Sincerely,

Executive Director 

On March 27, in front of hundreds of cheering arts advocates for Arts Advocacy Day, the Metropolitan Regional Arts Council along with the Minnesota State Arts Board and the other ten Regional Arts Councils received "Legacy Partners" awards for effective and extensive use of public panels to make grant decisions. Between them, the twelve agencies worked with 768 people who provided more than 34,000 volunteer hours of expertise on the best use of state arts dollars. In this fiscal year alone, MRAC is proud to report that 298 people (18 board members and 280 panelists) have contributed 9,120 hours of service to help MRAC meet its mission of increasing access to the arts in 7-county metropolitan area communities. 

"The participation by residents of the region in funding decisions allows us to meet our commitment to transparency and accountability," said Executive Director Jeff Prauer after accepting the award.   

MRAC is very proud of our open panel review process, and we want to extend a huge thank you to our many volunteers for making our process work!

The FY 2014 Arts Learning, Round 2 grant applications will be reviewed May 20, 21, and 22. Panel review schedules will be available in our May e-newsletter and on our website in May. 

The grants of up to 15,000 are intended for projects with significant or long-term potential to involve more people with disabilities as participants or patrons in arts programs. This year some smaller grants will be available for shorter-term activities to help arts groups engage with part of the disability community and cover their expenses in doing so (such as language interpreting, Braille programs, captioning, assistive listening units, etc.). Groups must be located in the 7-county metropolitan region and have an annual budget less than 4,460,000.

For grant guidelines, application, and the dates/locations of information meetings and accessibility workshops, contact VSA Minnesota at 612-332-3888, email access@vsamn.org, or go to www.vsamn.org. Deadline: May 16, 2014.

The Ordway Center for the Performing Arts will open a new concert hall in the spring of 2015, the culmination of a collaborative effort by the Minnesota Opera, The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, The Schubert Club, and the Ordway. This 1,100 seat venue will serve as the home of The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra and also accommodate other artists and organizations. On Thursday, May 1, at 3:30 p.m. the Ordway will host a meeting and hard-hat tour for artists and arts organizations who may be interested in using the new concert hall. If you are interested in attending, please RSVP to RSVP2@ordway.org.

The Minnesota State Arts Board's Arts Learning grant program offers funding for projects that help lifelong learners acquire knowledge and understanding of and skills in the arts. Projects must provide participatory learning and engage learners with skilled teaching artists and high quality artistic experiences. More information is available at www.arts.state.mn.us/grants/machf-al.htm. Deadline: April 25, 2014. 

The Minnesota State Arts Board's Folk and Traditional Arts grant program is designed to support the artistic traditions and customs practiced within community and/or cultural groups by identifying, documenting, creating, preserving, presenting, and honoring Minnesota's folk arts and traditions. All projects must have a public component such as a concert, exhibition, documentary, workshop, or other activity that engages members of the public in the work of Minnesota's folk and traditional artists. More information is available at www.arts.state.mn.us/grants/machf-fata.htm.

Deadline: May 2, 2014.

The Minnesota State Fair is currently accepting proposals from Minnesota performing arts organizations to participate in the 2014 Arts A'Fair project. Selected arts organizations will entertain fair guests in surprise pop-up showcases throughout the fairgrounds. More information is available at http://www.mnstatefair.org/pdf/14_ArtsAFair_RFP.pdf. Deadline April 25, 2014.

U.S. Congressman John Kline is requesting 2nd district high school student art submissions for the annual "Artistic Discovery" competition, which provides high school students the chance to share their artistic ability. The annual competition includes paintings, drawings, collages, prints, photography, computer generated art, and mixed media presentations. More information is available at kline.house.gov/constituent-services/art-competition.htm. Deadline: April 25, 2014.

The Minnesota Museum of American Art has opened its application for the upcoming 2014 Minnesota Biennial art competition. The competition is open to all Minnesota artists, and intends to offer the public a snapshot of the best art and craft being made throughout the state today and to celebrate the many different and unique forms that artistic ingenuity takes in Minnesota. More information is available at www.mmaa.org/pages/2014MNBiennial. Deadline: April 18, 2014.     

Women's Art Resources of Minnesota (WARM) is seeking mentors for the 2015-2016 cycle of its Mentor/Protégée program. WARM's Mentor Program pairs emerging artists and professional women artists for a two-year mentoring period. More information is available at www.thewarm.org/mentor-program. Deadline: May 25, 2014.

The Cultural Data Project (CDP) can help your organization view, analyze, and talk about your internal data in new (and even exciting!) ways. CDP has upcoming training sessions to set the groundwork for you to use this data thoughtfully and effectively, always with the goal of strengthening your organization's ability to do what you do best. For more information and to register to attend one of their training sessions visit: www.mnculturaldata.org/news.aspx.  

The Minnesota State Arts Board requests proposals from professional public artists or artist teams to design, fabricate, and install a permanent, site-specific public artwork within the new Bioscience and Health Careers Center at North Hennepin Community College in Brooklyn Park, Minnesota. To request the RFP, e-mail Ben Owen, Percent for Art program officer at ben.owen@arts.state.mn.us. Deadline: April 22, 2014. 

The Nonprofits Assistance Fund has developed a series of financial trainings customized for the distinctive nature of small and large arts and cultural organizations. The training opportunities are being presented free of cost (thanks to funding from the Minnesota State Arts Board and National Endowment for the Arts) but registration is required. Visit nonprofitsassistancefund.org/programs/trainings/attend for more information. 

All of our grant awards from FY 2013 are available in a downloadable document--the MRAC 2013 Annual Report is now online! Thank you to all of our awarded groups whose work helps us meet our mission of increasing access to the arts in 7-county metropolitan area communities. We also thank Ananya Dance Theatre - photo by V. Paul Virtucio, Bedlam Theatre - photo by Farrington Starnes, Cleveland Neighborhood Association, Dream Songs Project - photo by Greg Kaiser, Hinterhands Puppet Company - photos by Bruce Silcox, Iraqi and American Reconcilliation Project - photo by Shari Hagen, KAIROSalive!, Northeast Minneapolis Arts Association, Rosemount Area Arts Council, and zAmya Theater Project for supplying the photos we used in this year's report.

Please note: with 472 grants awarded last year, the annual report is a fairly large file and may take a moment to download. If you wish to submit photos from your MRAC-funded events for use in MRAC and RAC Forum materials, please visit www.mrac.org/news/photo-submission.

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In FY 2013, MRAC received 801 applications and awarded 434 grants totaling  

2,979,141 to arts organizations and/or projects including a grant to VSA Minnesota for its regranting program, the ADA Access Improvement Grants for Metro Arts Organizations. These grants were funded by an appropriation from the Minnesota State Legislature with money from the State's general fund, and by the voters of Minnesota, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund. MRAC also received 376 applications from individual artists in the Next Step Fund program and awarded 38 grants totaling 180,225 with funds from The McKnight Foundation. MRAC also provided 16 arts management training sessions and 30 grant application workshops.