Two arts organizations awarded NDCA grants

Two arts organizations affiliated with Minot State University were awarded Institutional Support grants from the North Dakota Council on the Arts in support of their efforts to provide arts programming in Minot. Art Friends of the Northwest Art Center was awarded $5,980 and the North Dakota Art Gallery Association (NDAGA) was awarded $6,390.

The grant to Art Friends, the advisory and support organization of the Northwest Art Center, will help provide funds for NAC’s two galleries, the Hartnett Hall Gallery and the Library Gallery on the campus of Minot State University, as well as programming for the Northwest Art Center Lecture Series. The center’s galleries focus on exhibitions by contemporary artists. About 20 exhibits are presented each year, featuring a cross section of local, regional and national talent.

The NDAGA grant will help provide funding for its ongoing artist’s support and touring exhibition programs. NDAGA is a nonprofit corporation organized in 1975 that recognizes and honors outstanding contemporary, folk and traditional visual artists. Administered by a board of gallery member representatives, the association provides professional training opportunities, while coordinating common information and services for gallery personnel and its members. Headquarters is in the MSU Art Department.

"Without such support our mission would be impossible to accomplish." said Linda Olson, NDAGA executive director. "NDAGA is grateful for the opportunity to continue to address the expansion of arts programming in North Dakota."

"The Northwest Art Center is a valuable educational and cultural resource for northwest North Dakota. School groups from throughout the area take field trips to our galleries, and our lecture series is well supported by the community," said Director Avis Veikley. "The lectures have covered topics from insanity on the prairie to quantum physics to vampires."

Speakers include MSU faculty, regional lecturers, and visiting scholars. All exhibitions and lectures are free and open to the public.

The two organizations were among 57 recipients receiving Institutional Support grants totaling $348,835 this round. The Institutional Support program is designed to benefit artists, arts organizations, and the general public. The program provides general support for qualifying arts and cultural organizations that have proven they have strong management and leadership, quality artistic programming and services, and are an important part of the arts infrastructure in their communities.

The North Dakota Council on the Arts is the state agency responsible for the support and development of the arts throughout North Dakota, and is funded by the state legislature and the National Endowment for the Arts.

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