MayDay 2022

About MayDay 2022

MayDay 2022 looked different than MayDays past. Heart of the Beast's MayDay Council worked with three community partners to plan  MayDay 2022 celebrations: Roosevelt HS, MIGIZI, and Kalpulli KetzalCoatlicue.

The culminating events were a cultural and political MayDay Festival on May 1 and a high school led celebration May 6. 

In preparation for these events, our community partners engaged youth and families in a series of art-making workshops.

Roosevelt HS art teachers hosted a semester-long class teaching students skills like puppet making and crafting public art installations. MIGIZI hosted recurring MayDay after-school puppet building sessions for months with local artists Madeline Helling and Bree Green.

Kalpulli KetzalCoatlicue worked with artist Gustavo Boada to lead puppet builds for families in Spanish and teach an arts elective course to El Colegio high school students. Youth artworks appeared at the MayDay celebrations.

Our community partners built a web of local connections, working towards shared community ownership of MayDay.

Kalpulli KetzalCoatlicue collaborated with organizers from MIRAC (MN Immigrant Rights Action Coalition) to recruit powerful speakers and grassroots groups to table at the May 1 festival. They worked with organizers at UNIDOS as well.

Roosevelt HS invited arts organizations like Juxtaposition, Film North, and Northern Clay Center to present live art-making at their MayDay celebration for students and their families to enjoy.

Thanks to our generous donors HOBT funded these MayDay 2022 celebrations.

MayDay Photos

Click to enhance the image. Photos by Spencer Joles.

MayDay Behind the Scenes Mini Doc

We interviewed MayDay Council members, teachers, young people, and artists about their experiences dreaming up & making MayDay 2022 celebrations a reality. This mini doc offers one window into the work and process. Closed Captions are Available.
Image Description: A youtube video still shows a teen in an art room with a yellow felt puppet.
Videography & editing by Yanimadeit
Additional videography by Zephyr Sheedy & MCN6

That Was Funded by You!

HOBT proudly funded MayDay 2022 celebrations through a combination of expense savings and dollars donated directly by you. For the first time ever, HOBT live streamed the MayDay Festival. We provided ASL interpretation, an accessible stage for performers, and other festival logistics.

In addition, each community partner received $10,000 from HOBT to deploy for their MayDay project. Here's how our partners used those funds:

  • MIGIZI and Kalpulli KetzalCoatlicue paid teaching artists to lead youth art-making workshops, crafting puppets such as the Medicine Woman Mojiganga.
  • Kalpulli KetzalCoatlicue paid local performers to showcase their skills for all to enjoy including the Twin Cities Breakerz and the Carifest steel drummers.
  • Community partners paid organizations to provide security as a safe alternative to the police for the MayDay Festival.
  • HOBT's investment in Roosevelt HS paid for art supplies allowing students to devise their own MayDay art crawl.

Watch the MayDay Festival as Streamed on May 1, 2022

This is recorded footage from the MayDay festival, the first event of MayDay Season 2022. The festival took place on May 1, 2022, in the Four Directions Family Center Parking lot. This event was hosted by Kalpulli KetzalCoatlicue and MIRAC with support from UNIDOS and El Colegio. Numerous community organizations set up tables. Community partner MIGIZI, hosted live screen printing. Grassroots organizers spoke on labor and immigration issues. Local artists performed poetry, song, and dance. Watch this video by MCN6 to see the May 1 speakers and performers.

MayDay on May 6 at Roosevelt High

The second event of the MayDay Season 2022 took place on May 6, 2022, on campus at Roosevelt HS. This event was planned by Roosevelt staff and students with support from the MayDay Council. The event featured student art, giant puppets, musical performances, graffiti art-making led by Juxtaposition Arts, a live dance class, a chance to practice film-making with film north, and so much more! Here's a behind-the-scenes video showing just some of Roosevelt's beautiful MayDay celebration.

Videographer-Adriana Foreman

Will You Help Us Feed MayDay 2023?

You, along with funders and foundations in Minnesota and beyond, chose to invest in community and keep MayDay alive. Just look what you funded:

You funded powerful voices being heard.

You funded artistry with the authenticity the world needs right now.

You funded performers getting paid for their skills.

Image Description: A carousel of images appears. The first photo shows a spoken word artist mid-poem on stage with text that reads "you funded powerful voices being heard." The second photo shows one of Kalpulli KetzalCoatlicue's dancers smiling in regalia with text that reads "you funded artistry with the authenticity the world needs to see right now." The third photo shows one of the Twin Citiez Breakerz mid-move, standing on one hand with text that reads "you funded performers getting paid for their skills."

Feed Mayday 2023

Our "Feed MayDay 2023" bird was hungry for donations, but also wishes for MayDay seasons to come. People were invited to write on "berries," "fruits," "worms," and "greens" at the MayDay Festival.  Click on the thumbnails to read some wishes.

feed the bird.mov-high (1)

Image Description: A looping GIF shows HOBT's colorful bird puppet sitting in it's nest, its mouth opening and closing for donations.