West Broadway Flow Building at night

Bush Foundation Selects Community Creativity Cohort

March 31, 2015

The Bush Foundation selected 16 organizations that work in the arts for its Community Creativity Cohort. The Cohort is a one-time program designed to both recognize and learn from exemplary organizations that meaningfully engage people in the arts and integrate the arts into public life.

The organizations selected to participate in the Cohort will each receive an unrestricted grant of $100,000. In addition, the Cohort will work with the Foundation over the next six months to articulate the challenges and opportunities associated with their work, particularly around efforts to engage the community, build and support leadership, and advance racial and economic equity. The insights from this effort will help inform the Foundation’s future work in the arts.

“The arts can inspire communities to think bigger and differently about how to address tough challenges. But organizations that work in the arts wrestle with tough challenges of their own,” said Bush Foundation Strategy and Learning Vice President Allison Barmann. “The Community Creativity Cohort will help us better understand both the challenges and opportunities these organizations face. This knowledge will strengthen our ability to support efforts to engage people in the arts and integrate the arts into public life.”

The Community Creativity Cohort, which includes organizations from Minnesota, North Dakota, and South Dakota, will meet twice over the next six months. Each meeting will feature guest presenters who will inspire and inform the Cohort on issues related to community engagement, leadership development and equity. The organizations that participate in the Cohort will also share lessons learned from their experience working on these issues in their own communities. The Foundation worked with Laura Zabel, Executive Director of Springboard for the Arts and a 2014 Bush Fellow, to design the Cohort experience.

When Archibald and Edyth Bush established the Foundation in 1953, they did so with a broad mandate that included the “encouragement of the arts.” Since then, the Foundation has made significant investments in the arts and artists.

“The Community Creativity Cohort will advance our legacy of support for the arts and align it with our work to inspire and support leadership and community innovation,” Barmann said.

Meet the Community Creativity Cohort

Center for Hmong Arts and Talent - St. Paul, MN

Children's Theatre Company - Minneapolis, MN

Coffee House Press - Minneapolis, MN

Duluth-Superior Symphony Association - Duluth, MN

First Peoples Fund - Rapid City, SD

High School for Recording Arts - St. Paul, MN

Intermedia Arts Minnesota - Minneapolis, MN

Lanesboro Arts Center - Lanesboro, MN

Matthews Opera House Society - Spearfish, SD

Native American Community Development Institute - Minneapolis, MN

North Dakota Council on the Arts - Bismarck, ND

Pillsbury United Communities - Minneapolis, MN

Theatre B - Fargo, ND

Upstream Arts - Minneapolis, MN

West Broadway Business and Area Coalition - Minneapolis, MN

White Earth Land Recovery Project - Callaway, MN