MRAC is pleased to announce our Flexible Support grantees for 2026 Round 2. From all seven metro counties, the following groups and organizations will bring art, music, dance, and much more to our region all year long!
Anoka
Sparkle Theatricals
Presenting Houdini 100: A Century of Magic, an immersive, promenade-style theatre production honoring the life and legacy of Harry Houdini on the 100th anniversary of his passing.
Taste of Minnesota Foundation
Funding for the main stage for the Taste of Minnesota, featuring Minnesota native musicians and singers at no cost to attendees and including fair compensation for artists.
Carver
Art, Heart & Hoofbeats Equine Rescue and Sanctuary
Hybrid art, equine, and mindfulness pilot classes expanding equitable access for LGBTQ+ individuals, people with disabilities, BIPOC folks, and older adults, culminating in a community gallery.
Arts Consortium of Carver County
Expanding a partnership with the Carver County Historical Society to offer accessible, multidisciplinary arts experiences and broaden community participation.
Dakota
Caponi Art Park
A two-week outdoor, interactive, immersive sound installation enhanced with art created at four community Art in Nature workshops, culminating in a live performance event.
Minhua Chorus
Presenting Voices of Nature, a concert celebrating the beauty of nature, the harmony of living beings, and the joys of everyday life through both Chinese and Western choral songs.
South St. Paul Arts Council
Strengthening arts access and sustainability by investing in planning, fundraising systems, CPA support, artist workshops, and inclusive community programming.
Sunday Coffee Concerts, LLC
Support for the 19th season of Lakeville Area Arts Center Coffee Concerts, including four diverse ensembles and repertoires in an informal, inviting cabaret setting.
Hennepin
Alive & Kickin
Support for ten concert performances and ten artist-led singalongs in senior and public housing and community settings, reaching 900+ older adults with meaningful music experiences.
All City Music
Establishing a program manager role and strengthening ACM systems to sustain culturally responsive music and dance programming for youth across North Minneapolis and the metro.
Art Shanty Projects
Support for Art Shanty Projects 2027, which welcomes the public to a vibrant artistic winter village by 200+ artists on a frozen lake.
Aya Collective Publishing
Two writer fellowships supporting the publication of new literary works while strengthening research, writing, and artistic practice through collective study, mentorship, and reflection.
Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Greater Twin Cities
Providing arts-based mentoring to 1,000+ underserved youth in the Twin Cities, supporting core programming and capacity-building to expand access and center youth voice.
The Bloodbath Ball
An annual drag pageant celebrating bold, unconventional artistry with performances and community impact, creating a space for queer joy and creative expression.
BuckSlam MN
Facilitating the 2026–27 poetry slam season, offering accessible, monthly poetry slams and public craft workshops to Minnesotans.
Centro Tyrone Guzman
Guide four cohorts of low-income Latines (children, youth, parents, elders) in an artistic process of defining a message, identifying an art form, creating culturally inspired art, and sharing art.
Commutator Collective
Support for the creation and performance of queer, avant-garde theatre pieces and community events in the Twin Cities.
Crescent Cove
Providing arts programming for children and youth with life limiting conditions and their families to build community and connection.
Curiosity Studio
Creating 20 drop-in community events and programming.
Fireweed Community Woodshop
Provide classes, events, and programming delivered by and welcoming the diverse participation of women, marginalized genders, LGBTQ+ folks to create inclusive woodworking in Minnesota.
Fortune’s Fool Theatre
Presenting the area premiere of Bryn Turner’s Bull In A China Shop, a play based on the history of queer women in America from 1900–1935, with free admission for all.
The Gray Mallard Theater Company
Providing a free, professional production of Hamlet at Sociable Cider Werks, serving up to 1,200 community members across 11 performances in Northeast Minneapolis.
Hopewell Music Cooperative North
Support for affordable and accessible access to music lessons that spark creativity and arts engagement for community members of all ages and backgrounds.
