Two Decades of Tours

Photo Credit: Arts Midwest

For 22 years—from 2003 to 2025—Arts Midwest toured international musicians and ensembles to communities across the region through World Fest.

World Fest was created by Arts Midwest’s founding President & CEO David Fraher and longtime board member Sylvia Kaufman. They designed the program with a simple mission: to foster understanding of and appreciation for global uniqueness and differences, creating opportunities for two-way cultural exchange.

Each program cycle, Arts Midwest partnered with nine communities—one in each Midwest state. Over the course of two to three years, we toured anywhere from four to six ensembles to these communities for weeklong residencies.

Activities included school workshops for students of all ages, jam sessions with local musicians, performances at community and senior centers, and more—all capped off by a celebratory public concert at the end of the week.

Photo Credit: Shigeyo Henrequez

Adaptation and Change

It wasn’t always easy. Over the course of World Fest’s two decades of tours, we navigated changing visa requirements, COVID-19 shutdowns, and shifts in the touring landscape.

Coming out of the pandemic, we reimagined the program to focus more on celebrating the many cultures that exist here in the Midwest—including in the communities the program visited.

Despite these challenges, the program never failed in its mission. World Fest brought people of all ages together. It connected them across geography, across culture, and across language.

Over and over, we heard from participants—students, audience members, and musicians alike—that World Fest was like nothing they’d experienced before.

Photo Credit: Shigeyo Henrequez.

Photo Credit: Charity Manness

Photo Credit: Arts Midwest

Photo Credit: Ken Carlson

Photo Credit: Grant Tetmeyer

Photo Credit: Arts Midwest

Photo Credit: Eric Young Smith

Photo Credit: Lindajoy Fenley

Photo Credit: Cassidy Porter

Photo Credit: Eric Young Smith

Curtain Call

After 22 years, the final World Fest tours have come to an end. Yet Arts Midwest’s commitment to fostering enriching, engaging, and unexpected musical experiences in Midwestern communities has not changed.

World Fest has come full circle. Two decades after that concert in Fairmont, Minnesota, the Fairmont Opera House once again hosted World Fest artists in our final 2022–2025 cycle.

The Opera House’s executive director, Blake Potthoff, was in attendance when the first World Fest tours passed through Fairmont back in 2003–2005. His experiences with Chuchumbé, Gullah Kinfolk, Esta Ensemble, and Bamboo Orchestra never left him—and in turn, he’s now able to share artists from both his local community and across the globe with the people of Fairmont.

We couldn’t ask for anything more to come out of World Fest.

Read more about what we’re taking away from World Fest and bringing into our future work in our “What We Learned” companion piece.

Spotify Playlist of World Fest Artists

World Fest Community Partners

Funders + Supporters

From its inception, World Fest was supported by a coalition of partners who provided important funds and resources. The National Endowment for the Arts, the nine Midwest State Arts Agencies, and other public and private funders, including 3M, the Hearst Foundations, BNSF Railway Foundation, and Margaret A. Cargill Philanthropies, helped ensure the program’s success for more than two decades.

Thank you to all the funders and organizations who made the program possible!

The post Celebrating 22 Years of World Fest appeared first on Arts Midwest.

Every cycle, Arts Midwest worked with nine local partners in smaller Midwestern communities to host artists. Over the course of a year, two international ensembles would visit each community for weeklong residencies. Filled with school workshops, community visits, and celebratory public concerts, these residencies encouraged cultural appreciation, learning, and understanding.

Here’s what we learned along the way.

Photo Credit: Phillip Graulty

Lessons Learned and Unlearned

Intercultural Exchange Thrives on Personal Connection

Connecting rural communities and international musicians always made for memorable experiences, sometimes in unexpected ways. Time and again, we saw how face-to-face connection fuels meaningful cultural exchange.

Community partners discovered new aspects of their town through the eyes of visiting artists. Students with ties to an ensemble’s home country saw themselves reflected on stage. And new relationships were created between local residents of all backgrounds as they connected through shared artistic experiences.

Photo Credit: Arts Midwest

Photo Credit: Arts Midwest

Photo Credit: Shigeyo Henrequez

Photo Credit: Lindajoy Fenley

Photo Credit: Arts Midwest

Photo Credit: World Fest

Photo Credit: Wayne Beyer and Mary Gibbon, courtesy of Three Rivers Arts Council

Photo Credit: Eric Smith

Photo Credit: Arts Midwest

Photo Credit: Alana Horton

Photo Credit: Luke Rivard

Adapting to Each Community Made the Program Stronger

Photo Credit: Dan Crews

For each round of World Fest, we partnered with one organization in each of the nine states we work in throughout the region, with a focus on rural communities.

Each World Fest community was different, so each local partner customized their World Fest experience in different ways that reflected their unique context.  Whether they were a theater regularly presenting performing acts, a local arts council, or a city government, each partner found creative ways to make the most of their residency week.

Each week included 10-12 community workshops and a public concert. This format allowed partner organizations to reach a wide section of their community without overwhelming the musicians. These workshops could take whatever form was the best fit for the community. Some chose all school assemblies, some focused on regional library outreach, some did more in-depth residency work with music students, and most did a combination of activities.

Having a flexible template also made it easier to fit ensemble needs and interests. Some communities offered cooking demonstrations, hands-on choral work, dance workshops, or other specialized activities. Most ensembles were eager to share their music and other elements of their culture in special ways.

But, working out all this customization and variation necessitated lots of care and attention on all ends.

Evolving Needs Called for New Ways of Working

Over the last 22 years, a constantly changing world meant World Fest had to stay nimble.

For much of the program’s history, Arts Midwest supported artists in securing visas by submitting petitions on their behalf. But over time, that process became increasingly difficult—timelines grew longer, costs went up, and uncertainty became the norm.

To keep the program running smoothly and focus more energy on working with communities, we stepped back from direct visa support and instead prioritized artists who already had visas, didn’t require one, or could obtain one independently.

We also streamlined tour logistics by bringing on dedicated tour managers to work directly with the ensembles. Because of the length, logistics, and number of details involved in keeping track of World Fest activities, this shift enabled Arts Midwest to focus more on working with local partners and facilitating meaningful connections between communities and ensembles.

