Calling all Minnesota artists!
Saint Paul, Minnesota (November 19, 2024) — The Arts Partnership, a nonprofit collaboration between the Minnesota Opera, the Ordway Center for the Performing Arts, The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, and Schubert Club, is now accepting proposals for its Knight Foundation Cultural Opportunity Fund. Founded in 2014, the fund provides both full and partial grants that allow Minnesota performing artists and ensembles to rent the Concert Hall at the Ordway Center for the Performing Arts, for an event or performance of their choosing. Selected artists will present their performances during the July 2025 through June 2026 season.
“Thanks to the generosity of the Knight Foundation, over 40 Minnesota-based artists and ensembles have shared their talents and brought us together as a community in one of the most beautiful and intimate concert halls in the world,” said Christopher Harrington, President of The Arts Partnership and President and CEO of the Ordway Center for the Performing Arts. “As we look forward to celebrating the 10 year anniversary of the Concert Hall in 2025, we are honored to continue offering this opportunity fund to our Minnesota artistic community and make the dream of performing at the Ordway a reality.”
In 2014, the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation endowed $1 million to create the Knight Foundation Cultural Opportunity Fund—intended for those who could not otherwise afford to rent the Concert Hall to produce a performance or event in the hall. Since then, 60 performances have received more than $280,000 in support to host concerts, film screenings, stage productions and author readings in the Concert Hall.
Submissions will be evaluated by a panel that reviews applications for outreach strategies, organizational capacity and productions that fulfill that organization’s mission or advance the artist’s career. Learn more about the fund and eligibility here. The online application portal will close February 1, 2025, and award recipients will be notified in mid-March.