Mission
MRAC improves arts access for communities in the seven county metropolitan area through support to artists and organizations.
Vision
- Artists and arts organizations thrive.
- Arts engagement takes place in every community.
- The public actively values and celebrates the arts and artists.
Guiding Principles
- We take into account the needs and interests of constituents in our region when developing programs and services.
- We strive to maintain transparent decision-making processes and accessible public information.
- We meet our constituents where they’re at and recognize their unique needs.
- We act with integrity, ensuring that all constituents are treated in a fair, respectful and consistent manner.
- We’re committed to advancing inclusion, diversity, equity and accessibility in all aspects of our work.
- We work with our community partners to promote and advocate for the arts.
Overall Organizational Strategy
MRAC will provide leadership, resources and tools that enable artists and arts organizations to thrive in a changing environment and address disparities in the 7 county metropolitan area through a robust menu of programs and services and community engagement activities.The FY24-25 Plan is available here for download:
FY24-25-MRAC-Biennial-Plan (docx – will download)
FY24-25 MRAC Biennial Plan (PDF – may open in a new window)
MRAC’s Service
The Metropolitan Regional Arts Council serves nonprofit arts organizations, informal arts groups, community education, government, and non-arts nonprofit organizations with annual operating expenses under $400,000, and individual artists in Anoka, Carver, Dakota, Hennepin, Ramsey, Scott, and Washington counties. This region includes urban, suburban, and rural communities. While the region comprises only 4% of the state’s geography, its population is approximately 50% of the state’s total. As one of the 11 regional arts councils in Minnesota, MRAC’s funding is derived primarily from appropriations from the Minnesota State Legislature with money from the State’s general fund and Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund. MRAC also receives a generous grant from The McKnight Foundation.
History
In 1977, the Minnesota legislature established a system of eleven regional arts councils to distribute state government appropriations to small arts organizations around the state. MRAC, which serves the 7-county Twin Cities metropolitan area, is the largest of the regional arts councils. Each regional arts council is an autonomous organization designated to assess arts needs, develop programs and services to meet those needs, and distribute funds to arts programs in its region. All of the regional arts councils began as programs of larger regional development commissions. MRAC was a program of the Metropolitan Council until 1989, when MRAC became an independent nonprofit organization.