When the pandemic hit, like everyone, we moved programming to the virtual world with World Fest Online, where we worked with ensembles to create educational video content, paired with study guides and activity prompts.

Flexibility kept the program moving forward, evolving with the needs of the moment.

Communities Took on a Lot—and Built Something Lasting

The initial model of World Fest covered all artist fees, backline, and travel, offering communities a week’s worth of programming—but leaving them to shoulder lodging expenses and their staff time. That was a big lift, especially for mostly small, rural organizations.

And still, partners made it work. They juggled schedules, rallied volunteers, and brought their community together to make each residency possible.

In 2023, we introduced a Hub City model, where a group of World Fest communities helped select ensembles, coordinated tour details, and received compensation for their work. It was a step toward better recognizing the time, energy, and care asked by the program. Along the way, Arts Midwest shared templates, evaluation tools, and photo-documentation support so partners had practical resources to build on.

Working side-by-side across the Midwest helped communities build additional skills around hosting touring musicians, expanding community outreach, and planning together. That cohort approach has laid the groundwork for future block-booking opportunities and other network collaborations.

After coordinating multiple residencies over several years, many of our Hub City partners told us the work felt easier, and that they felt more equipped to keep going. From the latest cycle, 7 of the 10 community partners are actively working on planning their own music programming—proof that the effort they invested into World Fest is growing into something larger.

Photo Credit: Val Ihde

A Week in One Place Still Makes a Big Difference

Even as World Fest is sunsetting, we believe the basic model of week-long residencies in a rural community still holds a lot of value.

The week-long residency format keeps musician travel to a minimum while allowing for deeper local engagement locally. It alleviates some climate concerns that come with the frequent travel required from typical touring, where artists often hop from city to city with little time in between.

It also offers artists steady, reliable work. Instead of scrambling to fill gaps between shows, they spend several weeks moving through communities with a clear schedule and purpose. The pace is demanding, but efficient—and rewarding.

These tours also meets a real need in smaller towns. At many school assemblies, we heard from teachers and administrators that their students rarely had access to live music–with one school telling us they hadn’t had any live performance at the school in over 20 years.

But most of all, this format creates space for connection. Community members might run into the group at the grocery store or coffee shop and then see them at their church the next evening. Many times, students would bring their whole family to the groups’ concerts after seeing them at their school earlier in the week.

And for many rural Midwesterners, the world felt a little smaller thanks to World Fest programming.

Conclusion

Since World Fest began in 2003, the world has changed—but the need for connection and cultural exchange remains.

Over the years, the landscape for presenting and touring has shifted dramatically. And while the World Fest model offers deep impact, it also came with real complexity in the form of visas, travel logistics, rising costs, and strain on community partner capacity.

We still believe in what made World Fest meaningful: time spent in place, relationships built face-to-face, and the kind of learning that can take place when people share space, stories, and sound.

As we look ahead, we’re thinking about how to carry those values forward in new ways. That might mean offering more flexible grants for communities to design their own residencies, connecting cohorts of organizations, or creating tools and resources to support exploration of global cultures.

We’re so proud of what World Fest made possible, and excited to see what comes next.

The post What We Learned – World Fest appeared first on Arts Midwest.

We spoke to Kim about her journey to North Dakota, the state’s evolving creative landscape, and the many miles she’s logged over the years.

Can you describe the work of the North Dakota Council on the Arts?

North Dakota Council on the Arts (NDCA) is a state arts council funded primarily by the National Endowment for the Arts and the North Dakota State Legislature. We support arts organizations and artists through grant programs, offer professional development, arts education, traditional arts programming, and initiatives such as Arts Across the Prairie.

Photo Credit: Kim Konikow

Your career has taken you around the country. What did your path look like to North Dakota look like?

I love the arts. I was surrounded by it growing up. My dad, even though he was a dentist by day, was the Chamber Music Society of Detroit director for over 40 years. My mom worked at the Detroit Institute of Arts.

I feel like all the things that I’ve done in my career led me to this position. I have a degree in directing and arts administration. I developed my skills at Brooklyn Academy of Music, Minnesota Dance Alliance, and Dance/USA. I did some artist management for several years when I was getting out of grad school. And I even had a little bit of local and regional government experience in southern Utah while I was working at an artist residency center.

I had one year in a job where I was not involved in the arts, when I worked for a catering company, but even then, we hired artists, and we did arts events. I just couldn’t escape it.

Clearly, I ended up in arts management, but I do think it’s an artistic skill. I think it’s about moving people from where they’re at to the next level and helping them achieve their goals. I feel like that fits in well with what we do at North Dakota Council on the Arts. By bringing people together, arts and culture have an opportunity to grow.

When did you start as executive director?

I started here six-and-a-half years ago. My first day of work was January 12, 2018. A friend and I drove from Southern Utah to here. There’s a great photo of me leaping in front of the “Welcome to North Dakota” sign on the border.

It was a very interesting first day. We had a board meeting taking place. It was frigid, and the snow was deep. I remember thinking, “Wow. What am I doing?”

What do you want people to know about the creative landscape in North Dakota?

It’s a big state and there are not a lot of people here. There are six “major cities” with Fargo being the biggest of them all. Then everything else is just much smaller and much more rural. There’s a lot going on, but it’s sometimes happening in small ways.

When I first came here, I had an idea of what professional arts work looked like. Over time, that definition has shifted.

Some of the strongest work taking place here is based on cultural heritage and traditions. There’s a lot of people here who don’t want to use the word “artist” to describe what they do, because it’s not something they do full time or are earning a living at. I think that’s true in many places across the country, but it seems particularly obvious here in North Dakota.

What’s changed since you joined the Arts Council?

Our budget has doubled since I came in. The growth in that funding has allowed us to become more than just a grant maker. We’ve been able to expand the staff, we’ve been able to increase programs, which means we’ve been able to offer more to our communities. We’ve also done a lot of work to capture our return on investment – we participated in the Americans for the Arts “Arts and Economic Prosperity” study for the first time since 2016.

I’m also very proud of the progress we’ve made towards greater accessibility. We formed a committee called REACH (Responsivity, Equity, Accessibility, Community and Humanity) to think how we approach our work, and we’ve noticed far more applications and grantees from diverse communities.

We’ve created an amazing new fellowship in partnership with Sacred Pipe Resource Center, where we’re focusing on professional development for Indigenous artists. And we’ve started a new program that offers organizations small grants to assist with accessibility accommodations.

