive two hours for an event.  We see that happen every fall here with the Meander Art Crawl  and the chamber's Friday night event, Musical Chairs.   Pioneer Public TV is bringing a creative group of people into our midst.  Ashley Hanson is working on obtaining funding  for the City Artist in Residency Program and other projects soon to be announced.  See her amazing work on the next "Postcards" on Pioneer Public TV this Thursday evening.
Jessica Gorman was just awarded a grant to fund her photography project along the Yellowstone Trail, a historic route formed in the early 1900s,  which goes right through Granite Falls.  This "Follow the Yellowstone Trail" photography project will involve the counties of Renville, Yellow Medicine, Chippewa, Swift and Big Stone with photographs of today's architecture paired with historic photos.  The chamber is excited to support, help in grant writing and promote all of these projects which result in a reason for young people to move to this area and help businesses in their recruitment efforts.
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 I am a part of the LYFT Pathways Initiative committee for the arts, a  grant program with Yellow Medicine East and Renville County West schools which puts students in a program that gives them real experiences in a particular field.  The goal is for every secondary student in the region to gain marketable skills through meaningful career and technical education .  The committee met at the Berge Building and plans to write the grant for a podcast project along the Yellowstone Trail from Granite Falls to Buffalo Lake. 

​Riverside Market and Muse will also bring in opportunities for the public to learn from poet and songwriter, Brian Laidlaw, Ashley Hanson, blues for kids educator Joey Flip and photographers Gene Stukel and Jessica Gorman.  I have also included grant funds to pay local musicians who would like to perform.  Contact the chamber office at 320-564-4039 if you would like to be included. Vendors are welcome to set up along the downtown plazas on every second Saturday of the month from May 12 - September 8.  
Mary Gillespie,  Granite Falls Chamber Director