Springboard for the Arts

We are pleased to welcome the following projects into Springboard’s Incubator fiscal sponsorship program!

Broken Wing Productions mn
Constellation Arts Collective
Ensemble Parea
Kan Keenya
Madrosa
Mama’s House
North Star Composers Orchestra
Strive (Supporting Talented Artists and Visionary Educators)
Twin Cities Saxophone

Incubator is a fiscal sponsorship program from Springboard for the Arts that provides sponsorship for over 160 Minnesota-based arts organizations that do not want (or are not ready) to become tax-exempt nonprofit organizations. Incubator supports artists in creating work on their own timeline and at their own scale.

Learn more: https://springboardforthearts.org/grants-funding/incubator/

🎉 Springboard is delighted to host our second annual Fall Fest on Saturday, October 5!

Free and open to the public, Fall Fest is a community open house and celebration at our site on 262 University Avenue in Saint Paul. The event will offer artist-led performances and family friendly activities to celebrate Springboard's creative community!

Stay tuned for more announcements including a full lineup of activities, performances, and participating artists.

🧵 If you’ve visited Springboard’s Fergus Falls office recently, you may have noticed a collection of fabric banners hanging from our ceiling.

Hand stitched, painted, and machine sewn by artist Kandace Creel Falcón, Ph.D., these banners are part of an installation called “In the Red,” which explores the predatory nature of student loan debt. Each month, Kandace adds a new banner to represent “the accumulation of interest on loans, the crushing emotional weight of making payments and the slow, incremental decrease of the total debt owed.”

🪡 Join Kandace for a “Stitch-In” next week to learn more about their artwork and bring your own sewing, mending, or knitting project to work on in a supportive and casual environment! https://springboardforthearts.org/events/stitch-in-with-kandace-creel-falcon-3/

📆 Next week! Join artists and curators Teréz Iacovino and Emmett Ramstad for a conversation about balancing caregiving and your artistic career.

Moderated by Springboard Artist Career Consultant Anitra Budd, this free, virtual conversation will cover tips and strategies for balancing the responsibilities and goals of caring for others while pursuing your own artistic practice.

Register: https://springboardforthearts.org/events/ask-me-anything-balancing-caregiving-and-your-artistic-career/

🎉 Upcoming offerings at Springboard!

Are you an artist looking for resources to support your artistic practice or business? Or are you staff of an organization that’s interested in collaborating more deeply with artists?

View our full schedule of events: www.springboardforthearts.org/events

Springboard for the Arts is proud to introduce our Artist Respond: Rural-Urban Solidarity Cohort!

Last April, we announced an open call inviting artists to develop projects that help build understanding, interaction, compassion, joy, and solidarity between rural and urban communities. Today, we’re excited to share that the following Minnesota artists will be creating new projects inspired by rural-urban solidarity:

Drew Arrieta (He/him/They/them, Minneapolis) & Maddy Bartsch (They/them, Northfield)
Mica Lee Anders (She/her, Saint Paul)
Vilay Dethluxay (She/her, Nisswa)
David Hamlow (He/him, Good Thunder)
Bethany Lacktorin (She/her, New London) & Zachary Kulzer
Cassandra Losh/Iron House Arts (They/them, Mille Lacs Reservation/Minneapolis,) & Fred Fisher
Alo Osberg (They/them, Minneapolis) & anonymous (Otter Tail County)
Maren Ward (She/her, Minneapolis)

Despite perceived divides and political rhetoric, rural-urban communities need each other, and artists around us can help us stand united in building a brighter future for current and future generations. Alongside our cohort, we’d like to thank everyone who responded to our open call and are using their art and creativity to remind us that there is so much more that connects us than divides us.

“With their passion for collaboration and hope for a better future, these artists are creating beautiful pathways towards rural-urban solidarity through the joy of human connection. It doesn’t mean the conversations will be easy. But it does mean that by prioritizing curiosity, growth, and understanding over division and fear, we can get closer to the vibrant and equitable world we know is possible.” said Michele Anderson, Springboard's Rural Director.

Throughout the rest of the year, we will share news on the cohort member projects and how you can engage with them. For now, head to https://springboardforthearts.org/rural-urban-solidarity/ to meet the artists and learn more about their work!

Hiring news -- Springboard for the Arts is hiring a Community Development Program Manager! https://jobs.springboardforthearts.org/job/community-development-program-manager-saint-paul-minnesota-2199

The Community Development Program Manager ($58,000/year, full-time) will play a pivotal role in fostering meaningful connections between artists and their communities to create vibrant, equitable, and economically sustainable places.

