The R2AC Fellowship Award is made possible the by generous support of the McKnight Foundation to provide unfettered funding to individual artists to fuel their art in Beltrami, Clearwater, Hubbard, Mahnomen, and Lake of the Woods counties in Minnesota.

The goal of the Region 2 Arts Council (R2AC) Fellowship Program is to celebrate the region’s most talented artists and assist them in furthering and innovating their work by awarding financial support to fund creative time and facilitate depth and advancement in their art form. Through such support, the R2AC aims to honor and award artistic excellence and elevate the quality of artistic work in our region. Two $6,000 awards will be granted yearly to provide unfettered funding to fuel your art!

Eligibility

Region 2 Artist Fellows are dedicated and experienced individual artists in any arts discipline.  These artists must be 21 years or older and physically reside in Minnesota’s Beltrami, Clearwater, Hubbard, Lake of the Woods, or Mahnomen County.

The intent of the Fellowship Award is to honor and celebrate artists who show excellence and dedication to their artistic practice, and who also have one or more of the following:

• a substantial independent body of work

• previous arts awards or other acknowledgements

• performance, presentation, or publication of original work

• selection for commissions, festivals, or artist residencies

• selection for peer learning and exchange opportunities

• commercial music or video recordings of your work

• solo exhibitions, readings, or performances

Artists who have received an R2AC Artist Fellowship or a Career Development Fellowship from Region 2 Arts Council in the past are not eligible to receive this award – click here for a list. Read through these eligibility statements for further guidance. If you believe these statements are true for you or an artist you know, please submit your nomination to staff@r2arts.org

Nominations Process
We are seeking self and outside nominations for dedicated and experienced artists who meet our award criteria. If you are an artist or if you know an artist who should be considered for a Fellowship award, please drop off, email, mail, text, send through messenger, or call us with your nomination. Nominations closed as of September 1, 2024 but will reopen in July 2025.

As part of the nomination, please include
The artist’s name
Their contact information (active email and/or phone number)
Their county of residence (if known)
Their art form (musician, jeweler, composer, writer, actor, sculptor, poet, painter, dancer, filmmaker, etc.)
What makes them a great candidate

As the nominator, please include

• Your name

• Your contact information (active email and/or phone number)

• Whether you’d like to remain anonymous to the review committee

• Whether you’d like to remain anonymous to the artist you’ve nominated

After nominations have closed R2AC staff will solicit the nominated artists for an Artist Statement, Work Samples, and an Artist Bio or Resume. Two Artist Fellows will be selected by the Region 2 Arts Council Board of Directors from the nominated artists.