230 metro area arts grants total $1.49 million for 2010

Minneapolis, Minnesota

 
The Metropolitan Regional Arts Council, based in St. Paul, announced the award in March of 65 grants totaling $293,780 in the second round of its 2010 Community Arts grant program. The announcement raised to 230 the number of grants made in fiscal year 2010, totaling $1,491,599. Earlier announcements named grantees in the Community Arts (1st round), Creative Intersection, Arts Activity Support, Organizational Development, and Capital Grants programs.


Year-to-date grants exceed the $1,007,491 total for all of fiscal year 2009. MRAC makes grants to organizations with budgets less than $300,000 located in the seven metropolitan counties of greater Minneapolis and St. Paul. MRAC operates on a fiscal year of July 1 to June 30, and receives its grant funds from the Minnesota State Legislature, the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund, and the McKnight Foundation.


Community Arts grants to 65 organizations or programs in March totaled $293,780, an average of $4,520 each:

Anoka County: Banfill-Locke Center for the Arts, $3,500; Blaine Parks and Recreation, $3,000; Fridley Community Theatre, $5,000; Lee Carlson Center for Mental Health and Well Being, $4,798.

Carver County: Centre Stage Theatre and Arts, $5,000; ISD 108 Community Education, $5,000; Nordic Heritage Club, $1,930; Watertown Area Fine Arts Council, $5,000; Watertown-Mayer Community Education, $5,000.

Dakota County: Chameleon Theatre Circle, $5,000; Dakota County Sheriff's Office, $4,560; DanceWorks Repertory Ensemble, $5,000; Eagan Parks and Recreation, $5,000; Hastings Area Chamber of Commerce and Tourism Bureau, $5,000; Minnesota Brass, Inc., $5,000.

Hennepin County: Aldrich Arts Collaborative, $2,910; Brazen Theatre Company, $5,000; Carnaval Brasileiro, $5,000; Civic Orchestra of Minneapolis, $5,000; Copper Street Brass Quintet, $2,500; Eclectic Ensemble, $1,545; Flower Shop Project, $5,000; Hauser Dance, $5,000; Hope Community, Inc., $4,000; I'm Telling Productions, $5,000; Northside Arts Collective, $5,000; Obsidian Arts, $5,000; Peace Day Lantern Ceremony, $5,000; Rainbow Rumpus, $5,000; Redeemer Center for Life, $4,722; Refuge, $4,000; Screenwriters' Workshop, $3,000; Strange Capers, $5,000; Urban Spectrum Theatre, $3,550; Weaver's Guild of Minnesota, $5,000; West Bank School of Music, $3,500.

Ramsey County: Center for Irish Music, $5,000; Hmong Cultural Center, Inc., $5,000; Lidia Productions, $5,000; Maggie Bergeron and Company, $5,000; New Native Theatre, $4,000; North Star Chorus, $5,000; People, Inc., $5,000; Sample Night Live!, $5,000; StoryBlend, $5,000; The Minnesota Feis, Inc., $4,540; Walker West Music Academy, $5,000; West Side Theater Project, $5,000; Women's Initiative for Self-Empowerment, $5,000; Young Artists Initiative, $4,500.

Scott County: Hymnus, Incorporated, $5,000; Savage Arts Council, $4,000.

Suburban Hennepin County: 4 Community Theatre, $5,000; Discovery Arts Council, $2,725; Les Jolies Petites School of Dance, $5,000; Minnesota Sunshine Dance, $5,000; Westonka Community Education and Services, $3,000.

Suburban Ramsey County: Rosetown Playhouse, $5,000.

Washington County: Forest Lake Park Board, $5,000; Masquers Theatre Company, $5,000; Music Saint Croix, $5,000; St. Croix Valley Chamber Chorale, $5,000; Stillwater Area Public Schools Community Education, $5,000; Washington County 4-H Federation, $5,000; Washington County Agricultural Society, $3,500.

Within its guidelines, MRAC permits organizations to receive more than one project grant in a fiscal year. Of the 230 grants made through March, 19 organizations have been awarded grants for two projects and two organizations have been awarded grants for three.


Organizations receiving two project grants in 2010 include the following (C=Capital, CA=Community Arts, OD=Organizational Development):

Ashland Productions ($10,000 C; $10,000 CA); Caponi Art Park ($10,000 C; $10,000 CA);  Continental Ballet Company ($4,697 C; $5,000 CA); Dakota Valley Symphony ($8,480 C; $5,000 CA); East Side Arts Council ($6,080 C; $10,000 CA); Frank Theatre ($10,000 CA; $10,000 OD); JazzMN, Inc. ($10,000 CA; $3,840 OD); Masquers Theatre Company ($8,905 C; $5,000 CA); Minnesota Freedom Band ($9,038 C; $2,500 CA); Music Saint Croix ($1,163 C; $5,000 CA); Off-Leash Area ($10,000 CA; $5,000 OD); Open Eye Figure Theatre ($10,000 CA; $10,000 OD); Plymouth Christian Youth Center ($10,000 CA; $10,000 OD); Rainbow Rumpus ($6,225 OD; $5,000 CA); Red Eye Collaboration ($8,700 C; $10,000 CA); Rosetown Playhouse ($10,000 OD; $5,000 CA); Sample Night Live! ($10,000 OD; $5,000 CA); Walking Shadow Theatre Company ($6,813 C; $10,000 CA); West Bank School of Music ($10,000 OD; $3,500 CA).

Organizations receiving three project grants in 2010 include the following:

Katha Dance Theatre ($10,000 C; $10,000 CA; $10,000 OD); TU Dance ($10,000 C; $10,000 CA; $10,000 OD). 

MRAC is one of 11 regional arts councils serving the state of Minnesota. The Minnesota State Arts Board makes grants statewide to organizations with budgets exceeding $300,000.

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Metro arts grants exceed $1 million, 2010 to-date

Minneapolis, Minnesota


The Metropolitan Regional Arts Council, based in St. Paul, announced the award in January of 21 Organizational Development grants totaling $190,405, and 24 Capital Grants totaling $190,139. MRAC guidelines require grantees to secure matching funds for their projects.


The January announcement raised to 165 the number of grants made in fiscal year 2010, totaling $1,197,819. Earlier announcements named grantees in the first rounds of the MRAC Community Arts, Creative Intersection, and Arts Activity Support programs.


Year-to-date grants exceed the $1,007,491 total for all of fiscal year 2009. MRAC makes grants to organizations with budgets less than $300,000 located in the seven metropolitan counties of greater Minneapolis and St. Paul. MRAC operates on a fiscal year of July 1 to June 30, and receives its grant funds from the Minnesota State Legislature, the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund, and the McKnight Foundation.