Indian Music Society of Minnesota
Presenting four concerts featuring world-class artists of Indian classical music from India, including two lecture-demonstrations.
Jazz Central Studios
Support to book, promote, and present 80 weekend jazz concerts at our Minneapolis venue, with free online streaming.
K-Breeze Children’s Choir
A year-long bilingual (Korean/English) youth musical project featuring a summer camp, weekly rehearsals, and a concert for a commissioned premiere, fostering cultural connection and identity.
Lotus Arts Center
In-person Zardosi and Lippan workshops expanding access to South Asian heritage arts, with capacity-building support for outreach and grantwriting to sustain future programs.
Minneapolis American Indian Center
Support for the curation of three gallery exhibitions showcasing Native artists and communities, as well as purchasing necessary gallery infrastructure and direct support for artists.
Minneapolis Musical Theatre
Producing Head Over Heels at LUSH Lounge + Theater to expand access to bold, inclusive musical theater while providing paid opportunities for Minnesota artists.
Minnesota Classical Dance Academy
Providing the second summer intensive free of charge to the community to ensure the financial barriers of ballet accessibility are removed.
Mixed Precipitation
Reimagining Offenbach’s Tales of Hoffmann for lively outdoor performances. This high-access touring production features musicians and puppeteers.
Mplsart.com
Supporting MPLSART’s editorial program, including pay for two contract editors and contract writers for 52 articles over 12 months.
Neuveausoul Productions
Using the arts to bring together the Southeast Asian and Black diasporas from the Frogtown/Rondo community.
An Opera Theatre
Support for key staff positions vital to ongoing operations and artistic direction
Powderhorn Park Neighborhood Association
Support for Powderhorn Porchfest, a beloved South Minneapolis community event in which two city blocks are transformed into a three stage concert venue, each with a diverse lineup of local musical acts.
Queer Gaze LLC
Presenting the 7th annual Flip the Script Queer Film Festival in October 2026, which will be presented in-person at FilmNorth in St. Paul, with online virtual access available.
Reach for Resources, Inc.
Free therapeutic arts classes for teens and adults with disabilities, removing barriers through adaptive tools, transportation, ASL, and a virtual showcase to build skills and community.
Saint Therese
Artist-led music, writing, and visual arts residencies for memory care residents, delivered through sustained, accessible programming that supports creative expression, identity, and connection.
Sanguine Arts
Producing season 4 of the Locavart interview podcast featuring local BIPOC artists.
Semilla Center for Healing and the Arts
Multidisciplinary, intergenerational bilingual arts workshops and culturally relevant community events to create public art that transforms, heals, and empowers the Phillips neighborhood.
Soo Visual Arts Center
Nine solo exhibitions, collaborating closely with the artists on exhibition planning and supplemental programs, while ensuring compensation for artists and staff.
Step With Soul
Launching its first summer step camp intensive and expanding staffing for the 2026–2027 season.
TDM5 Collective
A series of public screenings of African and diasporic films culminating in a reflective workshop exploring the intersections between migration and trans identity.
Theatre Pro Rata
Premiering The Hired Man, by playwright Heather Meyer exploring love, labor, and identity presenting LGBTQ+ characters as integral to the world of the play instead of the exception.
Threshold Theater
LGBTQ+ theater company will produce the world premiere of Service Industry by Enid Brain and J. Andrew Norris
Time Track Productions
Exploring changing perceptions of reality from cultural and personal perspectives as we age through dance, with nine performers, aged 20s–60s+, and a collaborative video montage.
Unlabeled Theatre Company
Supporting the upcoming live theatrical production of The Rocky Horror Picture Show, featuring our cast of adult actor/artists with disabilities.
Unsalted Stutter
Offering accessible improv classes for youth who stutter, then creating a puppet film featuring characters who stutter along with related educational materials for speech-language therapists.
West Broadway Business and Area Coalition
Presenting events that uplift local artists, including Open Streets, Black Friday on Broadway, Black Business Week and the new Northside Jazz & Blues Festival.
