In this Issue...
Open Grants
Upcoming Deadlines/Workshops
Application Videos
Grants Awarded
Get Involved!

From the Director's Desk
ARAC’s tag line is “where the arts flourish, you thrive.” This month we start a new partnership supporting Creative Placemaking in communities across the region to help them flourish. Working with Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation, we are going to offer a special session on Creative Placemaking on Sept. 20 in Chisholm. Creative Placemaking projects could be good candidates for ARAC's Rural & Community Art Project grants, or a good fit with the IRRRB's Downtown and Business Corridor grant program. The formal program begins at 1 p.m. at the Mineland Reclamation Building at the Minnesota Discovery Center campus. Details are below.

September also marks the beginning of a new grant round for ARAC. Applications for ARAC’s Two-Year Operating Support, Rural & Community Art Project, and Career Development programs open on Sept. 15 and are due Oct. 27 . Review panels will also be meeting in September to review the last round’s submissions for Arts Learning and Art Project grants.

ARAC is also reaching out to find new board members. Right now, we need representatives from Aitkin, Cook, and Koochiching counties, plus a student board member. The deadline to apply is Sept. 8 . Click here for more information.

As the relatively new executive director of ARAC, I’m trying to connect with and hear from artists and representatives from arts organizations across our region. I’ve already visited (or a have a visit scheduled) in every county across the region, but I know there are many more people to meet. Please contact me if you’d like to sit down and talk or have a group I should be listening to. My email is digby@aracouncil.org . I’ll be at all four of our grant workshops later this month and early next month.

Drew Digby
Executive Director
Creative Placemaking for the Iron Range
Wednesday, Sept. 20,
Informal Brown Bag Lunch, 12pm-1pm
Workshop and Tour, 1pm-3pm
Mineland Reclamation Building, Minnesota Discovery Center

Creative Placemaking is a way of taking a community’s own sense of itself and using creativity to help residents make it a livelier, livable, and thriving community. Come to our afternoon workshop on Creative Placemaking for the Iron Range on Sept. 20 to learn more about the ways that you can use the principles of Creative Placemaking in your community. To top it off, representatives of both Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation and the Arrowhead Regional Arts Council will be there to talk about their grant programs to help.
 
We'll start with an informal brown bag lunch (bring your own) at noon, then go into a formal presentation on Creative Placemaking, with a discussion on how ARAC or IRRRB grants might be abe to help at 1 p.m. At 2 p.m., we’ll carpool over to downtown Chisholm and look at the work of the Chisholm Downtown Revitalization Project and examine the ways they’ve used public input and Creative Placemaking to help their downtown. For all those interested, the Recharge the Range Creative Communities subcommittee is meeting at 3:30 at Mineland Reclamation to talk about their plans for helping spur action for more livable and vibrant communities.
 
Background on Creative Placemaking: According to Metris Public Arts, creative placemaking animates public and private spaces, rejuvenates structures and streetscapes, improves local business viability and public safety, and brings diverse people together to celebrate, inspire and be inspired.
 
How do you do it? By getting businesses, residents, nonprofits, and the government involved in a discussion about the physical and social character of a neighborhood or town. What are the things that can take us two steps closer to the ideal community that we envision? How does that blend in with the ideas of others? Can we use art and creativity to make the community more inviting? What are the small steps we can take while not forgetting about the big steps that must follow? 
Upcoming Deadlines and Workshops
Online grant applications will be open for the following grant programs on Friday, September 15th :

  • Rural & Community Art Project grant for organizations: provides grant funding of up to $5,000 to regional groups to support community or artist initiated arts activities that will impact the group and/or community it serves.
  • Career Development grant for individuals: provides grants of up to $3,000 to developing and established regional artists to take advantage of impending, concrete opportunities or to carry out well-planned, time-specific activities that will significantly impact their artistic careers.
  • Two-Year Operating Support grant for organizations: provides matching grant funding up to $15,000 over a two-year period to high-quality, established federal nonprofit, tax-exempt 501(c)(3) regional arts organizations to maintain their ongoing operating needs and services. 

The deadline for submitting grant applications to these programs is Friday, October 27th. 

Grant programs with upcoming deadlines from other organizations:

  • IRRRB’s Culture and Tourism grant program. Deadline is Sept. 28. More information is here.
  • IRRRB's Downtown and Business Corridor grant program. Deadline is Oct. 31. More information is here.
  • The Jerome Foundation’s fellowship program ($12,000 for a year) for emerging artists in the visual arts has a Sept. 15, 2017 deadline. More information is here.


Grant Workshops:
Our Grants Manager and Executive Director will be holding grant workshops this coming month and next month in Chisholm, Hibbing, Aitkin , Big Fork and Duluth. Attending a workshop and/or a community meeting is a great chance to get your questions answered and get specific program advice from the Grants Manager or Executive Director.

