Nicole Staples

In Progress artist since 1998, practicing photographer

1. Considering all your experience with In Progress, what is one achievement that you personally are most proud of? Why is this achievement important to you? What does it represent?: not sure.... I'm not sure that I would agree with that. I am the slacker of the bunch. Getting to travel - to go and meet other photographers and getting to know them and learn from them. California trip and Chicago. Hmmm... I developed skills on how to take pictures.

2. What did it take for us at In Progress to achieve this accomplishment? What strengths do we have that helped us succeed?: Kris saw something in me that I couldn't see in myself. I had to take that first step and get out of my comfort zone - and hope that it would take me somewhere. In Progress gave me the opportunity to use the technology. We are like a family. Everyone is there for you need when you need them. If you have questions, some is there to help you understand. It's the only thing I ever got into and stayed with. Kris pushed and pulled me through. There are things that make it hard for me to do this kind of stuff - I don;t have the determination. I grew up without someone guiding me through what I needed to do - so I didn't do a whole lot. Then In progress came along and kind of picked up that role for me - telling me how to do it.

3. What do you think makes In Progress unique? What 2-3 things are at our very core that make us stand out from other arts programs or youth development programs?: It helps the youth find their way if they don't have any other way. In Progress is like a big family, It's hard to compare because In progress has been the only thing I've ever really gotten involved with. I just stayed away from other programs because I was a hell raiser. I love photography and In Progress showed up at just the right time - my mom had to make me go and I am glad she did.

4. As you think about In Progress, what do you value most? What keeps you engaged here?:The people I became friends with. The photography - In progress keeps giving me the reason to keep take pictures. Thank you!

all thoughts presented on this page have been given with permission from the person interviewed.  

Kari Carlson

Kari is amongst the first generation of In Progress artists from 1994.  Now she is a video producer and editor for the Baha'i and resides in Chicago.  She is one of the reason In Progress exists today.

1. Considering all your experience with In Progress, what is one achievement that you personally are most proud of? Why is this achievement important to you? What does it represent?: What I am most proud of: my career as a creative content producer, writer, video editor and storyteller. 
But even beyond the 'titles' or descriptions of 'what' I do, I am most proud of a willingness to follow my own path in the world, rather than paths others agree we should all follow. 
These to items are important to me, because I view career or livelihood as one primary vehicle for both discovering and expressing my purpose, and contributing my best to the world.

2. What did it take for us at In Progress to achieve this accomplishment? What strengths do we have that helped us succeed?: I came into contact with Kristine Sorensen before In Progress had a name or location, when I was a student at St. Paul Central High School in the mid-1990s. She ran an after school program for the girls who were enrolled in Central's TV production class. Prior to 1992, no girls had ever participated in Central's TV program in its entire 20 year history. My two friends and I took the class in 1992 and by 1994 there were at least 9 of us producing alongside our male classmates. 

This after school girl's program allowed me more time and space to explore my passion for editing and storytelling. During that time Kristine not only helped draw out what I wanted to say and how I wanted to say it, she also routinely made me set-up the analog editing equipment, instilling in me the notion that any problem can be solved with patience and perseverance, even a 'technical' one.

Over the next couple of years, I participated in other programs at Kristine's urging and met other local media makers through her. It was Kristine's encouragement that led me to choose film school as the next obvious step for me after high school.

Twenty years later, and in the midst of a career transition, I routinely consult with Kristine. She continues to whole-heartedly embrace my unique 'story' or values, desires and hopes, and encourages me to pave my own path, even if I don't see one like it in the world yet. She's also conversant in process - even step two of the creative process where we collect lots of input without knowing what will eventually take shape. As I articulate what I believe will be elements of the next phase of my career, Kristine is comfortable talking about notions, thoughts, intuitive insights, desires and other elements that may not come neatly wrapped in a package yet.

3. What do you think makes In Progress unique? What 2-3 things are at our very core that make us stand out from other arts programs or youth development programs?: Ah! It's a hub! Digital arts might be the draw, but the real art is the coming together of so many people, from so many backgrounds. It could easily be called a cross roads or beehive of Twin Cities' creativity.

4. As you think about In Progress, what do you value most? What keeps you engaged here?: The intersection of heart, desire, creativity, story and heritage all in one place.

all thoughts presented on this page have been given with permission from the person interviewed.  

Thoughts From Our Funding Partners 01

What do you most appreciate about In Progress? What strengths, achievements and values make In Progress an attractive investment?

They have a strong grassroots orientation around youth and media engagement. Always been accessible and work with kids who don’t always have access.

The environment that they provide is welcoming and flexible. Kind of a pipeline for opportunities to engage artists. They embrace the notion of teaching artists. Integration with more traditional art forms like story telling. Relationship between technology and storytelling.