Z Puppets Rosenschnoz
Hosting a training program led by Chris Griffith (Cherokee Nation) for indigenous artists to explore puppetry skills as a way to express their Native cultures and identities.
Ramsey
Arcata Press
The Saint Paul Almanac will provide unique and equitable literary arts programming supporting diverse artists of all ages and their communities through telling and sharing stories across cultures.
Arts Us
Support for year-round arts access for elementary youth with a summer arts camp and afterschool programming, while strengthening organizational capacity to deliver high-quality arts experiences.
Atlas of Blackness
A community-led storytelling project centering Black Minnesotans, mapping care networks, tracing displacement, and resisting the erasure of Black life.
Border CrosSing
Presenting choral concerts and community singing events that celebrate Latine music, artists, culture, and history in schools and public venues across the Twin Cities.
Camp Masala
Spotlighting Northeast India, highlighting its diverse cultures, histories, visual, performance and culinary arts, to foster inclusive perspectives on South Asia.
Film Score Fest
Connecting Minnesota filmmakers, composers, musicians, and audience members through a film scoring challenge and screenings accompanied by live orchestra and guest musicians.
A Hand 4 Change
Utilizing artbooks, storyboards, videos, and climate picture books as a lens for students to learn about climate change within solutions-based teaching methodology to overcome climate anxiety.
India Association of Minnesota
Presenting a signature celebration of Indian culture, featuring vibrant music, dance, food, and arts that brings together 25k people, encouraging cross-cultural connection and strengthening community.
Irreducible Grace Foundation
Operational support to sustain and strengthen culturally rooted, healing-centered arts programming for BIPOC youth and community at the Black Youth Healing Arts Center.
MNprov
Free improv workshops for neurodivergent teens, building confidence and connection through relationship-centered play and celebratory community showcases.
Recreation Arts
Support for twenty-four sing-along sessions with older adults living with disabilities and chronic health conditions, installation of a zine library, and recording two original songs.
Rondo Community Land Trust
Operational support to sustain staffing and equipment that keep neighborhood-based arts programming active and accessible in the Rondo African American Arts District.
Skylark Opera Theatre
Supporting the program Skylark for Seniors, which brings music performances to senior residences in the Twin Cities area for those who are not otherwise able to attend the theater.
Taiwan Online Library
Support for operations and cultural arts programming, ensuring Minnesotans have accessible, high-quality pathways to engage with Taiwanese heritage and music.
Theatre 55
Support for a production of Young Frankenstein at the Gremlin Theatre with a cast of 55+ actors, musicians, directors, and designers.
TriLingua Cinema
Expanding free and low-cost multicultural, multilingual, and independent film programming in East St. Paul during the transition into a new dedicated cinema space.
Wakan Tipi Awanyankapi
Support for the creation of a 565 ft. mural called The Procession of Saint Paul led by celebrated artist Bobby Dues Wilson and created with other muralists from the Twin Cities.
Wonderlust Productions
Producing their seventh large scale production, The Values Play Project, which interrogates how individual values interact and conflict within a democracy.
Scott
American Russian Center
Presenting public braiding workshops, festival pop-ups, and video lessons, expanding intergenerational engagement with Slavic craft traditions in Minnesota.
Eagan Women of Note
Operating costs for nonprofit community choir, including artistic staff salaries, rehearsal space, music, storage space, and other performance materials.
Washington
End in Mind Project
Creating an arts-based digital tool-kit that helps people creatively navigate the emotionally rocky terrain of conversations around loss, grief, death, and dying.
Lao Arts and Culture Collective
Presenting arts programming for Lao youth, including Lao language classes, musical instrument instruction, traditional art-making, and culturally significant food practices rooted in intergenerational learning.
Spirit Song Choir
Essential operational expenses, including insurance, facility rental, technology support for concerts, and licensing fees.
Valley Friendship Club
Youth and adults with disabilities will explore and develop creative skills in visual arts, theater, and music programs.