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Call for Socially-Engaged MN Artists: 2026-27 Spillway Fellowship

Type: Awards, Grants, Fellowships [View all]
Posted by: Art of the Rural
Deadline: Tue, March 31st, 2026

Through support for early career artists and culture bearers from Minnesota and the Native Nations in this geography, Art of the Rural’s Spillway Fellowship Program seeks applicants cultivating a range of work across visual art disciplines and socially-engaged practice. Apply: artoftherural.org/fellowship

Fellowships will be offered to artists and culture bearers whose practice is committed to considering the multilayered intersections of culture, land, and history. To advance this work and deepen these connections, fellows will build relationships with individuals and organizations across multiple local visits that culminate - through time and trust - in a public presentation, event, or exhibition in the region of Winona, Minnesota, Dakota homelands.

With support from The Jerome Foundation, the Spillway Fellowship Program connects the creativity and vision of fellows to the complex social, historical, land-based questions, legacies, and intercultural dynamics of this region. Drawing upon Art of the Rural’s long-term local and regional partnerships, this fellowship offers artists and culture bearers the time and relational space in which to engage and offer their creative practice towards meaningful social impacts. 

The program offers a deep, intercultural, and career-expanding experience to early career artists and culture bearers while providing the region with opportunities for public dialogue, community creativity, and intercultural exchange. Art of the Rural will create specific, valuable media to document the fellows’ work, and activate our national network of artists, curators, thought leaders, and partners to engage with the artists and expand visibility and network connectivity for their work.

At-a-Glance

In 2026, two selected individuals will have the opportunity to move through the Spillway Fellowship Program. The fellowship will take place in Winona region between Summer 2026 - Fall 2027. Fellows will visit Winona four times over the course of the Fellowship, including two multi-day visits in Summer 2026 and Spring 2027, and for a gathering in Fall 2026 and Fall 2027. 

The majority of the fellowship is self-guided, social, and research-based, but studios/creative workspaces can be made available as needed during the week-long visits, which are facilitated by Art of the Rural and our partners. Each fellow will receive $10,000 in support, with travel, food, and lodging costs covered by Art of the Rural.

Fellows will also engage with the completed public presentations by the first year’s fellows in Fall 2026, thus creating threads of conversation and relationships that will advance their creative practice. This year’s selected fellows will have the opportunity to exhibit work at the Winona County History Center or the Engage Winona community collaborative space in Fall 2027. Through Art of the Rural’s partnership with Honoring Dakota Project, fellows will also have the opportunity to learn more about the dynamics of Dakota life and culture, while reflecting upon the futures of intercultural collaboration in this region.

 

Posted on Wed, March 18th, 2026
Expires on Tue, March 31st, 2026

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