Important change for FY 2014 Artist Initiative and Operating Support grant programs

Every other year, the Minnesota Legislature creates and approves a two-year (biennial) budget for the entire State, including all State agencies. During the budgeting process the legislature determines what level of funding an agency will receive and also outlines how those funds can or cannot be used.

What will change/who will be affected?

During the most recent budget session, the legislature placed a restriction on Arts Board use of funds that will affect two key grant programs:

Artist Initiative—FY 2014 and FY 2015 grant rounds
Operating Support—FY 2014 and FY 2015 grant rounds

The Arts Board will no longer be able to provide funding for activities or travel that take place outside the state of Minnesota or for applicants to bring individuals into the state. In the past, this restriction only applied to grants that were funded with proceeds from the arts and cultural heritage fund. This year, the restriction was expanded to apply to all Arts Board grants, regardless of the source of State funding.

How will FY 2014 Artist Initiative applicants and grantees be affected?

Literary arts—Artists who have already submitted a FY 2014 application that includes activities or travel that take place outside the state will be given the opportunity to submit a revised application. Revised applications will be due by 4:30 p.m. on July 5. New applications will not be accepted; only those artists who submitted an application before the May 31, 2013, deadline will have an opportunity to submit a revised application.
Performing arts—Artists who have already submitted a FY 2014 application that includes activities or travel that take place outside the state will be given the opportunity to submit a revised application. The application deadline for all performing arts applications will be extended to 4:30 p.m. on July 12. This includes revised applications and applications that have not, yet, been submitted.
Visual arts—Artists who had planned to submit a FY 2014 application that include activities or travel that take place outside the state will need to revise their proposals. The visual arts application deadline—4:30 p.m. on July 26, 2013—will not change.

Applicants who have already submitted their FY 2014 applications to the Arts Board will be contacted and will receive more detailed information about how to submit a revised application.

Artist Initiative applicants who have additional questions or need advice about how to revise the content of an application should contact:

Kathee Foran, Artist Initiative program officer
kathee.foran@arts.state.mn.us
(651) 215-1626 | (800) 866-2787

Artist Initiative applicants who have questions about the technical aspects of the application forms, or questions about electronic submission, should contact:

Tom Miller, Project manager
tom.w.miller@arts.state.mn.us
(651) 215-1611 | (800) 866-2787

How will FY 2014 Operating Support applicants and grantees be affected?

Applicants will not be affected; there is no need to revise proposals that were submitted earlier this year.

However, for those applicants that are awarded a grant for FY 2014, the grant contract will include a requirement that all funded activities must take place within the state of Minnesota. That requirement has already been in the Operating Support grant contracts, for the portion of the grant that had been funded with arts and cultural heritage fund dollars; the requirement will now apply to the entire grant.

Operating Support applicants who have questions should contact:

Bonnie Schock, Operating Support program officer
bonnie.schock@arts.state.mn.us
(651) 215-1612 | (800) 866-2787

Will this restriction affect other Arts Board grant programs?

No. Arts Access, Arts Learning, Arts Tour Minnesota, Community Arts Schools and Conservatories, Folk and Traditional Arts, Minnesota Festival Support, and Partners in Arts Participation are supported by an appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund (ACHF). All programs, supported by ACHF, already have a restriction that funds can only be used for activities that take place in Minnesota.

Will the restriction affect current Arts Board grantees (FY 2013 or earlier years)?

No. This restriction applies to grants that the Arts Board will award in FY 2014 and FY 2015.

Does the restriction apply to regional arts council grants?

It does. If regional arts councils are using State funds to support activities or travel that take place outside the state they, too, will need to modify their grant programs to comply with the restriction. Please contact your area's regional arts council to determine whether or how its grant programs might be affected.