In collaboration with Springboard's Community Development Director, local partners, and other Springboard staff, the Community Development Program Manager will help develop, plan, implement, and evaluate projects like our narrative change cohorts for Guaranteed Income, community workshops and intensives, and creative placemaking efforts in the Frogtown/Rondo neighborhoods.

We are looking for someone with the following:

- 3-5 years (formal or informal) experience in project, event, and/or program management

- Experience and familiarity with asset-based community development, place-based community organizing, social justice, arts, and nonprofits

- Interest in creating and managing new programs to meet the needs of a highly innovative, entrepreneurial, and creative organization

- And while not required, experience as a practicing artist, creative worker, or culture bearer is highly preferred.

This role will operate from our St. Paul office in a creative, artist-led work environment. Would this position be a great fit for you or someone you know? Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis through Friday, August 23.

Apply at https://jobs.springboardforthearts.org/job/community-development-program-manager-saint-paul-minnesota-2199

Wonderful highlight on the work of our friend Jess Torgerson by West Central Initiative, who we’re glad to know and have as an Artist Respond: People, Place, and Prosperity Cohort Member.

📆 What’s coming up at Springboard for the Arts?

Our summer calendar is full of workshops, trainings, and events for artists and organizations! View our full schedule of events: www.springboardforthearts.org/events

📣 Calling artists in West Central MN: Apply to create a mobile artist tool!

Springboard for the Arts is excited to invite artists to apply to create new Mobile Artist Tools for our Ready Go roster.

🛻 We are seeking three artists or artist teams in West Central Minnesota to create new Mobile Artist Tools designed to spark participation, conversation, and interaction around topics including (but not limited to) environmental stewardship and sustainability. Artists in any medium (writing, music, printmaking, visual arts, sculpture, etc) are welcome to apply.

Applications are open now through September 16: https://springboardforthearts.org/ready-go/

Thinking about applying? Join our virtual info session on Friday, August 23 to learn more: https://springboardforthearts.formstack.com/forms/ready_go_west_central_minnesota_info_session_8_23_24

Thank you to our partners West Central Initiative for co-funding this program!

This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a Minnesota State Arts Board Operating Support grant, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and culture heritage fund.

Exciting opportunity from the Minnesota Indigenous Business Alliance - MNIBA!

Work With Us Do you want to work with MNIBA? Check out the open positions here!

Springboard for the Arts is proud to announce that we will be participating in International Basic Income Week, September 16-22, 2024!

A self-organized participatory week in celebration and recognition of Basic Income (also called Guaranteed Income) IBIW invites communities to connect, learn, and share knowledge about basic income and what futures it makes possible. As part of this week, we will be hosting a variety of events and gatherings at Springboard and across Minnesota alongside several community partners.

📆 On Tuesday, September 17 from 6-8pm at Springboard in Saint Paul, we will be hosting the Opening Reception of a group art exhibit featuring new work by our “Artists Respond: People, Place, and Prosperity” cohort members and recipients of Springboard's Guaranteed Income for Artists pilot. The exhibit celebrates the power of art, artists, and what having a guaranteed income makes possible.

Stay tuned for more details about Basic Income Week, including a full calendar of events, at our website: https://springboardforthearts.org/guaranteed-income/

Taking care of other humans while trying to create art and promote yourself as an artist is a lot of work. ❤️ Both roles are a constant juggling act and demand long hours, patience, and determination.

Join us for a lunchtime conversation with artists and curators Teréz Iacovino and Emmett Ramstad who will share tips and strategies for balancing the responsibilities and goals of being a caregiver and artist.

The conversation is free, open to all, and will be moderated by Springboard Artist Career Consultant and co-owner of Colfax Wordsmiths, Anitra Budd. Register: https://springboardforthearts.org/events/ask-me-anything-balancing-caregiving-and-your-artistic-career/

Upcoming offerings for artists and organizations! 🎉

We still have plenty of virtual and in-person workshops, trainings, and events left this summer. Looking for resources to support your artistic practice or creative business? Or do you work for an organization that is interested in deepening your work with artists?

Explore our full calendar of events: https://springboardforthearts.org/events/

Join the Creative Change Coalition on Wednesday, August 14 for a free virtual workshop where experts share lessons learned through producing affirming events that prioritize communication, safety, and thoughtful planning. Featuring speakers from Drag Story Hour, Flip Phone Events, and the Little Theatre Auditorium who have designed a variety of drag events, including story hours, drag brunches and catwalk parties, this workshop will share the lessons they have learned and strategies to support programming that celebrates and uplifts.

