Lacey Prpić Hedtke, with Miré Regulus and Diver Van Avery

2021 EARLY-CAREER PROJECT GRANTEE | $8,000

Free the Deeds

Free the Deeds is a collaboration between Diver Van Avery, Miré Regulus and Lacey Prpić Hedtke. Free the Deeds seeks to address the damages done from a history of racist lending practices and offer a pathway forward of reparations and repair. Free the Deeds is a multi-faceted project involving (1) the creation vibrant lawn signs and an original print for Minneapolis homeowners who have erased their home’s racial covenant to display, and, (2) a page on the City of Lakes Community Land Trust’s website that features stories and portraits of elders who have been personally impacted by redlining. The project will also create a path for people to practice reparations by financially investing in Minneapolis’s first African American Community Land Trust.

Lacey Prpić Hedtke (above left) is a photographer, astrologer, arts organizer and public artist in Powderhorn Park, Minneapolis. Her work is on the themes of history of place, protection, magic, and remembrance. Her work explores and is shown in unregulated and public spaces. In 2017 she opened The Future–a project and residency space that acts as a community center for artists, healers, and witches.

Miré Regulus (above middle) is a Minneapolis-based multidisciplinary artist, community builder and parent. In her creative work she is interested in how we form engaged community and the unique ways we figure out how to take care of each other. She lives and works at the intersection of the BIPOC, queer, political, and artistic communities seeking to build a more equitable and embodied world.

Diver Van Avery (above right) is a writer, educator, and public artist. In all her work, she is interested in how art rooted in community can deepen connection, inspire policy change to further equity, and highlightlight the powerful beauty that is within and around each of us. She is the Co-Artistic Director of Poetry for People whose projects have received local and national recognition by Americans for the Arts. She holds an MFA from Hamline University in Creative Writing and is currently pursuing a Masters in Counseling. Van Avery is a queer, single parent by choice fueled to dismantle white supremacy from the inside-out and committed to healing the damages inflicted by oppression.

Prpić Hedtke was previously a Forecast 2018 Early-Career Research and Development Grantee.
Van Avery was previously a Forecast Messages of Hope Mini-Grant recipient.

Forecast has been offering early-career artist grants supported by Jerome Foundation since 1989. In addition to funding, Forecast is dedicated to providing professional development and learning opportunities designed to assist emerging artists as they experiment/ hone their practices, and cultivate careers in the field. 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.