They are artist-run. I don’t see that very much anymore

They support ideas around expression and providing voice to kids of color. First voice perspective.

What makes In Progress unique in your eyes? How does In Progress stand out from other arts or youth development programs from your perspective?

Kind of at a critical point. They have used a contract structure to operate. That is unique. To be competitive they may need to formalize their infrastructure.

There is a wide variety of arts orgs and pretty many work with media. In Progress brings a different perspective. Their look at storytelling is unique. They are about the artistic process. Others are about workforce development

As you look into the next few years, what funding and community trends might have an impact on In Progress?

Arts: hard to say. Many primary funders have gone away. Funding from the State Arts Board is likely to be stable for the next several years.

Look at funders that support multi-disciplinary effort. Positioning the organization as a youth development org may be helpful.

How do they prepare themselves for capacity building projects? Like Arts Lab within Arts Midwest which has funding by a consortium of funders. Be prepared to participate in a 3 year process. What would it take to apply for this? Technical assistance, statewide, social change kind of focus. How could In Progress be proactive in their planning?

We increasingly look to orgs that meet the accountability standards of the Charities Review Council. Make sure you meet the Charity Review Council baseline.

We like them because they serve our youth.

What do you hope to see In Progress do more of in the future?

In Progress is just beginning to build its administrative capacity, so it seems they need time and space to develop their leadership team

Their outreach seems to be limited in its capacity. Many of the same faces appear, and it feels somewhat like a small family where everyone knows each other. This, however, is also their strength: they build deep, intentional relationships with the young artists with whom they work. But there may be room to reach out to more youth who may not think to come in the door.

While their social media presence is robust and active, their web site could communicate better the weekly schedule of events as well as the annual calendar of events

What other advice do you have for In Progress about staying vital into the future?

Taking advantage of the technical assistance opportunities available through Youthprise. I can make sure they get included. They may want to use this as a strategy with other funders. That they are doing this extra work related to evaluation speaks highly of them.

Deepen the relationship with David Kim. They are pretty competitive in our challenge grants.

Get on the radar of other funders. New program arts person at McKnight (Arleta). Sharon Demark at St. Paul Foundation.

If they see themselves as a pipeline for emerging artists – that’s a good position. Individual artists can do campaigns under the umbrella of Springboard for the Arts. They are struggling with the pipeline. Jerome Foundation too.

If they want to meet with me (Rudy) before they apply next year – I’d be glad to. I will be more intentional about going by and seeing the storefront, too.

Thoughts From Our Funding Partners 02

1. What do you most appreciate about In Progress? What strengths, achievements and values make In Progress an attractive investment?: Location in the community and that they have an open door policy. Welcoming to the adults and kids.
I’m interested in the adult piece. Jerry Stein at the U about learning dreams. http://www.learningdreams.org/node/2 A lot of what In Progress does fits with the model of learning dreams.
The economy is not going to get better. The recession will last 13 more years for many people. It’s imperative that we find ways for people to express their dreams and hopes. Hope is a hard thing. We need to give it to all people.
Working with low income people in the community. I am pushing a variety of skills, “soft skills,” like persistence. I know CEOs that have the soft skills and are very successful. For example, Urban Boat Builders are teaching kids to build boats and teaching them skills for life. All the arts they learn are skills that people can’t take away from them.

2. What makes In Progress unique in your eyes? How does In Progress stand out from other arts or youth development programs from your perspective?: Location in the community. Open door policy. North End has so few resources for youth. Critical that they have located there. Chance to create synergy with other groups serving youth.
Haven’t dug deep enough yet. Talk to Sharon Demark

3. As you look into the next few years, what funding and community trends might have an impact on In Progress?:It will be difficult to create jobs for the next13 years. The rich will be fine. But the gap will persist.
Foundations are specializing more and more. Doing more of their own work and taking dollars off the top to do that. Less funding to the community.
There have got to be other ways to create a funding base. 80% of funds do come from individuals. For example, can they do an art and wine activity as a revenue generator? I’d bring my friends down there and pay for it. 
Does the neighborhood feel safe? There is garbage on the streets. A disrespect for the space. Is that an opportunity? Create public art over there. 
Small STAR grants?
The mayor is really worried about having another summer like last year – kids organizing to fight in public. Get connected with the ambassadors early. The YWCA is managing a city program. Hiring young adults to hang out in neighborhoods and get kids connected with positive and fun activities. The ambassadors don’t know where everything is that is happening. Get connected with them early so they know about In Progress.

4. What do you hope to see In Progress do more of in the future?: Make connections with other youth programming. Create a collaborative in the North End of youth providers. New Lens Urban Mentoring. The Boys and Girls clubs. The YW. Youth Express. Merriam Park. 
Export In Progress to other public housing facilities. A lot of our afterschool programs are pounding so hard on reading and math. Come in as a day of switching things up. A way to look at the world differently. 
Get in contact with Computers for Schools to get free computers.

