Quick Tips for School Districts and Schools
Northwest Minnesota Arts Council - 109 S Minnesota St - Warren, MN 56762
Questions? Contact Mara Hanel, Arts Council Director at 218-745-9111 or mara@nwrdc.org
The Northwest Minnesota Arts Council has several grant categories for school districts and private schools in our region.
Our region covers the Minnesota counties of Kittson, Marshall, Norman, Pennington, Polk, Red Lake, and Roseau. If your
school is within one of these counties then you can apply! All application forms and guidelines are available by emailing
mara@nwrdc.org . Read the descriptions below to see which category may work best.
Arts Legacy Grants: School Artist Residency
Starting in 2010, this special program for school districts has been available. School districts may
apply for up to two residencies in their schools on a first come, first served basis. Music, dance,
theater and writing residencies are funded at $2,100. Visual and photography residencies are
funded at $2,100 + $400 extra for supplies. Artists come to the school for one week exposure to a
core group of students. It is highly recommended that schools work with artists who are on the
juried roster by COMPAS. Here is a link to their website where the roster is located
http://www.compas.org/arts-education/WAITS. The application is simplified to ease the application
process and available by emailing mara@nwrdc.org. Deadline is on-going as funds remain.
Arts Legacy Grants: Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund
School Districts and schools can apply in our main Arts Legacy Grant category. Schools have applied for a series of artist
residencies in their school or a summer youth camp that features a group of residency artists. Grants are for up to
$10,000 with a 10% cash match. Main deadlines are August 1, November 1, and February 1; then on-going 1st of the
month deadlines as funds remain.
Arts Project Grants: Equipment
The Northwest Minnesota Arts Council offers schools the opportunity to apply for arts equipment grants. For example,
in 2011, grants were awarded for up to $3,000.00 with a 25% cash match. School districts purchased light equipment,
microphones, musical instruments, kilns, and display racks. Grant maximums and match requirements are announced
to our local School Superintendents and in the newspaper, if this program is offered. November 1 and/or March 1 are
possible deadlines.
Arts Legacy Grants: School Artist Residency
Grant Application
Northwest Minnesota Arts Council - 109 S Minnesota St - Warren, MN 56762
Questions? Contact: Mara Hanel at 218-745-9111 or mara@nwrdc.org
FOR OFFICE USE ONLY
Rating
_______________
Date Rcvd _______________
Application # _______________
Grant Award _______________
Award Date _______________
Print off your completed application and send to our office with the required signatures and attachments. Make sure your
pages are printing with a size 10 font in the boxes, otherwise adjust your print settings accordingly.
1. School District (Legal Name, Address)
2. Main Contact
Phone:
E-mail:
Web Site:
3. Artist Name:
Phone:
E-mail:
(Name, Address, Day Phone)
4. Artistic Discipline of Residency (Or short statement related
to what the artist will do with students.)
Have contacted COMPAS staff and/or artist
Four classes/grade level(s) the artist will focus on
during their residency within your school:
Need assistance finalizing with artist
(If possible please select artist from COMPAS roster.)
5. Total Expenses Annually for arts activities in your
school district $
(Last completed year, approximate number is fine.)
6. People benefiting from activity:
Adult Artists/teachers:
Adult Audience:
Children/Youth Benefitting:
7. Project Budget Summary
$
Total Estimated Expenses
$
Income Anticipated
8. Main activity month/dates:
Please state if Start to Finish will be longer than the
current school year:
9.
(The grant will be approximately $2,100 per residency. There might be some
minor costs that your district will need to cover. Visual art residencies will have
up to $400 extra granted for materials costs for a total of $2,500. See
information sheet for details on completing this section.)
Location of Activities:
10. Certification: We certify the information in this application is true and correct to the best of our knowledge.
Typed Name
Authorizing Official
Title
Signature
Date
Proposal Narrative Required
A.
Summary of the proposed residency (2-3 paragraphs maximum)
Please write a brief description on how the artist will work with and within your school for a successful
residency experience. If you have a schedule and lesson plan for the residency please attach. If you do not
yet have a schedule and lesson plan from the artist, please send it when it is available.
B.
Arts & Cultural Heritage Investment Evaluation
The Northwest Minnesota Arts Council would like your school to read and think about how bringing a residency
artist into your school and community benefits students, faculty and the community. It enriches what you
already offer and provides a good way to enhance your curriculum. Working with an artist is an intense
experience and the rewards are plentiful for the students and the artist and the entire school. The following
five questions are asked of all applicants for our Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund. We have filled in some
answers related generically to school residencies. Please add your own thoughts and comments based on the
specific residency you are selecting. It is not required that you add narrative to this section.
1. How does this proposal instill the Arts into your community and public life? Artist residencies in the school
provide youth an opportunity to learn from an artist then present the results of the residency to the community - to
view and celebrate what was accomplished that week.
2. How does this proposal provide a high quality arts experience? Artists that are on the COMPAS roster are
juried and coached to provide a high quality experience while they are within the school.
3. How does this proposal overcome barriers so Minnesotans can access high quality arts experiences?
Funding is the main barrier to bringing in artists as well as schools being unfamiliar with residency resources like
on-line directories.
4. How does this proposal help to develop knowledge, skills, and understanding of the arts? The artist will
bring valuable skills to students and teachers involved in this residency that complement their current curriculum
and arts exposure within the school district.
5. How does this proposal help to represent diverse ethnic and cultural arts traditions? (Optional, answer NA
if not a part of your proposal.) The artist may focus their session with students on traditional art forms.
C.
Arts & Cultural Heritage Areas of Priority Designation
All grants in this category must address at least one of the three Arts & Cultural Heritage areas of priority, Arts
Access, Arts Education, Arts & Cultural Heritage. This artist residency definitely falls within the priority area of
Arts Education. It is not required that you add narrative to this section.
Arts and Arts Access Activities:
Arts Education Activities:
Week-long residency with an artist in our school district ending in a community event for students to show what they have
learned during the session.
Art & Cultural Heritage Activities:
Proposal Outcome Evaluation Required
Money for this program comes in whole or part from the Arts & Cultural Heritage Fund, a fund created by the
people of Minnesota to support the arts and preserve our heritage. Because our fellow citizens have made
this commitment, we have an obligation to be much more intentional about how we work: the goals, impacts,
results, the community benefits. Therefore outcome evaluation becomes an important part of a funding
proposal.
Please answer the following questions and plan to measure the outcomes of your residency experience.

How specifically will students be affected or changed by the residency? What skills will be learned?

Please write one achievable goal (in one sentence). This goal will be shared on the Legislative website.
(Note: It works best if you have statistic that can be measured.)

How will you know or measure the affect on students? On teachers? What will provide you with
information to gauge the affect on target populations and provide useful feedback? (Make sure you do
what you check. Have a way to show us the results.)
Audience Questionaire ___
Participant Questionaire ___
Artist Questionaire ____
Personal Observation of Activities ____
Follow-up Meeting with Project Planners _____
Attendance Numbers _____
Interviews ____
Other _______________________________________

How will you announce what is happening, related to the residency, to your community and within the
school system?

How will you invite the community to share in the results of the residency?
Please help us evaluate our region's needs and our services by briefly answering the three questions
below or preferably by answering them on-line in our survey so we don’t need to retype your answers.
This will not impact your application's review. Thanks!

In your community or county, what do you think is the greatest strength and what is most lacking in the
arts?

What are your needs, other than funding, as an artist, arts organization or non-profit organization
pertaining to the arts?

How could the Northwest Minnesota Arts Council help you fulfill the needs identified above?
Your suggestions?