McKnight Fellowships for Choreographers and Dancers to move to Springboard for the Arts
McKnight Fellowship Programs for Choreographers and Dancers will move to Springboard for the Arts as an interim administrative home on July 1st, 2025.
Since the closing of The Cowles Center for Dance and the Performing Arts in March 2024, the fellowship programs have remained under the Artspace umbrella. “Fellowship Program staff are grateful to Artspace for their support over the past eleven months, which allowed us to offer uninterrupted services and programming,” said Program Director, Dana K. Kassel. “This upcoming move allows the Fellowship programs to continue fostering creativity and community while future plans are considered.”
Bao Phi, McKnight Arts & Culture Program Officer shares, “the McKnight Foundation is grateful that Springboard for the Arts is able to step in as the interim organizational home for these Fellowships. Their involvement ensures that there is no interruption in the vital support for the dancer and choreographer community in Minnesota during this transition period. As we search for a permanent home for the Fellowship, Springboard’s role is essential in maintaining continuity and fostering growth within the community.”
Founded in 1991, Springboard for the Arts works at the intersection of arts and economic and community development, helping local artists and communities thrive together. Springboard’s mission is to support artists with the tools to make a living and a life, and to build just and equitable communities full of meaning, joy, and connection. This is not the first time Springboard for the Arts has provided this crucial support; they also served as the interim home for the Dancers and Choreographers Fellowships back in 2011.
McKnight Artist and Culture Bearer Fellowships deliver significant financial support to individual artists beyond early practice, whose body of work demonstrates artistic excellence. As a result, three Choreographer Fellows and three Dancer Fellows will individually receive $25,000 to set aside time for study, reflection, experimentation, and exploration to take advantage of an opportunity or work on a new project. The McKnight Fellowships for Choreographers and Dancers are designed to enrich and strengthen our community by acknowledging the accomplishments of individual choreographers and dancers and providing for their artistic growth.
McKnight Fellowships for Choreographers and the McKnight Fellowships for Dancers provide awards to individual choreographers and dancers who are beyond early practice and who reside in Minnesota. The McKnight Fellowships are designed to enrich and strengthen our community by acknowledging the accomplishments of individual choreographers and dancers and providing for their artistic growth.
The McKnight Foundation funds individual artist and culture bearer fellowships in 15 artistic disciplines. Support for individual artists has been a cornerstone of The McKnight Foundation’s Arts and Culture program since it began in 1982. The foundation recognizes that the arts cannot flourish or enhance community life without the ideas, energy, and drive of individual artists and that artists cannot make these contributions without unfettered creative time.
See the links below for program information as translated written and audio files:
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THE FELLOWSHIPS
The McKnight Fellowships for Choreographers and Dancers annually awards three $25,000 fellowships to Minnesota choreographers and three $25,000 fellowships to Minnesota dancers. The awards are unrestricted and can help an artist set aside periods of time for study, reflection, experimentation, and exploration; take advantage of an opportunity; or work on a new project.