The Little Brown Mushroom Workshop

Little Brown Mushroom (LBM) seeks tax-deductible donations to directly support scholarships for workshop participants from around the world.

What is the Workshop?

• In July 2025, The Little Brown Mushroom Workshop will bring together 12–14 visual storytellers for an intimate and intensive workshop hosted by LBM's founder Alec Soth in his historic home in Minneapolis, and studio in Saint Paul, Minnesota.
• Soth will be joined by his family, staff, and guest critics during the workshop. 
• The week long workshop will focus on developing personal projects and visual storytelling through a series of presentations, creative exercises, and group activities.
• All participants will stay in Alec's house. After giving workshops around the globe, Alec has found that the most effective location is a shared, domestic space. In the safe space of a home, artists can share deeply with each other and plan the best way to present their work to a broader audience.

During the Workshop Participants Will

• Develop and deepen their projects.
• Strategize ways their personal work can find an audience. 
• Have one-on-one time with Alec, and guest critics.
• Participate in discussions, sharing, and informal exchanges with the group.
• Visit Alec’s studio where they’ll learn practical tips for making, organizing, and disseminating their work. 
• Have access to Soth's extensive photobook library and collection.
• Go on group field trips beyond Alec's studio.
• Work collaboratively on a small project that will be presented during a free public event on the final day of the workshop.

Impact

The culminating public event will help to share the work of our globally diverse group of students with the Minneapolis photography community.

In 2024, Soth hosted two similar five-day workshops with participating artists from far away places like Poland, South Korea, and Bangladesh, as well as nearby places like Iowa, Illinois, and Minneapolis. The variety of backgrounds and cultural diversity served as a spark for sharing and creativity during the workshop. We hope this year's The Little Brown Mushroom Workshop also has a diverse group of artists from around the world that we can share with our local community. 

What Your Donation Will Provide

• All donations will go directly towards funding scholarships.
• One full scholarship is $3,500.
• Our goal is to fully fund scholarships for half of the workshop participants.
• Any funds raised beyond $21,000 will go to more full or partial scholarships.
• A scholarship covers workshop activities as well as living expenses in Alec’s home.
• Offering scholarships increases our candidate pool, helping to create the diversity essential to the workshop.

Testimonials

"This was one of the best life experiences I've ever had. Nothing but gratitude and appreciation." —Evgeniya Parfenova (Saint Petersburg, Russia)

"It was a very inspiring and cathartic experience, there was an instant feeling of warmth from Alec and his family and everyone involved. The workshop never felt uncomfortable or stagnant, it was a fun and joyous experience...I came away wanting to do the workshop all over again, it was that great."      —Jason Hynes (Middlesbrough, U.K.)

“Overall, it was one of the most helpful and surreal experiences I have had... I am still in shock about the artists who were selected, their stories, and how our work all communicated with one another- thematically, etc. I feel immense gratitude for being selected and cannot thank you all enough. It has provided the momentum I needed." — Claire Daly (Champaign-Urbana, IL)

The Little Brown Mushroom Workshop is a fiscally sponsored project of Springboard for the Arts. 

To give to Springboard: https://givemn.org/organization/Springboard-For-The-Arts