Springboard for the Arts

the rural program supports rural artists and communities in the upper midwest through career development workshops and consultations, a resource center, a visiting artist program and community space in fergus falls, a rural artist fellowship, convenings that support geographic exchange, and customized support for rural leaders interested in collaborating with their creative community.our local programs for artists in otter tail county focus on direct resources and support, including a resource center and community space in downtown fergus falls, an equipment lending library, a guaranteed minimum income program, and ongoing workshops and consultations for artists. These local programs served approximately 215 artists and approximately 3,000 community members in 2024. Our regional / national programs include the rural regenerator fellowship, supports a cohort of 12 artists across the upper midwest with an unrestricted stipend to support their work, learning and exchange; the rural futures summit an annual convening which gathers 150 creative leaders from a cross the upper midwest for 3 days of workshops, art making and celebration; the falls community Arts exchange which brings 8 artists to the fergus falls community each year to learn from the local Arts and creative community, and deepen their creative practice; and artists on main street, which supports small communities with the tools and resources they need to involve artists and creatives with downtown revitalization. These regional/national programs served approximately 180 artists, 40 rural community leaders, and 1,000 community members in 2024.

Springboard for the Arts' economic opportunity programming encompasses professional development resources for artists, economic opportunity programs, access to health and legal resources, and physical resource centers. In fy24, we continued to build the capacity of our resource center for artists, offering computer workstations outfitted with graphic and slide scanners, adobe creative cloud, microsoft office, a publications library, and other grant-making and opportunity databases. We expanded on our in-person 1:1 ta and monthly special topic clinics and developed a curriculum around in-person photodocumentary sessions. Our a/v closet allows artists to check out art technology such as cameras and lights. We've continued our legal referral service, connecting over 100 artists with one-on-one attorney referrals in fy24. In fy24, Springboard for the Arts professional development programs served 3,031 individual artists and community members through panels, workshops, legal clinics, and participation at leading local and national conferences. Springboard for the Arts presented 106+ workshops on business skills for artists and professional development, 1062 individual consultations, and presented at conferences locally and nationally highlighting our content, artist services, and mission. In fy24, Springboard for the Arts expanded its pool of artist career consultants and work of art workshop facilitators to reach broader communities, audiences, and partners. Woa workshops continued the transition from zoom to hybrid/in-person workshops. We also had an artist resource fair with 25 vendors and had an attendance of 50+ artists. In fy24, Springboard for the Arts maintained the guaranteed minimum income pilot of 75 total artists, which includes 50 within the rondo/frogtown neighborhood and 25 in otter tail county, as a way to supplement, rather than replace the existing social safety net and a tool for racial and gender equity. the growth fund continued to expand in fy24, providing $2,500 to mn artists and creative business owners to help sustain or scale their businesses. This program supported 50 artists. Within the makers-to-market program, Springboard executed two pop-up markets (last minute gifts and springpop! ), with an average of 35 makers and vendors and 300 attendees per event.

Our community development program fosters vibrant, equitable, and inclusive environments by forging vital connections between artists and their communities. Operating both locally and nationally, we collaborate with city governments, neighborhood organizations, private institutions, and community-centric groups to harness artists' power in community development, creative placemaking, and innovative problem-solving.over the past year, our community development team has led a range of workshops, activations, and gatherings that engaged local neighborhoods like frogtown and rondo, as well as rural and urban areas such as the iron range, chicago, and rapid city. We trained and supported artists in creating community-engaged activities, including short films, music performances, and interactive art projects. We also continued advancing our guaranteed basic income initiatives, focusing on direct cash programs and narrative work that emphasize the role of artists in social and economic justice movements.in addition to these efforts, we expanded our artists respond program, which supports artists in addressing community challenges through creative projects. This year, we added to our ready go roster, which connects communities with mobile art tools that encourage interaction and engagement. We also partnered with project for pride in living to develop equitable public engagement strategies, helping neighborhoods envision new possibilities for their community.

Springboard's national work encompasses our virtual technical assistance program, art-train, and the creative change coalition. Launched in april 2021 to address the federal funding opportunity provided through the american rescue plan local fiscal recovery fund, art-train has trained nearly 1000 artists and organization & agency practitioners across the nation to date. Art-train equips practitioners with tools to design and support cross-sector, equity-centered, locally-rooted and culture-based collaborations that address recovery, rebuilding, and ongoing community and economic development.the creative change coalition is Springboard's newest national program. the creative change coalition is a national coalition of place-based community organizations that center people, creativity, and equity. the coalition includes regular, public, and free technical assistance webinars, field conversations, discussion and connection opportunities for coalition members, as well as additional resources and initiatives aimed at increasing visibility and efficacy of the field of creative, place-based, community informed work. Springboard for the Arts' incubator: a fiscal sponsorship program provides fiscal sponsorship for Arts groups and individual artist projects that do not want (or are not ready) to become tax-exempt nonprofit organizations. In fy24 we managed revenues for the 204 artist-led projects in the program during that period.