CarryOn Homes

2022 Mid-Career Project Grantee | $10,000

CarryOn Homes and Iraqi Minnesotan Storytelling Project

CarryOn Homes intends to work with Iraqi and American Reconciliation Project (IARP) as their community partner to create a tour exhibition of new photography and storytelling-based artwork. The multi-media installation will be inspired by in-depth interviews with ten Iraqi Minnesotans in both English and Arabic. The exhibition will be designed to be scalable and portable enough to travel to various art spaces in the state for maximum social impact.

CarryOn Homes is an artist collective comprised of immigrants who now call MN home. They are dedicated to telling the stories of immigrants and refugees in the USA through art. By using photography, storytelling, public art and curatorial mentorship, they engage the public in cross-cultural dialogue and create spaces for immigrants and marginalized communities to feel a sense of belonging and empowerment. CarryOn Homes members working on this project are Peng Wu and Zoe Cinel. Founding members: Peng Wu and Shun Yong. Former members: Aki Shibata and Preston Drum (2017-2020).

Born and raised in China, Peng Wu is an interdisciplinary artist and designer dedicated to creating socially engaged art in public space. His work combines the power of design thinking with contemporary art strategies to address various urgent social issues including immigration, public health, queer rights, etc. Through collaborating across disciplines and cultures, he has created participatory art installations exhibited in art institutions such as Weisman Art Museum, Walker Art Center, Minneapolis Institute of Art, as well as numerous public spaces and community centers.

Zoe Cinel is an interdisciplinary artist and curator from Italy whose work builds community around human experiences that are isolating and complex to navigate, such as immigration and chronic pain. Starting from her own journey as a patient and a migrant and collaborating with artists or with specialists in fields such as medicine and urban design, Zoe’s work’s ultimate goal is to connect and produce social change. Her artistic and curatorial work has been exhibited in institutions such as the Walker Art Center, the Minneapolis Institute of Art, the Gordon Parks Gallery at Metropolitan State University, St Paul and the Rochester Art Center. She has worked on commissioned public art projects for the City of Minneapolis, DMC Rochester and Mayo Clinic.

The McKnight Foundation generously enables Forecast to provide Professional Development Grants for mid-career artists seeking to expand their work in the field of public art. Forecast mid- and early-career grants are designed to support independent projects, leadership development, professional development, risk-taking, multidisciplinary approaches, and collaborative problem-solving in the field of public art.