THE CEDAR TREE PROJECT

​
The Cedar Tree Project presents, supports and amplifies​
​contemporary art and artists of the Arab/SWANA diaspora and region,
inviting deeper understanding, empathy ​and engagement through creative exchange.
Facilitated by Minnesota based Lebanese American artist Sharon Mansur

​SWANA: Southwest Asian and North African
​Some thoughts from a dance perspective, by Nadia Khayrallah:
https://www.dance.nyc/programs/jcomm/blog/2019/02/Middle-Eastern-Arab-Why-That-Matters-and-more/and

MERYL MURMAN's
WEATHER-ING PERFORMANCES
Stay tuned ​for 2025 updates

2024 McKnight International
Choreographer Residency
   with  Meryl Zaytoun Murman

WEATHER-ING: the secret sound of f
hosted by Prairie Island Campground,
Winona, MN, Dakota land

Residency partner:
Sharon Mansur/The  Cedar Tree Project

Live music by Tim O'Keefe
​Sound design: Robert Stuber
Costumes by Samuel James

This creative residency included workshops, a guided somatic nature walk.an Arab/SWANA centered creative conversation and dance films sharing, and the premiere of a new, site-specific, outdoor performance  along the Mississippi River in Winona, at Prairie Island Campground, Dakota land.

The McKnight Residency in Minnesota is made possible by the McKnight International Choreographer Residency Program,
funded by the McKnight Foundation and administered by ArtSpace. 
This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and culture fund.
This project is also supported by a Forecast Public Art Mid-Career Professional Development grant with funding from The McKnight Foundation,
and Winona community partners: Art of the Rural, Prairie Island Campground, and Theatre du Mississippi.

Murman Photo credit below: Craig Mulcahy

THE CEDAR TREE PROJECT STANDS ​WITH PALESTINE

Artists for Palestine
https://art4palestine.org/

MN Artists4Ceasefire
www.mnartists4ceasefire.org

Palestine Children's Relief Fund
https://www.pcrf.net/
​
Middle East Children's Alliance
www.mecaforpeace.org/
​
Write to Congress: Ceasefire Now
 www.gazaispalestine.com/take-action

Palestinian Museum Digital Archive
https://palarchive.org/

Museum of the Palestinian People
https://mpp-dc.org/

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1001 Arab Futures 

“We’re living in a time where there are challenging and complicated questions, misconceptions and sociopolitical concerns regarding the SWANA region and people.  As an artist/curator I am thrilled to have the opportunity to welcome artists from the richly diverse SWANA diaspora to our rural community in Minnesota, 
and offer a range of perspectives, questions, narratives and invitations. “
~ Sharon Mansur

"...while Sharon has lived in Washington DC in the aftermath of 9/11, and created work that meditates on the erasures, violence, and misunderstandings directed toward Arab individuals, her recent work has brought those opportunities for experience and exchange to the rural upper Midwest – and has opened up a space for folks beyond the city
​to sit more deeply, more intimately, with racial and cultural difference."
~Matthew Fluharty, Art of the Rural
​
Cedars of Lebanon photo by Sharon Mansur (2018)

THE CEDAR TREE PROJECT
Featured artists and events

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ARTIST/FACILITATOR/CURATOR
​Sharon Mansur

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COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT
Community meals, workshops, artist residencies, discussions and more....

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