Cedar-Riverside artists and local community groups are feeling hopeful for Minneapolis’ art and culture growth as the city approved new grants to fund creatives.

For the first time, the Arts and Cultural Affairs Department announced its recipients for Cultural District Arts Funds. The funds went toward artists and local community organizations to fund current efforts within the community.

In a recent newsletter, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said the grant is an investment into the heart, histories and stories of Minneapolis.

“Through this initiative, we’re not just funding art, we’re empowering creativity, amplifying local voices, diversifying neighborhoods, and beautifying our city,” Frey said in the newsletter.

Director of the Arts and Cultural Affairs Department Ben Johnson said the city has not always supported art development and it was usually local philanthropists funding art projects. However, the reliance on art funding philanthropy in Minneapolis has come to an end, Johnson said.

“The arts can be the glue that holds communities together,” Johnson said. “By investing in a broad spectrum of arts grants, (which) helps us develop and have the community develop their own narratives about what’s important to them.”

Johnson said the art districts, such as Cedar-Riverside, were originally created as political districts that were most impacted by the murder of George Floyd in 2020. Johnson said these districts represent some of the most diverse areas in the city.

Johnson said there are three tiers to the art and culture grant program to ensure the funds have the most impact in these art districts. The cultural ambassador tier awards $15,000 to organizations that bring communities together by discussing culture and art within the larger community.

The city gave the cultural ambassador award in Cedar-Riverside to the West Bank Business Association. West Bank Business Association Executive Director KJ Starr said the association helps artists with grant writing, getting studio space and more.

“We have a really pretty good stable of artists that we work with, whatever title assistance, whether it’s taxes or grant writing,” Starr said. “Or finding studio space, all those things are kinds of things we do as sort of business title assistance providers as well.”

Another tier is the pop-up art and culture program which is awarded to those who work to bring new creativity through art into the community, Johnson said. The Leslie Parker Dance Project was one of the groups awarded with this tier’s funds of $5,000.

Leslie Parker, founder of the Leslie Parker Dance Project, said she is grateful for the grant awards because it shows the city is making efforts to better support the arts. Parker said she feels that there is a growing conversation about the value of arts and culture in Minneapolis.

Parker said her aim with the Dance Project is to gather independent artists to collaborate and create art with different methods of dance and influences of culture. Parker said it is necessary to be culturally competent when participating in efforts like this because there has to be a space for everyone and every culture.

“I like that kind of a mix and exchange of different people’s different cultures versus co-opting that culture,” Parker said.

Importance of local art 

Samira Ali, a member of the West Bank Business Association, said supporting art and culture boosts the local economy by drawing people and businesses toward the community.

“When you see and feel a sense of belonging and you can point to work so you kind of contributed to and just the overall look and vibe of the neighborhood,” Ali said. “That will also in turn drive in more opportunities and investment into the neighborhood.”

Parker said it is important to cultivate and support art and culture in urban communities because of the various cultures and histories mixing together.

“I believe that in the heart-to-heart dialogues, there’s a lot of creativity that can happen there,” Parker said. “I believe that that is a rippling effect like a pebble in a pond that ripples out to the masses and so if we can have an impact on one another in a way that we understand how to support each other more holistically.”

Starr said the city promoting or creating these art projects and cultural events can bring a sense of belonging, representation and peace to the residents of these communities.

“Pieces of public art are things that bring people to the neighborhood and kind of cultivate a sense of pride and a sense of peace,” Starr said. 

Starr said she learned how high the demand for the city’s financial support is for art projects while applying for the grant and helping others apply.

Johnson said his goal for the office is to make the city a hotspot for artists and creatives to grow.

“The great thing about starting something brand new is that you get to actually decide how things change tomorrow. So we get to this creatively,” Johnson said. “We didn’t inherit any sort of, ‘Well, this is how we’ve always done it,’ attitudes.”