Internal Funding Sources

External Funding Sources

Andrew W. Mellon Foundation
Arrowhead Regional Arts Council
Grants for Individuals
John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
Lake Region Arts Council
M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust
Minnesota Humanities Commission
National Endowment for the Humanities
National Humanities Center

Specific Programs

• American Express Philanthropic Grants Program
• Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts--Grants Program
• Jerome Foundation Grants Program
• Lannan Foundation Grants Program
• MacDowell Colony--Residencies for Creative Artists
• Mellon Foundation--Grants Program
• Residential Fellowships for Artists

American Express Philanthropic Grants Program

Sponsor:American Express Philanthropic Program
Deadline(s): Open

Objectives:
The sponsor supports projects in the following areas;

COMMUNITY SERVICE--funding primarily supports the volunteer efforts of the sponsor's employees and advisors in their local communities. Long-standing support to local United Ways is the cornerstone of these activities. Recent grants have included support for the Red Cross for disaster relief; AIDS walks to raise funds for HIV education and prevention programs; delivery of meals to the homebound elderly; and renovation of affordable housing for low-income families.

CULTURAL HERITAGE--support is given to protect the natural and built environment so that it can be enjoyed by current residents and visitors and preserved for future generations. Funding also supports art and culture unique to countries and regions. Grantmaking emphasizes: public awareness of the importance of historic and environmental preservation; preservation and management of major tourism sites; direct support for important cultural institutions and major projects in the visual and performing arts that are representative of national, regional, and local cultures; and accessibility to the arts and assistance to organizations in developing new audiences.

ECONOMIC INDEPENDENCE--supports initiatives that encourage, sustain, and develop economic self-reliance through programs that: serve youth, emphasizing school to career and other career readiness programs with the retail, travel and hospitalities industry; build awareness about career and employment options for individuals facing significant barriers to employment; and provide education, training and workplace experiences in order that they may actively pursue these options; and provide education in the fundamentals of business and economics, the importance of savings, the basics of personal financial management, and related consumer issues. Programs that promote entrepreneurship and small business are also considered.

Eligibility:
Eligible applicants are U.S. non-profit, tax-exempt organizations. The sponsor also makes grants to organizations outside of the U.S. that can document not-for-profit status.

Sponsor:Warhol (Andy) Foundation for the Visual Arts
Deadline(s): March 15 and September 15, annually

Objectives:
Grants are made on a project basis to curatorial programs at museums, artists' organizations and other cultural institutions to originate innovative and scholarly presentations of contemporary visual arts. Projects may include exhibitions, catalogues and other organizational activities directly related to these areas. The program also supports the creation of new work through regranting initiatives and artist-in-residence programs. The work of choreographers and performing artists occasionally is funded when the visual arts are an inherent element of a production. The Foundation also supports efforts to strengthen areas that directly affect the context in which artists work -- such as freedom of artistic expression and equitable access to resources.

Eligibility:
Eligible applicants are foreign and domestic nonprofit cultural organizations working in the visual arts, such as contemporary museums, and artists' organizations.

Sponsor:Jerome Foundation
Deadline(s): Open

Objectives:
The sponsor provides support for artists with significant potential who are under-recognized, by seeking to support artistic work which builds and expands meaning in peoples' lives. Specifically, support is offered in the following categories:

CRITICISM--supports programs in arts criticism in order to expand upon its concern for contemporary creative artists and their place in history. The sponsor has identified three funding priorities: programs which sustain substantive critical analysis by arts critics over a period of time, with preference given to those which engage a broad community on a regular basis; new approaches which broaden participation in the practice of criticism, including projects which engage artists, critics, producers, viewers, audiences, and others in the practice of criticism as dialogue; and programs which encourage cultural pluralism in arts criticism.

DANCE--supports emerging choreographers through general support grants to their dance companies, fellowships, commissions, workshops, and production funding.

LITERATURE--supports emerging literary artists through independent press publication and journals, writers-in-residence programs, mentor programs, fellowships, career initiatives, and on a very limited basis, readings.

MULTIDISCIPLINARY WORK--supports creative artists who work across disciplines through commissions, research and development subsidies, and production grants.

MUSIC--supports the professional development of emerging composers, most often in the form of commissioning, reading rehearsals, and performance underwriting.

