LRAC Board Announces Upcoming Grant Program Changes

Changes to Grant Programs for the Coming Year

At the May, 2022 Lake Region Arts Council Board meeting, the LRAC Board approved changes to the LRAC Grant Programs as proposed by the LRAC Grant Changes Committee. Every year, LRAC reviews our grant program guidelines to make clarifications, simplify language, and implement improvements that align with our mission, “to encourage and support the vitality of the arts in West Central Minnesota”.

Image of an abstract painting in earthy tones: “Two Gems”, acrylic, by Carmen Bruhn, 2021 Career Development Grant Recipient. Ms. Bruhn’s work was displayed at the Rourke Art Gallery as part of the Three Women exhibit in early 2022.

For the upcoming year, here are the changes to our grant programs:

Legacy Organization Grant

Adjustments have been made to the definition of Capital Expenses, which are allowed under the Legacy Organization Grant, as follows (changes in bold):

Capital Expense and Renovations Proposals

• Applicants may request Legacy funds for Capital Expense and Renovations proposals. A capital expense is defined as Funds used to acquire or upgrade physical assets that have a benefit extending beyond 1 year and cost more than $5,000. This includes but is not limited to equipment, computers, and software. Funds spent on conducting continuing, normal maintenance or repair on assets is not considered a capital expenditure. Applicants requesting funding for capital expenditures or building improvements must do the following:

1. Related to this project only, applicants requesting funds for capital expenditures for equipment or building improvements must list other funding sources which have been or will be contacted to help finance the project in addition to the LRAC Arts & Cultural Heritage Grant application.

2. Be specific; include in the supporting attachments, copies of the applicant’s letters requesting financial support from other sources (foundations, business, etc…) and if available, copies of response letters confirming or denying their support for the project.

3. Include an attachment describing how the building improvements will be handicapped accessible.

4. Two quotes for the capital expenses must be included.

Activities that are no longer allowed (or have been clarified) under the Legacy Organization Grant include:

• Events from which proceeds will benefit a secondary group, without prior LRAC approval. Budgets that request grant support for hospitality costs or purchases of supplies for “resale or regifting items”, including food. This applies to receptions and events, not to costs of meals and lodging for performing artists. (See item “M” on page 6 of the grant guidelines).

• Projects that are limited only to students, or staff/ members of groups (such as Girl Scouts, 4-H, series subscription concerts etc.). Exceptions: Residencies in schools or assisted living facilities. A residency is a visit or series of visits by an artist(s) to engage with participants to help them gain knowledge/ skills in a particular art form. The residency must include an element that is open to the

  public such as a performance, exhibit, etc. (See item “N” on page 6 of the grant guidelines).

• Multiple requests from one applicant for the same grant round. Applicants are limited to one application per grant round. Departments within a University are each considered as individual applicants. (See item “V” on page 6 of the grant guidelines).

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Legacy Individual Grant

Activities that are no longer allowed (or have been clarified) under the Legacy Individual Grant include:

• Budgets that request grant support for hospitality costs or purchases of supplies for “resale or regifting items”, including food. This applies to receptions and events, not to costs of meals and lodging for performing artists. (See item “O” on page 5 of the grant guidelines).

• Projects that are limited only to students, or staff/members of groups (such as Girl Scouts, 4-H, series subscription concerts etc.). Exceptions: Residencies in schools or assisted living facilities. A residency is a visit or series of visits by an artist (s) to engage with participants to help them gain knowledge/skills in a particular art form. The residency must include an element that is open to the public such as a performance, exhibit, etc. (See item “S” on page 5 of the grant guidelines).

• Multiple requests from one applicant for the same grant round. Applicants are limited to one application per grant round. Departments within a University are each considered as individual applicants. (See item “W” on page 5 of the grant guidelines).

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Project Grants

Theresa Ziebarth-Moritz, native artist, taught a series of traditional Ojibwe beading classes for Alexandria Community Education in 2022, funded through an LRAC Project Grant.

• The previous 20% match requirement suspension for Project grant budgets has continued for Fiscal Year 2023 (July 2022-June 2023). The Fall and Spring Grant rounds this fiscal year will not require the match.

• Activities that are no longer allowed (or have been clarified) under the Project Grant include:

1. Budgets that request grant support for hospitality costs or purchases of supplies for “resale or re-gifting items”, including food. This applies to receptions and events, not to costs of meals and lodging for performing artists. (See item "N" on page 5 of the grant guidelines).

2. Projects that are limited only to students, or staff/members of groups (such as Girl Scouts, 4 -H, series subscription concerts, etc.). Exceptions: Residencies in schools or assisted living facilities. A residency is a visit or series of visits by an artist(s) to engage with participants to help them gain knowledge/skills in a particular art form. The residency must include an element that is open to the public such as a performance, exhibit, etc. (See item "P" on page 5 of the grant guidelines).

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Legacy Local Government Grant

• This program has been suspended as of July 1, 2022, in favor of a new program, titled Artists on Main Street. In partnership with the West Central Initiative Fund (WCI), LRAC is excited to announce this new opportunity for small towns in our region that are actively working on downtown/Main Street revitalization. Together, LRAC and WCI will offer the Artists on Main Street program through Springboard for the Arts, which will provide assistance and financial support to a town with a population under 5,000 in the LRAC nine-county region.

• Funding for the first year of this pilot project is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through grants from the Lake Region Arts Council, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the Arts and Cultural Heritage fund. Watch for future announcements for the start date of this new program. Any local governments were eligible for the Local Government Grant may also apply for the regular Legacy Organization grant program as well.

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All Grant Programs

Children participated in a traditional “barnetog” parade hosting by the Immanuel Church Building Association for a Syttende Mai (17th of May, Norwegian Constitution Day) celebration funded in part by an LRAC Legacy Grant.

• The start date for all grant programs* is now standardized to be no sooner than 4 weeks after the grant review date of the grant program. (*The LRAC Fellowship is the exception to this rule, as the start date aligns with the Annual Meeting date at which the first payment for that program is presented.)

• A clarification of the new policy from last year regarding the removal of the previous “as is” deadline day grant policy for all grant applications:

1. Once your application is submitted to the LRAC online grant system, it will be checked by the LRAC staff for errors and omissions.

2. If the LRAC staff has any correction recommendations, an email will be sent to the primary contact through the LRAC online grant system. Please make sure you are receiving emails from this system.

3. The deadline to make any recommended changes to the application will be one week from the notification to the applicant.
   *Changes other than those suggested by LRAC staff are not allowed and could affect the application’s eligibility. The content, accuracy and completeness of an application are solely the responsibility of the applicant.

We look forward to receiving your applications in FY 2022-2023!