People with disabilities face significant barriers to the arts as creators, participants, and attendees. This pilot program will offer project grants to increase the capacity of the arts sector to make arts experiences more accessible. Funds will be used for investments that will have a longer-term impact on the applicant, such as professional development related to accessibility (i.e., staff or volunteer training, etc.), hiring accessibility consultants to conduct accessibility audits and/or develop accessibility plans, etc. Funds may also be used for small physical or equipment investments (costing less than $5,000) that will make programming more accessible.
| Grantee, City |
Grant Amount |
Austin Area Arts, Austin | $ 20,000 | | Austin Area Arts will engage a consultant to review the accessibility of its programming and digital spaces and create an action plan to reduce barriers to access. Austin Area Arts will begin working to improve access based on the action plan. |
COMPAS, Saint Paul | $ 20,000 | | COMPAS teaching artists and staff will increase their capacity to make arts education programming accessible and welcoming to people of all abilities through multiple professional development opportunities and website improvements. |
Curio Dance Company, Saint Paul | $ 10,000 | | Curio Dance Company will enhance dance skills for adults with intellectual disabilities through video and on-site tailored training strategies. |
Duluth Art Institute, Duluth | $ 20,000 | | The Duluth Art Insitute Association will hire an accessibility consultant to assess the organization's accessibility status, coordinate focus groups from the disability community, and develop an access plan to implement immediately and long term.
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Fireweed Community Woodshop, Minneapolis | $ 16,285 | | Fireweed Community Woodshop will provide accessibility trainings for instructors, create dynamic class registration, conduct outreach to communities who may need accommodation in class, and improve accessibility within the woodshop and website. |
Full Circle Theater Company, Saint Paul | $ 20,000 | | Full Circle Theater will contract an accessibility coordinator/producer to conduct an accessibility audit and produce a streaming disability and theater event, and will provide professional development for theater artists with disabilities. |
Interact, Saint Paul | $ 19,850 | | Interact will provide hands-on workshops in theater and visual arts, facilitated by artists with disabilities, for case managers, transition educators, and others who help creative people with disabilities access opportunities and make life choices. |
KAIROS ALIVE!, Minneapolis | $ 20,000 | | KAIROS ALIVE! will use funding to work with a digital inclusion consultant to develop a new website that conforms with the Americans with Disabilities Act, and evaluate and improve arts engagement webcasts and videos for accessibility, to better serve people with disabilities. |
Lyricality, Sauk Rapids | $ 19,999 | | Lyricality will hire a part-time accessibility coordinator to plan and implement strategies to make a central Minnesota poetry festival more accessible for all. |
Minnesota Center for Book Arts, Minneapolis | $ 19,950 | | Minnesota Center for Book Arts will engage an accessibility consultant to complete an accessibility audit of programs and facilities, and conduct training with the Center's staff, board, and teaching artists to expand accessibility across artistic and educational programming. |
Pillsbury House Theatre, Minneapolis | $ 19,119 | | Pillsbury House + Theatre will develop increased capacity to provide arts for people with intellectual disabilities by working in partnership with the Empowering Partners in Community program to develop and deliver new arts programming. |
Red Eye Theater, Minneapolis | $ 20,000 | | Red Eye Theater will deepen its organizational culture of accessibility through targeted board development, artist outreach, updating key program structures/tools, and improving its digital assets. |
Red Wing Arts, Red Wing | $ 20,000 | | Red Wing Arts Association will engage in an accessibility audit, create an accessibility plan, and ensure that both staff and facilities are accessible to individuals with disabilities. |
Rochester Art Center, Rochester | $ 16,600 | | Rochester Art Center will hire a consulting company to diagnose and remedy website accessibility through an audit and provide digital accessibility training. |
Springboard for the Arts, Saint Paul | $ 20,000 | | Springboard for the Arts will hire an accessibility consultant to coach staff and artist career consultants on broader accessibility strategies and public benefits navigation, expanding its capacity as a leading resource for artists with disabilities. |
Textile Center, Minneapolis | $ 20,000 | | Textile Center of Minnesota will engage consulting support to review the current level of accessibility, advise on required updates, and prepare specs for automatic exterior and interior doors; upgrade interior signage; and install AV systems in new classrooms. |
Theater Mu, Saint Paul | $ 10,920 | | Theater Mu will hire a website accessibility specialist/designer to improve accessibility of its website and ticketing system, live caption two mainstage productions, and explore organization wide accessibility improvements. |
Theatre in the Round Players, Minneapolis | $ 10,920 | | Theatre in the Round Players will acquire a new assisted listening system to provide accommodations for patrons who have hearing disabilities, and recruit Minnesotans with disabilities to serve on its access advisory committee. |
Twin Cities Gay Men's Chorus, Minneapolis | $ 20,000 | | Twin Cities Gay Men's Chorus will implement organizational changes such as organization wide training to better accommodate Minnesotans with disabilities, and bolster its long-term capacity to provide accessible artistic experiences. |
Universal Music Center, Red Wing | $ 20,000 | | Universal Music Center will implement arts learning programs in facilities serving marginalized populations in southeast Minnesota, and hire a part-time accessibility coordinator to facilitate and maintain the scheduling of programs. |
Watermark Art Center, Bemidji | $ 18,529 | | Watermark Art Center will hire specialists to assess and advise ways to remove physical and programmatic access barriers, as well as provide guidance to board and staff members so that they may increase knowledge and capacity around accessibility. |
Young Dance, Saint Paul | $ 20,000 | | Young Dance will upgrade its digital accessibility, working with Oleb Media to determine the scope of work required and to train its staff and web developer to implement the recommended improvements. |
