NW Minnesota Arts Council Monthly News

Submit your Entry for the 7th edition of Artists of NW Minnesota booklet! Submissions Due December 31 from

Artists and Organizations/Businesses!

It's time to submit an entry for the 7th edition of our Artists of NW Minnesota booklet. Email NWArtsCouncil@gmail.com or call our office at 218-745-8886, ext 1 to receive a paper form.

Cost: $20 for a ¼ page listing + you receive 20 copies of the booklet! 2,000 - 3,000 booklets are printed, plus an on-line version.  

This next booklet will be designed and printed in 2027. The booklet will be in libraries and retail locations in 2027, 2028, and 2029. Our call for entries for individual 1/4 page entries is this fall until the end of this calendar year. This is a great opportunity to promote yourself!

Submissions accepted through December

Businesses or organizations that sell local art or that serve artists can also apply for a listing at the back of the booklet. The submission deadline for arts-serving businesses and organizations will also be December 31



To learn more and to download the entry form visit this page on our website. Find our a free print edition of our current booklet Artists of Northwest Minnesota at your local library, from featured artists, or in other public spaces throughout our region.

We are requesting bids from design/layout artists to complete this next edition of our Artists of Northwest Minnesota booklet. November 18 is the deadline to submit a design for the next booklet. Work activities happen between January - April 2027. We anticipate that the project will take about 40 hours of time. Please email our office at nwartscouncil@gmail.com to request information on the budget for the designer and more specifics on this specific contract. Or call 218-745-8666, ext 1.

Upcoming Deadlines for Arts Grants 

October 31 Arts Project Grants

School Arts Equipment &

Artist Residency Grants Open

January 15 Individual Artist Grants

Free Grant Writing Session

October 15 at 10:00 AM

We have upcoming grant deadlines!

Arts Grants for non-profit and governmental organizations. Non-profits and cities or counties can apply for one arts project at a time. The next grants deadline is October 31. Grants are between $500 and $10,000. Funding sources for these grants are Clean Water, Land and Legacy funds and general allocation funds from the State of Minnesota. 

Organizational arts activities funded through this very important grant opportunity includes festivals, community theatre projects, folk music entertainment, sponsorship of visual demonstrations, creative writing workshops and many other activities that improve the quality of life of people in our communities. Public art like murals or sculptures also fall into this category.

We offer free grant writing sessions to help you write your grant application or to answer any questions. The upcoming session will be

Thursday, October 15 at 10:00 AM

This free Grant Writing Workshop is on Zoom -- contact our office for a link. You can also come to our office in Warren and attend from our grant writing station. You must RSVP to attend! Email NWArtsCouncil@gmail.com to RSVP or with questions. Don’t let your questions about the grant process keep you from applying! We are here to help. This is a great opportunity to come to our office and work on your grant in our grant writing space. If you can’t attend these trainings but would like assistance, please contact our office.

Individual Artist Grants. Applications are open for arts grants to individuals from our seven county Minnesota service area including Kittson, Marshall, Norman, Pennington, Polk, Red Lake, and Roseau counties. This year individual Artist Grants for $5,000, $3,000, and $1,500 have a January 15 deadline. These grants are awarded to performing artists, visual artists, media artists, and creative writing artists.

Grants Available for Schools for Artist Residencies & Arts Equipment

NW Minnesota area schools can apply for up to $12,000 of grant funding from the Northwest Minnesota Arts Council for this next school year into next summer. Funding can be used to bring in professional artists to work with students and/or to purchase arts equipment that is used by your community and your school; and stored/used primarily in the school building. To apply, schools fill out an application showing interest in funding, then requests are made with add-on forms within our online grant software for specific project funding requests. The program accepts funding requests from July 1 until April 30 each year, but remember that it is first come, first served so applying early is best. Each add-on funding request can be for up to $3,000 in grant funds.  

Artist Residency Grants

Schools can apply for an Artist Residency grant of $3,000. Schools can initially apply for 2 residencies. Then, based on remaining funding, can request up to 4 residencies total. Each residency requires a 10% cash match. Our teaching artist roster is a great resource to view artists available to teach in our area and is available on our website at www.NorthwestMinnesotaArtsCouncil.org under the artists tab. We have many new artists on our list. Another resource to find teaching artists is COMPAS. Ideas also include children's theater camp and/or arts camp during the summer at your school, and community education workshop series for adults on artistic techniques.

Tips for applying... ask for the Google slide deck that takes you through our grant process.  

• Remember that most schools are already in our system as organizations, so you probably only need to call our office to add yourself as a User.  