Organizational Development grants to 21 organizations in January totaled $190,405, an average of $9,066 each.    

Hennepin County: Art Shanty Projects, $10,000; Frank Theatre, $10,000; Fresh Air, Inc. (KFAI FM), $10,000; JazzMN, Inc., $3,840; Kulture Klub Collaborative, $9,640; Minneapolis Pops Orchestra Association, $6,480; Morris Park Players, $10,000; Off-Leash Area, $5,000; Open Eye Figure Theatre, $10,000; Plymouth Christian Youth Center, $10,000; Rainbow Rumpus, $6,225; Stuart Pimsler Dance and Theater, $10,000; West Bank School of Music, $10,000.

Ramsey County: Nautilus Music-Theater, $10,000; Sample Night Live!, $10,000; Skylark Opera, $9,220; TU Dance, $10,000; Zeitgeist, $10,000. 

Suburban Hennepin County: Katha Dance Theatre, $10,000.

Suburban Ramsey County: Rosetown Playhouse, $10,000.

Washington County: ArtReach Alliance, $10,000.

Capital grants to 24 organizations in January totaled $190,139, an average of $7,922 each.    

Carver County: Chaska Valley Family Theater, $3,312.

Dakota County: Caponi Art Park, $10,000; Dakota Valley Symphony, $8,480.

Hennepin County: Chicago Avenue Fire Arts Center, $10,000; Hollywood Studio of Dance, $7,738; Kairos Dance Theatre, $8,916; Minnesota Freedom Band, $9,038; Old Arizona Collaborative, Inc., $8,120; Rain Taxi, Inc., $8,000; Red Eye Collaboration, $8,700; Walking Shadow Theatre Company, $6,813.

Ramsey County: ArtStart, $8,700; East Side Arts Council, $6,080; Minnesota Brass, Inc., $10,000; Sounds of Hope, Ltd., $6,125; Irish Music and Dance Association, $10,000; Scott County River Valley Theatre Company, $8,500.

Suburban Hennepin County: Continental Ballet Company, $4,697; Discovery Arts Council, $7,552; Theater Or, $9,750..

Suburban Ramsey County: Ashland Productions, $10,000; Lakeshore Players, Inc., $9,550.

Washington County: Masquers Theatre Company, $8,905; Music St. Croix, $1,163.

Within its guidelines, MRAC permits organizations to receive more than one project grant in a fiscal year. Of the 165 grants made through January, 13 organizations have been awarded grants for two projects and two organizations have been awarded grants for three.


Organizations receiving two project grants in 2010 include the following (C=Capital, CA=Community Arts, OD=Organizational Development):

Ashland Productions ($10,000 C; $10,000 CA); Caponi Art Park ($10,000 C; $10,000 CA);  Continental Ballet Company ($4,697 C; $5,000 CA); Dakota Valley Symphony ($8,480 C; $5,000 CA); East Side Arts Council ($6,080 C; $10,000 CA); Frank Theatre ($10,000 CA; $10,000 OD); JazzMN, Inc. ($10,000 CA; $3,840 OD); Minnesota Freedom Band ($9,038 C; $2,500 CA); Off-Leash Area ($10,000 CA; $5,000 OD); Open Eye Figure Theatre ($10,000 CA; $10,000 OD); Plymouth Christian Youth Center ($10,000 CA; $10,000 OD); Red Eye Collaboration ($8,700 C; $10,000 CA); Walking Shadow Theatre Company ($6,813 C; $10,000 CA).

Organizations receiving three project grants in 2010 include the following:

Katha Dance Theatre ($10,000 C; $10,000 CA; $10,000 OD); TU Dance ($10,000 C; $10,000 CA; $10,000 OD). 

MRAC is one of 11 regional arts councils serving the state of Minnesota. The Minnesota State Arts Board makes grants statewide to organizations with budgets exceeding $300,000.

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First 2010 round: Metro arts grants total $817,275

Minneapolis, Minnesota


In the first round of grant making for three of its 2010 funding programs, the Metropolitan Regional Arts Council, based in St. Paul, awarded 120 grants totaling $817,275. Contracts and checks will be issued to organizations with budgets less than $300,000 and located in the seven metropolitan counties of greater Minneapolis and St. Paul. MRAC operates on a fiscal year of July 1 to June 30, and receives its grant funds from the Minnesota State Legislature, the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund, and the McKnight Foundation.


Earlier in December, MRAC announced its first round of Community Arts Grant Awards. Grants to 62 organizations totaled $265,265, an average of $4,278 each.  

Anoka County: Mississippi Valley Orchestra, $4,000; North Artists Studio Crawl, $3,500; Northern Symphony Orchestra, $5,000.  

Carver County: ISD 112 Community Education, $4,600; River City Theatre Company, $5,000; Watertown Film Festival, $5,000.  

Dakota County: Burnsville Visual Art Society, $2,278; Chamber Music Lakeville, $5,000; City of South St. Paul, $5,000; Dakota County Public Health, $5,000; Dakota Valley Symphony, $5,000; International Festival of Burnsville, $5,000; South Metro Chorale, $5,000; The Play's the Thing Productions, $5,000; Velvet Tones, $4,430.  

Hennepin County: Diverse Emerging Music Organization, $4,624; Eclectic Edge Ensemble, $5,000; Grassroots Culture, $4,315; HUGE Theater, $5,000; Lao Assistance Center of Minnesota, $5,000; Lao Women Association, $5,000; Lao Writers Summit, $5,000; Minneapolis Southside Singers, $5,000; Nimbus Theatre, $5,000; Northeast Minneapolis Arts Association, $5,000; Puppet Farm Art, $2,500; Southside Family Nurturing Center, $5,000; Twin Cities Jazz Workshops, $5,000; Works Progress, $4,945.

Ramsey County: Bridge Productions, $5,000; Lex-Ham Community Arts, $920; Magic Lantern Puppet Theater, $3,800; Metropolitan Symphony Orchestral Association, $2,500; Minnesota Freedom Band, $2,500; Minnesota State Band, $4,910; Music in the Park Series, $5,000; Saint Paul Almanac, $5,000; Savage Umbrella, $2,868; Twin Cities Housing and Development Corporation, Liberty Plaza, $4,500; Vietnamese Community of Minnesota, $2,800; What About Us, $2,100; Women's Drum Center, $5,000.

Scott County: Jordan Art Festival, $5,000; River Valley Theatre Company, $5,000.

