The Southwest Minnesota Arts Council is inviting applications for The Art Legacy Project Grants to stimulate and encourage the creation, performance, and appreciation of the arts through large scale projects that will leave an arts legacy in southwest Minnesota.
An art legacy project should provide sustainable arts access in the community, with a continuing impact over several years.
Art Legacy Projects may include, but are not limited to:
Murals, sculptures, or other public art
A first city artist in residence
Site-specific theater involving the community
Multi-event community arts immersion.
Funding Information
Art Legacy Project grants are available for up to $20,000. In fiscal year 2023, no cash match is required.
Ineligible Activities
The following activities and organizations are NOT eligible for these grants:
Your organization’s regular programming or recurring projects
Funding a staff person
Applications that do not have an art focus
Activities of a for-profit project, organization, or business
Applications that are primarily for educational projects within a school system.
Payment of costs for projects that will take place outside the geographic boundaries of the state of Minnesota or costs related to travel outside the state of Minnesota, including performer, artist, or consultant travel.
Costs for relocating the applicant’s legal address/residence outside the state of Minnesota.
Projects for which artists are required to pay excessive entry or exhibition fees in order to exhibit or perform in the project for which funds are sought.
Requests for new building construction, purchase of real estate, or endowment funds.
Fundraising events. Grant funding should allow projects to break even, not make a profit.
Activities which are not open to the public. Projects must be inclusive and accessible in their process and/or final product, considering economic, geographic, and physical accessibility, as well as the cultural, racial, ethnic, age, and gender make-up of the community.
Activities essentially for the religious socialization of the participants or audience.
Activities that attempt to influence any state or federal legislation or appropriation.
Applications submitted for the purpose of regranting, lobbying, or scholarships.
Projects that don’t provide timely promotion of the project throughout the SMAC region with use of the proper funding credit line and logo.
Requests for funds to account for deficits in projects or programs begun prior to the project earliest start date. In other words, payment of debts incurred before the grant activities begin or outside of the grant project scope of activity.
Applications in which funds are to be used to match other SMAC grant projects.
Budgets including prorated operating costs if the organization is already receiving SMAC operating support for the same time period.
Budgets exceeding 90% of the total project’s cash expenses in combined support from the Minnesota State Arts Board and SW MN Arts Council.
Applicants with past due SMAC final (or other) reports
Geographical Focus
Applicant organizations must be located within the eighteen counties of the SW MN Arts Council service region (Big Stone, Chippewa, Cottonwood, Jackson, Kandiyohi, Lac qui Parle, Lincoln, Lyon, McLeod, Meeker, Murray, Nobles, Pipestone, Redwood, Renville, Rock, Swift, and Yellow Medicine counties) or on tribal lands within their service area.
They acknowledge that this region occupies the traditional, ancestral, and contemporary lands of the Dakota people, who have stewarded these lands throughout the generations.
Eligibility Criteria
The Art Legacy Project grant program is open to nonprofit organizations as described in Section 501 (c)(3) of the United States Internal Revenue Code with Articles of Incorporation on file with the State of Minnesota or official units of city, county, or state government of the State of Minnesota.
Public schools may apply if they have a community project. (Otherwise, public schools should see the Arts in the Schools grants.)
