Minnesota RUX closes out its second year
The 24-member cohort convened in Mahnomen County & White Earth Nation and Winona County
In 2019, Art of the Rural received support from the McKnight Foundation to replicate the Rural-Urban Exchange model in Minnesota. Throughout 2020 and 2021, the Kentucky RUX Expansion team worked with a newly formed Minnesota RUX Steering Committee to adapt the RUX model to the unique contexts of the Upper Midwest.
We welcomed the first MN RUX cohort in 2022, where 12 Minnesotans from 8 counties and Native nations traveled to Community Intensives in the Frogtown and Rondo neighborhoods of St. Paul and across Mahnomen County and the White Earth Nation.
The second MN RUX cohort included 24 members, who returned to Mahnomen County and White Earth Nation and then explored Winona County to complete the two-year pilot phase of MN RUX.
At White Earth, the cohort kicked off the 2023 weekend at the famous headwaters of the Mississippi at Itasca State Park, where the same tribal leaders that welcomed MN RUX members the year before joined the cohort for a potluck and shared their knowledge of the park’s history from a Native perspective. The next day RUX partnered with the Gizhiigin Arts Incubator to tour the galleries and studios of Park Rapids. Local artists and artists in residence led workshops for the cohort, including collage and a collective cyanotype fabric tapestry. Closing out the weekend, MN RUX members attended the sixth-annual interfaith Gathering at the Headwaters.
“Visiting the headwaters of the Mississippi … really put into perspective how important the people and their connection to the land are to not only those of us who are fortunate enough to live in Minnesota, but the millions of people who we are connected to through that mighty river. It was an overall great representation of what RUX is to me.”
The second 2023 MN RUX weekend kicked off at Winona State University, where members settled into campus housing before traveling over the bluffs to enjoy the Winona County Fair and a community dinner and conversation with local leaders from St. Charles. The next day, the cohort visited the bustling Winona Farmers Market and then enjoyed a potluck, bingo, and Community Conversation about activism, art, and youth engagement with Engage Winona and Our Voices at East End Rec Center.
Marcia Ratliff, director of Engage Winona and Winona Host Committee member reflected on the experience: “RUX presents a one-of-a-kind opportunity to celebrate the current of change in the Winona community and also to bear witness to it with fresh perspective alongside visiting RUX members. There's something transformative that happens when you get a group of creative people together who love their place and want it to be the best it can be.”
The afternoon event was followed by an evening plant walk along the backwaters at Prairie Island Campground led by Nicky Buck of the Prarie Island Indian Community. Sunday began with a visit to Winona County History Center with Honoring Dakota and a Narrative Stage about reframing local history. The weekend closed out with a visit to the Minnesota Marine Art Museum.
“I love getting people together who think they have little to nothing in common, grounding them in the real offerings of a place, and watching connections and life flourish,” reflects MN RUX Coordinator Anna Claussen. “That is what I feel RUX does.”
MN RUX continues KY RUX’s Currency of Connection framework, focusing on people, place, and partnership with respect to the diversity of the region and state on both an individual and community level. The curriculum is known to develop the bridging capacity of cohort members.
“I really enjoyed the Cultural Mapping activity because it gave me the opportunity to connect with members of RUX who hold a completely different experience, viewpoint, and priority than myself,” states an MN RUX cohort member. “I learned so much about how I personally relate to the state and how others see things that I don't see.”
Members have shared that our focus on vulnerability and listening by opening the Intensives with story circles effectively set a tone for openness throughout these weekends, and have incorporated our Abundant Futures curriculum into their own team building and workshops.
“I believe the work RUX supports is important,” says an MN RUX cohort member. “I have built meaningful relationships, deepened my knowledge of the state I now call home, and learned new skills that help me face challenges in my work through engagement with the RUX model.”
Earlier this month, MN RUX hosted members of both cohorts at Metta Meditation Retreat Center in Janesville, MN for a winter planning retreat, where they reconnected after a season of rest, reflected on the first two years of the program, and made commitments to work together to shape the future of MN RUX.
“I'm hoping that RUX can become a well-known resource for people to connect their communities to other communities in the state,” reflects an MN RUX cohort member. “Driving a collaborative learning model to apply to their specific challenges as a community.”