Suburban Hennepin County: Allegro Orchestral Association, $5,000; Continental Ballet Company, $5,000; Cross Community Players, $5,000; Music Association of Minnetonka, $4,985; Orono Community Education, $2,525; Thursday Musical, $4,000; Twin Cities Youth Chorale, $1,900.

Suburban Ramsey County: Community Partners of Youth, $4,285; Encore Wind Ensemble, $2,000; Heritage Theatre Company, $5,000; Honeywell Concert Band, $3,000; Lakeshore Players, Inc., $5,000; North Suburban Chorus, $3,000; Twin Cities Housing and Development Corporation, Calibre Ridge, $4,000.

Washington County: FamilyMeans - Cimarron Youth Development Initiative, $5,000; FamilyMeans - Landfall Youth Development Initiative, $4,880; Summer Tuesdays, $3,600; White Pine Festival, $5,000.

In November, MRAC announced its first round of Creative Intersection Grant Awards: Rosemount Area Arts Council, $7,300, Dakota County; East Side Arts Council, $10,000, Ramsey County; St. Paul Almanac, $10,000, Ramsey County; New Prague Arts Council, $8,000, Scott County; St. Louis Park Friends of the Arts, $10,000, Suburban Hennepin County.


In September, 53 organizations received $506,710, an average of $9,560 each, in the first round of Arts Activity Support Grants.

Dakota County: Caponi Art Park, $10,000; International Friendship Through the Performing Arts, $10,000.

Hennepin County: 3-Minute Egg, $8,600; Ananya Dance Theater, $10,000; ARENA Dances, Inc., $10,000; Art Shanty Projects, $10,000; ArtiCulture, $5,950; Ascension Place, $4,000; Body Cartography Project, $10,000; Camden Music School, Dave DeGennars and Circus Minimus Puppetry, $10,000; Catalyst, $10,000; Deepashika, $10,000; Frank Theatre, $10,000; Global Site Performance, $4,600; Iraqi and American Reconciliation Project, $10,000; JazzMN, Inc., $10,000; Kairos Dance Theatre, $10,000; Live Action Set, $10,000; Minneapolis Pops Orchestral Association, $10,000; Minnesota Guitar Society, $9,000; Mizna, $10,000; Off-Leash Area, $10,000; Open Eye Figure Theater, $10,000; Orchestra, $10,000; Plymouth Christian Youth Center, $10,000; Red Eye Collaboration, $10,000; Sandbox Theatre, $10,000; Speaking of Home, $6,960; Theatre Unbound, $9,600; TVbyGirls, $10,000; Walking Shadow Theatre Company, $10,000; Workhaus Playwrights Collective, $10,000; Zorongo Flamenco Dance Theatre, $10,000.

Ramsey County: CAAM Chinese Dance Theater, $10,000; East Side Arts Countil, $10,000; Gremlin Theatre, $10,000; Hot Summer Jazz Festival, $10,000; Minnesota Chinese Dance Theater, $10,000; Minnesota Jewish Theatre Company, $10,000; One Voice Mixed Chorus, $10,000; Oratorio Society of Minnesota, $10,000; Riverview Economic Development Association, $10,000; Selby Area Community Development, $8,000; Sounds of Hope, Ltd., $10,000; St. Paul Art Collective, $10,000; Teatro del Pueblo, $10,000; TU Dance, $10,000; Twin Cities Women's Choir, $10,000; Wishes for the Sky, $10,000; Zeitgeist, $10,000.

Suburban Hennepin County: Katha Dance Theatre, $10,000.

Suburbay Ramsey County: Ashland Productions, $10,000.

Washington County: St. Croix Concert Series, $10,000.

MRAC received 384 grant requests in 2009 and awarded 254 grants totaling $1,007,491. First-time applicants received seven percent of the grants. According to MRAC's December newsletter, funded projects served 11,685 artists and reached approximately 395,000 audience members. MRAC also provided 38 skill-building workshops and networking activities for people from more than 270 organizations.


MRAC is one of 11 regional arts councils serving the state of Minnesota. The Minnesota State Arts Board makes grants statewide to organizations with budgets exceeding $300,000.
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More "stimulus" funds on way to Minnesota arts groups

Minneapolis, Minnesota


The Minnesota State Arts Board and the Minneapolis-based Arts Midwest have re-granted $361,200 to twenty-one Minnesota arts organizations to help preserve jobs that are threatened by the current economic downturn. The grantees were selected from a pool of 153 eligible applicants.


The grants are part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act / Minnesota Arts Jobs grant program. Funding for the program was provided by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, through the National Endowment for the Arts.


That economic stimulus package, passed by Congress earlier this year, included $50 million for the arts. In April, the NEA awarded 63 grants from that package, totalling $19.8 million, to state and regional agencies. In that round, the MSAB received $316,000 and Arts Midwest received $514,400. Arts Midwest allocated its funds throughout its nine-state region, and pooled its Minnesota funds with those of the MSAB.


The 21 Minnesota organizations receiving stimulus grants include the Lake Region Arts Council, Fergus Falls, $3,000; Prairie Lakes Regional Arts Council, Waseca, $10,000; Cedar Cultural Center, Minneapolis, $15,000; Commonweal Theatre, Lanesboro, $11,600; Cornucopia Art Center, Lanesboro, $13,000; Dakota Valley Symphony, Burnsville, $25,000; FutureBuilders in Support of Trollwood, Morhead, $25,000; Holmes Center, Detroit Lakes, $25,000; Juxtaposition, Inc., Minneapolis, $25,000; Kulture Klub Collaborative, Minneapolis, $19,000; Minneapolis Pops Orchestra Association, Minneapolis, $12,000; Minnesota Ballet, Duluth, $18,000; Minnesota Chorale, Minneapolis, $16,000; Nautilus Music-Theater, St. Paul, $24,000; Nordic Culture Clubs, Moorhead, $18,000; One Voice Mixed Chorus, St. Paul, $24,000; Rochester Repertory Theatre, Rochester, $12,000; Saint Francis Music Center, Little Falls, $12,000; Sounds of Hope, Ltd., St. Paul, $12,600; Zenon Dance Company, Minneapolis, $16,000; and Zorongo Flamenco Dance Theatre, Minneapolis, $25,000.


Disclosure: Gary Peterson was a member of one of two panels convened by the MSAB to review 153 applications and to recommend grants for authorization by the MSAB.


In July, 26 other Minnesota arts organizations received stimulus grants directly from the NEA totalling $1,025,000. In total, Minnesota organizations received 2.8% of the $50 million arts stimulus package. 

