MARSHALL, Minn. – The board of directors of the Southwest Minnesota Arts & Humanities Council recently voted to award a total of $18,501 in grant funds for regional arts activities through two SMAHC programs, the Arts & Learning Grant Program and the Challenge Grant Program.
Eleven awards were made in the SMAHC/McKnight Arts & Learning Program. With funds appropriated by the state Legislature and the McKnight Foundation, this program provides matching grant awards of up to $2,500 for artist residency activities, up to $750 for pre-packaged theater residencies, and up to $600 to aid in field trips to high-quality arts exhibitions and performances.
The most recent grant awards in the SMAHC/McKnight Arts & Learning Grant Program were made to the following recipients for art projects with educational components:
*Montevideo Independent School, Montevideo, Grant L. Manhart Music Residency
*Reede Gray Elementary School, Redwood Falls, Ramona Larson residency, ”Decades of American Music”
*Yellow Medicine East Public Schools, Granite Falls, Florence Dacey Poetry Residency
*Prairie Dance Alliance, Marshall area, Summer Dance Camp 2008
*Southwest Minnesota State University, Marshall, Michael Flack Jazz Residency
*Lakeview School District, Cottonwood, Field Trip to Minnesota Center for Book Arts
*Rock County Fine Arts Association, Luverne, Raku ceramics workshop
*Parkside Elementary School, Marshall, Sean Brown Storytelling Residency
*Lakeview School District, Cottonwood, Fern Cloud Native American Art Residency
*Prairie Arts Council, Lester Prairie, Timothy Hassenstein Sculpture Residency
*Clinton-Graceville-Beardsley Community Education, Graceville, Prairie Fire Children’s Theater Residency
One award was made recently in the SMAHC/McKnight Challenge Grant Program. This program provides arts organizations up to $500 in matching funds for new or increased memberships and/or season tickets. The most recent recipient of the SMAHC/McKnight Challenge Grant Program is Tatanka Arts, Redwood and Renville counties, for a membership drive.
SMAHC is the designated regional arts council for 18 counties – Big Stone, Chippewa, Cottonwood, Jackson, Kandiyohi, Lac qui Parle, Lincoln, Lyon, McLeod, Meeker, Murray, Nobles, Pipestone, Redwood, Renville, Rock, Swift and Yellow Medicine – of southwest Minnesota.
In addition to offering grants to individual artists, SMAHC provides financial and technical assistance to nonprofit organizations and schools interested in sponsoring or producing arts activities.
For more information, call (507) 537-1471 or (800) 622-5284, e-mail smahcinfo@iw.net or visit www.smahc.org.
