The Under Review - Issue 4 | Summer 2021

HORSTMAN 55
As her friend and someone who lives in Minnesota, thank goodness we are blessed to have great public
funding for the arts. I said to her, ‘I think this would really be a great film. I would love to see if I could write
something and work with you to see if we could further educate people about this issue.’ I was able to get a
grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board for that project and it came out the same year that Through the
Banks of the Red Cedar came out.
For me there’s the initial idea that comes in its own container. I knew Through the Banks of the Red Cedar
was going to be a feature. I can’t tell you how I knew that, but I knew it was going to be a documentary and
a feature documentary. Whitespace, I knew it was a short film and a narrative, and I knew Clear was a short
film and a narrative. Oftentimes your road to getting that work funded, if you’re going the indie route, the
path to building community, building an audience, for me everything I do has some kind of social impact or
education component. As much as I enjoy making art and being around artists, I don’t just make art for
myself. It’s just happened very organically that there’s always some kind of educational component and
some opportunity for the community to engage in conversation about the issues that a film represents. It’s
true storytelling with a purpose that the work is hopefully inherently entertaining, and interesting, and
compelling, and has high artistic merit, but it’s really meant to exist in any place or space that people are
where it can inspire conversation and dialogue or even action.
I love art and I love the ways you can tell a story through photography, film, literature, dance, theater, live
performance, and public conversation and discussion. I think the arts are just a really great way for people
who otherwise wouldn’t maybe be in an artistic setting, or artists who maybe aren’t exposed to a social
issue, are able to have that experience through the work I try to create. I try to create an experiential
witness to story.
Thank you so much again to Maya Washington for being part of Issue 04 of the Under Review. Pre-order
Maya’s book, Through the Banks of the Red Cedar, today from Little A Books.
ISSUE 4 | SUMMER 2021