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Legacy Grants

With the passage of the Clean Water, Land, and Legacy Amendment, the people of Minnesota voted to create new resources for land and water conservation, parks, and the arts. As part of that mandate, the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund was created, establishing a strong arts legacy and preserving our cultural heritage by supporting innovative arts activities that increase access to the arts, life-long arts learning opportunities, and cultural experiences. Legacy Grants support activities in three key areas as established in the Minnesota Constitution:

  1. Arts and Arts Access
  2. Arts Education
  3. Arts and Cultural Heritage

SEMAC strongly encourages applicants to research and develop projects that incorporate two or more of the key areas with an emphasis on creating lasting partnerships among regional nonprofit arts organizations and other nonprofit groups. Legacy grants (from all sources) are designed to fund up to 80% of approved arts programming.

1. Arts & Arts Access: The fund will support Minnesota artists and arts organizations in creating, producing, and presenting quality arts activities; to overcome barriers to accessing quality arts activities; and to instill the arts into the community and public life throughout Minnesota. Such activities may be but are not limited to:

  • Investing in activities that make the arts available to persons who might not otherwise have access due to economic, geographic, or physical barriers
  • Ensuring that Minnesota’s artists and arts organizations have sufficient financial support to create art
  • Investing in the long-term health and vitality of Minnesota’s arts sector by supporting capacity-building and professional development
  • Investing in efforts that enable Minnesotans to more easily connect with arts and arts experiences
  • Investing in efforts to fully integrate the arts into local community development efforts
  • Investing in efforts to fully integrate the arts into local and state economic development planning
  • Investing in public art that is available throughout Minnesota
  • Recognizing and rewarding artists/arts organizations/arts providers for exceptional artistic quality and service within the SEMAC region

2. Arts Education: Investing in lifelong learning in the arts: The fund will support quality, age-appropriate arts education for Minnesotans of all ages to develop knowledge, skills, and understanding of the arts. Activities may be but are not limited to:

  • Investing in efforts that enable Minnesotans to more easily engage in arts learning opportunities
  • Ensuring that artists/arts organizations/arts providers are able to provide quality experiences for Minnesotans of all ages by investing in professional
  • development
  • Ensuring that arts learning opportunities are achieving intended outcomes through ongoing assessment and evaluation

3. Arts & Cultural Heritage: Building bridges between Minnesotans through arts and culture: The fund will support events and activities that represent the diverse ethnic and cultural arts traditions, including folk and traditional artists and arts organizations, represented in Minnesota. Such activities may be but are not limited to:

  • Providing Minnesotans with opportunities to celebrate our cultural heritage through events and activities that represent the range of Minnesota’s ethnic and cultural arts traditions.
  • Ensuring that Minnesotans are able to experience folk/traditional arts of diverse cultures by supporting the work of folk and traditional artists/arts organizations.