Chisholm Workshop (with IRRRB): Rural & Community Art Project, and IRRRB Downtown & Business Corridor Grants
When: Wednesday, September 20th from 1-3pm
Where: Mineland Reclamation Building, Minnesota Discovery Center, 1005 Discovery Dr, Chisholm, MN

Hibbing Workshop: Rural and Community Art Project, Career Development, and Two-Year Operating Support Grants
When: Wednesday, September 20th from 5-7pm
Where: Borealis Art Guild, 214 East Howard Street, Hibbing, MN

Aitkin Workshop: Rural and Community Art Project, Career Development, and Two-Year Operating Support Grants
When: Tuesday, September 26th from 6-8pm
Where: Jaques Art Center, 121 2nd St NW, Aitkin, MN

Big Fork Workshop: Rural and Community Art Project, Career Development, and Two-Year Operating Support Grants
When: Thursday, September 28th from 6-8pm
Where: Edge Center For the Arts, 101 2nd Ave, Bigfork, MN 

Duluth Workshop: Rural and Community Art Project, Career Development, and Two-Year Operating Support Grants
When: Wednesday, October 4th from 2-4pm
Where: Fitger's Complex, August Fitger Room, 3rd Floor, 600 E. Superior St., Duluth, MN 

For more information on this and other upcoming workshops, click here!
Application Videos
As a part of our effort to assist applicants, we recognized a lack of available visual assistance in the application process. To solve this, we created a series of tutorial videos outlining key points and instructions for each section of each program's application. The videos were recorded and edited this past spring by our media intern, Kellen Witschen, and are now live within each application.

While it is not a requirement to watch the videos, we hope that they will provide another way of learning about our application process and assist visual learners.
To view the tutorial videos, please click here !
Grants Awarded!
Artist Fellowship Grants:
On June 15th, ARAC awarded grants of $7,000 to the following 7 individuals out of 34 applicants. Those awarded include:

  • Daniel Anderson, Grand Rapids, $7,000
  • Nathan Bray, Iron, $7,000
  • Sarah Brokke Erickson, Duluth, $7,000
  • Eddy Gilmore, Duluth, $7,000
  • Tim Kaiser, Duluth, $7,000
  • Adam McCauley, Duluth, $7,000
  • Aaron Squadroni, Coleraine, $7,000

The Artist Fellowship Grant program provides up to $49,000 to recognize, reward, and encourage regional artists. It is designed to enable artists to set aside time to work, to purchase supplies and materials, to participate in advance study not related to a degree program, or to pursue other activities that will allow them to meet their artistic goals. Fellowship awards are $7,000 each.

For more information on the Artist Fellowship Grant program and how to apply, click here !

Career Development Grants:
On June 15th, ARAC awarded a total of $49,050 in Career Development grants. There were 17 individuals awarded out of 32 applicants. Those awarded include:

  • Kirsten Aune, Duluth, $3,000
  • Justin Dallas, Knife River, $3,000
  • Joan Farnam, Grand Marais, $2,930
  • Shawna Gilmore, Duluth, $3,000
  • Ann Klefstad, Duluth, $3,000
  • Sarah, Krueger, Duluth, $3,000
  • Paul LaJeunesse, Duluth, $2,640
  • Maichong Lor, Duluth, $3,000
  • Catherine Meier, Duluth, $3,000
  • Chani Ninneman, Duluth, $3,000
  • Mary Plaster, Duluth, $3,000
  • Robert Pokorney, Duluth, $1,500
  • Yvonne Rutford, Duluth, $3,000
  • Corrie Steckelberg, Hovland, $2,980
  • Vernal Bogren Swift, Bovey, $3,000
  • Peter Witrak, Duluth, $3,000
  • Leah Yellowbird, Duluth, $3,000

The Career Development Grant program provides up to $3,000 to developing and established regional artists to take advantage of impending, concrete, opportunities or to carry out well-planned, time-specific activities that will significantly impact their career.

For more information on the Career Development Grant program and how to apply, click here !

Rural and Community Art Project Grants:
On June 15th, ARAC awarded a total of $46,090 in Rural and Community Art Project grants. There were 10 organizations awarded out of 15 applicants. Those awarded include:

  • Ely ArtWalk, Ely, $5,000
  • Ely Winter Festival, Ely, $5,000
  • Good Harbor Hill Players, Grand Marais, $4,250
  • Grace House of Itasca County, Grand Rapids, $5,000
  • Icebox Radio Theater, International Falls, $5,000
  • Itasca Choral Society/Itasca Community Chorus, Grand Rapids, $4,300
  • Lake County Developmental Achievement Center, Inc., Two Harbors, $2,730
  • Northern Lakes Art Association, Ely, $4,810
  • Rainy Lake Community Orchestra, International Falls, $5,000
  • VFW Post 1720, Grand Rapids, $5,000

The Rural and Community Art Project grant program awards up to $5,000 to regional groups to support community or artist initiated arts activities that will impact the group and/or the community it serves.

For more information on the R ural and Community Art Project Grant program and how to apply, click here !

For more information on those awarded and their projects, click here !
Get Involved with ARAC!
It's that time of year again!
ARAC is currently accepting applications for the current fiscal year which started July 2017. See the many ways you can get involved below!

Join the Board!
Serving on the ARAC Board is a great way to give back and to learn more about the arts going on in your community. Current openings will be for members from Aitkin County ,  Koochiching County , Cook County , and a  Student Liaison . To find out more about Board duties and how to apply to be a member, click here !

Join a Grant Panel!
Interested in getting involved but don't have the time to commit as a full board member? Consider becoming a grant panelist! Grant panelists meet once or twice a year to review grant applications for funding. It's a great way to learn more about the arts in your community and learn more about the grant process. To find out more about becoming a grant panelist, click here !

Serving with the Council is a great way to get involved and to learn more about the arts going on your community!
Funded Events Calendar
(click the map to visit our calendar!)
Arrowhead Regional Arts Council 

Fitger's Complex, Suite 404
600 E Superior St, 
Duluth, MN 55802 

(218)722-0952 or (800)569-8134