Minnesota State Arts Board
The Minnesota State Arts Board is a state agency that stimulates and
encourages the creation, performance, and appreciation of the arts in the state.
Upcoming Deadlines
RFP for Public Art at North Hennepin Community College
The Minnesota State Arts Board requests proposals from professional public artists or artist teams for public artwork at North Hennepin Community College. The purpose of this two-phase RFP is to retain a contractor to design, fabricate, and install a permanent, site-specific public artwork within the new Bioscience and Health Careers Center in Brooklyn Park, Minnesota. An all-inclusive budget of $81,000 is available for this project.
The application deadline is April 22, 2014; apply today.
FY 2015 Arts Learning
The Arts Learning grant program offers funding for projects that help lifelong learners acquire knowledge and understanding of and skills in the arts. Projects must provide participatory learning and engage learners with skilled teaching artists and high quality artistic experiences.
The FY 2015 Arts Learning grant application deadline is April 25, 2014; apply today.
FY 2015 Folk and Traditional Arts
Folk and Traditional Arts is a pilot program designed to support the artistic traditions and customs practiced within community and/or cultural groups by identifying, documenting, creating, preserving, presenting, and honoring Minnesota's folk arts and traditions.
The practice of folk or traditional art generally stems from birthright, community membership, or community life, and is a powerful marker of cultural heritage. It is often rooted in a longstanding sense of place and/or ethnic identity. Folk and traditional artists often have their own community-based systems of training and education through which they learn and attain mastery of a form by observation and practice or through apprenticeships with elders and masters.
The Folk and Traditional Arts grant application deadline is May 2, 2014; apply today.
FY 2015 Minnesota Festival Support
Minnesota Festival Support is a pilot program designed to engage Minnesotans in festivals that celebrate the arts, build community, and expose communities to diverse art forms including folk and traditional arts.
The program provides funding for sponsoring or presenting organizations to feature Minnesota individual artists and Minnesota arts groups in arts festivals, or in the arts components of broader, community-based festivals.
Minnesota Festival Support grant application deadline is May 23, 2014, apply today.
FY 2015 Artist Initiative
The Artist Initiative program supports and assists artists at various stages in their careers. It encourages artistic development, nurtures artistic creativity, and recognizes the contributions individual artists make to the creative environment of the state of Minnesota.
Grants will be awarded for career building and for the creative development of artists. Some artists may choose to request funds to create new work, but that isn't a requirement of the program.
Artists working in all artistic disciplines—dance, media arts, music, photography, poetry, prose, theater, and two- and three-dimensional visual arts—may apply.
There are three deadlines for the FY 2015 Artist Initiative grant application, depending on discipline:
- Literary arts; poetry and prose: June 13, 2014
- Performing arts; dance, music, and theater: July 11, 2014
- Visual arts; media arts, photography, and visual arts: Friday, August 1, 2014
Apply today.
FY 2015 Arts Access
The Arts Access grant program is designed to help arts organizations broaden arts opportunities for underserved groups. Grants can be used to identify underserved groups or communities, identify the barriers that keep them from engaging in the arts, and develop and implement strategies to reduce or eliminate the barriers.
Arts Access grant application deadline is June 27, 2014, apply today.
News
Rulemaking
The Minnesota State Arts Board is beginning a rulemaking project. The board's rules govern how the board conducts its business, including how and to whom grants are awarded. An integral part of the rulemaking process is that it is transparent and open to the public. The Arts Board therefore is asking for public comments on this project.
Minnesota 2013–2014 Poetry Out Loud Competition
February 2014–March 8, 2014: Metro and State Regional competitions
March 13, 2014, 11:30 a.m.: MN State competition: Pohlad Hall, Minneapolis Central Library, 300 Nicollet Mall, Minneapolis, MN 55401. One student from this competition will go on to represent Minnesota at national finals and one runner-up / alternate will be named.
April 28–30, 2014—Poetry Out Loud National Competition, Washington, DC, George Washington University
Poetry Out Loud Minnesota High School poetry recitation competition is currently managed through a Partnership Grant.
Visit The Loft's site for information on 2013–2014 Poetry Out Loud.
WebGrants
The Minnesota State Arts Board's WebGrants system is open for registration! Please view the How to Register in WebGrants tutorial, and then click Login to WebGrants to sign up.
WebGrants Overview
How to Register in WebGrants: online tutorial, PDF version
How to Use WebGrants: online tutorial, PDF version
Webgrants FAQ document: FAQ (PDF)
Login to WebGrants
Stay in Touch
If you'd like to receive information and updates from the Arts Board via e-mail, please sign-up for the board's electronic mailing list.
Arts Research / Policy / Cultural Issues
Artist Employment Projections through 2018
This National Endowment for the Arts report looks at job prospects for artists and other cultural occupations from 2008 to 2018.
Come as You Are: Informal Arts Participation in Urban and Rural Communities
Attendance at traditional arts venues, such as museums and performing arts centers, is greater in urbanized areas. However, when the informal arts are considered, metro and non-metro residents enjoy arts activities at the same rates. Consideration of informal arts activities—including the personal creation of artwork and attendance at community arts venues—offers a more comprehensive measure of participation. Issued by the National Endowment for the Arts.
Creative Placemaking
In creative placemaking, cross-sector partners strategically shape the physical and social character of locales around arts and cultural activities. This white paper summarizes two decades of creative American placemaking in a variety of communities. By Ann Markusen and Anne Gadwa.
The Arts and Achievement in At-Risk Youth:
Findings from Four Longitudinal Studies
At-risk students who have access to the arts in or out of school tend to have better academic results, better workforce opportunities, and more civic engagement, according to a National Endowment for the Arts report. By James Catterall.