What projects are you the proudest of? 

Probably Arts Across the Prairie, which is came to me in the middle of the night in 2019. It’s a first-of-its-kind, statewide, public art program that will create eight large-scale public works that reflect the unique history, landscape, and cultural heritage of each of North Dakota’s regions.

I was wondering, what would bring people together? And it felt like one way to do this was to create art, which is not something that state arts agencies usually do. We don’t usually make things; we help other people make things.

We’ve raised private dollars. We’ve gotten a legislative commitment specifically toward the maintenance of the pieces, which is a huge deal, so they won’t fall into disrepair. The state is working on easements with rural property owners and maintenance agreements on how to manage those pieces. We have selected three artists and are about to select a fourth. We have already selected four artists.

The installations are really in the birthing process right now. It’s very exciting.

Looking ahead, what do you see as the most critical opportunities for the arts and creativity in North Dakota?

I think being open to building relationships outside of your comfort zone is critical. There are funding and partnership opportunities that I think people just don’t know about, through local banks or Chambers of Commerce or economic development offices.

We need to make sure that arts and culture have a place at the planning table, and that we don’t wait to be invited. You have to inquire and make a case for why you as a citizen first and then an artist or cultural organization are important to that process.

I think it’s also important to build relationships with legislators. They want to hear from the people who they serve. They are people before they’re legislators. So by building relationships with them, maybe you become the person they can talk to about the arts.

Are there personal lessons you’ve learned during your time as an executive director?

It’s better to go out and meet people where they’re at than to stay here in our state capital. Trust me, I’ve done both. I’ve logged a lot of miles in going to the far corners of the state and visiting with people, and that’s been incredibly effective.

Show your passion. Display your passion. Have an open mind and don’t let the bureaucracy get you down.

What’s next for you?

I would like to continue to work with artists and arts organizations, on placemaking and community building through arts and culture. I feel like I couldn’t stop working if I wanted to. I find that I’m always trying to bring people together to make something happen.

The next person to take up the mantle as Executive Director will be Jessica Christy. Born to two artists on the Sanger Art Farm, near Valley City, Jessica received her undergraduate degree from Valley City State University and her MFA from the University of North Dakota in 2011. Since then, she has worked as an artist, educator, and arts administrator, most recently in Chicago. Learn more about Jessica at the North Dakota Council on the Arts website.

The post Kim Konikow Reflects on Six Years as Executive Director of North Dakota Arts Council  appeared first on Arts Midwest.

As they reach the halfway point, three members of the Midwest cohort have shared their reflections on their journey within the group so far, as well as updates on some of their projects. Below, you can read insights from Anna Gonzalez, L Sam Zhang, and Wakinyan Chief.

Anna Gonzalez

Community Engagement Coordinator, American Players Theatre

“Last June I moved across the country to begin my new career in Arts Administration working as Community Engagement Coordinator at in Spring Green, Wisconsin. Working at APT has been my dream job for years and while I was extremely excited, I was also intimidated to be the first person to work in this newly created department. I am lucky to be able to work daily with communities in and around the city of Madison and to identify and break down barriers that may prevent new audiences from being able to travel the 40 miles to see classical theatre in the woods of Spring Green.

I have been amazed by the warm and enthusiastic response I received from community leaders who are eager to develop strategic partnerships to help make the performing arts accessible to everyone. Through these partnerships, I am lucky to be able to create new programming to help audiences feel welcomed at APT and I am so excited about what I am working on for the 2024 season.

The biggest project I am spearheading is a brand-new program called Check Out APT. This partnership between APT and 18 public libraries in Dane County provides complimentary ticket vouchers to library patrons. These vouchers can be redeemed for two tickets to any of our outdoor theatre performances. I am also working on Community Dialogue events designed to enhance the theater-going experiences for Black, Indigenous, Latine, and LGBTQIA+ audiences. These brand-new events are intended to provide opportunities to connect with the artistic staff and BIPOC audiences so that together we can explore the themes of the play and build community.

From the very first session, the National Leaders of Color Fellowship has been extremely supportive and I have enjoyed the opportunity to connect to other individuals doing similar work in their communities. I love the work I do at APT, but at times it can feel lonely to be a one-person department in a brand-new position trying to build community one email at a time. Since my days are spent thinking about how to build community for others, I don’t always have the energy to devote time to create a community for myself. The LoCF program provides an opportunity for me to connect with others who are on similar journeys and I look forward to the moments when I can connect specifically with the other fellows from Arts Midwest.

I love that together we can celebrate our successes and hold space for each other as we talk about the difficult aspects of trying to balance careers, personal lives, creative practices, and our dedication to supporting the arts in our communities. As someone devoted to creating community for others, I am so grateful for the talented and exceptional Leaders of Color staff who devote so much of their time to create a positive and supportive community for me and the other amazing fellows this year.”

L Sam Zhang

Executive Director, Kalamazoo Chinese Academy
Children’s Book Author and Illustrator

“I am the author and illustrator of THE FIRST CHINESE FESTIVALS series of picture books, which tells the legends, myths, and history behind festival traditions. I’m currently working on several publication projects including more picture books and a YA fantasy based on Chinese mythology. I am also the Executive Director of Kalamazoo Chinese Academy (KCA), a nonprofit organization that provides language, arts, and cultural experiences to youth in the greater Kalamazoo area. 

When I was notified of my acceptance into the National Leaders of Color Fellowship, I was grateful and excited, but I also didn’t know what to expect. I went into the first orientation session thinking I would only be given some general information about the program. Instead, hearing from the leaders of the program filled me with positivity and warmth, which I was then able to pay forward in the KCA STARTALK info session I led that same night. 

I had not realized just how much I needed something like this in my life. Every session has been a source of joy, excitement, and purpose which I hope to inject into my organization and creative endeavors. The sense of community and support I’ve received in this fellowship program has helped me deal with the challenges we face each day as leaders of BIPOC groups. The resources we’ve received, especially the one-on-one mentorship and counseling, have been invaluable. 

It has also been a joy to connect with other fellows in this program, both regionally and nationally. This program has reminded me of how kindness grows kindness. The nurturing environment has helped me accomplish more from a place of joy. 