5. What other advice do you have for In Progress about staying vital into the future?: Money is hard to come by. Get small contracts with existing youth serving orgs and school districts. The art school in town closed. Too bad. Musical program McNally in downtown. McPhail. Ally yourself with and build relationships with bigger orgs. Share teachers and internships with these orgs.
Someone needs to map the north end to see what is going on there. They don’t fit into the Promise Neighborhood, etc. How do you find these little nodes in the community? And how do they spin to take on the house next door, etc. and begin to reshape the neighborhood. Hub and spoke thing.
Build a strong board that can help them maneuver the world of nonprofits.

Thoughts From Our Funding Partners 03

1. What do you most appreciate about In Progress? What strengths, achievements and values make In Progress an attractive investment?: Loved their intersection of personal development, arts and empowerment and voice. That intersection with young women of color is an incredibly powerful and important combination. 
The thing that is a distinguishing characteristic: Kris brings a level of artistry and ambition and history that elevates the work. The kids aren’t just doing a craft project. These kids use art as a means – a serious means – to explore who they are in the world in a profound way.

The quality is important. Kids see that immediately. This has real authenticity. Focus on these particular kids. They do it. You see what is happening to the kids. Real deal impact. The kids are fundamentally different in the world because of what they’ve done at In Progress. There are ways to measure it. The trajectory is real. You don’t want to overly encumber it with a lot of form-filling-out. Capture that in a way that is organic to the way they work. Interviews and observations about the kids. Body language, how they speak, etc. Do this a year or two down the line. The impact has always been visceral and obvious to me when I’ve spent time with Kris and the kids.

2. What makes In Progress unique in your eyes? How does In Progress stand out from other arts or youth development programs from your perspective?: Its niche is an intersection of several things; complicated, and that can make it hard to pin down for funding. It doesn’t look like anything else. It can look like it misses every bucket, or like it hits all of them.

3. As you look into the next few years, what funding and community trends might have an impact on In Progress?:Demographic trends – there will be more and more kids who could benefit from what she does. The market is growing. What is their capacity to handle the growth of the community? I know Kris is grooming new leaders. How is that going?
Question in my mind (going way, way back). She was a program of Film in the Cities. Then she moved around when they closed. What is the trade-off between being a program and being independent? Would they have better capacity as a program of an organization with more infrastructure?
Arts funding is always a mixed bag. The Legacy funds were a boost during the recession. Funding has flattened out recently. Their niche is not just arts – which can be a plus and a challenge. But they are also not just a neighborhood program. (Are they a little like Juxtaposition? In Progress is multi geography, multi-discipline, etc. Be smart about how to market each segment. Geographic base in north end is good. (Neal had not known about the storefront before our conversation.)

4. What do you hope to see In Progress do more of in the future?: More and bigger! Meet the demand!
I don’t know how visible they are now. But it would be great to see them do some larger public project. (Think Wing and the Lake St. corridor photographs.)

5. What other advice do you have for In Progress about staying vital into the future?: Challenges are what they have always been. Been constant to keep vital. 
Important to find a way to make it more sustainable. When Kris is gone, how will this continue? Is there a size they try to build to so that administration is sustainable?
I was and remain a big fan. Really valuable work in a real, authentic, meaningful impactful way.
Kris is an incredible leader. There is something about how Kris engages with the young women that makes them (the young women) walk differently in the world.

Privacy: "It is understood that our funding partners notes and thoughts are given with the intent of being consolidated and offered to the public with general anonymity."

Thoughts From Our Funding Partners 04

1. What do you most appreciate about In Progress? What strengths, achievements and values make In Progress an attractive investment?: My intersections with them have been few, but good.
The fact that they work with youth. They are very dedicated to working with youth and young people. They seem very devoted to the people they serve. Have really devoted a great deal of time in the area of media. Have used media as a way for the young people to express themselves and explore matters of interest to them. This is often about race and economic realities.
I also like the diversity of the program. The fact that they connect with young people from so many ethnic and racial backgrounds. Badly needed in the twin cities. There aren’t many orgs addressing that need. The fact that they work with youth of color makes them a very attractive investment. The kids are very devoted. Very attractive. Kids have short attention spans. These kids tend to stick around. That says something.
Overall they touch on quite a few bases in helping their constituents get stronger and become better equipped adults in a challenging world. They are very effective in strengthening the self-esteem of the people they serve. Especially with young people of color, self-esteem can be an issue.
Hard to measure success with this kind of program. How do you measure it? By going on to college or getting jobs? I don’t think so. The best way to measure is through the kids at the time. Does it seem like something they truly benefit from?

