In April, the Minnesota State Arts Board will open two funding opportunities for fiscal year 2022.
While there are promising signs on the horizon that the coronavirus pandemic may be subsiding, the pandemic has taken a serious toll on Minnesota’s arts and cultural sector. The board understands that a period of reimagining and rebuilding will be needed, so the board will offer a second year of Creative Support for Individuals and Creative Support for Organizations grants.
Creative Support grants are designed to be flexible; the need for flexibility is the theme we’ve heard most often this year. Grantees are able to determine how best to use funds to adapt to their changing environment; sustain their creative practices; stay connected to audiences, participants, students, or communities that participate in their arts programming; and ensure that Minnesota residents and communities will continue to have access and connection to the arts.
The Minnesota State Arts Board and LRAC prioritize a connection to the arts in all communities.
At the same time, these grant programs have helped the Arts Board accomplish a number of important goals: to distribute flexible funding as widely as possible to artists, culture bearers, arts organizations, and arts programs that have been impacted by COVID-19; to increase support for groups that have historically received lower levels of support from the Arts Board; and to ensure that Minnesotans will continue to have access to a wide range of arts activities during a time when they are most needed.
During the FY 2021 grant cycle, the Arts Board awarded 468 Creative Support for Organizations grants, totaling more than $6.7 million; and will award more than 500 Creative Support for Individuals grants, totaling more than $3.2 million.
Several important aspects of the FY 2021 programs will be carried forward into the next grant cycle:
There will be two grant application deadlines in each program.
Eligibility requirements will be similar to FY 2021. Previous Arts Board and regional arts council grantees will be able to apply; so will nongrantees in the following groups:
Individuals or organizations that are based outside the seven-county metropolitan area (the metro area includes Anoka, Carver, Dakota, Hennepin, Ramsey, Scott, and Washington counties);
Individuals who identify as indigenous or a person of color, or organizations in which persons of color or indigenous persons comprise 50 percent or more of the board and staff;
Individuals with disabilities, or organizations in which people with disabilities comprise 50 percent or more of the board and staff or are the primary population benefitting from the organization’s work.
Be sure to sign up for our email distribution for more updates.
More to Come…
More detailed information will be available when the FY 2022 Creative Support grant application deadlines, grant guidelines, and applications forms are posted in April. If you are receiving this message directly, you are already on our e-mail distribution list and will receive a notification when the program materials and applications have been posted. If someone else forwarded this message to you, you may not be on our notification list; you can sign up to receive e-notices here:
http://www.arts.state.mn.us/contact/enews-signup.htm
Thank You!
Thank you for the important work you are doing, to make the arts accessible to Minnesotans during a time when they most need inspiration, creativity, and connection.