As time went by, I became more active in our monthly sessions because I felt good about myself. I felt good and had clarity because I’ve been able to focus on my own goals, which right now is to publish more children’s books that represent Asian American perspectives. There are many challenges on an organizational level that limit change. Through the fellowship program, I realized that perhaps I can drive change more effectively as an individual writer than as a leader of a cultural organization. Instead of focusing on the uphill work that leaves me feeling drained and in despair, I can find joy in my work, be fueled by my passions, and live with hope for the future.”

Wakinyan Chief 

Arts Manager, Cheyenne River Youth Project

“Currently I’ve been very busy with juggling different roles at the Cheyenne River Youth Project and my main role being a new father. Supporting my partner with raising our baby and preparing for our second that’s due here in a few weeks. It can be hard for me to create without pressure to do so, painting graffiti for 18 years there is always the pressure to paint. So when I don’t have a deadline like an Art Show it can be very challenging for me to prioritize painting, also it’s difficult to focus on painting while caring for a baby. Caring for our baby and giving my partner a break when I get home from work is definitely more of a priority for me.

My partner’s family hosts quarterly Indigenous Art Markets in the Black Hills which is where we met originally. Having those markets is a catalyst that can give me the deadline pressure I need to create a lot of paintings, but my partner is also an artist so we take turns with the baby so the other one can paint, and while I’m at the market itself I like to use that as an opportunity to work on paintings as well. I’ve recently begun screen printing so that I can print my designs, and also so I can teach it to the teens that I work with. I’m also beginning to learn about tattooing, after many requests and suggestions to learn, but mostly the teens I work with are interested and so that’s been what has pushed me to learn more about various art forms. 

I’ve been very grateful for the opportunity to be a part of the National Leaders of Color program. I’m fairly new to being an Arts Administrator. It’s a role I never thought I would find myself in. I saw the more official/traditional Arts as being an exclusive space not inclusive of BIPOC folks and found my community in the underground counter-culture arts. So initially I didn’t feel like I belonged in this space and felt alone as I didn’t know any other Arts Administrators. Becoming a part of the National Leaders of Color has given me a sense of belonging in this space, as well as a sense of community. The workshops have been beneficial and inspirational in my work. All of these components have improved my sense of confidence as well as my knowing that I belong here. Hopefully, I can open the door for other young Indigenous Artists to find their place in this space. ” 

Photo Credit: Cheyenne River Youth Project

Meet all the 2023-24 Midwestern National Leaders of Color Fellows

The 8 fellows from Arts Midwest’s region will convene virtually with other Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) arts leaders from across the country in this 8-month program.

Learn More

The post Reflections from the Midwestern National Leaders of Color Fellows appeared first on Arts Midwest.

We the Many was a program of Arts Midwest that supported communities in creating artist residency experiences. It encouraged the exchange of voices, cultures, and ideas relevant to each community.

Throughout two phases, Arts Midwest partnered with six communities across the Midwest. Community partners received funding to guide and develop artist residencies in their local areas.

Our Partners

Read the We The Many Phase 2 Program Report

This report dives into the program’s process, impact, and lessons learned during We the Many’s second phase. It sheds light on the successes, challenges, and resiliency of creative community work.

Read More

Photo Credit: Daveed Holmes

By The Numbers

Lessons Learned and Unlearned

Shifting Power and Leadership Creates Meaningful Ownership

From the beginning, We the Many was set up to embed decision making and resources in our community partners. These partners led all planning about the shape of their artist residencies.

This was a new dynamic for Arts Midwest. One of our longstanding programs, World Fest, offers rural communities week-long international artist residencies. But these artists are typically selected by Arts Midwest, not community partners. Through We the Many, we were able to experiment with a new model of community-driven programming.

In designing this program, Arts Midwest took on the role of a “mirror,” reflecting each community’s strengths while providing support. We sought to build trust, collaboration, and creativity, and give our partners agency to achieve their goals.

In shifting the residency design process to our partners, we found that they felt deeply connected to and proud of their work.

Photo Credit: Sacred Pipe Resource Center

Photo Credit: Sisseton Arts Council

Photo Credit: Art on the Prairie

Photo Credit: Honeywell Arts + Entertainment

Photo Credit: La Luz Centro Cultural

Photo Credit: Daveed Holmes

With Flexibility Comes Both Challenges and Opportunities

To implement this community-driven design approach, We the Many offered a considerable amount of flexibility to our partners. It provided support and resources but did not prescribe specific residency project activities, art mediums, or themes. This approach centered trust-based partnership, and acknowledged that every community has unique strengths, needs and priorities.

The openness generated mixed feedback.

Some participants found it challenging, expressing a preference for more structure. Others had greater capacity for program design – or came with project ideas that were already in development.

There are many reasons for these differences.

Our Phase 1 partners joined us for piloting and experimentation. They supported Arts Midwest in shaping this program – together – and they stuck with it in the midst of COVID lockdown, testing new-to-all-of-us ways of bringing communities together over Zoom.

Our Phase 2 partners were operating in a different time, and we were able to bring new ways of working to those partnerships. This included larger, less restricted grants; structured coaching with Voices for Racial Justice; and culturally embedded leadership as BIPOC-led organizational partners.

It’s evident that embracing flexibility can lead to new ideas, partnerships, and programming approaches. But it’s also clear that programs like this one – intentionally unstructured – require more of our partners’ time and resources. We continue to explore a balance between structure and flexibility that works best for all our partners.

There’s No Substitute for In-Person Connections

In the world of artist residencies, building relationships is crucial. In We the Many, this work happened on different levels: between Arts Midwest and our partners, between partners and the artists they worked with, and between those artists and each community.

When we were able to return to in-person gatherings and community visits, we were reminded of how valuable it is to connect in shared space.

Community visits played a crucial role for Arts Midwest, offering valuable opportunities for building relationships and gaining perspective on communities and programming.

In fact, partner organizations expressed a desire for even more collaboration and opportunities to meet in person than we provided in this program, especially across We the Many communities. We the Many community partners and artists were able to build connections virtually through the monthly cohort sessions, and at least one in-person gathering could have deepened the connection further.

We’re working on building this feedback into the design of other programs, prioritizing in-person connectivity wherever possible.