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Tell them how to spend the arts and cultural heritage money

Minneapolis, Minnesota


The Minnesota Historical Society, Minnesota State Arts Board, and Minnesota Humanities Center invite public input for a 10-year plan and 25-year framework for how to use money made available through the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund. Input will be solicited at November listening sessions in Rochester, Minneapolis, and Marshall, and via an online survey.


Listening sessions will take place Monday, Nov. 16, 5pm-7pm, at the Heinz Center on the campus of the Rochester Community and Technical College, 851 30th Avenue SE, Rochester; Tuesday, Nov. 17, 5pm-7pm, at East Side Neighborhood Services, 1700 2nd Street NE, Minneapolis; and Wednesday, Nov. 18, 5pm-7pm, at Charter Hall on the campus of Southwest Minnesota State University, 1501 State Street South, Marshall.


Earlier sessions were held in St. Paul, Chisholm and Fergus Falls. 


Members of a planning committee, drawn from 13 history, arts, cultural, and library organizations, will develop a spending plan for the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund. The committee met Nov. 10 in Little Falls, and will meet again on Dec. 9 in Minneapolis and on Jan. 5 at a location to be determined. Its plan will be reported to the legislature by Jan. 15. 

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Thanks for YES

Minneapolis, Minnesota


Vote Yes Minnesota, the organization that advocated for the Legacy Amendment to the Minnesota constitution that voters approved last November by 56+%, raised $3.97 million for its efforts. Writing for Finance and Commerce, July 13, Steve Perry reported that $1.82 million, or 46% of the total, was received in 15 donations of $25,000 or more. The single largest gift, $1 million, was contributed by Alida Messinger. Names of those donors accompanied Perry's report and are on file with the Minnesota Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board.


Thanks to all who provided the money, the muscle, and the votes for a statewide crusade of civic and moral responsibility!

How to spend Minnesota's public arts money

Minneapolis, Minnesota


The directors and staffs of the Minnesota State Arts Board and the eleven Regional Arts Councils have an opportunity without precedent to invest in the future of our state and build an arts legacy second-to-none, provided they think and act globally as well as locally, daringly as well as prudently.


Last Nov. 4, more than 56% of Minnesota's voters said YES to the Clean Water, Land, and Legacy Amendment to the Minnesota Constitution. Starting July 1, Legacy increased the state sales tax by 3/8 of 1% for 25 years to dedicate funds for lakes, rivers, streams, groundwater, wetlands, prairies, forests, fish, game, wildlife habitat, parks, and trails. The amendment also provides 19.75% of the collected funds for arts, arts education and access, and preservation of history and cultural heritage.


With statewide lobbying by Minnesota Citizens for the Arts, the 2009 Minnesota Legislature appropriated the first Legacy funds for fiscal years 2010 and 2011 (as reported by MCA):

Funding to the arts via the Minnesota State Arts Board and Regional Arts Councils will increase by $21,650,000 per year for the next two years, for a total of $43.3 million. Added to the $8.6 million passed in the state’s economic development bill, there will now be just over $30 million in state funding for the arts annually, compared to just over $10 million annually this year.

Here is how it breaks down in each year, 2010 and 2011:

• $16,775,000 for Arts and Arts Access Initiatives, “to support Minnesota’s artists and arts organizations in creating, producing and presenting high-quality arts activities; to overcome barriers to accessing high-quality arts activities, and to instill the arts into the community and public life in this state.”
• $3,245,000 for Arts Education Collaborations, for “high-quality, age-appropriate arts education for Minnesotans of all ages to develop knowledge, skills, and understanding of the arts”
• $1,080,000 for Arts in Cultural Heritage, “for events and activities that represent the diverse ethnic and cultural arts traditions, including folk and traditional artists and art organizations represented in this state, ” and
• $550,000 for Fiscal Oversight and Accountability (to the MSAB). The first three items above will be available 70% from the MSAB and 30% from the Regional Arts Councils.
• In addition to the dedicated funding above, libraries received $4.25 million per year which “may be used to sponsor programs provided by regional libraries, or to provide grants to local arts and heritage programs for programs in partnership with regional libraries,” (i.e., opportunities for artists and arts organizations to work with libraries).
• Also, the Humanities Center received $300,000 per year for “museums and organizations celebrating the ethnic identities of Minnesotans” to re-grant, so there may be further opportunities for artists and arts organizations.

In addition, over the next two years, the Minnesota Historical Society will receive $14.4 million, public television $6.3 million, Minnesota Public Radio $2.65 million, AMPERS (local public radio) $2.65 million, children’s museums $1 million, the Science Museum of Minnesota $900,000, Minnesota Zoos $900,000, libraries $8.5 million, Indian Affairs Council (for projects related to the preservation of native languages) $1.9 million, Perpich Center for Arts Education $1 million, and the Minnesota Humanities Center, $2.1 million.

Pretty amazing? Look up from your screen and say "YES!"


Following the legislature's adjournment, staff of the Minnesota State Arts Board conducted a series of forums throughout the state to solicit feedback about funding principles and suggestions for specific funding areas. Currently, the MSAB's thinking embraces the following principles:

• Statewide approach
• Demographic and geographic fairness
• Inclusiveness
• Sustainability
• Anticipatory and flexible
• Transparency and public involvement
• Accountability and stewardship

I attended the public forum in Minneapolis on June 6 and, with 40 others, ran my mouth for two hours about how the MSAB and the RACs should spend Minnesota's public arts money for the next two years. It was a fascinating and stimulating discussion. In the run-up to last November's balloting, I wrote here on Oct. 12 about the reasons why Minnesotans might want to vote YES, along with suggestions for how funds might be spent, with related posts on Oct. 29, Oct. 30, Nov. 5, and Jan. 22.


Today's Minnesota Mist posting updates and reflects my current thinking on the subject in response to the MSAB's request for input. You also should share your thinking, by the means described below.


I know what I am writing about. Besides knocking around Minnesota's arts milieu as a relatively successful arts administrator working with more than 50 communities during nearly 30 years, over the past 10 years, I served on 18 grant review panels for the Minnesota State Arts Board, the Metropolitan Regional Arts Council, the Arrowhead Regional Arts Council, and the Jerome Foundation. In that service I analyzed and commented about the programs, administrations, and finances of hundreds of small and mid-sized organizations. During the 1990s, I worked with the Bush Foundation and its consortium of funding agencies to raise $100,000 to assist arts organizations, post-flood, in Grand Forks, North Dakota. For many years, I led an organization with access to a $100,000 commercial line of credit based upon my signature. In my consulting activities, I have reviewed and analyzed the tax returns and financial statements of more than 24 organizations. Along the way, I have coached many individual artists and ensembles on a variety of organization, program, administrative, and life issues.


