A program of the Seeding Cultural Treasures Initiative
Made possible by McKnight and Ford Foundations.
Click here to read about the 10 artists selected for the Artists’ Futures Cohort.
Artists’ Futures provides resources directly to artists and culture bearers of African, Afro-Latinx, Afro-Caribbean, Latinx, Chicanx, Asian/Pacific Islander, and SWANA (South West Asian and North African) descent residing in the 7-county metropolitan area (Anoka, Carver, Dakota, Hennepin, Ramsey, Scott, and Washington counties), and artists who are Native American/American Indian/Native Alaskan residing in Minnesota and the 11 Tribal nations that share the same geography.
Artists’ Futures provides financial support of $35,000 to individual artists along with additional resources and support. Artists’ Futures is a professional development, skill building and networking cohort for artists working in any artistic discipline at any stage in their career. The Metropolitan Regional Arts Council (MRAC) is interested in investing in artists by providing support that allows them to grow their ability to take creative risks, and build technical skills that could contribute to a sustainable and successful career in the arts.
Artists have been major contributors to American culture, they play an important role in building stronger communities, and they weave connections across communities. Yet, in Minnesota, they continue to experience some of the greatest disparities in the country. MRAC wants Artists’ Futures to be more than a financial boost in artists’ careers. Rather, we want this to be a boost in their lives. We are interested in investing in artists by providing support that allows them to grow their ability to take creative risks, and build technical skills that could contribute to a sustainable and successful career in the arts.
Artists’ Futures was developed for and by a diverse group of artists and cultural leaders who are members of the artist communities this program intends to serve. A group of 11 advisors along with MRAC staff engaged with artists across backgrounds, experiences and cultures in several intimate focus groups and one-on-one meetings, engaging nearly 100 individuals. The responses shared during focus groups directly informed the design of Artists’ Futures.
Note: In this program we use the term “artist” to refer to both artists and culture bearers.
Goals of Artists’ Futures:
- Selected artists have the resources they need to take risks, and creatively challenge themselves during the program.
- Selected artists broaden their networks to include relationships and strategies that could provide long-term support.
- MRAC will provide a bundle of resources (financial, access to space, equipment, and people) that is significant enough to shift the selected artists’ artistic presence, practice, and life.
Program Details
Virtual Information Session: August 19, 2022, 12:00pm
Submission Deadline: October 3, 2022, 11:59pm
Notification Date: February 22, 2023
Financial Support: $35,000 (unrestricted)
Additional resources: $2,000 for professional development, plus access to vetted partnering professionals/spaces/organizations
Cohort Period: Support from MRAC and access to partners from Feb 2023 – Feb 2025
Participation Requirements:
- Attend a 90min Zoom meet & greet event to meet the cohort of selected artists, network and learn how to access the available resources. A financial advisor/tax professional will join us for a portion of this meeting to talk about tax requirements and answer questions.
- Attend six (6) scheduled networking lunch hour meetings. These events will focus on expanding the network of selected artists by building relationships to other makers, arts professionals and arts organizations. These meetings will be coordinated in partnership with selected artists to best accommodate schedules and meet the needs of the cohort.
Number of Selected Artists: 10