Photo Credit: Sisseton Arts Council

Photo Credit: Art on the Prairie

Photo Credit: La Luz Centro Cultural

Photo Credit: Daveed Holmes

Photo Credit: Sacred Pipe Resource Center

Photo Credit: Honeywell Arts + Entertainment

Art and Creativity Don’t Happen in Isolation

A central goal of We the Many was to integrate artist residencies into communities in a meaningful way. We found that this integration is most successful when art and creativity are already seen as inseparable from other aspects of community life.

As Dr. Maria Jackson, chair of the National Endowment for the Arts, emphasized in American Artscape Magazine, “The arts do not exist in a bubble, in isolation. At their most powerful, the arts are integrated into all aspects of our lives and our civic infrastructure—the mechanisms and relationships we rely on to care for each other.”

Program participants like La Luz Centro Cultural embody this philosophy. La Luz addresses food insecurity, immigration processes, and provides safe havens for children after school, in addition to community art festivals and workshops. Through We the Many, La Luz expanded opportunities to promote and celebrate the presence and importance of Latino culture in their community, as “everything leads back to culture.”

In our selection process, we sought to identify organizations that make creativity an integral part of community expression, healing, and empowerment. Often, these organizations don’t see themselves mainly as “arts organizations” but include arts and creativity in a broader, community-focused mission.

La Luz Centro Cultural had not been on Arts Midwest’s radar before We the Many. But when the understanding of what an arts organization “looks like” shifts, impactful shifts in resource distribution follow.

Looking ahead, we’re working to make sure our programs, grants, and guidelines are more welcoming to organizations like La Luz and more supportive of organizations working at the intersection of the arts and other community needs.

Investment Matters – and Leads to New Opportunities

At the core of We the Many was grants to our partners for artist residencies and operations. Organizations were invited to develop unique and tailored artist residency projects, building off their existing creative and cultural leadership in their communities. This kind of financial support offered organizations the latitude to dream big and create impactful initiatives that make a difference.

Throughout the program, we heard from our partners that this investment allowed them to “level up” in their programming, operations, and community.

Organizations like For the Love of the Arts experienced significant growth and development, opening two new spaces for community members to learn, grow, and thrive. The Iowa Arts Council emphasized the value of We the Many’s investment in their state, saying: “The grant provided the rare opportunity for organizations to imagine and create at a scale that invited community participation and strengthened social fabric.”

Even beyond the program’s end, partners are carrying the work forward. Honeywell Arts & Entertainment built a new program, Honeywell CommUNITY Arts, based off their residency work. They have been embedding artists into Manchester Community Schools. This has allowed students to explore the arts through mediums such as storytelling, creative writing, and visual art.

Whenever possible, we seek to reduce restrictions on our support, knowing the positive impact it has on organizations. We recognize this kind of organizational and community support is like planting seeds that will continue to flourish and bloom for years to come.

Photo Credit: La Luz Centro Cultural

Wrapping Up + Gratitude

As We the Many sunsets, we want to express our sincere appreciation for the creativity, collaboration, and community that has unfolded over the years. Our gratitude extends to all our staff members and partners who joined us on this incredible journey through both Phase 1 and Phase 2. We believe that the creative seeds sown through We the Many will keep growing in unexpected and meaningful ways.

We would also like to thank Voices for Racial Justice and Katie Robinson. Katie played a pivotal role in facilitating several monthly cohort virtual gatherings for artists and project collaborators across the region, infusing invaluable perspectives and a crucial racial justice lens into the fabric of our community-building work.

We the Many was a project of Arts Midwest with generous support from the Mellon Foundation and in partnership with the Indiana Arts Commission, Iowa Arts Council, North Dakota Council on the Arts (2022-2024), and South Dakota Arts Council (2019-2021). 

The post What We Learned: We the Many appeared first on Arts Midwest.

The four-day work week has been getting a lot of well-deserved attention lately. Recent reports are showing that the majority of the companies that took part in the world’s largest four-day work week trial have decided to keep it permanently.

Based on our experience at Arts Midwest, this headline isn’t surprising. We believe the four-day work week is a powerful way to encourage productivity and overall well-being.  

But, our journey to the four-day work week wasn’t always easy. It took several tries and careful implementation to figure out the right fit for our organization. Here’s what we learned along the way.

How To Implement a Four-Day Work Week At Your Organization

Want more information about how to implement a four-day-work week at your organization? Check out this Ideas Hub article for a detailed roadmap about how to make this change successful.

Read More

Photo Credit: Alana Horton

Lessons, Learned and Unlearned

1: Change (No Matter How Exciting) Takes Careful Planning

Our story begins in 2019, when we went through our first executive leadership transition at Arts Midwest. We experienced higher than average staff turnover during this period, which was followed by an accelerated move to remote work in 2020 due to the pandemic. Staff members were dealing with hefty new additions to their workloads as they pivoted in-person programs to virtual and supported relief and recovery efforts.

By November 2021, burnout among our team members was palpable. Continuous uncertainty, coupled with a high-stress environment, prompted us to consider alternative approaches to supporting work-life harmony across our organization. This was when the idea of a four-day work week surfaced.

At the conclusion of a major Arts Midwest virtual event that required extra effort from our entire staff, our leadership team announced that we would be trying a four-day work week for the next six weeks.

But rollout wasn’t as smooth as we had hoped, and the feedback we received surprised us. We ran into seemingly endless logistical challenges due to pre-set deadlines. And our staff were concerned about having compressed meeting schedules and a lack of time for focus. As a result, many staff members continued working Fridays during this trial.

Overall, six weeks was not long enough to adjust and change fatigue diminished any benefits.  At the end of the trial, we quietly returned to a five-day work week.

Though this initial trial was disappointing, it highlighted the need for a more thoughtful and collaborative approach to implementing a four-day work at Arts Midwest.

2: If At First You Don’t Succeed, Try, Try Again

In 2022, we developed a Strategy Frame to guide our next 10 years. Simultaneously, we developed a Theory of Change and prepared to launch a new brand and website. We sunset some of our programs and began developing new ones.

We knew we would need energy and creativity for this new era. Could a different approach to the four-day work week be successful, we wondered?

We decided to try again, with a few important changes:

• We gave ourselves a month to plan before starting the trial.
• We committed to a six-month trial to allow people to fully adjust to new ways of working.
• We were transparent about this being a big leap into the unknown.
• We committed to check in monthly on how it was going.

