Youth-led Media Arts Initiative
Elders Stories Project
Application Deadline: September 21st
--
Application Deadline: September 21st --
Are you interested in telling the stories that have shaped Minnesota? Learn photography, audio production, and videography while documenting the histories and lived experiences of Black, Brown, Indigenous, and Immigrant elders.
Application Deadline
September 21st, 2026
Program Dates
Oct. 7 – January 29 2026
Wednesday-Friday
550 Vandalia St W
#170
Location
SPNN’s Elder Stories Project is a youth-led media arts initiative that uplifts the histories and lived experiences of Black, Brown, Indigenous, and Immigrant elders in Minnesota.
The project brings young people and community elders in collaboration, equipping youth with creative and technical storytelling skills while preserving narratives that are often underrepresented in mainstream media.
What is the Elder Stories Project?
Youth will receive a stipend of $1766 divided over three payments
Program Timeline
August
Recruitment opens for youth participants.
Mid September
Interviews with interested youth applicants.
October 7
The program begins with training and project orientation.
January 29
Program ends with completed outcomes and final presentation preparation.
What Youth Will Experience
-
Work with organizations such as the Karen Organization of Minnesota, Centro Tyrone Guzman, Higher Ground Academy, and other community partners to connect with elders and communities.
-
Build hands-on skills in media literacy, photography, camera operation, audio recording, interviewing, editing, and documentary storytelling.
-
Conduct and record meaningful conversations with elders, preserving their histories and lived experiences.
-
Edit your footage, participate in peer feedback sessions, and complete a professional oral-history documentary.
-
Celebrate your work at a public screening, with selected stories shared through SPNN's cable channels, YouTube, podcast platforms, and other public media outlets.
Why This Project Matters
For Youth
Participants strengthen creativity, technical media skills, communication, teamwork, and confidence as storytellers.
For Elders
Elders gain meaningful opportunities to share histories, wisdom, migration stories, challenges, triumphs, and cultural knowledge.
For Minnesota
The documentaries broaden public understanding of Minnesota’s cultural diversity and preserve stories for future generations.
Ready to Tell Minnesota’s Stories?
"This work is funded in part by MHC with money from the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund that was created with the vote of the people of Minnesota on November 4, 2008."