Author: Region 2 Arts Council

Office updates and new grant deadline for Small Towns

by Region 2 Arts Council, posted in Announcements

IMPORTANT UPDATES

We hope you are all staying healthy and safe, and finding ways to creatively move through these challenging times.

Please note that the Region 2 Arts Council office remains closed until further notice. Stay connected via Facebook and our website.

As stated before…

Doors may be closed yet our communication remains open!

If you need support, questions or assistance – call 218-751-5447 / 800-275-5447 or email staff@r2arts.org

Individual Staff Contacts:

Laura Seter (Executive Director) laura@r2arts.org

Holly Alcott (Grants Manager) holly@r2arts.org

Kathryn Gonzalez (Program Assistant) kathryn@r2arts.org

Arts Access Grant for Small Towns (population under 2,000) – DEADLINE EXTENDED TO May 1, 2020

AAG for Small Towns Credit & Logo UPDATED

COVID-19 Resource page

by Region 2 Arts Council, posted in Announcements

This is a fast-changing landscape and we know many of you are experiencing direct impacts due to COVID-19. To that extent, we now have a COVID-19 Resource page on our website at r2arts.org.

We will continue to do our best to connect you, as an artist or arts organization, to vital support systems that may help mitigate the impacts of this pandemic on your work and livelihood. Stay connected even when physically distancing! Also…

americansforthearts

5-Minute Survey by Americans for the Arts

This survey is designed to collect information about the financial and human impacts that the spread of the coronavirus has had on arts and cultural organizations and artists across the nation since the coronavirus was detected in the United States. Thank you in advance for spending five minutes to fill it out!

Quick reminder!

by Region 2 Arts Council, posted in Announcements

REMINDER from the MN State Arts Board:

Please complete the survey regarding COVID-19’s impact on the creative community if you have not yet done so. We will begin analyzing the data provided this week and want to make sure your input is included. If you have already completed the survey— thank you; you don’t need to complete it again. 

Click here to access the survey

Thank you!

Important Survey to help assess COVID-19’s impact – Thank you for your response

by Region 2 Arts Council, posted in Announcements

SURVEY: COVID-19’s Impact on the Creative Community

A Message from the Minnesota State Arts Board:
The Minnesota State Arts Board and Minnesota’s regional arts councils know that people and organizations in our state’s arts and creative sector are being tested and challenged as never before. The physical, emotional, and financial toll that COVID-19 is taking is beyond our ability to measure, at this point.
To help us get a handle on what’s happening and guide our immediate and longer-term responses to COVID-19, we need your input. Please take FIVE MINUTES to complete a very brief and simple survey. We will begin reviewing the information on March 25, so please complete the survey by then. However, we know that the situation is evolving every day, so we’ll keep the survey live and will continue to review new responses as we receive them.
Please forward this message to anyone else who might want to provide input.
We will be sharing this information with other arts funders, with Minnesota Citizens for the Arts, and others who can use it in their own efforts. We are all in this together and I know we all want to do whatever we can to support one another.
Take care,
Sue Gens
Minnesota State Arts Board
Executive Director

Office closed with staff still available

by Region 2 Arts Council, posted in Announcements

OUR DOORS ARE CLOSED – OUR COMMUNICATION IS STILL OPEN!

As we close our physical doors we want you to know we are still here to help. Staff will be working from home and we continue to serve grantees and field questions. We can appreciate the disruptions happening in our lives at this moment and know that the creative power of our community members is great medicine. Lots of innovation is happening and we too are thinking of ways to use this moment as an opportunity. For now, know we are with you, ready to support you.

We plan to re-open March 30th, pending no changes. Stay updated via Facebook and our website.

If you need support, you can connect with us via our staff email or by phone: 218-751-5447 / 800-275-5447.