To gain full organizational buy-in, we convened our staff for a retreat about wellbeing, with the four-day work week as a focus. This gathering provided a platform for open conversations, allowing every team member to voice their concerns, expectations, and suggestions.

Through those discussions, we established group agreements that were essential for a smooth transition to a four-day work week. These agreements addressed how we would adjust our workplans, streamline our meetings, and navigate policy questions. We also developed plans for letting our community know about our trial. Importantly, we talked about how we would know if the four-day work week was working for us and how we would decide whether or not to continue.

If you’d like to learn more about our shared agreements, read our Ideas Hub piece, “How To Implement a Four Day Work Week At Your Organization.”

Finally, we created a roadmap for the tasks we would need to achieve together using our project management software, Asana. Everyone had access to this shared plan and understood how it fit into their individual workplans.

After the difficulty of our first trial, we realized the importance of gaining full organizational buy-in and fostering a culture of trust. With a strong strategy in place, we felt confident about trying again. 

Photo Credit: Alana Horton

3: Rest Leads to Creativity – and Productivity

As we embraced the four-day work week, something special happened. The extra day off each week for rest started to counteract burnout and bring more creativity and intentionality into our work.  But these positive changes didn’t happen overnight.

First our staff had to get used to a new way of working. For some, there was an unwelcome sense of urgency. Others reported feeling behind in their work or like they did not have enough time for deep focus. Early on, quite a few told us they were frustrated about needing to work a bit on Fridays to catch up.

As we moved through the trial, staff also talked about how it improved their work-life balance, let them spend more time with family, gave them space for creative hobbies, and made weekends more enjoyable. Equally as important, this restful space also had a big impact on how our staff engaged meaningfully with their work.

Despite some of the concerns staff raised about managing their workloads, the results we achieved during the trial indicate that there was no loss of productivity. Arguably, it increased.

Between 2022 and 2023, we launched new programs, introduced a new brand and website, implemented new technology, and continued to invest in the professional development of our team, all without disrupting our regular activities. These results made it clear that our team could continue to meet the needs of our constituents within a four-day work week. And to our delight, many constituents told us they were interested in learning more about the four-day work week.        

By the end of the trial, every staff member said they wanted the four-day work week to continue.  We were thrilled that our staff survey showed that 90% of respondents felt more creative because of the four-day work week. And, our voluntary turnover rate dropped dramatically, going from 14% in FY22 to 0% in FY23.

4. This Changes Everything: Embracing the Power of Transformation

To fully unlock the benefits of the four-day work week, it’s crucial to approach this shift comprehensively and be open to adopting more effective ways of working. It is only through reflecting on the last five years of continuous change that it’s possible to see how fully we have transformed as an organization.

Arts Midwest is not what it was in 2019, when most of our staff came to work in an office in Minneapolis five days each week and relied heavily on manual processes and in-person communication. Our current team is spread out across our region. We use project management and messaging software to bring clarity and visibility to our work and shared goals. We’ve introduced technology and automations in how we operate that save time in ways we couldn’t have imagined five years ago. We have reshaped the very fabric of how we collaborate and accomplish our goals. The four-day work week has been just one part of a larger shift towards a more efficient, creative, and adaptable Arts Midwest.

None of this has been easy. It took us years to introduce and learn new systems, let alone break our old habits and ways of working. Sometimes we’ve felt change fatigue at the very mention of a new idea, and sometimes we miss our office culture of the past like an old friend. But we believe that the four-day work week has given us much-needed resilience to move through whatever changes may lie ahead.

Implementing a four-day work week is a bold move. Like any major change, it comes with its share of challenges and skeptics. Yet, we firmly believe it’s worth exploring as a means of centering employee wellbeing and fostering creativity.

We invite others to consider the transformative potential of a four-day work week. You may discover, as we have, that a well-thought-out shift can indeed change everything for the better.

Wrapping Up + Gratitude

A big shout-out also goes to other organizations that helped shape the creation of our four-day work week, such as insights from the 4DWW Global Study and National Arts Strategies.

We also want to express our sincere thanks to our stakeholders, constituents, and staff. Their support and openness to this transformative change have been crucial to its success.

For those eager to learn more about the possibilities of a four-day work week, we’ve put together a detailed roadmap in our Ideas Hub. It’s a step-by-step guide with questions to consider for organizations thinking about making this transformative shift.

If you have additional questions about Arts Midwest’s journey, have press inquiries, or are looking for someone to present on the four-day work week, please reach out to Chief Administrative Officer Emily Anderson.

The post What We Learned: Four-Day Work Week appeared first on Arts Midwest.

Participating organizations were primarily led by Black, Indigenous, and people of color; many were centered in rural communities. They shared regionality but were diverse in size, mission, structure, audience, and the communities they served.  

The purpose of bringing these incredible organizations together was to support them in making art and culture central to problem-solving. The program leveraged three strategies to support that work: 

Photo Credit: Nedahness Greene

By the Numbers 

The Community Creativity Cohort supported 40 organizations across the Bush Foundation’s geography of North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, and the 23 Native nations that share the same geography.

Explore Stories from the Cohort

Featuring

• Julie Garreau

  Cheyenne River Youth Project

• Dr. Gene Gelgelu

  African Economic Development Solutions

• Buddy King

  Higher Works Collaborative

• Maggie Rousu

  White Earth Land Recovery Project

• Michael Hoyt

  Pillsbury House + Theater

• Stephanie Rogers

  Anderson Center at TowerView

Lessons Learned and Unlearned 

When Arts Midwest partnered with Bush Foundation to manage the operations of this Community Creativity Cohort, we were committed to trying new ways of working, to building relationships with new partners and advisors, and to centering the participants in the program.  

Many of those things happened. But not perfectly, and not all the time.  

Four months after the official handoff from Bush Foundation, we found ourselves in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. Our early plans for in-person gatherings shifted to virtual; travel among participants to each other’s communities was put on hold. We had staffing transitions, shifted plans mid-stream in response to evaluation and feedback, and extended our original timeline so we could gather folks in person and wrap up our work. 

Our organizational values are equity, integrity, and learning. In the spirit of doing the work, holding ourselves accountable, and making space for growth, feedback, and brave conversations, here is what we learned along the way.  

