The Minneapolis-based McKnight Foundation has announced grants totaling $7 million in support of Black, Latinx, Asian, and Indigenous arts organizations in Minnesota.

In the initial phase of the of the Ford Foundation's America's Cultural Treasures initiative, which is aimed at supporting BIPOC arts groups impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, ten organizations designated as "Regional Cultural Treasures" will receive unrestricted multiyear McKnight- and Ford-funded grants of at least $500,000. Selected for their efforts to steward and sustain a cultural/aesthetic tradition rooted in a community of color and train the next generation of artists and cultural leaders, as well as their excellence in artistic/cultural practice, impact in the community, importance as a hub for larger networks, and alignment with McKnight's mission to advance a more just, creative, and abundant future where people and planet thrive, the recipients are the American Indian Community Housing Organization Arts Program, Ananya Dance Theatre, Indigenous Roots, Juxtaposition Arts, Mizna, Pangea World Theater, Somali Museum of Minnesota, Theater Mu, TruArtSpeaks, and Walker|West Music Academy.

In phase two, the Seeding Cultural Treasures program will award an additional $5.6 million in grants to BIPOC artists and less established organizations in Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, and the twenty-three Native nations that share the same geography. To be funded by the Ford, McKnight, Bush, and Jerome foundations and administered by Propel Nonprofits and the Metropolitan Regional Arts Council, the grants are intended to catalyze "greater recognition and increased investment in these vital arts organizations and their leaders who are meeting this moment with imagination, persistence, and creativity," said McKnight Arts program director DeAnna Cummings.

"We use the term 'Cultural Treasures' with intention, to honor the diversity of expression and artistic excellence that these organizations contribute to the cultural vitality of our state, despite having historically experienced under-investment," said McKnight Foundation president Tonya Allen. "As our arts institutions prepare to safely re-open after the pandemic, we're thrilled to shine a spotlight on these remarkable organizations."

(Photo credit: Uche Iroegbu Photography via TruArtSpeaks)