Artists' Futures applications are due soon!

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.

Program Details

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

Artists' Futures Program Page

Guidelines

All applicants must read the program guidelines. Guidelines can be found in English, Spanish, Somali, Hmong, Haitian Creole, as well as other document formats on our website.

Recorded Information Webinar

A recorded information webinar on Artists' Futures is available on the MRAC website and YouTube page. The webinar will include captions, automated translated captions into other languages, and adjustable playback speeds. The information webinar slides can be downloaded as a pdf.

Application

MRAC will be using Submittable to accept written, audio, or video applications. Apply now!

Additionally, MRAC recognizes that individuals often come across opportunities that they would like to recommend people for and we encourage this type of support through our submission process. If you would like to submit an artist’s name for consideration, or, if you are an artist and would like someone to submit on your behalf, they may submit as an “Artist Advocate”. Advocates do not need to get permission from the artist you are advocating for or notify the artist. Artists will have the opportunity to opt out of consideration if they do not wish to participate. Note: Advocates may only create one submission per deadline. 

Program Contacts

For questions about the submission process in general and technical assistance, please contact us at mrac@mrac.org or 651-645-0402.

For questions and assistance related to eligibility and/or preparing a submission, please contact Jovan Rebollar (jovan@mrac.org or 651-523-6381). Or, fill out the meeting request form to schedule a time to meet with a staff member who can assist you.

Please do your best to read these instructions thoroughly before reaching out with questions.

Artists' Futures is made possible with generous funding from the McKnight and Ford Foundations as a part of the Seeding Cultural Treasures initiative.

Metropolitan Regional Arts Council

PO Box 14106

Saint Paul, MN 55114