These activities have made me familiar with hundreds of individuals and organizations in all disciplines and corners of the state – from Lanesboro and Rochester in the southeast, to Duluth and Grand Rapids in the north, to Fargo and Fergus Falls in the northwest, and the nine-to-13 counties of the Twin Cities region. At whatever stage of their artistic development, all of these people embody the core values of artistic excellence, accountability and transparency as stewards of public resources, innovation, and respectful partnering in the intellectual and creative development of our people.


Although the legislature previously has been episodically very generous in its appropriations for the arts, its overall investment has not kept pace with inflation and growth of field since 1977. Individual elected representatives and senators who support the arts must acknowledge that fact of life, even as they seek to downplay their complicity in its reality. In this, the legislature differs not at all from the intents, practices, and capacities of our major corporate and foundation grant-making agencies.


With passage of the initiative by Minnesota's former governor, Arne Carlson, the legislature appropriated $13 million for the arts in 1998. This was reduced somewhat to $12.6 million for 2002, and to $8.59 million for each year 2003 to 2007. The appropriation for 2008 was $10.33 million. The average annual inflation rate of 2.71% during the 10 years from 1998 to 2008 made the $13 million appropriation for 1998 equal to $17 million in 2008 and, if extended, $17.9 million in 2010.


My current assumptions, for the points that follow below: $21,650,000 of new annual funding + $8,600,000 of "existing funding" = $30,250,000 of annual funding in 2010 and 2011.


My wish list for 2010 and 2011 begins with the principle of restoring, through the rule-making process, all MSAB and RAC programs to the levels they enjoyed in 1998 when funding was $13 million. This restoration would require an allocation of $17.9 million to fund the same programs for the same number of communities, organizations, and individual artists, adjusted for inflation, but also adjusted for current, statutory mandates and circumstances that recognize how communities, organizations, artists, and programs have changed or gone away over the past seven years. By what rationale would the MSAB and RACs do otherwise?


Then, the following minimum funding increases should be made to existing programs to allow for inflation and growth of field: (a) Individual artist initiatives, $1.25 million; (b) Institutional organization (general operating) support, $1.75 million; (c) Presenting organization support, $750,000; (d) Arts Across Minnesota touring, $750,000; (e) Arts education initiatives, $1 million.


All grants to individual artists by the MSAB or the RACs should equal or exceed $10,000. While current grants of lesser amounts for projects encourage the pursuit of artistic excellence, they rarely allow it to be realized. By what rationale should the grant amounts be less than $10,000?


If we believe that innovation and collaboration are keys to advancement, then funds should be available to any individual artist or arts organization, of any size, to commission new work from Minnesota artists in all disciplines. A $500,000 pool of commissioning funds, administered by the Minnesota State Arts Board on a once-per-year basis, should be available to applicants in amounts up to $50,000, with 20% of the available pool reserved for grants of $15,000 or less.


In the interest of sustainability, and to build infrastructure, the RACs should annually administer and grant from an $850,000 pool of technical assistance and equipment funds for all grantees of the MSAB and the RACs, regardless of budget size. The size of a specific grant should be without limit within the constraints of the total pool of available funds. Prior to 2003, the McKnight Foundation’s capital program made equipment and technical assistance grants to its grantees over and above its general operating grants. Grantees were eligible for one capital grant every five years. Applications were easy and straight-forward, and their approval helped build an organization’s physical infrastructure, including such things as telephones that work, computer networks that can talk to each other, lighting equipment, portable floors, choral risers at park pavilions, etc. For whatever good reasons, McKnight needed to discontinue this program; need for the program continues.


The MSAB should surmount bureaucratic obstacles and make an annual grant of up to $350,000 to the Performing Arts Archives at the University of Minnesota. This grant should be earmarked specifically to accelerate the acquisition, processing, and retention of records – broadly defined – for archival purposes from performing arts organizations throughout Minnesota.


Once annually, members of the Minnesota State Arts Board and the Forum of Regional Arts Councils should convene as the [new] Minnesota Cultural Facilities Commission. The commission should have a $2.5 million pool of funds from which to make annual planning grants of up to $500,000, and capital construction grants of up to $2 million, for projects whose total cost will be $10 million or less. This body also should recommend statewide priorities to the legislature for capital bonding projects costing more than $10 million.


In the interests of inclusiveness and demographic and geographic fairness, new program initiatives should make $1.5 million available statewide on an annual basis for music organizations (rock and roll bands, rhythm and blues bands, GLBT bands, Christian or other sectarian instrumental/vocal groups, VFW and American Legion bands, community theaters, and bands and choirs of specific affinity groups). These initiatives should provide streamlined processes for idiosyncratic grants of as little as $500 to $1,000.


A $1 million pool of funds, administered by the MSAB, should be dedicated to experiments in the provision of administrative infrastructure for organizations with budgets less than $200,000. Current RAC programs provide funds to hire consultants who can tell artists what they need to do. This new funding pool would aim to provide the savvy skill-sets to actually do the work.


All grants should be available to organizations that are not necessarily 501(c)(3) under the Internal Revenue Service code. Provision should be made for those, for instance, that are organized as limited liability corporations (LLC). If one considers that grants made to individual artists are made to "for profit" individuals, then it is not a major stretch to conclude that grants will be appropriate to some organizations that are "for profit."


Finally, although members of the legislature made it clear that a minimum of new arts funding should support increased staffing of the MSAB, the state's collective arts community should push back and insist that a minimum of $150,000 in new funds be devoted to the support of staffing positions at the agency. In other words, get the politicians out of the micromanaging of the personnel resources needed to conduct the agency's operations which have been understaffed for several years.


Now, it is your turn to weigh-in. Sue Gens, executive director, Minnesota State Arts Board, issued the following message on July 10:

Recently, the Minnesota State Arts Board and Minnesota's 11 regional arts councils completed a statewide series of public forums. The purpose was to collect input on how best to invest the new arts and cultural heritage funds that will become available this year. We are grateful to everyone who participated in these sessions.

If you were not able to participate, there is another way for you to provide input. Please take a few minutes to visit the Arts Board's Web site and share your thoughts by completing an online survey at http://www.arts.state.mn.us.

By what rationale would you not want to tell MSAB how to spend Minnesota's public arts money?

"Stimulus" funds on way to arts groups

Minneapolis, Minnesota


The National Endowment for the Arts announced today its FY 2009 Grant Awards for the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. A total of 631 arts organizations nationwide will share $29,775,000 in grant amounts of either $50,000 or $25,000.