THEATER--supports emerging playwrights in three areas: grants to producing theaters which operate comprehensive developmental programs for emerging playwrights and which evidence a substantial ongoing commitment to new writers; grants in general support of experimental performing companies led by emerging creators; and grants in support of playwrights' organizations which provide services and allocate direct subsidies to playwrights. Support includes commissions, fellowships, full productions of new works, festivals, readings, works-in-progress presentations, and literary services.

VISUAL ARTS--support emerging visual artists through exhibitions, fellowships, and workshops.

Eligibility:
Eligible applicants are tax-exempt, nonprofit organizations operating within the state of Minnesota or New York City. The sponsor is willing to consider requests from unincorporated entities. While the sponsor is willing to consider support for arts organizations of all sizes, it ordinarily supports small and mid-sized organizations, and is willing to consider requests from new entities. Under the visual arts category, the sponsor prefers to fund organizations which offer stipends to artists for their participation in a project, and organizations which will provide for adequate documentation and analysis of the work. Support for multidisciplinary works is generally channeled to organizations developing and producing individual projects. On a limited basis (one to three grants), support is provided for mid-career artists with established reputations.

Sixty percent of annual grantmaking is made to Minnesota. The remaining forty percent is given to applications from New York City. The sponsor does not support capital fund campaigns, nor does it offer travel grants through the general grant program. Indirect costs may be requested if the figure is fifteen percent or less of the project budget. Guidelines are available. All requests must be in writing.

Sponsor:Lannan Foundation
Deadline(s): Open

Objectives:
Areas of interest in Contemporary Visual Art include funding artists for the creation of new work, scholarly publications that foster serious discussion of contemporary art, and organizations that bring new and sometimes experimental works of art to a wide audience. Funding has been provided for exhibitions, scholarly publications, residency programs, and special projects. Literary Arts supports the creation of exceptional English-language literature and seeks to develop a wider audience for contemporary poetry, fiction, and nonfiction. Areas of interest include funding organizations that support diverse writers through publication, presentation, and distribution. Funding for projects in indigenous communities supports the resolve of Native people to renew their communities through their own institutions and traditions. Funding priority is given to rural community projects that are consistent with traditional values in the areas of environmental protection and advocacy, legal rights, language revitalization, traditional culture, and education.

Sponsor:MacDowell Colony
Deadline(s): January 15, April 15 and September 15, annually

Objectives:
Residencies at the MacDowell Colony are offered to creative artists in the following disciplines: architecture, music composition, film/video arts, visual arts, literature and drama, and interdisciplinary arts. The goal of the residencies is to provide a place where creative artists can find freedom to concentrate on their work.

Eligibility:
Artists with professional standing in their fields and emerging artists of recognized ability are eligible for residence. Artists collaborating on a project should apply individually but may submit a joint description of the intended work.

Sponsor:Mellon (Andrew W.) Foundation
Deadline(s): Open

Objectives:
The sponsor seeks to aid and promote such religious, charitable, scientific, literary, and educational purposes as may be in the furtherance of the public welfare or tend to promote the well-doing or well-being of mankind. The sponsor currently makes grants on a selective basis to institutions in higher education, in cultural affairs and the performing arts, in population, in conservation and the environment, and in public affairs.

Restrictions:
Eligible applicants are tax-exempt organizations in any country. The sponsor does not make grants to primarily local organizations or individuals. Grants in 1999 ranged from $7,000 to $3,000,000. Prospective applicants are encouraged to explore their ideas informally with the sponsor's staff (preferably in writing) before submitting formal proposals.

Sponsor:Virginia Center for the Creative Arts
Deadlines: January, May and September 15, annually

Objectives: Support is provided to writers, visual artists, and composers for residential fellowships of two weeks to two months in a rural setting where they may work, free from the distractions and responsibilities of day-to-day life. At the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts there are 22 studios available: 11 for writers, eight for visual artists, and three for composers. Every fellow has a private studio.

Eligibility:
The men and women who come to the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts are mature artists of noteworthy achievement, or the most promising younger artists. Many of them teach at universities, art schools, and conservatories. Because admission is highly competitive, the artists who come to the center are often the leading artists in America. They are selected on the basis of their past achievements or future promise.