This event is designed for staff of place-based organizations (or anyone!) interested in learning how to support drag programming in their own area, or using the wisdom and experience of our presenters to program other types of events that create joy, connection, and belonging.

Learn more and register at

Creative Change Coalition, Technical Assistance Workshop: Producing Affirming Drag Events - Springboard for the Arts Learn strategies for producing affirming drag events from experts in drag story hours, drag brunches, and catwalk parties. They will share their experience supporting programming that celebrates and uplifts.

Artists exist in every community. They weave stories, activate spaces, and create meaning. Artists not only produce work; they also use critical processes that can help their communities tackle critical issues, from public health to housing and civic engagement.

Developed by Springboard for the Arts and the University of Montana’s Co-Lab for Civic Imagination, Art-Train is a virtual technical assistance program for artists, municipal agencies, and community-focused organizations across the nation. With a two-track training, we equip artists and staff of agencies, non-profits, and local organizations with the tools to work together to create authentic, equitable, and lasting change.

Learn more and register for upcoming trainings: https://springboardforthearts.org/art-train/

🪡 Join artist Kandace Creel Falcón for a "Stitch-in" at Springboard for the Arts in Fergus Falls! https://springboardforthearts.org/events/stitch-in-with-kandace-creel-falcon-3/

Bring your own sewing, mending, or knitting project to work on in a supportive and casual environment. Or drop in to learn about Kandace’s installation “In the Red,” which is currently on view at Springboard’s Fergus Falls location.

Based in Erhard, MN, Kandace Creel Falcón, Ph.D. (they/them) is an interdisciplinary feminist scholar, writer, and visual artist. “In the Red” is a time-based meditation and installation on the predatory nature of student loan debt. New banners with Kandace’s updated figure following their loan repayments will appear in Springboard’s Fergus Falls office throughout the next year. The public is welcome to visit the installation during our regular business hours, Monday-Thursday, 10am-4pm.

Coming up at Springboard for the Arts!

📝 Our “Work of Art” workshops continue with Madison Mercantile in Madison and Art of the Lakes in Battle Lake! Stop in for one workshop or join the whole series to learn business skills for artists from organizing your finances to creating a career plan.

🎥 Register for our Video Editing Clinic in Saint Paul to get personal feedback on editing your own footage.

🤝 Organizations can join tomorrow’s Art-Train session to learn effective strategies for collaborating with artists on critical community issues.

🩷 Organizations are invited to join the Creative Change Coalition on August 14 for a virtual workshop on producing affirming drag events that celebrate and care for marginalized communities.

View all upcoming events: https://springboardforthearts.org/events/

“We need to all be working together to make systematic changes. That is what it is going to take. There is no cure-all that is going to happen. Everything has to work in tandem.”

Today on Springboard's Creative Exchange, learn more about current Rural Regenerator Fellow Awanigiizhik Bruce - Anishinaabe - Diverse Media Artist, their artistic process, and why they believe that Indigenous Futurism can save the world. Full story by Mai'a Williams at:

Awanigiizhik Bruce: Indigenous Futurism Can Save the World The Rural Regenerator Fellowship brings together individual artists, makers, and culture bearers, grassroots organizers, community development workers, public sector workers and other rural change-…

💭 Did you know that Springboard’s Incubator fiscal sponsorship program supports over 160 Minnesota-based arts organizations and projects?

Ranging from performing arts to publishing, puppetry, and more, Incubator allows these artists to create work on their own timeline and at their own scale.

What is fiscal sponsorship? In a nutshell, it allows these arts projects to receive grants and tax-deductible donations without needing to become their own 501(c)(3) tax exempt nonprofit, a process that can be costly, time-consuming, and may not be the right fit for every project.

Learn more: https://springboardforthearts.org/grants-funding/incubator/

Now and always, artists are essential.

This week, the Seattle Times shared a story highlighting programs around the nation helping to support and maintain their artist communities. We were glad to share our Guaranteed Income work as a model for more communities to consider how to create more just economies. Read the full story at https://www.seattletimes.com/entertainment/how-seattle-can-support-its-artists-despite-rising-prices/

Shoutout to Kandace Creel Falcón, Ph.D., whose stunning Billboard project is featured in the article! 🐐

How Seattle can keep its artists despite affordability crisis Organizations in Seattle and elsewhere are trying to address the affordability crisis for artists with programs tackling basic income, affordable housing and more.

