What it does
To cultivate vibrant arts communities by connecting artists with the skills, information and services they need to make a living and a life.
The rural program enhances support for artists and communities in the upper midwest through workshops, consultations, a resource center, and a visiting artist program in fergus falls. Local initiatives in otter tail county include an equipment lending library and a guaranteed minimum income program, benefiting around 200 artists and 3,250 community members in 2025. Regionally, the program features the rural regenerator fellowship for 12 artists, the annual rural futures summit for 150 leaders, the falls community arts exchange, and the artists on main street initiative, reaching about 195 artists, 25 leaders, and 500 community members in 2025.
Springboard for the arts' community development program creates pathways for artists to meaningfully connect with their communities to address shared challenges and opportunities such as environmental stewardship, economic justice, housing, and transportation. Building on springboard's long history of demonstrating how artists strengthen community well-being, the program supports projects that foster connection, joy, and civic imagination. This includes artists respond: weaving social connection, which commissions artists to build belonging and reduce social isolation through creative partnerships across minnesota, and springboard on ice, which transforms our neighborhood ice rink into a space for performance, learning, and community celebration. The program also partners with neighborhood organizations to engage residents in envisioning the future of their communities. Through training, project support, and cross-sector collaborations, we position artists as civic partners and essential leaders in shaping more connected, equitable, and creative places across minnesota.
Springboard for the arts' economic opportunity programming provides vital resources for artists, including professional development, access to health and legal services, and a resource lab. In fy25, we enhanced our resource center with computer workstations, adobe creative cloud, and expanded in-person support, serving over 3,000 artists through workshops, consultations, and panels. We also developed our artist career consultants and facilitated a successful hybrid approach for the work of art workshops. The guaranteed minimum income pilot expanded to support 100 artists from diverse communities for 5 years, promoting racial and gender equity. The growth fund awarded $2,500 to 50 artists and creative businesses, while our makers-to-market program hosted two successful pop-up markets, benefiting 35 vendors and attracting around 300 attendees each.