Southeastern Minnesota Arts Council
/OVERVIEW: The Southeastern Minnesota Arts Council supports individual artists, arts organizations, and arts development in the region. Its grantmaking encompasses dance, literary arts, theatre, music, and the visual arts. It also has a small number of grants that support arts education initiatives.
IP TAKE: This accessible regional funder supports both arts organizations and individual artists in the 11 counties that make up southeastern Minnesota. The matching fund requirement for many grants has been waved for recent grant cycles. The arts council funds both individual artists and arts organizations across most genres of visual and performing arts, and it provides general and individual artist support. This is an important funder to know for artists and arts organizations working in the region.
PROFILE: Created in 1977, the Southeastern Minnesota Arts Council (SEMAC) serves Dodge, Fillmore, Freeborn, Goodhue, Houston, Mower, Olmsted, Rice, Steele, Wabasha, and Winona counties in southeastern Minnesota. It seeks to “encourage, promote, and assist regional arts development by providing leadership, outreach, advocacy, mentorship, grants and services.” The arts council funds both individual artists and arts organizations across most genre of visual and performing arts.
Grants for Arts Education, Visual Arts, Music, Theater, Dance, Film, and Writing
Grants for Individual Artists seek to “encourage the development of entirely new work by artists who are full-time residents of the SEMAC Region.” Funded projects must culminate in a Capstone Event, which SEMAC identifies as “publication, performance, or exhibition, at an accessible venue provided by a non-profit organization.” Grants for emerging artists are $3,000 and $5,000 for advancing artists. Deadlines are January 1 and July 1 each year.
SEMAC’s grantmaking for Organizations falls into several different categories:
The Legacy Grants program (formerly called the Arts & Cultural Heritage Grant program) supports arts across three key areas: arts access, which supports “organizations in creating, producing, and presenting quality arts activities,” arts education, which supports “quality, age-appropriate arts education for Minnesotans of all ages to develop knowledge, skills, and understanding of the arts,” and arts and cultural heritage, which supports “events and activities that represent the diverse ethnic and cultural arts traditions, including folk and traditional artists and arts organizations, represented in Minnesota.” SEMAC encourages applicants to incorporate two or more of these key areas into their project proposal. Grant amounts range from $3,000 to $10,000 and require 20% matching funds.
Grants for General Operating Support fund administrative expenses for nonprofit arts organizations. Grantees must have been programming for at least three years and have operating expenses of less than $174,000. The window for applications opens July 1 of odd-numbered years and runs until funds are gone.
Programming Grants for Arts Organizations (formerly called Presenter/Production Assistance grants) “support activities directly involved in the creation, performance, publication, and exhibition of the arts.” Grants are for $5,000 and provide Presenter Assistance, which “helps sponsor appearances by touring artists or companies who demonstrate a high level of artistic quality,” and Arts Production Project, which must be used to “develop an art form or promote the artistic growth of artists associated with arts organizations.” The project may be a single activity, a sequence of closely related activities, or an exhibition curated by the applicant. Past recipients are eligible to reapply once per year. Deadlines are April 1 and October 1 each year.
Small Towns/Rural Areas grants support art and arts organizations in “communities with populations under 7,500.” Grants are for $5,000 and fund local production projects, administrative support, and equipment purchase. Deadlines occur twice each year.
SEMAC also funds School Residency grants that support activity involving K-12 students, teachers, and artists that “provide young people with a direct arts experience with artists, as well as encourage the artist’s professional development by providing a unique employment experience and audience contact.” The submission deadline for the $3,000 grant is sixty days prior to the planned artist residency.
SEMAC offers small opportunity grants of up to $500 “to take advantage of opportunities that arise with little advance notice,” and it makes Arts Management Training Grants of $300 to help staff of regional nonprofit arts groups attend management education workshops, seminars, or conferences.
Important Grant Information
New grantseekers can find information about recent grantees here and can use SEMAC’s online application system to apply.
PEOPLE:
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