1. Collective leadership takes time and capacity

This program was at its best when it was being created and debated by its participants. But that model can take a toll on participants who are already at capacity. 

From the start, the Community Creativity Cohort was intended to be participant-driven. Within this model, we knew: 

• Capacity building, trainings, and workshops would be strongest when they were identified and initiated by the participants.  
• Funding models and decisions would be more equitable when they came from the community.  
• Retreats and networking would be most effective if participants were in the lead on setting the agenda and shaping the content. 

In many ways, this model was successful – helping participants make new connections with each other, share perspectives, and deepen their experiences.

In their final report, our independent evaluators reflected, “Centering in what is useful and meaningful to people of color, Indigenous people, and rural communities was highlighted as the most important principle by those interviewed.” 

But how do you balance the positives of co-creation with the reality of decision fatigue, overwork, and burnout? 

The program intentionally selected 40 community-based organizations as participants. The four years of the program spanned the first two years of the COVID-19 pandemic and local and national calls for racial justice. The stakes, and community needs, were higher than ever for many of our partner organizations. This meant that even though participants were full of ideas and ambition, they were tight on time and resources.

We found ourselves asking: When do you set co-creation aside and make a plan, so others don’t have to? When are executive decisions helpful to keep the work moving and when are they detrimental to the outcome or the relationship? How do you facilitate a self-driven, de-centered program with a collective leadership model – while remaining accountable to your funder? How much should the latter even matter? 

While we continue to believe in and lean towards co-creation, these kinds of questions continue to surface in our work and projects.

2. It takes capacity to build capacity. 

At the start of the program, there were funds set aside for each organization for capacity building, networking, or projects. But by summer of 2021 – three years into the four-year program — less than half of the funds had been requested and disbursed.  

Many of the participants were deeply focused on how to respond to the varied needs of their communities. Understandably, though ironically, they didn’t have the capacity to pitch us on a project to build their capacity. 

So, we pivoted our grantmaking. We worked with Bush Foundation to reimagine those funds and disbursed them as general operating support rather than project support (see #4 below for more on that work). We removed the application and panel process, and reflected on our role in perpetuating problematic systems — these organizations were already in the program; why would they need to reapply for the funds that were already earmarked for them?  

We also pivoted our expectations around capacity building. Everyone was struggling with Zoom and webinar fatigue. Folks often lacked the time or energy to attend sessions, even those they had co-created.   

We reconsidered how to measure success. And we continued to remind ourselves that the value often isn’t in the breadth of participants served, but the depth of the content – the sparks and ideas that are catalyzed in smaller, more intimate conversations. 

3. Sometimes you need an incentive for self-care. 

In Fall 2021, we held a series of check-ins with participants and one theme emerged: folks were burned out. Teams were stretched thin, programs were a complicated mix of online, hybrid, and in-person; and communities were needing more – not less – of our participants. 

In response, we disbursed $750 to participating organizations. No strings attached, but we encouraged them to prioritize self-care, staff appreciation, and wellness.  

We did not burden participants by asking for a report back on how they used the funds (truly, no strings attached), but we remained hopeful that it would help folks treat their teams; honor some unprecedented, hard years; and bring rest to the forefront. 

As an intermediary, Arts Midwest doesn’t always have the power to decide how funds are disbursed or what they support. We were moved by the response, and are eager to find more ways to do this work.

Photo Credit: Robert Alberti

4. There is no substitute for general operating funds.

If there’s one thing that the pandemic made clear – there is absolutely no substitute for general operating funds. Full stop. 

As a grant-seeking organization, we have held that truth since long before the pandemic – all our nonprofit friends have. But as an intermediary – an organization that is often managing programs or disbursing grants on behalf of another funder – we don’t have the chance to give general operating funds as often as we’d like.  

When we pivoted the program’s capacity building fund into general operating support, we leaned into trust – knowing that the participants knew where those funds were needed most. What we saw is that trust begets trust.

The Community Creativity Cohort participants were able to give those funds more freely to their teams, to projects that just needed some support to cross the finish line, and to artists in their communities.  

Photo Credit: Sisseton Arts Council

Wrapping Up + Gratitude 

The Community Creativity Cohort program was designed with relationship building in mind.  It was structured to incentivize connectivity, peer-to-peer learning, and coalition building. To do that work across a group of 40 organizations took intentionality, communication, and organizing, transparency and trust. 

We want to extend profound gratitude is extended to all involved – including the participant organizations, the Bush Foundation, evaluators, and the creative communities that served as the beating heart of this transformative journey.

Even as the curtain closes on this chapter of work, the vision behind the Community Creativity Cohort continues on. We are filled with appreciation for the power of creativity and its profound impact on community development and collective well-being. These lessons learned from the Cohort will continue to influence future work at Arts Midwest.

We encourage you to learn more about the Community Creativity Cohort by reading stories about several organizations, created in partnership with NewPublica.

The post What We Learned: Community Creativity Cohort appeared first on Arts Midwest.

The project was rooted in a national research effort that studied how personal values relate to beliefs about and participation in arts and cultural activities. It drew on Metropolitan Groups’ building public will theory of social change, and worked with thousands of arts organizations and leaders across the United States to catalyze shifts around the way people support, advocate for, and expect creativity in their lives. 

Photo Credit: John Robson

What We Did 

Over the project’s nearly 10-year span, our team shared research findings at national conferences, workshops, and trainings; provided grants, tools, and technical assistance to organizations looking to test the recommendations in their communications and programming; and encouraged those organizations to help their audiences to connect with each other through creative experiences.  

Our work on Creating Connection culminated in December 2022 after a year-long, place-based engagement with arts and cultural organizations and artists in New Bedford, Massachusetts. You can read more about that community’s work in our story, “Strengthening Community, One Love Letter at a Time.”   

Lessons Learned and Unlearned: 

As we wrap up this project, we reflect on some lessons learned and unlearned along the way. 

1. Building public will is a long game. A good game, but a long game. 

Building public will can be an effective way to create social change. Rooting your strategies in existing values, connecting with communities around the issues they care about, and creating shared buy-in are critical components of making progress around an issue area.  

But that work can take an incredible amount of time and effort.   

Shifting public opinion can (sometimes) happen quickly, as can rallying a base of supporters around a particular cause. However, the long work of shifting narratives and motivating the public to take sustained action around your issue can and does, take decades. 

