Workshops

The workshops are free of charge, but advance registration is required. Call 800-622-5284, or email info@swmnarts.org. Check the website www.swmnarts.org for more information.

Artist talk: Oct. 15, 5:30 p.m.; join our monthly virtual conversations for artists, makers and creators. The guest artist will be musician Lee Kanten of Ortonville. Check website for log-in details.

Springboard for the Arts road tour: Oct. 20, 3 to 4 p.m. Staff and consultants from Springboard for the Arts will host the hour-long virtual open house to let you know what programs and resources Springboard offers, answer questions you have about your artistic career, and otherwise try to entertain you for an hour. Join by video or phone, but you must pre-register, check the website for details.

Emerging Artist Grants

The grants provide up to $2,500 in funding to aid emerging artists at an early stage of their career development. Receiving a grant were:

Deborah Meyer, Madison, $1,310 to frame a series of watercolor paintings she plans to produce from reference photos of her (and other volunteers) time in Sri Lanka responding to the disaster following a tsunami in December of 2004. The photos are from a collaborative album of 16 CDs shared by 32 volunteers from Minnesota that responded to the disaster.

Mary KG Seifert, Willmar, $2,500, to help with preparation of her novel for publishing and to develop a website.

Established Career Artist Grants

The grants provide up to $7,000 to aid established career artists in the advanced stage of their career development with projects that will advance their career. Receiving a grant were:

Fern Cloud, Granite Falls, $7,000 to work on a traditional Dakota bison robe painting. A member of the Sisseton-Wahpeton Dakota Oyate plans to replicate a beaded tablecloth from 1900-1910 on a bison hide using traditional painting methods. The original can be viewed at the National Museum of the American Indian, Smithsonian Institution and was made by a Dakota woman from her tribe. Although this is a replication, Cloud would consider this new work because of the methods she is using to replicate."

Lucy Tokheim, Dawson, $7,000 to work with mentor Sophia Glock, to develop a comic, or graphic novel, based on her knowledge of the Primstav, an ancient Norwegian Calendar. She will also make a series of four paintings inspired by the Norwegian Baldishol tapestry to have a more formal visual statement of the medieval world of the Primstav. The paintings will become a limited edition of giclee prints.

Grants for Artists

Grant deadlines for the 2020-21 fiscal year for individual artist grants. Round 2 deadline is Jan. 13, with earliest start date March 1; grant writing webinar online Dec. 3, free, pre-registration required.

Artist Equity grants: up to $4,000 to aid Black, Indigenous, Latinx, and other artists of color with projects that will advance their skills and artistic careers. No match requirements and applications ongoing, through May 1, or until funding for the year has been expended.

Emerging Artist Grants: up to $2,500 to aid emerging artists at an early stage of their career development with projects that will advance their career.

Established Career Artist Grants: up to $7,000 to aid established career artists with projects that will advance their career.

Community Collaboration Grants; up to $10,000 to artists to create a major new work while collaborating with the community, introducing community members to the arts in a new way. No match requirements.

Grants for Arts Organizations

Grant deadlines and webinar dates for the 2020-21 fiscal year.

Going virtual equipment, technology and training grant: This special grant program, funded with Minnesota Disaster Relief Funds, provides up to $1,000 to aid arts organizations in the SMAC Region with equipment or technology that will allow them to provide virtual events and programming. Applicants can also use the monies to participate in “go-virtual” training or consultations. No match requirements, application deadlines, first of the month November and December or until funding runs out.

Art Project Grants: up to $7,000 in funding, to stimulate and encourage the creation, performance and appreciation of the arts; pre-packaged theater residencies limited to $2,500; no cash match required this year; deadline Dec. 9, with earliest start date Feb. 1; grant writing webinar online from noon to 1 p.m. Oct. 29, free, pre-registration required.