Archive: Grants, Fellowships, and Scholarships

Blue Fox Arts Fellowship Now Accepting Applications

Twin Cities visual artists, performing artists, and musicians are invited to apply for the 2026 Blue Fox Arts Fellowship.

The fellowship will award up to $10,000 to five artists whose proposed projects will help advance their artistic careers, overcome barriers to success, or leverage meaningful professional opportunities.

Blue Fox Arts is dedicated to connecting Twin Cities artists with the resources, mentorship, and support they need to continue creating and thriving. Through this fellowship, the organization invests in emerging artists while strengthening a more connected and vibrant creative community.

Application Deadline: Saturday, August 15 at 4:00pm CT

If you’re a visual artist, performing artist, or musician living in the Twin Cities with a project that could benefit from this support, we encourage you to apply. Choreographers and Dancers: include video excerpt links within narrative.

Learn more and submit your application through Blue Fox Arts.

Blue Fox Arts Fellowship Now Accepting Applications

Twin Cities visual artists, performing artists, and musicians are invited to apply for the 2026 Blue Fox Arts Fellowship.

The fellowship will award up to $10,000 to five artists whose proposed projects will help advance their artistic careers, overcome barriers to success, or leverage meaningful professional opportunities.

Blue Fox Arts is dedicated to connecting Twin Cities artists with the resources, mentorship, and support they need to continue creating and thriving. Through this fellowship, the organization invests in emerging artists while strengthening a more connected and vibrant creative community.

Application Deadline: Saturday, August 15 at 4:00pm CT

If you’re a visual artist, performing artist, or musician living in the Twin Cities with a project that could benefit from this support, we encourage you to apply. Choreographers and Dancers: include video excerpt links within narrative.

Learn more and submit your application through Blue Fox Arts.

NextGen ChoreoLab Application Extended

NextGen ChoreoLab is Ananya Dance Theatre’s fellowship program supporting early-career Minnesota artists as they deepen and mature their own artistic process.

Artists must be Minnesota-based, meaning that they must spend the majority of their year working and residing in Minnesota.

Artists must pursue work that is grounded in a non-Western movement vocabulary, or that is invested in challenging the predominantly Eurocentric underpinnings of concert dance.

  • Fellows will receive a stipend of $7,000 to fund their choreographic process.
  • Fellows will have access to 20 hours of free studio time during this period.
  • Fellows will develop a 10-20 minute choreographic work for the stage.
  • Fellows will participate in 3 process showings of their work, receiving feedback from mentors.

Application Deadline: Friday, July 31
Learn more and apply today!

NextGen ChoreoLab is supported by the Jerome Foundation.

Blue Fox Arts Fellowship Now Accepting Applications

Twin Cities visual artists and musicians are invited to apply for the 2026 Blue Fox Arts Fellowship.

The fellowship will award up to $10,000 to five artists whose proposed projects will help advance their artistic careers, overcome barriers to success, or leverage meaningful professional opportunities.

Blue Fox Arts is dedicated to connecting Twin Cities artists with the resources, mentorship, and support they need to continue creating and thriving. Through this fellowship, the organization invests in emerging artists while strengthening a more connected and vibrant creative community.

Application Deadline: Saturday, August 15 at 4:00pm CT

If you’re a visual artist or musician living in the Twin Cities with a project that could benefit from this support, we encourage you to apply.

Learn more and submit your application through Blue Fox Arts.

NextGen ChoreoLab Application Extended

NextGen ChoreoLab is Ananya Dance Theatre’s fellowship program supporting early-career Minnesota artists as they deepen and mature their own artistic process.

Artists must be Minnesota-based, meaning that they must spend the majority of their year working and residing in Minnesota.

Artists must pursue work that is grounded in a non-Western movement vocabulary, or that is invested in challenging the predominantly Eurocentric underpinnings of concert dance.

  • Fellows will receive a stipend of $7,000 to fund their choreographic process.
  • Fellows will have access to 20 hours of free studio time during this period.
  • Fellows will develop a 10-20 minute choreographic work for the stage.
  • Fellows will participate in 3 process showings of their work, receiving feedback from mentors.

Application Deadline: Friday, July 31
Learn more and apply today!

NextGen ChoreoLab is supported by the Jerome Foundation.

Blue Fox Arts Fellowship Now Accepting Applications

Twin Cities visual artists and musicians are invited to apply for the 2026 Blue Fox Arts Fellowship.

The fellowship will award up to $10,000 to five artists whose proposed projects will help advance their artistic careers, overcome barriers to success, or leverage meaningful professional opportunities.

Blue Fox Arts is dedicated to connecting Twin Cities artists with the resources, mentorship, and support they need to continue creating and thriving. Through this fellowship, the organization invests in emerging artists while strengthening a more connected and vibrant creative community.

Application Deadline: Saturday, August 15 at 4:00pm CT

If you’re a visual artist or musician living in the Twin Cities with a project that could benefit from this support, we encourage you to apply.

Learn more and submit your application through Blue Fox Arts.

Blue Fox Arts Fellowship Now Accepting Applications

Twin Cities visual artists and musicians are invited to apply for the 2026 Blue Fox Arts Fellowship.

The fellowship will award up to $10,000 to five artists whose proposed projects will help advance their artistic careers, overcome barriers to success, or leverage meaningful professional opportunities.

