Trends In MN Arts Funding

Top Trends by the numbers in MN Arts Grantmaking

• The overall # of arts grants rose by 844 from 2018 to 2021, then declined.
• 2019 and 2020 were High Water Marks, almost every area of arts funding then declined from 2021 to 2022
• General Operating Support grants in the arts increased by 1,100 grants from 2018 to 2021 but also declined in 2022
• Grants for “BIPOC” arts is consistently around 20% of total arts giving.

Key Takeaways

• Performing Arts grants declined by more than 1,000 from 2019 to 2022
• While General Operating grants went up, Arts Education grants declined.
  • Some arts groups used Education as a substitute for Gen Op, is there a correlation?
• A closer look at BIPOC arts grants is revealing. For example, in 2021:
  • Total # of BIPOC arts grants: 825
  • # of grants to BIPOC-led groups: 515
  • Latin, African Descent & Asian American arts groups are particularly under-represented in Minnesota arts grantmaking. (See specific tables below.)
• Cultural Awareness grants are a relatively new area of arts grantmaking, growing from 80 grants in 2014 to 273 in 2022.
• Surprisingly, grants for Visual Arts nearly doubled from 2018 to 2022.
• We imagined Arts Services grants would go up during Covid, but they declined by nearly 200 grants in 2020
• Grants to Museums declined by 201 grants from 2018 to 2022. Certainly, Covid affected this but grants did not recover in 2022. Dominance of a few museums did decline. A ratio of 6 grants for every recipient in 2018 to 4 grants for every recipient in 2022.