Minnesota arts organizations (26, or 4% of the grantees) will receive $1,025,000 (3.4% of the total dollars) to support the preservation of jobs that are threatened by declines in philanthropic and other support during the current economic downturn.


The grantees include American Composers Forum, St. Paul, $25,000; Art Start, St. Paul, $25,000; Children's Theatre Company, Minneapolis, $50,000; Coffee House Press, Minneapolis, $25,000; East Side Arts Council, St. Paul, $25,000; Franconia Sculpture Park, Shafer, $50,000; Graywolf Press, St. Paul, $25,000; Guthrie Theatre Foundation, $50,000; Heart of the Beast Theater, Minneapolis, $25,000; Highpoint Center for Printmaking, Minneapolis, $50,000; IFP-Minneapolis, $25,000; Illusion Theater & School, Minneapolis, $50,000; Loft, Inc., Minneapolis, $50,000; MacPhail Center for Music, Minneapolis, $50,000; Milkweed Editions, Minneapolis, $25,000; Minneapolis Society of Fine Arts, Minneapolis, $50,000; Minnesota Opera Company, Minneapolis, $50,000; Minnesota Orchestral Association, Minneapolis, $50,000; Minnesota Public Radio, Inc., St. Paul, $50,000; Mixed Blood Theatre Company, Minneapolis, $25,000; Penumbra Theatre Company, Inc., St. Paul, $25,000; Public Radio International, Inc., Minneapolis, $50,000; Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra Society, St. Paul, $50,000; Springboard for the Arts, St. Paul, $25,000; University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, Minneapolis (museums), $50,000; and VocalEssence, Minneapolis, $50,000.


With the exception of the Franconia Sculpture Park, no Minnesota arts organizations located outside of the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul – in those places where philanthropic and other support is harder to come by – made the cut.


Also noteworthy: in spite of having the second or third most thriving dance scene in the U.S., not a single Minnesota dance organization was granted stimulus funds to save jobs. Nationally, 60 dance organizations (9.5% of the total grantees) were awarded $2,650,000 (8.9% of total dollars).


The economic stimulus package passed by Congress earlier this year included $50 million for the arts, of which today's grants are a part. In April, the NEA awarded 63 grants, totalling $19.8 million, to 63 state and regional agencies; in that round, the Minnesota State Arts Board received $316,000, and the Minneapolis-based Arts Midwest received $514,400.

Spending the dough

Minneapolis, Minnesota


Chris Roberts reported on Minnesota Public Radio yesterday about efforts by members of Minnesota's local music scene to organize themselves to take advantage of proceeds from the Clean Water, Land and Legacy Amendment approved by voters on Nov. 4. "Organized" might be too strong a word, according to Roberts's report, but the effort is being led by Chris Riemenschneider, the Star Tribune's music critic.


The amendment to Minnesota's constitution will increase the statewide sales tax and provide $58 million annually to arts and culture. Logistical details need to be worked out by the legislature and state agencies. One of my October posts (see Chapters 3 & 4) advanced an agenda for how $30 million of annual support for the arts should be structured. There will be plenty of funds to include local musicians.

Nov. 4: Vote YES for Minnesota

Minneapolis, Minnesota

Chapter 1: Vote YES for Minnesota
Chapter 2: Scenes and reflections
Chapter 3: The arts's need
Chapter 4: Allocating the resources

Chapter 1. Vote YES for Minnesota


Growing up with a Republican father and Democratic mother, I developed an early propensity for telling other people how to vote. The impulse was reinforced one very rainy day when my dad and I walked door-to-door distributing leaflets that told people to vote for taxes to build schools. He told me I would take pride and satisfaction in having helped to build them. He was right. This posting continues that tradition.


On Nov. 4, Minnesotans should Vote YES √ on the Clean Water, Land, and Legacy Amendment to protect the Minnesota we love. Those voters who skip this ballot question will be counted as voting no.


YES will amend the Minnesota Constitution to dedicate funding to protect drinking water sources; protect and restore wetlands, prairies, forests, and fish, game, and wildlife habitat; preserve arts and cultural heritage; support parks and trails; and protect and restore lakes, rivers, streams, and groundwater by increasing the sales tax by 3/8 of 1% beginning July 1, 2009. The tax increase will expire after 25 years.


YES will generate $300 million annually, beginning in 2010:

• 33% for a clean water fund;

• 33% for an outdoor heritage fund;

• 19.75% for arts, arts education and access, and preservation of history and cultural heritage;

• 14.25% for parks and trails of regional and statewide significance.

Our natural heritage and arts and culture play important roles in our economy, the tourism industry, and our quality of life. They must be protected and enhanced.


YES will cost an average household $56 per year in sales tax. It will prevent long-term priorities from falling victim to short-term budget needs, and will produce benefits both tangible and not.


YES invests in the future of our state. Residents of that time and place will applaud our collective foresight, although our individual motivations for voting YES will vary. My own reasons are complex, hold special meaning for me, and have a particular focus on arts and culture.


Chapter 2. Scenes and reflections


Recently, I passed through several Minnesota River towns, traveling south on U.S. Highway 169 from Minneapolis to Mankato. That drive on a sputtering Saturday morning brought to mind many of the stories and things I love about Minnesota.


The city of Shakopee, 17 miles southwest of my house near downtown Minneapolis, serves as the seat of Scott County government and home to the Canterbury Downs racetrack. For decades, it also has hosted the Minnesota Renaissance Festival, a cultural state-of-mind as much as it is a geographical place. The festival serves as an imaginative commercial venue for many of our artists, crafters, and performers from mid-August through September, a time when sumac turns red and seasonal vendors along the roadsides display the enticements of apples, pumpkins, sweet corn, and potatoes – plus loads of caramel for the apples.


Past the town of Belle Plaine, one reaches Le Sueur in the Valley of the Jolly Green Giant, 30 miles from Minneapolis. Here, the Giant Celebration, known formerly as Corn on the Curb Days, takes place for three days every August.


As it passes through the Nicollet County seat of St. Peter, Highway 169 assumes the name of Minnesota Avenue. State residents worth their salt know the story of how Joseph Rolette, a senator, thwarted the attempt in 1857 to move the territorial capital from St. Paul to St. Peter when he absconded with the legislative bill that was on its way to the governor for signature. Gov. Willis Gorman is said to have owned the land on which the capitol building would have been constructed. St. Peter never became a major center of population and commerce.