Blue Fox Arts is dedicated to connecting Twin Cities artists with the resources, mentorship, and support they need to continue creating and thriving. Through this fellowship, the organization invests in emerging artists while strengthening a more connected and vibrant creative community.

Application Deadline: August 15 at 4:00pm CT

If you’re a visual artist or musician living in the Twin Cities with a project that could benefit from this support, we encourage you to apply.

Learn more and submit your application through Blue Fox Arts.

Rauschenberg Dancer Emergency Grants

Rauschenberg Dancer Emergency Grants: This program provides one-time grants of up to $3,000 to professional dancers in need who have a dire financial emergency due to the loss or lack of recent/current live performance work because of circumstances outside of their control. “Dire financial emergencies” include the lack or imminent endangerment of essentials such as rental housing, medicine/healthcare, utilities, transportation, and food. This grant program aims to provide dancers with greater stability to move forward by covering up to three months of essential expenses, recognizing the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the dance sector. You must present an urgent and critical need for emergency support in your application.

Eligibility Requirements:

  • Not have previously received a Rauschenberg Emergency Grant through NYFA within the last five years.
  • On your resume/bio, demonstrate recent and sustained activity as a paid, live dancer in any stage/performance style, including aerial, ballet, hip-hop, jazz, modern, tap, and traditional/folk since at least 2021. You may apply if you perform in a variety of settings (for instance: ticketed stage performances, free street festivals, and music videos), as long as you have performed in live, public-facing performances regularly since at least 2020 (at least one paid engagement annually). You do not need to be a full-time dancer or receive your primary income through your dance performance. Inactivity, or online/streaming activity, during COVID (2020-21) and during the last six months, is allowable. Performances in educational/academic settings, social dance, competitive settings, clubs and commercial settings, exotic dance, commercials, and industrials cannot be considered in this history of performing. Self-produced online presentations and/or performances shared solely through personal websites, Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, or other online platforms are not eligible.
  • Live in one of the 50 states, a tribal nation, a U.S. territory, or the District of Columbia on the grant deadline.
  • Be 21 years or older on the grant deadline.
  • Have an adjusted gross annual income of $80,000 or lower for an individual, or $160,000 for joint filers, averaged over the last two federal tax returns.
  • Not enrolled in a degree-seeking program.
  • Request expenses that have been/will be incurred in the United States.
  • Submit your two most recent federal tax returns and provide a W-9 with a Social Security Number (SSN) or Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN) or EIN if you are funded.

Balanced Body® Community Expansion Scholarship Program

Applications accepted July 1-15 for programs starting in 2027.

In collaboration with Balanced Body’s Diversity in Pilates initiatives, Paragon Pilates and Physical Therapy offers scholarships for our Pilates Teacher Training Program to qualified candidates!

The goal of the Balanced Body Community Expansion Scholarship Program is to increase the diversity of the Pilates profession by training teachers who come from Black and other underrepresented communities. Paragon is proud to be one of 12 Authorized Training Centers worldwide currently participating in this program!

Visit our website to learn more about the program and how to apply!

Congratulations to the 2026 McKnight Choreographer and Dancer Fellows

Six Minnesota dance artists have been selected for 2026 McKnight Fellowships for Choreographers and Dancers (Minneapolis, MN) — Springboard for the Arts announces the 2026 recipients.

McKnight Fellowships for Choreographers and Dancers recognize six Minnesota-based dance artists whose work demonstrates a sustained commitment to artistic excellence. These fellowships provide each artist with $25,000 in unrestricted support, enabling time for study, reflection, experimentation, and exploration—whether to pursue a new opportunity, begin a project, or deepen their practice.

2026 McKnight Choreographer Fellows
BRKFST Dance Company
Helen Hatch
Marciano Silva dos Santos

Choreographer Selection Panel
Heather Cornell (Guelph, Canada): Director, Choreographer, Soloist
Joanna Haigood (San Francisco, CA): Choreographer, Artistic Director, Zaccho Dance Theatre
Rita Mustaphi (Minneapolis, MN): Choreographer and Artistic Director of Katha Dance Theatre
John Parks (Tampa, FL): Artist, Dancemaker, The Parks Institute Director

In addition to the $25,000 fellowship award, each Choreographer Fellow is offered additional support for research and development of their work. The opportunity offers a supported trip to New York City during the APAP conference, as well as funds for dedicated space and/or engaging collaborators in the creative process.

2026 McKnight Dancer Fellows
Davente Gilreath
Gemma Isaacson
Asha Rowland

Dancer Selection Panel
LaTasha Barnes (Phoenix, AZ): Tradition-Bearer of Black American Social Dance, Associate Professor of Dance – ASU
Jumaane Taylor (Chicago, IL): Tap Dancer, Improviser, Choreographer, The Jazz Hoofing Quartet
Yuki Tokuda (Saint Paul, MN): Choreographer, Teacher
Cheng Xiong (Minneapolis, MN): Dancer, Choreographer, Technica Movement

In addition to the $25,000 fellowship award, the Fellowship Program will also provide funds for each Dancer Fellow to commission a choreographer of their choice to create a new solo dance work specifically for them. These projects will premiere in September 2028. The McKnight Fellowships for Choreography and Dance are designed to enrich and strengthen our community by acknowledging the accomplishments of individual choreographers and dancers and providing for their artistic growth.

Guidelines for the 2027 McKnight Fellowships for Choreographers and Dancers applications will be available in mid-August 2026 at mcknightdancechoreo.org.