The Forum will host this preconference to share the impact of public funding for the arts in rural communities. We will take attendees to Waseca, MN, which is located 70 miles south of the Twin Cities, with just over 9,000 residents. Although a small farming community, Waseca has vibrant small business scene and dedicated individuals in the arts. We will spend time on the drive talking about Minnesota’s Legacy Amendment, which contributed $57.26 million into the arts through the MN State Arts Board and Regional Arts Councils system in Fiscal Year 2024. Upon arrival in Waseca, we will start on Main Street with the history of the arts in Waseca and a self-guided stroll to a mural and local boutiques. Following the stroll, we would host a small panel of rural advocates for the arts across the state of Minnesota. This would include a County Commissioner from Waseca County, a Regional Arts Council Director, and a leader of an arts non-profit in Hutchinson. The panelists will talk about the importance of public funding on the cultural and economic impact of their rural communities.

Cost $225

This two-part cultural tour highlights the leadership of artists, neighbors, and cultural organizers in healing, belonging, and community visioning. Set in the heart of South Minneapolis, this experience moves through neighborhoods shaped by uprising, resilience, and collective creativity. From George Floyd Square to Longfellow, participants will witness how communities are transforming grief into growth through public art, storytelling, and place-based care. The tour centers cultural work as both a form of resistance and a strategy for regeneration. Along the way, attendees will be invited to reflect, create, and imagine what becomes possible when care leads the way.

COST $200

To access the power of shared creativity and build a culture of connection and possibility at scale, funders, advocates, public officials, and movement leaders are thinking differently about how to support artmaking and creative practice. Join us to explore models and tools for investing in artists and culture bearers, local creative hubs, and community-driven system change. We’ll hear from a unique mix of practitioners and funders working at the intersections and make art and change together. Hosted at Springboard for the Arts community site in the Rondo and Frogtown neighborhoods of Saint Paul.

COST $175

Regardless of one’s political views, we are living through a defining moment for democracy and justice in America. Federal agencies, such as the National Endowment for Humanities and IMLS have been dismantled, NEA funding has been frozen and withdrawn, nonprofit arts organizations and grantmakers are threatened with the loss of tax-exempt status for non-compliance with executive orders, citizens and organizations are being defined as threats to national security for not agreeing with the President. 

As arts funders, we know that the arts are not a luxury. They are essential. They hold cultural memory, inspire civic participation, connect generations, and catalyze truth-telling and visionary futures. Now is the time to work together through bold, cross-sector initiatives to protect and advance creative freedom through the transformative power of the arts. 

Collection action is a means of mobilizing arts philanthropy and arts organizations as forces for systemic change. No one grantmaking entity will preserve the work that will guide us to a democratic future; rather, we must unite around a collective vision that addresses how we meet this moment and what we need long-term to ensure the way forward for artists and arts organizations.

Participants do not need to attend both sessions, but it is encouraged.

COST $0

Rooted Futures is a half-day cultural tour through Minneapolis’ American Indian Cultural Corridor, a vibrant hub of Indigenous leadership, creativity, and community development. Centered on Franklin Avenue, the tour highlights how Native artists, organizers, and institutions are reclaiming space and shaping intergenerational futures. Participants will share a meal at the Minnesota American Indian Center, explore local galleries, and hear from leaders advancing culturally grounded models of development and care. From visual art to storytelling, each stop reflects the power of placekeeping and the deep roots of community ownership. This experience invites reflection on how cultural work sustains belonging, sovereignty, and transformation.

COST $50

Regardless of one’s political views, we are living through a defining moment for democracy and justice in America. Federal agencies, such as the National Endowment for Humanities and IMLS have been dismantled, NEA funding has been frozen and withdrawn, nonprofit arts organizations and grantmakers are threatened with the loss of tax-exempt status for non-compliance with executive orders, citizens and organizations are being defined as threats to national security for not agreeing with the President.

As arts funders, we know that the arts are not a luxury. They are essential. They hold cultural memory, inspire civic participation, connect generations, and catalyze truth-telling and visionary futures. Now is the time to work together through bold, cross-sector initiatives to protect and advance creative freedom through the transformative power of the arts. Collection action is a means of mobilizing arts philanthropy and arts organizations as forces for systemic change.

No one grantmaking entity will preserve the work that will guide us to a democratic future; rather, we must unite around a collective vision that addresses how we meet this moment and what we need long-term to ensure the way forward for artists and arts organizations.

Guided by collective care and ancestral intelligence, this two part series in an embodied immersion into collective visioning and strategy development for an arts-led movement. Participants will learn more about the difference between grantmaking and movement building, tools for doing this work, and the opportunity to begin organizing around specific strategies.

COST $0