Minneapolis, Minn. August 23, 2012 The Cowles Center for Dance & the Performing Arts is thrilled to work with the First Peoples Fund to present First Peoples Celebrates: The Jennifer Easton Community Spirit Awards. On September 27 at 8pm, Native American artistry and spirit take center stage in an evening of traditional and contemporary dance, stories, traditional arts, music and comedy with First Peoples Celebrates, an event that honors the Collective Spirit® in all of us. Native artists from Minnesota and throughout Indian country share performances and stories from the Anishinaabe, Blackfeet, Oneida, Seneca and Tsimshian tribes and traditions. And six Native artists will receive the Community Spirit Award, which recognizes the exceptional passion and wisdom they bring to their art and our lives. The honorees for 2012 are Visual Artist David Boxley (Tsimshian), Comedian Charlie Hill (Oneida), Sculptor Duane Goodwin (Anishinaabe), Musician Elizabeth Jaakola (Anishinaabe), Painter G. Peter Jemison (Seneca) and Traditional Artist Jackie Parsons (Blackfeet).

The evening features performances by comedian Charlie Hill, who has appeared on The Late Show with David Letterman, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Roseanne and The Golden Girls, as well as Jennifer Kreisberg, one of the original members of the world-renowned female a cappella group Ulali. Shes performed at Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, the Hollywood Bowl, the Olympics, and now, The Cowles Center.

Also performing are Git-Hoan (People of the Salmon), a dance troupe led by David Boxley who trace their roots to the Tsimshian, Haida and Tlingit tribes of Southeast Alaska, and Oshkii Giizhik Singers with Elizabeth Jaakola, a community-based group of Native American women singers from the Fond du Lac area of Minnesota.

For the first time ever, First Peoples Fund will be hosting a special pre-show reception featuring an art auction of award-winning First Peoples Fund artists. More than 40 First Peoples Fund artists have generously donated a piece of themselvesand their communityto support the art auction fundraiser. The reception features local, Indigenous foods from Black Sheep Chefs, a meet and greet with the honorees and VIP seating at the show and awards ceremony. Only 100 tickets are available for the special event. Funds raised from the event will go toward the professional development and business coaching programs that directly benefit indigenous culture bearers across the country who are passing on their ancestral knowledge in their communities.

Tickets are $25 for the show and awards ceremony only, and $100 for the pre-show reception and art auction fundraiser and VIP tickets for the show, and can be purchased online at thecowlescenter.org, over the phone at 612.206.3600 or in person at 528 Hennepin Ave. S. Tuesday Friday 11am 5pm.

About First Peoples Fund

Founded in 1995, First Peoples Fund's mission is to honor and support the creative community-centered First Peoples artists; and nurture the collective spirit® that allows them to sustain their peoples.

First Peoples Funds vision is to communicate to the world the roots and philosophy of Indigenous artistic expression and its relationship to the collective spirit of First Peoples. They will strive to provide support and voice to the creative Indigenous artists who share their inspiration, wisdom, knowledge and gifts with their communities.

About The Cowles Center

The Cowles Center for Dance and the Performing Arts (501(c)3) is the Twin Cities' newest arts center and the flagship for dance in Minnesota. Centrally located in downtown Minneapolis, The Cowles Center includes the newly refurbished 500-seat Goodale Theater; the Hennepin Center for the Arts, home to 20 leading dance and performing arts organizations; the state-of-the-art Target Education Studio, housing The Cowles Centers distance learning program; and the new U.S. Bank Atrium. The Cowles Center fills the need for a place that is a catalyst for the creation, presentation, education, enjoyment and celebration of dance and the performing arts in the Twin Cities. The 2012/13 Season is presented by U.S. Bank with additional support from Ascent Private Capital Management and The Private Client Reserve of U.S. Bank www.thecowlescenter.org.

SEPTEMBER AT THE COWLES CENTER

vocaldente

Tickets: $30 Adults, $20 Students

September 15, 7:30pm

September 16, 2pm

Mathew Janczewskis ARENA DANCES

Les Petites Choses

Tickets: $28

September 21-22, 8pm

MEET THE COMPANY: Talk Back Series Night Friday, September 21

First Peoples Celebrates: The Jennifer Easton Community Spirit Awards

Tickets: $25

September 27, 8pm

Minnesota Concert Opera

I Puritani

Tickets: $25 Adults, $15 Students

September 28, 7:30pm

September 30, 3pm

Contact: Andrea Tonsfeldt

612.206.3631

atonsfeldt@thecowlescenter.org

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