City of Minneapolis awards nearly $700,000 in first-ever Cultural Districts Arts Fund

The city of Minneapolis’ Arts & Cultural Affairs Department announced the awardees of its first-ever community arts fund awards, totaling $690,000, on Tuesday at a news conference at the Midtown Global Market. Seven districts in the city will benefit from the awards: 38th Street, Cedar Avenue South, Central Avenue, E. Lake Street, Franklin Avenue E., Lowry Avenue N., and W. Broadway.

“We’ve got art all throughout the city, in seven different cultural districts,” Mayor Jacob Frey said. “If you are seeing something you’re impressed by, there’s beautiful art that pops up on the street or there’s suddenly people dancing, that is probably the work of our incredible city team.”

There are three categories of awards: Cultural District Ambassadors ($15,000 each); Festival and Cultural Spaces Activation Program Awards (ranging from $15,500-$16,700), and Pop-Up Art & Cultural Activations Program ($5,000 each). Each district receives almost $100,000 spread across the three types of awards.

The Cultural Districts Arts Fund is the brainchild of Ben Johnson, the first-ever Arts & Cultural Affairs director. He started the job in March 2023, and in a little over a year created this initiative and secured funding for it. His department also set up a separate fund of a quarter of a million dollars for artists to take over vacant storefronts. Recipients will be announced mid-October.

Ashely Koudou, founder and CEO of Mango Day, a collective that works with artists, small businesses and entrepreneurs on marketing and branding, became the first-ever cultural district ambassador for Central Av.

She has a background in advertising and design. After joining Public Functionary Studios, an organization that helps people of color and marginalized artists’ grow and cultivate their art, she was inspired to work with artists on cultivating their businesses.

“With this [cultural district ambassador] initiative, we are able to take it to a different level,” Koudou said. “How do these artists show up in the consumer market?”

Johnson sees the awards as just the beginning.

“We had almost 300 applicants in this first round of funding, and we awarded 65,” Johnson said. “We know that the next time we do this it will be equally as competitive and popular. That funding will be available next spring.”