Southeastern Minnesota Arts Council (SEMAC) invites individual artists and culture bearers and schools in their 11-county region to apply for the Artists and Culture Bearers in the Schools grant. Applications open August 1, 2026 with two submission deadlines, either September 30, 2026 or November 30, 2026. These residency grants which range between $2,000 and $4,000 are meant to provide students in grades K-12 with opportunities to work directly with artists and culture bearers during the school day. The lead applicant for this grant can either be an individual artist or culture bearer living in the 11-county SEMAC region or the school in this region where the residency will take place.
Grant activities must supplement the school’s arts curriculum and not be a substitute for these basic requirements. Activities can be in any discipline, including but not limited to, painting, photography, printmaking, textiles, music, dance, theater, storytelling, literary arts, intermedia arts, and traditional arts. No public event is required, however the participating school must agree to share residency in their district’s communications to families, with the School Board, and/or with any local press contacts to raise awareness of the importance of the arts.
The earliest project start date for the September 30 deadline is December 29, 2026. The earliest start date for the November 30 deadline is February 28, 2027. For more information about this grant opportunity and eligibility requirements, visit our website.
SEMAC will make available Step-by-Step Videos of the application process by September 4, and will hold three virtual Q & A sessions on August 20, from 12 to 1 pm CT; September 22, from 6 to 7 pm CT; and October 30, from 12 to 1 pm CT. Information about the videos and Q & A sessions can be found on the Grant Programs page on SEMAC’s website.
SEMAC also offers free grant writing assistance for non-English speakers or people with limited English in Hmong, Somali, and Spanish. These services are made possible through partnerships with Project FINE, Hispanic Outreach of Goodhue County, and the Intercultural Mutual Assistance Association (IMAA). For more information about SEMAC’s language services, go to ((insert link)).
Contact Sharon Mansur, Outreach & Accessibility Manager, at sharon@semac.org or 507.322.1088, 711 TTY with questions, accessibility requests, or to set up language services.
SEMAC has served as the designated regional arts council for Dodge, Fillmore, Freeborn, Goodhue, Houston, Mower, Olmsted, Rice, Steele, Wabasha, and Winona, including the Prairie Island Indian Community since 1977.
SEMAC activities are made possible by the voters of Minnesota through grants from the Minnesota State Arts Board thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund.
