August 28th, 2020
The Prairie Lakes Regional Arts Council is pleased to announce that State Arts and Cultural Heritage grants of $83,000 were awarded to eight arts organizations in the region with funds from the Clean Water, Land and Legacy Amendment. The organizations are listed alphabetically with a brief description of their artistic activities and events.
The grants are for arts activities in all artistic disciplines. A variety of activities including virtual events and in-person instrumental music concerts, theater performances, art classes and exhibitions are being funded. Due to COVID-19 all organizations must plan for events that include social distancing and wearing masks; and they are required to follow the Governor’s Stay Safe Plan and the MN Department of Health’s recommendations.
Arts Center of Saint Peter – $11,000. They will provide virtual classes, on-site studio use, monthly gallery exhibitions, a 3-month Holiday Market for artists to sell their work, and outdoor jazz concerts. Funds will be used for artist fees, publicity, salaries, supplies, and facility maintenance.
DalekoArts, New Prague – $11,000. They will conduct their 2020-21 theater season as virtual events. They will create four “Daleko Home Invasion” subscription boxes that are active for 2-3 months each. Each “box” will contain between 8-12 events all broadcast via virtual platforms such as YouTube Live, Skype, and Zoom. Funds will be used for artist fees.
Fairmont Opera House – $11,000. They will host theater performances with topics including gender inequity and social justice. They will also work with their school district to reach out to the local Hispanic community. Funds will be used for staff salaries.
Mankato/North Mankato ACT on Alzheimer’s – $6,000. They will sponsor the Singing Hills Chorus, a choir designed for people with Alzheimer’s disease or other related dementias, their care partners, and volunteers. The fall session will be held primarily virtual through Zoom, with 1-2 drive-in rehearsals. They hope to meet in person for the Spring session. Funds will be used for the music director and accompanist fees, publicity, rental fees, and to purchase music.
Martin Co. Preservation, Assoc. (Red Rock Center for the Arts, Fairmont) – $11,000. They will sponsor a fall and winter concert series with social distancing measures and purchase a camera to assist with virtual art shows and tours. Funds will be used for artist fees, publicity, salaries, concert recordings, and to purchase a camera.
Merely Players Community Theatre, Mankato – $11,000. They will present a shortened season of plays to meet social distancing guidelines beginning in March 2021, including: “Rex’s Ex’s” and “The Spider’s Web”. The plays will be held at Lincoln Community Center, Mankato. Funds will be used for rental fees, salaries, and supplies.
State Street Theater Company, New Ulm – $11,000. They will sponsor a series of theater performances including “Charlotte’s Web,” “Who Dunit and to Whom,” “Over the River and through the Woods”, and “Little Shop of Horrors”; and continue their cable access show entitled “Something Artsy” during their 2020-21 season. Funds will be used for three months of operational expenses including salaries, utilities, and custodial costs.
Waseca Arts Council – $11,000. They will sponsor gallery exhibitions with extended dates due to the limited hours the Arts Center will be open. They will also offer art classes and music concerts in outdoor venues. Funds will be used for salaries and operational expenses.
The next Arts and Cultural Heritage Grant deadline is February 1, 2021. Organizations can apply once per year for this grant. Small Arts Project Grants of up to $2,000 are available for smaller arts activities and the next deadline is October 1, 2020. Prairie Lakes Regional Arts Council has an online grant process. Go to our website www.plrac.org and click on the applicant Login button. Follow the instructions to set up an account and complete the application. If you have questions please contact the PLRAC office in Waseca, 1-800–298-1254 or plrac@hickorytech.net.
Annually, the arts council awards more than 200 grants to Artists, Non-profit Arts Organizations, Community Groups, and for Youth Scholarships, and in 2020 we awarded over $435,000. A monthly newsletter and calendar of arts events in the 9-county is posted on our website www.plrac.org.
The Prairie Lakes Regional Arts Council is committed to supporting and expanding the arts in the nine-county area; knowing that the Arts improve the quality of life in our region. We serve a nine-county area including Blue Earth, Brown, Faribault, LeSueur, Martin, Nicollet, Sibley, Waseca, and Watonwan Counties.