Song of the Week

How Big is the Rainbow by the Tune-Yards. Listen to this song as you read to help open you up.

Update: Making Art in the Boundary Waters

I just left from the Lake Tofte Artist Residency. The Lake Tofte Artist Residency started in 2008, which happens to be when I was also working up in Ely doing bear research. It’s cool to think that I was up here as this place was being formed. It was hard to be away while ICE, Homeland Security, DEA, ATF, and the FBI swarmed in South Minneapolis on Tuesday. I’ll be doing more reflection on that in the next two weeks. For now I’ll speak more about what I know— which is that I was relatively isolated at Lake Tofte while all that was happening.

At Lake Tofte the air smells of balsam pine, cool methyl mixed with the wildfire smoke from Canada. There is always something sweet wafting in the air, even as it mixes with the smoke. Aromatic native prickly roses were budding along all the stone paths and rainbow trout swam under the loons who visited us multiple times a day on the dock at sunset. When you pause to listen, the wind is a constant companion.

It was an honor to be selected as one of six BIPOC folks from MN this year. Lake Tofte has six residencies. They include a Minnesota Family Residency for artists who want to come with their families, BIPOC residency, Artist Educator Residency, and a National Emerging Artist Residency. We received a stipend of $700 for the week and $100 in transportation money. In total there are 37 local and national residents over the course of the year, check out all the 2025 residents here. Residencies are between 6-10 days. What I love about this residency is that the focus is on taking care of the artists rather than emphasizing production and output. Liz does a wonderful job of supporting this. Each artist gets their own cabin or shares with one other person, there are crispy clear lakes all around, kayaks, paddle boards, fire pits, a sauna, hammock, dance/yoga studio, and lots of spaces to get down to artsy business. I highly encourage folks to apply to support your artistic practice. Here are the wonderful folks I was with this week, and some information about their creative practices.

Brook LaFloe (she/her) (Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa) is an artist-educator and social entrepreneur with passion for revitalizing culture & facilitating the growth of local Indigenous artists & economies. Brook is a culture bearer, beadwork artist, & makes her families Powwow regalia. She enjoys fancy dancing at Powwows, being a sister and aunty, and engaging in anything sports-related including being a youth basketball coach.
niniijaanis1of1s.com
IG - @niniijaanis1of1s

Eiko Mizushima (she/they) is a Japanese, Okinawan, Irish, mixed-race, mixed media artist, ecologist, occupational therapist (OT), and mental health practitioner living in Mni Sota Makoce, Minneapolis. Her work explores the liminal space between the art, healing, and science of the natural world.
IG-@eikoologies

Ritika Ganguly (she/her), Ph.D., is a trans-disciplinary practitioner who works across the sciences, arts, and philanthropy. Ritika’s artistic practice engages with orally transmitted genres of music, poetry, and narration. Her works explore power and hierarchy while creating a space where the stories of ordinary citizens can be told.
ritikaganguly.com
IG- @aamalaki

Hana Worku (she/they) is a writer, technologist, and organizer based in the Midwest. Her creative work engages collective memory, stories passed down through time, and questions of who or what is worth remembering. She is currently completing her first book-length project, an intergenerational family memoir.
IG- @hanawulu

gabi estrada (they/them) is a Mexican-American printmaker and arts educator based in Minneapolis. Their practice is rooted in identity and storytelling, honoring their ancestors and elders. They believe in the power that art has to facilitate healing and community building, which they prioritize in their art and pedagogy.
IG - @grabadogabi

Juan Diego Pérez La Cruz (he/him) is an architect, artist, and educator based in Minnesota. His work explores memory, territory, and the body, focusing on themes of migration and identity. As a faculty member at the University of Minnesota, he combines artistic practice with academic inquiry.
http://perezlacruz.com
IG - @Perez.la.cruz

Liz Engelman is a freelance dramaturg, the founder, executive director of Lake Tofte!

Schedule With Me

OTR/L, BA, MHP, LMT,
she/they) Integrative Therapies

I offer trauma informed somatic informed therapeutic coaching, craniosacral therapy, Swedish massage, Thai bodywork, myofascial release, group workshops, and healing through art, play, and connecting to nature.

Community Events

I don’t have much for this week since I’ve been out of town. I’lll have more community events listed next week!

Somatic Experiencing International Scholarship Applications Reopen June 16th!

Check out more information on their scholarships here. These are due on July 14th.

Drunk(ish) Antifascist History Fundraiser! Mark your calendars!

Thanks for READING! xoxo Eiko