Southwest Minnesota Arts Council Artist Growth Grant, McKnight Foundation, 2022-2024

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Jannet L. Walsh
October 3, 2022
Murdock, Minnesota

About this page – This page hosts the online nonfiction quest narrative genre writing project Nonfiction Quest Narrative Genre Writing Project – Family Stories: Minnesota and Irish Diaspora by Jannet L. Walsh, of Murdock, Minnesota. Walsh is a recipient of a Southwest Minnesota Arts Council, SMCA, Artist Growth Grant, 2022 – 2024. Funding for this program is provided by the McKnight Foundation. Minnesota thrives when its artists thrive. The McKnight Foundation supports working artists to create and contribute to vibrant communities.

Jannet L. Walsh at Port Metcalf, the foot of Wolfe Island, Ontario, Canada. Canada to the left, and right is the United States, Dec. 30, 2022, self portrait.
Dates of grant
Starting date, October 1, 2022
End date, June 30, 2024
Final reporting date, Aug. 29, 2024
“Jannet L. Walsh of Murdock has been awarded $4,000 to write a creative nonfiction quest narrative genre writing project to produce a new collection of her family history stories in Minnesota and Canada, focusing on the “Irish Diaspora, ethnic Irish living outside the island of Ireland.” The collection of writing will be available on her website, offered to credible publications, and used to create her second book.”
From Southwest Minnesota Arts Council, SMAC. View details at SMAC October 2022 Newsletter.
Project Hashtags
#IrishDiasporaSMACMcKnight
#IrishFamilyHistoryDetective

Blogs, stories, and online publications by Jannet L. Walsh
Listing of all blogs and stories at JannetWalsh.com and other sources
October 2022 – 2023
- April 7, 2023, Killarney, Blarney, and Dublin – Remembering my first trip to Ireland in 1980, view at IrishCentral. Story has details of family history related to Wolfe Island, Ontario, Canada and Ireland, along with first trip to Ireland, 1980.
- March 18, 2023, Luck of the Irish – Tracing the Lineage, Wolfe Island, Ontario, Canada, view at JannetWalsh.com.
- March 14, 2023, Search for Irish Canadian ancestors, Irish genealogy tips, view at JannetWalsh.com.
- February 14, 2023, ‘Irish Bard’ finds family roots on Wolfe Island by Brian Johnson, Thousand Island Life Magazine, Kingston, Ontario, Canada, view at JannetWalsh.com.
- February 11, 2023, ‘Irish Bard’ finds family roots on Wolfe Island by Brian Johnson, The Kingston Whig-Standard, Kingston, Ontario, Canada, view at JannetWalsh.com.
- October 6, 2022, story published at IrishCentral, Searching for my 150-year-old Irish family records in Ontario, view story link at JannetWalsh.com, and IrishCentral, Searching for my 150-year-old Irish family records in Ontario, view story at IrishCentral website.
- October 4, 2022, Announcement, Nonfiction writing project – Irish Diaspora Family Stories from Minnesota and Canada, view page at JannetWalsh.com
- October 3, 2022, Irish Diaspora Project page created and posted at JannetWalsh.com.
Interviews, publicity about Jannet L. Walsh
October 2022-2023
- March 18, 2023, TRACING THE LINEAGE, Murdock’s own’Irish Bard’ finds family roots on Wolfe Island, Ontario, PDF, by Brian Johnson, West Central Tribune, Willmar, Minnesota. View as a PDF at JannetWalsh.com, and as a hyperlink, West Central Tribune. Story featured at Flipboard.com.
- February 14, 2023, ‘Irish Bard’ finds family roots on Wolfe Island by Brian P. Johnson, Thousand Island Life Magazine, Kingston, Ontario, Canada
- February 11, 2023, ‘Irish Bard’ finds family roots on Wolfe Island by Brian Johnson, The Kingston Whig-Standard, Kingston, Ontario, Canada. View direct link at Kingston Whig-Standard.
- October, 2, 2022, Southwest Minnesota Arts Council, SMAC, Monthly Newsletter October 2022, and newsletter page at SMAC, October 2022
- September 27, 2022, Individual artist grants funded, Artist Growth Grant, Southwest Minnesota Arts Council
About Jannet L. Walsh

Jannet L. Walsh of Murdock, Minnesota is a photographer, writer, and educator. She is the author of the forthcoming creative nonfiction quest narrative “Higgledy-Piggledy Stones: Family Stories from Ireland and Minnesota,” scheduled for publication in 2023 by Shanti Arts Publishing. Walsh is recipient of a Southwest Minnesota Arts Council Growth Grant funded by the McKnight Foundation, 2022-2024. You can follow Walsh on Facebook and Twitter, and on her other social media channels, with the hashtag #IrishFamilyHistoryDetective.
Online Profile and Social Media

Genealogy, family history resources
Artist Grant – Learn more about supporting agencies of this project
This activity is made possible by a grant from the Southwest Minnesota Arts Council with funds from The McKnight Foundation.
The Southwest Minnesota Arts Council (SMAC) is a non-profit organization committed to promoting and encouraging the development of the arts in the eighteen counties of southwestern Minnesota by serving as a source of funds and technical services which enable local organizations, educational institutions, and individuals to sponsor and/or create and promote the arts in their communities.
The McKnight Foundation, a Minnesota-based family foundation, seeks to improve the quality
of life for present and future generations. Program interests include regional economic and community development, Minnesota’s arts and artists, education equity, youth engagement, Midwest climate and energy, Mississippi River water quality, neuroscience research, international crop research, and rural livelihoods. Founded in 1953 and independently endowed by William and Maude McKnight, the Foundation has assets of approximately $2.2 billion and grants about $90 million a year.
Minnesota Residents – Search for similar arts grants at regional arts councils at the Minnesota State Arts Board website.

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