During the Rural Futures Summit, artists, creatives, and thought leaders from across the Upper Midwest contributed to “Dear Beloveds,” a “collective poem to the entire planet” facilitated by Rural Regenerator Fellow franciszka voeltz.

“Dear Beloveds” began as a poem that franciszka wrote, addressed to every human in the world. Now, they invite others to add their own contributions to the ongoing project.

Read contributions to “Dear Beloveds” at franciszka’s website: https://dearbelovedsproject.wordpress.com/2024/07/04/fergus-falls-minnesota/

📣First Peoples Fund

⏳ One week left to apply for the Artist in Business Leadership Fellowship! 🌟This yearlong program empowers independent Native artists to build sustainable businesses, offering network-building, professional development, and funding for business needs.

🔥 Don’t miss this opportunity. Click the link to apply today! 🔗 bit.ly/fpf-fellowships

🎥 Receive in-person guidance from a video professional on editing your own project!

Bring your own video footage, and you’ll receive hands-on guidance from filmmakers John Vang and Kazua Melissa Vang on trimming and arranging clips, adding graphics and text, adjusting color, working with audio and exporting your video.

Space is limited! Reserve your hour-long spot: https://springboardforthearts.org/events/special-topics-video-editing-clinic/

Upcoming offerings for artists and organizations! 🎉

Don’t miss today’s “Ask Me Anything” conversation about mental health and wellness for artists and creatives. And join us on Wednesday to learn about Minnesota sales and use tax for your artistic practice or creative business.

View all upcoming trainings, workshops, and events: https://springboardforthearts.org/events/

Listen to Springboard's Financial Controller, John Bell, on the National Network of Fiscal Sponsors' podcast, Field Exchange! John joined folks from Fractured Atlas, The Field, and Fresh Arts to speak about how fiscal sponsorship can be an incredible tool for artists, creatives and organizations.

Learn more about Incubator, Springboard's fiscal sponsorship program: https://springboardforthearts.org/grants-funding/incubator/

Network Exchange: Model C fiscal sponsorship brings color to communities — National Network of Fiscal Sponsors In this spirited conversation, we're digging into a fascinating and inspiring sector of the fiscal sponsorship community: Model C. This form of fiscal sponsorship can be an incredible tool for artists, creatives and organizations — allowing them access to grants, professional development, and comm...

❤️‍🩹 Do you have questions about how to deal with burnout, self-doubt, or perfectionism in your artistic practice?

Join Eric Fawcett (founder of Attune Relational Wellness) and Lydia Lui (founder of Wise Jade Coaching) to explore strategies to nurture creativity while fostering your own emotional well-being. During this virtual “Ask Me Anything” conversation, Eric and Lydia will share tips and answer your questions about mental health and wellness practices for artists and creatives.

This conversation is free and open to all. Learn more and register: https://springboardforthearts.org/events/ask-me-anything-mental-health-and-wellness-tips-for-artists-and-creatives/

This Pride Month, Rural Regenerator Fellow Penny Kagigebi wrote for Native American Community Development Institute - NACDI about the power of 2-Spirit and Native q***r and gender expansive relatives to tell their stories, unearth cultural knowledge, and nurture vibrant communities.

"2-Spirit relatives are complicated, beautiful, layered and existing in grand variation. These ones in their teens, twenties, thirties, seem to have come with different instructions. New (or old?) instructions. I see in them wondrous and joy-filled light. I don’t have anything to teach them and everything to learn. They’re fighting for their lives in a world that’s been waiting for them to be here now, to be fantastical and free and spirit-filled." Read more: https://nacdi.org/news/pride-is-indigenous-featuring-penny-kagigebi/?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTAAAR0RG7EDMA_kcZTBNbescpc1GbRUYDYrXRWLTdhsUfdymRyTLw4g5HlrF04_aem_wZou-ybPD7OgVmcBm4rI8A

June is LGBTQA2+ PRIDE Month! NACDI recognizes the contributions of Two Spirit and q***r people to our community with this series of writings from Two Spirit folks and allies.

This week, Penny Kagigebi wrote a piece on the importance 2-Spirit people being able to fully embrace their gifts. Read it here: https://nacdi.org/news/pride-is-indigenous-featuring-penny-kagigebi/

📸 : TJ Turner

Coming up at Springboard for the Arts! ➡️

Looking for resources to tend to your artistic practice or creative business? Or are you an organization interested in connecting and collaborating more deeply with artists? We have plenty of virtual and in-person offerings for you!

Find all upcoming workshops, events, and trainings: https://springboardforthearts.org/events/