• 1st, show interest in our funding by completing the easy Arts Grant application and hit submit. Tutorial available.  

• Next, our staff reviews your school's interest and then assigns add-ons to the teacher/coordinator/ administrator listed in the app that would like add-on forms. 

• Teachers login, complete and submit their add-on follow up form with details related to their project and their $ request. This form is short and friendly to fill out.  

• Then, as your school waits to hear back, someone needs to complete the required data collection app online and submit.  

Contact our office with questions or for help with your application. We are happy to help! Call our office at 218-745-8886, ext 1 or email nwartscouncil@gmail.com. 

Let's Talk Art Podcast

Our podcast program features artists, arts organizations, and arts events in our region. The program is broadcast weekly on Wednesday afternoons at 3 PM. To hear all of the past podcasts visit our website here.

9.23.26 Brianna Geer Brianna Geer is the Goose Festival Committee Chair. Goose Festival, Sept 25-27, has an impressive lineup of music this year. The NWMAC has provided grant funding to help fund the music on Main Street and at the Middle River Sportsmen’s Club. Performers include Tennis Tyler, The WoodPicks, the Alley Cats Reunion Band, Cathy Erickson, Nathan Bukowski, Gracie Crocker, and Key Beat. Listen here.

9.16.26 Alex Evans Evans is the director of this year’s Goose Festival show — George Washington Slept Here. The Sept 24-27 show in Middle River is a farcical comedy about the purchase of a house. Originally from Greenbush, Alex has directed 3 Goosefest productions. He spoke about the show, putting the play together, his history, and much more. He is also starring in the show. Listen here.

9.9.26 Dara Maunu Dara Maunu has written 2 children’s books Evee's Elevator and Messy Hair Don’t Care. She spoke about the books, including their audience. She is also a visual artist who paints with acrylics and usually landscapes; and is a regular entrant into our annual exhibit. Finally, Dara is the owner of Let's Dance Studio in Warroad and teaches dance classes. Listen here.

9.2.26 Jerry Amiot Pioneer Day Sept 13 was Pioneer Day in Crookston. Jerry Amiot spoke with Phil McKenzie about the yearly event, its history, and this year’s arts line up plus blacksmithing demonstrations, and wheat weaving. Held at the Polk County Museum and in various buildings on its grounds at 719 East Robert St, the free event included "Dean and Peggy" a musical duo from the Bemidji area, with guitar, mandolin, banjo and jaw harp, performed Celtic and fiddle tunes; "Project : Constellation" a duo from Grand Forks performed live traditional Scandinavian music, with guitar and violin; "The WoodPicks" from Thief River Falls performed an acoustic mix of Gospel, Bluegrass, Country and Americana music. Organized by the Polk County Historical Society, they received funding from the NWMAC. Listen here.

The Goose Fest Calendar

Alex Evans directed and acted in this Goose Fest Production

Dara Maunu and her paintings. Pictured below with her book

Emergency Relief Fund

Did your gig get cancelled when you didn't expect it? Or did your car break down which impacted your art practice? The Emergency Relief Fund (ERF) provides short-term relief to individual artists facing housing, healthcare, income, transportation, legal, or property loss emergencies that impact their wellbeing or ability to work. This program offers one-time awards of $500. In general, payments for emergency assistance are considered gifts and are not taxable income. Individuals must be currently active in a creative practice and live in Region 1: (Minnesota counties of Kittson, Marshall, Norman, Pennington, Polk, Red Lake, or Roseau). The Artists Emergency Relief Fund Network is stewarded by Springboard for the Arts and supported by F. R. Bigelow Foundation, Jerome Foundation, McKnight Foundation, John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, and the Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation. The application process opened May 1, 2026. Upcoming application deadlines are October 15 and December 1 as funds allow. Read more and download application here. Reach out to NWMAC Executive Director Mara Hanel with questions about the program or application process at nwartscouncil@gmail.com or 218-745-8886, ext 1.

We offer active artist awards up to $500 reimbursement.

Artists desiring an active artist award for reimbursement of eligible purchases can talk with our staff to see if what they would like to purchase qualifies. One active artist award per artist in a calendar year. Individuals must be currently very active visual artists, performing artists, media artists, and writers who legally reside in Region 1 -- Minnesota counties of Kittson, Marshall, Norman, Pennington, Polk, Red Lake, or Roseau.These awards are available as funds allow.

Reach out to NWMAC Exec Director Mara Hanel with questions about the program or process at nwartscouncil@gmail.com or 218-745-8886, ext 1. Read more on our website here.