2024 McKnight Fellow Chitra Vairavan by Canaan Mattson

The McKnight Fellowships for Choreographers annually awards three fellowships of $25,000 each to Minnesota choreographers. 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.

The intent of the McKnight Artist and Culture Bearers Fellowship is to recognize and support Minnesota artists and culture bearers who are beyond early practice, have sustained experience in their discipline, and demonstrate exceptional accomplishments. In addition to the cash award, fellows receive additional support for career development and are invited to attend a four-day retreat in rural Minnesota. Fellows are also offered funds for research and development that can be used to visit New York City during APAP and engage collaborators and spaces in their creative process.

Support for individual artists has been a focus of the McKnight Foundation's Arts and Culture program since its inception. The foundation recognizes that the arts cannot flourish or enhance community life without the ideas, energy, and drive of individual artists and culture bearers and that artists cannot make these contributions without unfettered creative time. Awards are made in 15 disciplines through 13 arts organizations.

APPLICATION DEADLINe

The Intent to Apply form is now closed.

If you missed the Intent to Apply step, you may still complete the full application in spring. If you submitted your Intent to Apply, you may continue to notify us of your upcoming performances using the Calendar form. The panel will try to attend work through mid-May 2025.

This step is not required for the final application in the spring, but is heavily encouraged. Only artists who have completed the Intent to Apply can submit performances to the calendar and have Minnesota-based panelists attend in-person when possible.

Final Application: Wednesday, March 19th, 2025 at 3:00 pm CST

The full application will open in mid-January.
The final deadline is firm, the application site will close down at exactly 3:00 pm CST on Wednesday, March 19th, 2025.
Applicants will be notified of the decisions in early June 2025.

Watch this video to hear an overview of the program. Closed captioning available.