The town nonetheless became an aspiration of Lutheran boys and girls after Gustavus Adolphus College set up shop a few blocks off of Minnesota Avenue. A liberal arts college of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Gustavus offers study in several artistic disciplines and hosts visiting performers on its campus.


Once upon a time, until life led elsewhere, the college and its iconic Christ Chapel beckoned to me. I have since become increasingly interested in stories about King Gustavus Adolphus, founder of the Swedish Empire during 30 years of warfare that helped preserve the Lutheran Reformation. After his death in 1632, the throne passed to his daughter, Christina. One of my Peterson forbears was among the Swedes who settled the area around Wilmington, Delaware, in the late 1630s, and named the Christina River there after the queen.


Back in present-day Minnesota, Highway 169 soon reaches the cities of Mankato and North Mankato at the place where the Minnesota and Blue Earth rivers meet. Nearly 50,000 people live in the area. I almost joined them for two years.


In 1984, I had been accepted into a Master’s program at Minnesota State University. My partner, James Davies, and I rode a Greyhound Bus from Minneapolis to Mankato to check out the city and the 303-acre campus of 14,000 students. Comparing notes at the end of the day, we learned that both of us had experienced an uninterrupted series of encounters that felt “not quite right.” After some reflection, I interpreted these encounters as “signs” and declined the invitation to study.


That decision had three major consequences in the following years. First, I increased my attendance at various dance classes, leading to more than 20 years of involvement with Minnesota’s dance world and stints as manager of Zenon Dance Company, Zorongo Flamenco Dance Theatre, and James Sewell Ballet. Then, I started co-hosting a radio program for more than eight years, turning my part of the show into a public affairs forum for the Twin Cities GLBT community during the development of the community’s social, political, and commercial infrastructure. Finally, I planned the trip that Davies and I took in 1986 to England, France, Italy, India, and Hong Kong.


From Mankato, Highway 169 continues south through Garden City, Amboy, and Blue Earth, before entering Iowa just past Elmore, the hometown of Vice President Walter Mondale. During a social lunch that Davies and I had with him three years ago, he mentioned that he strongly supports Mrs. Mondale’s advocacy for the arts, but wishes that orchestras played more music by Benny Goodman instead of more classical composers.


American taxpayers have invested in the development and well being of the U.S. highway system since the 1920s. I applaud the foresight of their investments. U.S. Highway 14 begins in Chicago, Illinois, and runs west to Yellowstone National Park, another taxpayer project, in Wyoming. Highway 14 intersects 169 in Mankato.


Within Minnesota, Highway 14 passes through more than 30 towns and cities, including Winona, Rochester, Owatonna, New Ulm, Sleepy Eye, Walnut Grove, Tracy, and Lake Benton. Those who have lived here for any length of time have heard of these places; lifers have visited many of them.


Winona is a college town on the Wisconsin border, home to Saint Mary’s University and the Page Artist Series, the largest presenter of performing artists in southeastern Minnesota. Rochester hosts a large presence by IBM in addition to serving as the world nerve center of the Mayo Clinic. Included among many music and theater organizations in the Rochester region is one of our strongest community theaters, the Rochester Civic Theatre.


Walnut Grove was the real life setting for the Laura Ingalls Wilder book On the Banks of Plum Creek, while Tracy received honorable mention in The Long Winter. I started kindergarten when we lived in Tracy for a year while my dad helped string telephone wires throughout Lyon County. During his visit with us in 1957, my grandpa and I searched the night sky outside our house on Roosevelt Street for a glimpse of Sputnik.


For 49 days between April and June this year, many of us cheered vicariously the unfolding adventure of Sean Bloomfield and Colton Witte. After graduating a month early from Chaska High School, this duo-with-a-dream set off to paddle 2,200 miles up the Minnesota River to Big Stone Lake, “down” the Red River to Lake Winnipeg, across that lake to the Hayes River, and then through several rapids to York Factory on Hudson Bay.


The men drew their inspiration from Canoeing With the Cree, the book by Eric Sevareid that recounted his trip with Walter Port along the same route in 1930 at age 18. After receiving his BA from the University of Minnesota, Sevareid built an international career as a print and electronic journalist and commentator. Bloomfield and Witte are now freshmen at Minnesota State University, Mankato. Reportedly, one of their next adventures will be a kayak race in Alaska. We look forward to following their adventures.


Recently, I wrote about the role that water and lakes have played in my life and in the lives of Minnesotans. My family’s camping, swimming, and fishing experiences included Lake Minnetonka in Hennepin County, Fish Lake near Cambridge, Crooked Lake in Anoka, the North Shore of Lake Superior, and lakes near Alexandria, Bemidji, Annandale, Buffalo, and Chisago City. Years ago, we caught small mouth bass while standing in the middle of the Mississippi River downstream from the nuclear power plant in Monticello. More years ago, my parents and I stood in Lake Itasca at the Mississippi’s headwaters.


One specific lake eluded me.


In the late 1960s, I ran with a crowd that had an affinity for the theater department at St. Cloud State University where many of us vowed to pursue our careers as thespians. St. Cloud is located 72 miles northwest of Minneapolis, just off I-94. Seventy miles further is Alexandria, where St. Cloud State is affiliated with Theatre L’Homme Dieu, a professional summer theater situated on Lake L’Homme Dieu. We thought – at least, I did, until life led elsewhere – that spending summers performing on the L’Homme Dieu stage would mean we had arrived in life.


The Minnesota Historical Society preserves our stories by operating archives, museums, and 26 historic sites, including the Minnesota History Center, Mill City Museum, Historic Fort Snelling, Split Rock Lighthouse, Mille Lacs Indian Museum, Charles A. Lindbergh House, and others. In addition, many of the state’s 87 counties maintain their own historical societies; I saw a couple of them on Highway 169.


I gained first-hand appreciation for the value of these repositories from my travels in Kansas rather than in Minnesota. In a journey of great discovery and insight eight years ago, supported by the Jerome Foundation, I spent two weeks reviewing old newspapers, census records, photos, and histories in Topeka, Junction City, Salina, Dodge City, Meade, and Arlington. From the individual threads gleaned at each of these stops, I was able to weave together the 360-year story of one family’s pursuit of the American Dream and to place it in the context of a nation’s effort to perfect itself.


I applaud the foresight of those who established and have maintained historical societies, large and small, in all parts of our country.


Minnesota’s 19,600 individual artists and nearly 1,600 nonprofit arts and culture organizations provide full-time jobs for more than 22,000 people. An additional 10,400 for-profit arts businesses employ more than 58,000 people. This industry generates annual state and local government revenues of $94 million, and nearly a billion dollars of economic activity.


