Pop-up Art Activation Program

Purpose

The Pop-Up Art & Culture Activations Program supports projects that incorporate a primary creative component and leverage the unique and specialized skills and creative ambition of local creatives/artists to enhance community-building. This program is geared to incentivize temporary new and innovative projects/activities.

Funding availability

  • The ACA is offering awards of up to $5000 per selected applicant, with $15,000 total available per Cultural District.

  • The awardee must have signed contract before December 30, 2025.

  • Funding will be available to selected awardees during a 12-month period.

    Notice of funding availability (NOFA)

    Download NOFA here

    Or

    Read NOFA highlights below for the eligibility criteria for applicants, activations, and project expenses.

Eligible Locations

  • All Pop-Up Art Activations must benefit communities and residents within the City of Minneapolis Cultural Districts, with projects taking place within and in *close proximity to the Minneapolis Cultural Districts.

    *ACA is open to considering proposals located within a 5-block radius of the boundaries delineating the cultural district. Each proposal will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis to determine its alignment with our objectives and requirements.

    The seven Cultural Districts include:

    Eligible Applicants

  • Applicants must be Minnesota residents in compliance with state laws and be able to work in-person throughout the term of their work on this Program. Priority will be given to applicants who live in and/or work in or near one of the city's seven Cultural Districts. 

  • Applicants must not be a current City employee or member of the City’s Boards and Commissions. 

  • Applicant may be a local individual artist, artist groups/team, arts organization or arts/culture service organization.

    o    If the applicant is a group, art space, school, or neighborhood association, an individual representing this group must be named.  

    o    If the applicant is an informal collective that is not a registered business with the state, a Minnesotan resident in compliance with state laws must be willing to contract with the City on behalf of the group.

  • Application must be submitted by the application deadline. Late applications will not be considered.

IMPORTANT DATES 

Application opens: February 14, 2025

Award information sessions: February 26, 2025 (RSVP here)

Questions on NOFA due: March 10, 2025

Responses to Questions posted: March 14, 2025

Application deadline: April 15, 2025, at 4:30 PM CST

Applications review: April 22 to May 16, 2025

Award notifications: May 30, 2025

Eligible funding period (estimated): June 10, 2025 to June 9, 2026

Eligible Activations

Award funding will be provided to selected applicants for Activations which incorporate a primary creative component. Activations may use creative and inclusive methods to improve feelings of safety, belonging, and social connection. Activations should exemplify creativity and may also provide uplifting support and healing to cultural communities of a Cultural District. These Activations can be temporary and ephemeral, responding directly to community needs while centering on community-driven cultural practices. All Activations that receive award funding must be free and open to the public.

 

Activations may include, but are not limited to, the following: 

  • Activations representing new thought and innovation that invest in the creative ambition of Minneapolis residents. 

  • Activations can include disciplines such as dance, drumming, puppetry, fashion events, songwriting, performance, improv theater, poetry, bilingual plays, sound healing, audio storytelling, dance parties, technology, interactive installations, hands-on activities for youth, storytelling through film and visual art, and radically new forms of creativity.  

  • Artist-driven gatherings, creative collaborative engagement sessions, community dialogues and celebrations. Therapeutic creative projects to promote stress-relief, safety, racial healing, belonging, and social connection. 

  • Artist-led temporary art projects such as murals, sculpture and/or interactive installations located on private property and in vacant lots, parks, plazas, and underutilized spaces. (Note: this program is not intended to fund or engage with the City’s ongoing Public Art programming. Some art projects, such as murals created through this program may need to follow additional city policies, particularly all projects in the Right of Way. Project timelines will need to accommodate these processes.) 

  • Artist-created outdoor spaces on private or public property for community gathering and celebrations.  

  • All arts project proposals are welcome, including programs that serve diverse communities including, but not limited to: children, youth, teens, single parents, college-aged communities, seniors, families, migrants, people with disabilities, K-12 arts programs, Two-Spirit and LGBTAQI+, POCII communities, hospitality/culture workers, unsheltered, formally and currently incarcerated, and recovery communities.  

Visit example projects here https://mplsartsandculture.org/creative-response-fund and here https://mplsartsandculture.org/past-projects

Eligible Project Expenses

The maximum amount available to each selected applicant is $5000. Award funding can be used for expenses such as:

  • Staff wages and benefits expended on Program work  

  • Supplies, venue and equipment rent necessary to carry out proposed Activation

  • Artists fees 

  • Planning and organizing expenses 

  • Communication and outreach expenses 

  • Marketing expenses such as flyers and posters printing  

  • Expenses to enhance accessibility to the proposed Activation. 

  • Expenses supporting representation and inclusion 

  • Expenses that allow for free and/or affordable events (Note: giveaways such as meals, refreshments, transit vouchers, gift cards are not eligible) 

 

Award funding cannot be used for costs such as an applicant’s general operating expenses; political, religious, or lobbying activities; and gift cards, cash incentives, participation stipend, or giveaway items such as food & beverages.

Applicant’s final budget, including any proposed expenses, must be pre-approved by ACA staff and all expenditures must meet  public purpose expenditure criteria.

Evaluation Criteria

In reviewing applications, the review team/panel will consider the criteria below. The City may, in its sole discretion, expand or reduce the criteria upon which it bases its final decisions. 

  • Artistic merit and innovation as well as site-specific and site-responsive sensibility in their proposed project. 

  • Site-specific and site-responsive sensibility of proposed project. 

  • Community building expressed in the application. 

  • Level of creativity, innovation, and community building expressed in the application. 

  • Community impact and the ability to stimulate dialogue, provoke thought and/or inspire action and/or cultural exchange in their proposed projects. 

  • Whether the applicant and application meet all eligibility criteria and satisfy all NOFA requirements.  

  • Whether Program funds are available.  

  • How well the application meets City goals (https://www.minneapolismn.gov/government/city-goals/), priorities, and plans, including the reduction of climate impact and ensure equity. 

  • Expressed needs of the applicant and affiliated arts sector. 

  • Quality, thoroughness, and clarity of the application.  

  • Qualifications and experience of the applicant.  

  • Feasibility of proposed Activation and ability of applicant to complete proposed Activation.  

  • Ability to support a broad range of unique artists and diverse arts activities that support creative art making and cultural exchange.