The McKnight Foundation has announced $1.3 million in equity-focused arts- and culture-related grants to catalyze the creativity, power, and leadership of Minnesota artists and culture bearers.

The foundation made 15 third-quarter grants ranging from $40,000 to $150,000 that reflect the reframing of McKnight’s arts funding guidelines in 2021 to address the racial and economic inequities more broadly exposed by the national response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the racial reckoning sparked by the murder of George Floyd. With the latest round of grants, the foundation is prioritizing organizations in Minnesota’s arts and culture sector that have been previously underrepresented in the foundation’s portfolio and otherwise have experienced barriers to funding access. In 2022, McKnight has awarded 31 arts- and culture-related grants totaling more than $4 million.

First-time grant recipients include Ballet CO.Laboratory, a ballet company and school that welcomes dancers historically excluded from the art form based on gender, sexuality, age, body type, race, and socioeconomic status; the Grand Center for Arts & Culture, a community hub that provides career development opportunities for emerging artists; Manidoo Ogitigaan, an organization led by community members of the Red Lake and White Earth Indian reservations that strengthens Ojibwe art, language, cultural knowledge, and access to resources; and Public Functionary, an exhibition and performance venue that creates opportunities by and for Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) creatives.

For a complete list of the foundation’s grants, see the McKnight website.

(Photo credit: Getty Images/Public Functionary/Ryan Stopera)