In 2004, statewide attendance for arts and culture activities totaled 14,487,592, more than triple the combined attendance of 4,610,201 for all professional sports teams. I have enjoyed attending both arts events and sports events.


In addition to direct economic returns, our arts and culture industry attracts businesses and their employees, stimulates development, and drives tourism. Five of our top tourist draws are the Walker Art Center, Guthrie Theater, Ordway Center, Orchestra Hall, and the Children’s Theatre.


I know this scene well. With dance companies, I worked with people in more than 50 communities, as far ranging as Grand Rapids, Crookston, Morris, Fergus Falls, Scandia, Little Falls, and Ely. Over the years, I have been a member of 18 panels that reviewed arts grant applications and recommended funding. This process has made me familiar with hundreds of individuals and organizations, in all disciplines and corners of the state – Lanesboro, Duluth, and Rochester among them.


At whatever stage of their artistic development, all of these people embody the core values of artistic excellence, accountability and transparency as stewards of public resources, innovation, and respectful partnering in the intellectual and creative development of our people.


Chapter 3. The arts’s need


The legislature established the first state arts agency in 1903. Successive changes fixed its name as the Minnesota State Arts Board, and established 11 regional arts councils to distribute funds and to maintain a degree of local involvement and decision-making. Public investments in the short- and long-term health of our arts and culture industry reach all 87 counties.


Although the legislature has been episodically very generous in its appropriations for the arts, its overall investment has not kept pace with inflation and growth of field since 1977:

• The 1977 appropriation of $500,000 is worth $1.8 million in 2008 dollars. A lobbying effort by Minnesota Citizens for the Arts succeeded in raising the 1978 appropriation to $1.77 million – equal to $5.98 million in 2008. Subsequent appropriations increased or decreased modestly from 1978 until 1983, when the appropriation was cut to $1.5 million.


• The 1983 appropriation of $1.5 million was equal to $2.48 million in 1997 dollars, a year when the actual appropriation was, more favorably, $6.98 million. However, the annual appropriations in that 14-year period fluctuated, year-by-year, within a range from –7% to +52%.


• With passage of the initiative by Gov. Arne Carlson, the legislature appropriated $13 million for 1998. This was reduced somewhat to $12.6 million for 2002, and to $8.59 million for each year 2003 to 2007.


• The appropriation for 2008 is $10.33 million – 73% higher than 30 years ago, after 1978 is adjusted to 2008 dollars. The average annual rate of inflation over the 30 years was 4.14%.


• The average annual inflation rate of 2.71% during the 10 years from 1998 to 2008 makes the $13 million appropriation for 1998 equal to $17 million in 2008 and, if extended, $17.9 million in 2010.

http://www.dollartimes.com/calculators/inflation.htm

Along with our natural heritage, the arts need a stable and protected source of funding. The YES amendment will provide that.


Chapter 4. Allocating the resources


The legislature will retain oversight of the designated funds generated by the YES amendment. It is estimated that $58 million will be generated annually for arts and culture beginning in 2010. A possible $28 million of those funds will be allocated to historical societies and cultural heritage.


It is expected, but not yet established, that the Minnesota State Arts Board and the Regional Arts Councils will serve as the legislature’s vehicles for administering $30 million of new resources for the arts. Members of those bodies have been holding conversations with artists and organizations about how the money might best be spent. I also have a list of suggestions for them to consider.


First, however, let us assume that – instead of having $30 million of new money, added to $10.3 million of existing money, making $40.3 million available for 2010 – we will have $30 million of total money actually available.


A number of factors could produce that scenario. We know that (a) the legislature that convenes in February to craft budgets for 2010 and 2011 will face a projected deficit for that biennium of at least $1 billion, and possibly as much as $4 billion; (b) the governor is loathe to raise taxes; (c) the state and national economies are in less than sterling shape; and (d) a major lobbying effort will probably be required to maintain the current appropriation. As prudent stewards, we should plan for how we will “make do” under the more conservative scenario.


My wish list begins by restoring all arts programs for 2010 to the level they enjoyed in 1998 when funding was $13 million. This will require an allocation of $17.9 million to fund the same programs for the same number of communities, organizations, and individual artists, adjusted for inflation.


The following funding increases should then be made to allow for inflation and growth of field: (a) Individual artist initiatives - $1 million; (b) Institutional organization support - $1.5 million; (c) Presenting organization support - $500,000; (d) Arts Across Minnesota touring - $500,000; (e) Arts education initiatives - $2 million.


The powers-that-will-be should make an annual grant of $250,000 to the Performing Arts Archives at the University of Minnesota. This grant should be earmarked specifically to accelerate the acquisition, processing, and retention of records for archival purposes from performing arts organizations throughout Minnesota.


Prior to 2003, the McKnight Foundation’s capital program made equipment and technical assistance grants to its grantees over and above its general operating grants. Grantees were eligible for one capital grant every five years. Applications were straight-forward, and their approval helped build an organization’s physical infrastructure, including such things as telephones that work, computer networks that can talk to each other, lighting equipment, portable floors, etc.


Anyone who has participated on a Regional Arts Council panel to decide which six of 18 equally meritorious applicants should get computer hardware and software will understand this need. An $850,000 pool of technical assistance funds should be administered by the Regional Arts Councils for all grantees of the Arts Board and the RACs, regardless of budget size.


If innovation and collaboration are keys to advancement in any endeavor, then funds should be available to any individual artist or arts organization to commission new work from Minnesota artists in all disciplines. A $500,000 pool of commissioning funds, administered by the Minnesota State Arts Board, should be available to applicants in amounts up to $50,000, with 20% of the available pool reserved for grants of $15,000 or less.


Once annually, members of the Minnesota State Arts Board and the Forum of Regional Arts Councils should convene as the [new] Minnesota Cultural Facilities Commission. The commission should have a $2.5 million pool of funds with which to make annual planning grants of up to $500,000, and capital construction grants of up to $2 million, for projects whose total cost will be $10 million or less. This body also should recommend statewide priorities to the legislature for capital bonding projects costing more than $10 million.


Finally, as a consequence of present economic conditions and activities, it is probable that portfolios of many of the more than 100 foundations that provide grants to the arts in Minnesota will be adversely affected, leading to a decrease in the numbers and sizes of their grants. A funding pool of $2.5 million should be reserved for emergency budget relief for existing arts organizations for 2010, and subsequent years as needed. The criteria and logistics of such a program are beyond the scope of this essay.


That is how I would spend $30,000,000.


How would you spend it?


All of it is academic until you Vote YES on Nov. 4!