2. What makes In Progress unique in your eyes? How does In Progress stand out from other arts or youth development programs from your perspective?: The executive leadership is phenomenal. It’s like the people she works with she views as part of her family. I’ve not seen other leaders be this devoted to the people and to the work. It’s a job to others. It’s more than a job to Kris.

3. As you look into the next few years, what funding and community trends might have an impact on In Progress?:Most important is growth. Like all successful programs, In Progress would be more successful if they brought more people under their wing. Deeper and more investment from funders. That’s the only way to grow. Funding is always a big question mark. 
There are way more kids out there. The funding world should invest more. In Progress helps the young participants become better members of society and achieve personal success. It would be unwise to ignore this. There aren’t that many programs for kids like this.
A major challenge of small orgs is staffing. Hard to do all the administrative and fundraising duties. They need a bigger staff. They need a full time development person. Raising money requires such a specialized skill. Paid staff are important. You can’t have that without money.

4. What do you hope to see In Progress do more of in the future?: Grow.
They should look at their various offerings for young people. Critically review them for effectiveness. Also think of new ways to engage. Young people have short attention spans. Young people have a lot of needs. In Progress can’t address them all, but could do more. Determine what is working, what isn’t and what more could we do to be more effective. At least every 5 years. That’s what you are doing now, right?

5. What other advice do you have for In Progress about staying vital into the future?: One danger about founder-led orgs, especially good founders that establish a good reputation, is reliance on that founder. If something should happen to Kris, make sure it doesn’t fall apart. I’ve seen that happen. They need to think about what happens after Kris leaves.

Thoughts From Our Funding Partners 05

1. What do you most appreciate about In Progress? What strengths, achievements and values make In Progress an attractive investment?: The racial and cultural diversity of the artists, students and others involved. Very striking aspect of the org.
Provides opportunities for people to enter into their creative expression through media and photography that are not always open to the broadest of cultures. Really important part of it.
The high artistic and esthetic value baked into the organization from all of its DNA and history. In some cases, in orgs that have a broad mission, the artistic value can feel weak. There are really high standards for quality at In Progress. This is not my assessment of quality imposed on them. But a high mark that is set by them for the media artists.
Also. The webpage talks of low overheard and limited staff that makes the org. flexible and able to stay vital in tough economic times. That is god, but the flip side is that is happening on someone’s back. I see both sides.

2. What makes In Progress unique in your eyes? How does In Progress stand out from other arts or youth development programs from your perspective?: I’m not up to speed with what they are doing now. Not close enough to them now.

3. As you look into the next few years, what funding and community trends might have an impact on In Progress?:I think what should have an impact is the increased dollars through the Legacy amendment. Increased dollars for arts learning and arts access should be available to them. There is a lot of talk about funding decreasing. On the other hand, we have lots of dollars coming in through the Legacy funds.
Philanthropy in our state is in some cases slow to recognize the changing demographics of Minnesota. Funding is going to be catching up on that fact. Could be a plus for In Progress due to the broad base of participants.
I made a point of talking about the high production values. Not all will look at that. There is more focus on education than artistic production from many arts funders. Many will look at the education side. Less about the art and more about the education of the person making the art and of the community. In Progress could really benefit from that focus

4. What do you hope to see In Progress do more of in the future?: Emphasis on going to different parts of the state, like Crookston, etc. I think that is really creating opportunities for voices. The work on what it is like to live as a Latino in NW Minnesota can’t be done enough. Really helps people become more comfortable and also it educates (and connects them with) others. To help them communicate what it means for us and for the people who are new (or whom we have not included) to live in this community. This is really needed. To help communities understand who their neighbors are. A chance for the local Latinos to say – this is us. We are here. Artists really make the path for understanding. Hope they can do more and more. Really important. Probably a niche that is not being filled by other orgs. So important! This is important in the Twin Cities as well. But there are more opportunities here. 
The legacy dollars can really support the work in other parts of the state.

5. What other advice do you have for In Progress about staying vital into the future?: What they are doing is vital. To find others to support it more is the key. Bring everyone into the fold. 
It is remarkable the number of programs they are able to do on such a small budget. Looking at that…there is a value in staying small and lean. But really look carefully at what size they need to be to sustain this. They are really small and have a really huge vision. 
McKnight now focuses more on supporting working artists. People with a body of work. What does it really take to support working artists in community? There could be a fit for supporting some of In Progress’ work. We do fund Juxtaposition Arts, for example. Could be similarities.

Privacy: "It is understood that our funding partners notes and thoughts are given with the intent of being consolidated and offered to the public with general anonymity."

Appreciative Thoughts

 The stories presented below have been given with permission to share publicly.  We are honored to present them here and we welcome anyone with a story to share to do so with us.  Just CLICK HERE and let us know what your experience with In Progress has been.