Individual Staff Contacts:

Laura Seter (Executive Director) laura@r2arts.org

Holly Alcott (Grants Manager) holly@r2arts.org

Kathryn Gonzalez (Program Assistant) kathryn@r2arts.org

Resources and Sources:
In the meantime, we are thinking of you and of your health and prosperity. The following links provide resources that may be helpful for artists and arts organizations going forward:
Minnesota State Arts Board Guidance to the Arts Community: http://www.arts.state.mn.us/news/COVID-19.htm
Minnesota Citizens for the Arts Corona Virus Resource Center: http://artsmn.org/coronavirus/
Springboard for the Arts Corona Virus resource page for artists, creatives, and organizations: https://springboardforthearts.org/coronavirus/
Minnesota Employment and Economic Development; response for workers and employers: https://mn.gov/deed/newscenter/covid/

Virtual Arts Advocacy Day! Join us from the comfort of your home.

by Region 2 Arts Council, posted in Announcements

We are taking our last minutes at the office to participate in the Virtual Arts Advocacy Day.

Please join us to thank legislators for supporting arts funding. Your legislators need to know that their constituents support the arts.

 

Take advantage of this virtual opportunity to thank them for continued arts funding, and share your stories to show how, when you invest in the arts, the Arts Give Back.

VIRTUAL ARTS ADVOCACY DAY

JOIN US MARCH 18 & 19

Click here to learn more and to participate

 

 

Region 2 Arts Council COVID-19 Response

by Region 2 Arts Council, posted in Announcements
As Executive Director of Region 2 Arts Council, I am writing to provide information on our organization’s risk management response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
At this moment, collective well-being is at the heart of all decision-making. Everyone is called upon to be flexible and responsive to a range of unknowns. In the face of this uncertainty, Region 2 Arts Council is committed to responding to what is before us, while continuing to lay the groundwork for a future in which the arts continue to flourish in our communities.

Office Closing
Beginning Wednesday March 18, the Region 2 Arts Council office will close and our staff will work from home. Our goal is to re-open our office doors on March 30. We will keep you informed of any potential changes.

Routine Grant Activity
While working from home, Region 2 Arts Council staff will attempt to carry out the following routine activity with minimal interruption: grant reviews, contract and outcomes processing and support, outreach to granted organizations, final report reading and approval, and grant writing support.
Changing Granted Activity
Region 2 Arts Council aims to show as much flexibility with our grantees as our funding sources will allow. We know that some granted activity will need to be suspended, rescheduled, or canceled. As we field questions and requests from those planning changes to their granted projects and programs, our commitment is to find solutions that will result in the least amount of hardship for all involved.
Looking Forward
Region 2 Arts Council’s dedication to a thriving arts community was exhibited last night when, in the face of one breaking news story after another, the Region 2 Arts Council board and community panelists convened online to review and award 10 regional arts organizations with $49,000 for two consecutive years in operating support funding through our Community Arts Support grant program.
In early April, our Anishinaabe Arts Initiative (AAI) Advisory Council will review the AAI grant applications we have received and select our 2020 Anishinaabe Arts Initiative Fellow.
The April 15 deadline for our Arts Access for Small Towns grant is still in effect. Nonprofit entities located in towns under 2,000 in the Minnesota counties of Beltrami, Hubbard, Lake of the Woods, Mahnomen and Clearwater are eligible to apply.
Resources and Sources
In the meantime, we are thinking of you and of your health and prosperity. The following links provide resources that may be helpful for artists and arts organizations going forward:
Minnesota State Arts Board Guidance to the Arts Community: http://www.arts.state.mn.us/news/COVID-19.htm
Minnesota Citizens for the Arts Corona Virus Resource Center: http://artsmn.org/coronavirus/
Springboard for the Arts Corona Virus resource page for artists, creatives, and organizations: https://springboardforthearts.org/coronavirus/
Minnesota Employment and Economic Development; response for workers and employers: https://mn.gov/deed/newscenter/covid/
Contact
Email and Facebook messenger will be the primary mode of initiating communication with Region 2 Arts Council staff.
Go to r2arts.org for our individual staff’s contact information, or email us at staff@r2arts.org for more information on how to stay connected.
Laura Seter, Executive Director
Region 2 Arts Council