2. It can be difficult to measure progress. 

One of our greatest challenges in this program was to identify the specific change we expected to see as a result of our work.  

In some public will building campaigns those results are more tangible – e.g., building toward clean water or energy. But in a field as broad as “the arts” or, even broader, “the creative sector,” it becomes difficult to identify a shared vision of success.  

How do you measure if you’ve been successful in building public will for arts, culture, or creativity? Is it increased participation in creative activities? Greater investment in the arts? Better infrastructure to support a creative workforce? More arts education in our schools?  

For many of our project partners, the answer was an enthusiastic, “Yes! All of the above!”  

But in our experience, moving all that work forward, all at once, all the time, took an unsustainable level of buy-in and investment. It also became difficult to measure success at that scale. We learned that it was far easier to work on a smaller scale – measuring the results of a marketing campaign, supporting a place-based community effort, or tracking the outcome of a bill or public policy shift.  

3. Messages matter, so do the messengers and the audience. 

We learned early on in this project that the key to a successful building public will campaign is to root your messages in existing community values. That holds true – the key to a strong campaign is a resonant, motivating message that is rooted in what people care about. 

Messengers make a big difference too. We’re not advocating for celebrity spokespeople – rather those trusted voices that can act as champions for the cause.  

The audience, though, might be one of the biggest factors in messaging campaigns. Who are you speaking to? How will your message resonate (or not) with them?  

This became one of our biggest lessons learned. In these polarized times, is there one message that will resonate with everyone? We know that there are a number of tested messages about the arts – including the work we did on Creating Connection and NASAA’s work to shift political will.  

Maybe a combination of messages, based on audience, is most effective at making change? 

Photo Credit: John Robson

Wrapping Up + Gratitude 

As we wrap up our work on bringing Creating Connection trainings and workshops to communities across the country, we wish to extend our gratitude to the people who helped make it happen.  

Thank you to the many national, regional, and local foundations, corporations, and state arts agencies who supported this work. We extend special appreciation to the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation for their leadership investment in this project and to the Barr Foundation, for their steady support in the project’s final years.  

We also extend our thanks to the countless local advisors who joined us in asking big, ambitious questions about advancing social change, creating welcoming spaces, and leaning in to community values. 

For questions about building public will or how Creating Connection may be continuing, please contact the Metropolitan Group. 

The post What We Learned: Creating Connection  appeared first on Arts Midwest.

The goal of these efforts was to provide support to arts organizations that were losing revenue due to facility closures, canceled productions and exhibitions, and canceled programming.  

In total, we disbursed more than $5 million over the course of three years.

What We Did 

From 2020-2022, we worked with partners to design and launch three grant programs for Midwestern organizations. These programs drew on funding from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES) and the American Rescue Plan (ARP), as well as a privately funded U.S. Regional Arts Resilience Fund.   

In total, these programs directed more than 467 grants to small and midsize organizations in the Midwest. Grants ranged in size depending on funding source, with federally backed funds averaging $5,500 and private grants averaging $33,000. 

We were driven to disburse funds quickly and with minimal effort to grantees.  

Photo Credit: Chicago Cultural Center

Lessons Learned and Unlearned

Now three years out from the peak of this work, we reflect on some lessons learned along the way.

1. Faster does not always mean better. 

Time was of the essence in these programs as many arts organizations were losing earned income at an unprecedented rate. 

But grantmaking is not always a fast process.

The typical lifecycle of a grant program at Arts Midwest begins with a design phase that explores community needs and identifies intended outcomes. That process is followed by an application and guidelines development phase, application launch and support, panel review, notification and award administration. Finally, we oversee report collection and closeout. Depending on the program, this work can take more than a year to develop and launch. 

We didn’t have that kind of time. We tested two different strategies to shorten this process: 

In both these approaches, we learned that faster does not always mean better. 

The CARES/ARP model resulted in a lot more administrative tracking since each state application had slightly different requirements.

The Resilience Fund model stretched our capacity. From outreach to prospective grantees to processing nominations to conducting phone interviews, almost everyone at Arts Midwest pitched in to support this program. As a nonprofit attempting to manage and pivot its own programming during this time, the workload was unsustainable. 

2. Partnerships are invaluable. 

Many people helped these programs come to fruition.  

The input from our State Arts Agencies was essential to our process. We gained new insight into State Arts Agency application processes, built relationships with new-to-us organizations, and developed new cooperative working methods that have improved our programs and expanded our reach to new corners of the Midwest. 

We also built new relationships with the US Regional Arts Organizations (USRAOs) through our work with Mellon Foundation – pooling collective wisdom, ideas, and practices to strengthen our national partnership. This work has led to additional collaborations among the USRAOs, and we are finding new ways to work together to support artists and arts organizations across the country. 

3. There was simply not enough to go around. 

Signed into law through Federal legislation in 2020 and 2021, the CARES and ARP programs provided more than $200 million to the National Endowment for the Arts.  

Of this sum, Arts Midwest received approximately $2.05 million for grants to arts organizations. For the US Regional Arts Resilience Fund, we were able to issue approximately $3 million in grants.  

This combined pool of $5 million, disbursed over three years, was certainly helpful to grantee organizations but ultimately was not enough resource to support the widespread need among arts organizations, much less individual artists, in the Midwest.

While interest in these programs has waned among many funders, we recognize an ongoing need in the Midwest for consistent and sustainable funding, both during moments of crisis and beyond.

Photo Credit: Eastern Connecticut State University

Wrapping Up + Gratitude 

As we wrap up our work on these programs, we wish to extend our gratitude to the people who helped make it happen.  

Thank you to the National Endowment for the Arts and the nine State Arts Agencies who supported this work. We extend special appreciation to the Mellon Foundation and Builders Initiative for their investment in the US Regional Arts Resilience Fund.  

We also share our gratitude with the panelists for the Resilience Fund who helped in the decision-making process and to the many partners and colleagues who jumped in to support the quick distribution of these funds.  

And, of course, our deepest thanks go to the arts organizations, artists, and cultural workers across the Midwest who stood at the heart of these relief efforts. Your unwavering commitment to Midwestern creativity has been a profound source of inspiration for us throughout this journey.

The post What We Learned: Relief Funding  appeared first on Arts Midwest.